Friday, July 25, 2014

Five for Friday - end of the semester!

It's Friday. Linking up with with Doodle Bugs for the weekly Five For Friday. Hop on over and see what everyone did this week!



I am so so tired. If you haven't been following me, I'm STILL in school. Yep. It's July 25th, and I'm STILL in school.

This is for the birds. I've had a summer every single year since I was 5 years old. Until now.

The semester ended on Wednesday, and summer camp started on Thursday.

To celebrate the ending of the semester, my co-teacher and I had cooking class with one Middle School 1 class (about 7th grade). They LOVED it. You would have thought some of these boys, one in particular, had not eaten in like a week!


Then we played Jenga with our high school class. Some students are visually impaired and some are blind. They loved it!



The countdown has definitely begun. I have 8 days left of summer camp. Normally, summer camps are a lot of fun. All of my other friends get to do these super fun summer camp themes with their students and do all kinds of cool stuff. Create countries. Create videos. My school is special, and my students are special. So summer camp for me is basically like a regular day at school. At least I get a week-long break from my crazy co-teacher!

After summer camp, I will be leaving for Bali. Yep. Bali.

I. Am. So. Excited. That. I. Just. Can't. Hide. It.



One thing I have definitely learned this year...how to modify and effectively teach students with learning disabilities. I found out that I will have two young brothers in my summer camp ~ they have a myriad of disabilities including blindness. One can speak and even said my name yesterday. They do however love music and singing, so we'll be fine. One boy is much higher than the 

One boy LOVES music so much that he waves his arms around and around and then loves to jump up and down while holding my hands. He is just precious.

I brought out the musical instruments, and they just put them in their mouth. 

Play dough was not very interesting to them which I found surprising.

Today I brought out the big Legos, and they seemed to really like that. I taught them "push" for push down and "pull" for pulling apart.

I have discovered that I like to break up the 45-minute class into short 15-minute chunks.

So I know they like music and playing with Legos. I would like to find some other activities that they would like.

Do you have any ideas?

So I had an interesting taxi experience the other night. The taxi driver keeps talking to me in Korean, hitting his chest, and smiling. And then he repeats it all again. I do not have a clue. But I just smile, laugh, and say "neh neh" (yes). I don't know if I just accepted his marriage proposal or what.


I can't believe that I will be leaving Korea 4 weeks from Tuesday. Seriously. I have loved this adventure. But I sure am ready to be home.

I'll be glad to leave the Korean system of education. I know the United States education system has its flaws, but at least our children get to be children.

Read this article and see what Korean middle school students have to say about their education system. It might shock you.

http://iamkoream.com/what-south-korean-students-really-think-about-their-education-system/



Hope your week has been great. I will leave you with a picture of my newest Konglish shirt. You might think that the "O" is a "D" but it really does say,

"I will love you in reality and in oreams" - yes, oreams


Have pleasant oreams! It's time for bed here in Korea.

4 comments:

  1. I'm so jealous of your teaching experience in Korea! I'm dreaming of teaching overseas! How did you get hooked up with the job? Do you speak Korean? I’m gearing up for a big giveaway on my blog on August 11 - come stop by so you don’t miss it!!
    Sarah
    Beyond The Gradebook

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    1. It has been a truly amazing experience. I found the EPIK (English Program in Korea) program because I only wanted to teach overseas one year. Pretty much all international schools require you to stay 2 years. So that left me with teaching English. I had traveled to Asia and fallen in love. Out of all the Asian countries, Korea had the best advantages. That's it in a nutshell! And I speak very little Korea. I know enough to get by. I will definitely stop by your blog! Thanks!

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  2. Love the shirt!!!! I'm still super jealous that you are going to Bali. I can't believe you got engaged to a Korean taxi cab driver. Priceless!
    Alison
    Rockin' and Lovin' Learnin'

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    1. I know. Crazy, right? Girl, you should see the awesome Konglish shirts over here. I just one for my good friend back home that says "TROURBLE". She's going to love it! And don't worry....I will share a lot of my pictures of Bali!

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