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…
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…
Understanding Your Student's English When you first get to Korea there will be a lot of things that you don't understand. Unfortunately some of those things will be what your students are saying, in English, in an attempt to talk to you. I always always try to at least pretend like I know what…
So close to one year! At this very moment in time I'm 26 days away from my trip back to the US, and even fewer from my last day at school for the year. This month, and to be fair basically the past 3 months, at school have been pretty much a joke. It's been…
Continue reading ➞ Korea Month 11: School Festival and Even More Snow
This month was good one. It has been a month of seeing my sister, taking a break away from school, and then taking an even longer break at school. First there was Chuseok. We got about 10 days off and I went to Hong Kong to see my sister. It was incredible. Feel free to…
I made a post a few weeks ago about a lesson that I did that went surprisingly well. It was called The Oscars lesson. The activity is essentially just "write a dialog" but disguised as "we're all going to the Oscars next week and you have to present a script." And it worked shockingly well.…
The Oscars Lesson (One matter of housekeeping before we start. I accidentally just published a post that I was still working on titled "Things my students have said to me part 2." So if you are an email subscriber, you might have received it. I've removed it from the site as it is not yet…
Basically I feel a lot of things. I love them more than I could have ever imagined I would but I have struggled for these past six months to try to put into words exactly the kind of love I have for them. It's special. So that's what I'm going to try to do in…
What to Expect From Your First Semester Teaching English in Korea My kids have officially finished their final exams for the semester and we are now in the this weird two week limbo where they still have to come to school, but won't actually be tested on anything we teach them. Basically we…
Continue reading ➞ What to Expect From Your First Semester Teaching English in Korea
Hours and Miles 