I can't help but love going back to school. It may be the dozens of kids that walk by me that say hi to me and bow or the oooohs and aaaaahhhhhs that I get whenever I put up a picture they find cool. Maybe its the times when they have a few minutes left and the whole class breaks out into some random Korean song. I don't know, but it makes each day a new adventure, which is exactly the kind of job I need.
Being a teacher was never something that was high on my list. Or even on my list at all for that matter. It is, however, whats right for right now. I wake up each day to a new lineup, to a new ordeal, to a new laugh. Plus, what other job gives you the opportunity to travel like this while paying you decent money to do so?
I also like the difference I'm making...or at least I think I'm making. Korean students work study for excruciating hours. Homeroom starts at 8:15 and the last class gets out at 5:00. From there the students go to one or more academies or hogwans. They go for things like English, Math, Art, Music, and some go to Taekwondo on top of that! When that's through, the students go home to the hours of homework and studying that they have ahead of them. Throughout all of this, the students get (or seem to get) very little encouragement. Every class I walk by I see the students sitting there getting lectured or disciplined. Not that I can tell when a teacher says "good job", but you usually can see it in the body language. I see none of that. Every time a student picks up on what I'm trying to explain or answers a question correctly, I always encourage them in some way. A simple "good job" with a smile does wonders. You can really see it in their faces. One of my 1st graders (seventh grade, but this kid was definitely a little younger) wanted to hold my hand as he walked down the hall. I was caught off guard so I turned it into a hand shake and a high five.
When you walk into a room and 35 children jump up and scream HI I LOVE YOU you know you're doing something right.
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