Wednesday, August 25: This week we put on summer camps at the Seongju Office of Education. Students from many schools throughout Seongju attend, and my regular schools of Chojeon Elementary and Byeokjin Elementary are included in the camp. We each prepare one lesson a day, and we teach that lesson 6 times.
Anna, Seth and I have to take the bus from Daegu to Seongju each day, where we then have to get a ride to the Seongju Office of Education. What a fun time it is waiting at the filthy and non-climate-controlled bus station.
the bus station in Seongju
Seth and Anna on the bus
me on the bus
One of my lessons is on parts of the body. To review the parts of the body, I show a power point with the different body parts. Then I divide the class into teams and give them cards that say something like the following: 2 feet, 3 hands, 2 mouths, 1 ear, 2 eyes, 1 nose. They have to form, as a team, the instructions that they are given and then I take a picture. The team who forms a picture following the instructions they are given wins the competition.
a team had to form three hands, two mouths, two feet, one nose and two eyes
5 eyes, 2 noses, 1 mouth, 3 hands
In another activity, I tell the students I will draw a creature based on whatever body parts they want to include. The students raise their hands and tell me: 3 heads, long curly hair, 6 hands, 4 eyes, 3 noses, 9 mouths, 2 big feet, 1 tooth, and freckles. This is what I draw.
student told me how many parts of the body to draw on one creature, and I drew the creature based on their instructions
On our last day of the camps, we take the bus into Seongju again. Usually I take a carpool into work with my Korean co-teachers (which I talk about in my older entry: carpools korean style). Since most of the Korean teachers were either working elsewhere or actually on vacation, Anna, Seth and I took the bus from Daegu to Seongju. As always, the older Koreans stared at us relentlessly, as if we were some freak aliens. We hung out with the ajumas (the old Korean ladies) at the bus station and on the bus.
Anna and me on the Seongju bus
Seth and Anna and Harry Potter
The students perform songs or skits that they practiced with their classes.
Student performances
the final acts
Sometimes Korea kids wear totally inappropriate English language T-shirts. I’m sure this girl’s mother had no idea what this T-shirt means.
inappropriate English T-shirt: “If you get laid with me tonight SMILE”
Student performances
student performances
The whole group of teachers and students. At the back left, you can see Coffee J, Mr. Son, and me.
On the bus ride home on my final day of camp, one of my students took the bus to Daegu to visit her mom at work; she sat beside me and I was amazed that she was actually able to carry on a bit of conversation. Because of the size of my classes, I can’t often see the abilities of my individual students; though there are many that stand out as being quite capable.
one of my students and me on the bus to Daegu after the camp
other characters on the bus to Daegu
We have a fun time at the summer camps, although I think ALL of us would have preferred to have the summer off! 🙂
catbird in korea 
You must be logged in to post a comment.