"Koreans are so smart as demonstrated by their nimble use of chapstick."

Kevin's nickname in my class is Chicken. This is how my other students feel about him^^

I decided to keep all my teaching lesson plans on my other blog. I also changed jobs so I'm not teaching elementary children anymore. You can catch my other blog at here It is called Eslhagwon. Dan

I want to use this blog for my lesson plans. My new job is more demanding than before and Yea Jin and I want to work on a book project together. She has connections in publishing, so this is a possibility. She also makes me want to write and she, although she doesn't believe me, is a wonderful writer. There is nobody else I would like to work with. Most of my lesson plans for the hagwon will be labeled Ian English. Dan

I wonder if I could get the students to draw a picture of what they think this man would look like. Reading his words, I get a real sense of warmth and optimism. I think the kids would come up with some really insightful pictures (oh...and of course there will be one goofy kid doing something rank or ridiculous). I should save that for the 2nd class. Here's a picture of the real Hendrik:

It's a new year and it's time to start my new job. I will be teaching at a hagwon in the Cheongdam area. Don't worry, it's not CDI. I have been working part-time there for a year and a half and I decided to sign on full time. Anyway. I get to teach middle school students literature! Doesn't that sound fun? The first book we will be working on will be called The Story of Mankind by Hendrik Willem Van Loon. It was the first book to win the Newberry Medal for young adults. It's not a Wrinkle in Time, but it is fascinating and full of information. It's like a comic book disguised as a history book. Today I'm going to give a brief overview of the course and then get them to write a letter to themselves about their first impressions of the course and the book and what they expect to learn from the class. Also I would like them to write their own expectations such as, "I will do all my homework assignments." or "I will participate in di...

I totally won't miss the toliets or the wheeled lunch trucks. ^^ Dan

Actually, I'm working on a writing project with a Wednesday deadline (god, I hate deadlines) and I was thinking of all things that I miss about teaching at a Korean Elementary School student. And since I've spent all day pounding my keyboard, I decided I would rather show you. These are the things that I'll miss about Wonmyeong School^^

...I'm not finished teaching. I'm just finished teaching at the public elementary school level. I have been teaching at this level for about a year and a half and I feel like I'm in a rut. I'm doing the same lessons or variations over and over again and I need to something that's a bit more challenging. I will be teaching at an SAT prep, writing institute in Cheongdam, Seoul. It's more challenging and I'll have a ton of grading to do, but I think it'll be good for me. I'll be teaching new material and I'll have my mornings to do my writing. Today for my sixth grade classes, I'm going to get the students to make Christmas cards for each other for part of the time and then I'll show Elf. Dan

Here are more Christmas cards that my Korean Elementary School students made. Aren't they great!?! Dan

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I got my students to make Christmas cards to my friends and to my parents. Here are some of their cards...no wait...blogger is acting all screwy and I can't get the pics up...wait a minute. Stay tuned. Dan

This is my last week at Won-myeong Elementary School. I really enjoyed my year and a half here and it has been a wonderful experience. I'm going to finish this week by getting the children to make Christmas cards, play games and give out the ton of candy I've accommulated.

This is what it's like to work in a Korean Elementary School. Most of the days, they're cute and wonderful...but sometimes they can be complete brats.

I did the White Room game in my class today and it was great. It worked a lot better than Viridian Room. Here's the walkthrough. Dan

Actually, it's raining today....but...it's all good. This week is going to be super easy. It's only a three day week because the little midgets are having tests on Thursday and Friday! AZA! After this week, I've only got three more days until my elementary school days are over! I'm going to miss it, but what can you do? Today in third grade I'm going to start by asking them the weather and then 1) I'll start with the chant in the book: It's Snowing. 2) I'll do the look and speak. 3) I'm going to do the roleplay about the Ant and the grasshopper. I'll get the students to act it out. 4) Review 5) Game: Passing the card game. Students get in a line and have to listen to me and pass the lines from back to front repeating the phrase I say, i.e. "It's Sunny, let's go outside. It's snowing! etc. There will be referees to make sure they are saying the phrase.

I am doing a flash game in class today. It is called Viridian room. I did another game, "Crimson Room" in class last year and my students still ask me today to do it again. Crimson Room was much easier, but I think the students like the challenge of Viridian Room. Also only a few students have played the game while almost every student has already solved Crimson Room. Here's the link to the site. If you need a walkthrough look here. I suggest you let 2 kids up at the computer at a time and then get the students to tell those two students where to click and go in the room. It helps to have the walkthrough so you can also help direct the kids and keep the game moving.

My class today was an utter success. I did a department store situation where I put flashcards of random things like a TV, radio, pizza, a nose...anything really and I put prices above them ranging from 100 to 1000 dollars. I wrote a dialogue on the board. A: Hello. Can I help you? B: Yes. How much is that_________? A: It is __________dollars. B: Sounds good. Here's my credit card. or I'm sorry. It's too expensive. Then I got the kids to make their own credit cards because I figured making cash was too unruly. They really got into it and made some wonderful cards. I then picked 2 kids to be sales people and one to be a stocker. The stocker had to restock the sold pictures. I also had two kids standing at the entrance of the "Department Store" and greet new customers. I only let two kids in at a time and they could only buy one item. Some students started to greet students by saying, "Welcome to DolMakgo!" which was a popular movie title l...

I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm going to do the textbook for as long as possible and then I think I'll make them writing a going away letter. I'm going to use my magnet characters. They can write a going away letter from Princess Cindy to the Big Bad Wolf or the Businessman to the Bear. Then I'll get them to play MASH on the board with the middle school questions and what they will do in the future. Dan

Ugh. I am still sick and the medicine the doctor gave me is making me sleepy. When I get sleepy, I get cranky. I already had a mini-outburst and offended some of my collegues. I apologized and they said they already knew about me and wouldn't hold it against me. What I'm doing today is mainly straight out of the book. 1. Monkey See, Monkey do- pick one student to be the monkey and they tell their classmates what to do, i.e. stand up, eat a lollipop, dance, etc. 2. "What do you want for Christmas?" Pick one student to be Santa Clause and one to be Mrs. Clause and then ask the students to tell the Clauses what they want for Christmas. Make them line up and ask in person. 3. "What does the Big Bad Wolf want for Christmas?" Get magnets of different characters and ask the students what they would want for Christmas. I have a Princess, Salaryman, Zeeto, Thomas, etc. They come up with some really interesting answers. But every class says that the Sala...