Hello readers.
I'm not going to beat around the bush with tales of sunshine and butterflies. I've had a hard week.
There. I said it.
Also, I know that a lot of you back home are wondering about this situation going on lately with North and South Korea.
There's the talk of war in the air. I know that's nowhere near a 'small' thing, but there's no use panicking about it when there haven't even been any decisions made yet. As most of you know, on March 26th a South Korean ship was sunk near the disputed North Korea/South Korea sea borders. 46 soldiers lost their lives.
Originally there was a lot of trying to play down the possibility that North Korea was responsible. Now, it's just accepted information. Currently South Korea is working on placing more sanctions on North Korea, and has appealed to the U.N. According to news reports 'anti submarine exercises' are already being engaged by the military in South Korea, and US support is high.
I'm no International Relations expert, and I'm certainly not savvy on politics and war prevention, so I can't even begin to predict what might happen. From what I can tell North Korea is something similar to a dying animal. Its only lifeline is Communist China who apparently still isn't 100% convinced that it was North Korea that sunk the Cheonan.
If North Korea's last lifeline were to be cut off they would be in even worse shape than they already are. Their population and their army are aging, their dictator's health is failing, their economy is practically non-existent. Their means of survival are few, and there's a lot of suggestion that this may turn out to be their 'final stand'.
But, like my mom said, "A rabid dog, even a dying one, is dangerous."
Best case scenario.... North Korea makes a weak 'last battle' effort and fails miserably resulting in a South Korea take over that sheds minimal (if any) blood. The two Korea's will be united after all this time and after (what will probably be years) a while everyone will be happy and well adjusted in their newly reunited country.
Let's all just think about the Best case scenario working out.
That's the update there. I'll keep all of you stateside informed on what's going on as I find out myself.
In other news....
Monthly tests are happening this week, and so far they're been half of a disaster. My younger classes passed with flying colors, the majority of them making quite decent grades. My older students, however, aren't in such good test grade shape. I understand that the majority of them are busy with their regular schools (I work at a private school, which the older students attend AFTER their regular schooling is over for the day). It's stressful for them to have so many classes, and the pressure put on kids here in Korea to do well and study hard is pretty intense. But the society is a competitive one, and to do well you have to work hard.
I don't mind it if my students have tried and still don't do well. If they do their homework, pay attention in class, and then don't exactly Ace their monthly test, I'm kind of okay with that. I don't get upset, because I add in all the other factors.
But when the students don't do their homework, don't pay attention, and then after a test review during which I GIVE THEM the answers for the test and they STILL FAIL... then I'm upset. There's no excuse for that. If that child is so busy that they don't have any time to study for their English class then the parents need to reconsider spending their money on it. It's my responsibility to make sure I do what I can to teach their children English while their IN my class. But I can't control what they do outside of my class. I can't make them do their homework, I can't make them study. And don't you know that is the most FRUSTRATING thing.
I have all of these super intelligent students who could be thriving in English language, but they can barely put together a coherent sentence because they didn't do their homework and have NO idea what's going on in class that day.
Now that I've talked about it, I feel less upset about what happened yesterday with one of my older classes. Two of the six students passed with flying colors. The others? Failed. Failed miserably. After asking them a question they don't even respond "I don't know", they just stare at me.
I ask each of them right out, "Did you study for this test?" and they each replied (bashfully) "No."
After the tests were done I sent the two who had made good grades out of the class. I've raised my voice more times working at this school than I think I ever have in my entire life, but my only other option was to quietly tell them I was disappointed and hope they felt sorry (when there weren't any consequences). So I yelled. I told them that they should be ashamed for disrespecting their parents, me, and themselves by not even trying to do well on their test. I told them that I understand that they're tired, but that there are thousands of other students out there who have heavier work loads than they do and they don't fail their tests. I pulled the whole "What will your parents say when they see your grade?" card.
Thinking back on it, it was pretty harsh. But man... I was upset. Those questions weren't difficult. We'd been on that unit for an entire month and all of the sudden I feel like I'd been wasting my time. That's not a good feeling, people. Not a good feeling at all.
I'm suddenly sorry to my teachers for those times that I didn't study well for my exams, and then didn't make the best grade I possibly could. I'm especially sorry to Senora Pathman from Spanish III in High school for not putting forth my best efforts in class and them complaining when I didn't' make the grade I wanted. I now understand a little bit of what the teachers must have felt when their students didn't even try.
Anyway...
We're doing make-up tests on Friday. They'll take their test again, and they'll have an opportunity for bonus points (I made them write sentences for bonus points). They'll bring home decent grades to their parents and everyone will be happy. That's the plan.
*sigh*
Well,
That's the post for now. I'll put up another one later because I actually recharged my camera battery and took a couple of photos recently. I know all of this text is getting kind of daunting from some of you.
Everyone take care.
Until next time,
~Auggie
I'm not going to beat around the bush with tales of sunshine and butterflies. I've had a hard week.
There. I said it.
Also, I know that a lot of you back home are wondering about this situation going on lately with North and South Korea.
There's the talk of war in the air. I know that's nowhere near a 'small' thing, but there's no use panicking about it when there haven't even been any decisions made yet. As most of you know, on March 26th a South Korean ship was sunk near the disputed North Korea/South Korea sea borders. 46 soldiers lost their lives.
Originally there was a lot of trying to play down the possibility that North Korea was responsible. Now, it's just accepted information. Currently South Korea is working on placing more sanctions on North Korea, and has appealed to the U.N. According to news reports 'anti submarine exercises' are already being engaged by the military in South Korea, and US support is high.
I'm no International Relations expert, and I'm certainly not savvy on politics and war prevention, so I can't even begin to predict what might happen. From what I can tell North Korea is something similar to a dying animal. Its only lifeline is Communist China who apparently still isn't 100% convinced that it was North Korea that sunk the Cheonan.
If North Korea's last lifeline were to be cut off they would be in even worse shape than they already are. Their population and their army are aging, their dictator's health is failing, their economy is practically non-existent. Their means of survival are few, and there's a lot of suggestion that this may turn out to be their 'final stand'.
But, like my mom said, "A rabid dog, even a dying one, is dangerous."
Best case scenario.... North Korea makes a weak 'last battle' effort and fails miserably resulting in a South Korea take over that sheds minimal (if any) blood. The two Korea's will be united after all this time and after (what will probably be years) a while everyone will be happy and well adjusted in their newly reunited country.
Let's all just think about the Best case scenario working out.
That's the update there. I'll keep all of you stateside informed on what's going on as I find out myself.
In other news....
Monthly tests are happening this week, and so far they're been half of a disaster. My younger classes passed with flying colors, the majority of them making quite decent grades. My older students, however, aren't in such good test grade shape. I understand that the majority of them are busy with their regular schools (I work at a private school, which the older students attend AFTER their regular schooling is over for the day). It's stressful for them to have so many classes, and the pressure put on kids here in Korea to do well and study hard is pretty intense. But the society is a competitive one, and to do well you have to work hard.
I don't mind it if my students have tried and still don't do well. If they do their homework, pay attention in class, and then don't exactly Ace their monthly test, I'm kind of okay with that. I don't get upset, because I add in all the other factors.
But when the students don't do their homework, don't pay attention, and then after a test review during which I GIVE THEM the answers for the test and they STILL FAIL... then I'm upset. There's no excuse for that. If that child is so busy that they don't have any time to study for their English class then the parents need to reconsider spending their money on it. It's my responsibility to make sure I do what I can to teach their children English while their IN my class. But I can't control what they do outside of my class. I can't make them do their homework, I can't make them study. And don't you know that is the most FRUSTRATING thing.
I have all of these super intelligent students who could be thriving in English language, but they can barely put together a coherent sentence because they didn't do their homework and have NO idea what's going on in class that day.
Now that I've talked about it, I feel less upset about what happened yesterday with one of my older classes. Two of the six students passed with flying colors. The others? Failed. Failed miserably. After asking them a question they don't even respond "I don't know", they just stare at me.
I ask each of them right out, "Did you study for this test?" and they each replied (bashfully) "No."
After the tests were done I sent the two who had made good grades out of the class. I've raised my voice more times working at this school than I think I ever have in my entire life, but my only other option was to quietly tell them I was disappointed and hope they felt sorry (when there weren't any consequences). So I yelled. I told them that they should be ashamed for disrespecting their parents, me, and themselves by not even trying to do well on their test. I told them that I understand that they're tired, but that there are thousands of other students out there who have heavier work loads than they do and they don't fail their tests. I pulled the whole "What will your parents say when they see your grade?" card.
Thinking back on it, it was pretty harsh. But man... I was upset. Those questions weren't difficult. We'd been on that unit for an entire month and all of the sudden I feel like I'd been wasting my time. That's not a good feeling, people. Not a good feeling at all.
I'm suddenly sorry to my teachers for those times that I didn't study well for my exams, and then didn't make the best grade I possibly could. I'm especially sorry to Senora Pathman from Spanish III in High school for not putting forth my best efforts in class and them complaining when I didn't' make the grade I wanted. I now understand a little bit of what the teachers must have felt when their students didn't even try.
Anyway...
We're doing make-up tests on Friday. They'll take their test again, and they'll have an opportunity for bonus points (I made them write sentences for bonus points). They'll bring home decent grades to their parents and everyone will be happy. That's the plan.
*sigh*
Well,
That's the post for now. I'll put up another one later because I actually recharged my camera battery and took a couple of photos recently. I know all of this text is getting kind of daunting from some of you.
Everyone take care.
Until next time,
~Auggie
Recent comments