The Big Teacher OOPS

It finally happened. I made my first big Teacher Oops of my career. It all started last Wednesday with my middle schoolers. My students were taking their placement tests to determine whether they should stay in the Middle Beginner class or move up to Intermediate. I was instructed to arrive to class 20 minutes later than it started (a BIG ask of me since I am the kind of person who thinks showing up on time is actually late) and simply monitor the students while they studied. What actually ended up happening is that I walked into the classroom, went over to my desk, and looked at my lovely co-teacher who then promptly asked, "are you ready to start?". Cue me internally panicking because NO, I most certainly was not ready to start! In actuality, I did have my lesson prepared, only now I would have 20 minutes to teach versus the 40 minutes I had allotted. I quickly pulled up my powerpoint and just dove straight in. The only issue with this is that they did not have background knowledge on the vocabulary I was teaching (this is what they do with my co-teacher right before I come in and teach), so I was essentially providing them context to words they literally did not understand. Lots of blank stares I received that day. By the end of the lesson, I was mentally drained and sorting through all sorts of mental confusion. I talked with my co-teacher after the lesson about the big goof up and fought back tears, mainly because I had been prepared just not for the right lesson. Now I completely understand miscommunication happens (welcome to the world of education), but it is always frustrating and disheartening when it happens. My co-teacher and I came to the conclusion that this was just a big misunderstanding in terms of what she thought I had prepared, although I did ask several times what I was expected to teach, and we talked through the next lesson I would teach. Spoiler...it was another introduction since I was getting new kids who moved down a level. Things like this are bound to happen, but I just let it roll off my back and prepared myself for a new day with a better outcome.

On the flip side, I also started my One Day Mission Challenge (teaching about world food about 500 times a week) which went off without a hitch. I loved getting to work with elementary aged students who actually spoke to me. Sorry middle schoolers, but your pre-teen angst and exhaustion can be quite the downer! Also, if you're ever having a bad day, hearing little 10 year old girls call you beautiful and give you candy is quite the ego booster. Not to brag or anything, but they were VERY impressed when I was reading their name tags written in full Korean, mind you, and pronouncing their names as best I can with a Western accent. I'm basically fluent at this point! All jokes aside, the classes were really fun, and I enjoyed seeing and experiencing the hyper competitive nature of all the students. Another thing to note, almost all of the 5th graders, especially the boys, were either as tall or taller than me. I don't know what they put in the water here, but it is obviously working.

My last big teacher escapade of the week was getting to meet my adult class for the first time. I am about 1/3 of the age of these adults, which is a very interesting concept seeing as how I am used to being twice the age of any of my students. I do believe they were shocked when they found out my age. All of them are so nice though, and really wanted to get to know me more and simply practice English. One of the activities I created was supposed to involve them moving around the classroom and asking each other questions, such as "do you like chocolate?" or "have you been to Seoul?". What actually happened is that they stayed sitting and just talked across the desks. Note to self, adults would like to just sit and have little interest in moving around. Honestly, I feel the same half the time. Overall, I am excited for this new opportunity for me and look forward to getting to know my adult students a little better.

Side note, just look at the view I have heading into work each morning!