Saying Goodbye Saying goodbye is something that everyone has to do a lot of in life, but still somehow feels uniquely painful. I still haven't gotten good at it, but I've gotten used to it. I said a lot of goodbyes when I left for college. Then when I started teaching English I became…
Starting Year Three I'm back in Korea, back at my desk in the grade three teachers office at my school on top of the hill I have to climb every morning. Back to daily alerts from the government that is air quality is so bad you shouldn't go outside, and back to my tiny…
Helping Your Students Feel Comfortable Speaking English One of the biggest barriers we face as native English teachers in Korea is that it can be really hard to feel like you connect with the students in the same way that the other teachers do. Not only is there the obvious language barrier but also…
Continue reading ➞ Helping Your Students Feel Comfortable Speaking English
It's not your fault. As teachers I know it's easy to think that is, but it's not. Well some things are, of course. We are responsible for ourselves and responsible to always try to make the best lessons we can and do right by our students. But for anyone teaching in a public school,…
The Good Stuff Recently I had to end one of my grade one classes early to tell them I was disappointed in their behavior. The next day I had to hold 4 students back after a grade two class to tell them that their lack of effort was disrespectful. Doing that in terms that…
Dear New EPIK Teachers, I think a lot of you will be walking into your schools to work for the first time on Monday. It wasn't all that long ago that I did the same exact thing and to be perfectly honest I'll be walking into school again on Monday with my own set or…
An Open Letter To My Students (Because that's never been done before...) To any of my students past or present, Should any of you ever find this by accident, hello! I hope life is treating you okay. I am writing this to you because there are some things that I want you to know.…
What Korean Middle School Students Are Worried About (Or: What my kids wanted to tell me when they had 2 minutes of my undivided attention.) I'm just about finished with all of the speaking tests for this semester and as always it's been the most fun I've had with my students so far this…
Continue reading ➞ What Korean Middle School Students Are Worried About
When The Shine Wears Off This is year two for me living and working in Daejeon, Korea. So that means that, for two-thirds of my students this is their second year with me. It means that the novelty of me has worn off for most of my kids. That manifests itself in good and…
5 Types of Classes You'll Have as an EPIK Teacher Every class I teach has a distinct personality which is the puzzling combination of all 30 something personalities in the room. And despite the fact that often those personalities are each perfectly pleasant on their own they can sometimes combine into something truly bizarre.…
Continue reading ➞ 5 Types of Classes You’ll Have as an EPIK Teacher
Hours and Miles 