Summer Days are Driftin' Away

Ahh so now the slow dog days of summer are here.... we run to the beaches, plan our vacations, hang out with friends, and slip into the drowsy naps of the afternoon. This is all that one need aspire to during the muggy days that rob you of your sense of urgency and replace it with a somewhat simmering, careless abandonment.

Today was the last day of English summer camp! I am rather saddened, but also lighter than before and very satisfied with the progress that was made. I was so excited about making my own lessons and teaching the class on my own, a teacher in my own right and with my own jurisdiction. No one told me what to do or where to be or how I should teach my own class. I did, however, get one 5th grade genius who corrected my typos and directions half the time. She told me that she had learned the past tense when she was aged 5 or 6, when the national curriculum doesn't even touch it until 6th grade. But, in the end, I think I may have won over even that snobby brat. My system of stickers, candy, cake, and ice cream may have helped :P (don't worry, it's all pretty cheap).

Intermediate Class

Bribery may seem indecent, but as Ms. Lee said, one must "give carrot and hwip, hwip!!" And my, what whipping! I made the delinquents do pushups, hold their arms up, and do writing exercises. I always feel a little disappointed and think that I should have punished them more, but maybe it's a testament to restraint when they still smile and say hello to me in the hallways.

I feel that they learned lots, too. I always worry that I am too boring; the last thing I want to do is be an old doddy teacher that kills the joy of learning. So I used my own songs like Seal's "Love's Divine" and "Deeper than the Holler" by Randy Travis to teach them comparatives and the past tense. We saw tons of fun animations and played games like Bananagrams and Conjugation Contests to reinforce their knowledge. The younger kids in the Basic Course were sometimes pretty confused, so there was a lot of coloring :P Strangely, I feel that they may have gleaned more than the Advanced Course. Struggle signifies a challenge, I think. Or at least, I hope. I guess I'm a little biased :P



It required so much focus to create cohesive lesson plans from scratch, and I am very proud and happy with the activities that I found/made for the kids to do. I'll admit that I got a hand from online sources, but honestly most of them were very stingy about sharing. Most days during summer camp, I stayed at the school until 6:30 or 7:00, when I am allowed to leave at 4:30.
Then again, much of that was my fault for having slacked off during the week-long planning period before camp. I also never work on the weekends but am incredibly busy visiting friends and going on trips, such as the recent "vacation" (or "scenic boot camp" may be a more accurate term) to Jeju Island and a rafting trip to the Hantan River for my 23rd birthday. But I didn't mind, because teaching kids makes for the funnest projects that I have ever done. In summer camp, I have complete control over the curriculum and there is no stressful testing. I have no superiors and no one to please except my students, who are subject to the generous dictatorship of the magnanimous Mia. HAHAHA!

Jokes aside, I treasure this experience most. I am sure that I will miss it dreadfully in the months of regular class to come. There are only 2 weeks left until school resumes, and I am apprehensive about the coteachers who will be coming....