Elementary School Is SO Different From Middle School

It's been a while since my last post.  Sorry about that!  Well, I have officially moved from middle school to elementary school.  I was terrified about the move.  In hagwon I taught elementary kids, but that was almost 3 years ago and it's completely different than public school.  I had heard some horror stories from friends who taught elementary school and was pretty nervous about going.  But, I am starting my 3rd week and can honestly say that I love it!  Below, I will give you an idea of what my week is like.  Please remember that this is MY experience in elementary school.  Each school is different; therefore, each elementary school experience is different.

3rd & 4th Grade
I have two 3rd grade classes and two 4th grade classes and I only see them once each week for 40 minutes.  At the beginning of each class, I greet the kids and ask them about what day it is and how the weather is.  My co-teacher and I check any homework they may have.  I then stand in the back of the classroom for 20-30 minutes while they practice key words and dialogue from the chapter with my co-teacher.  I am supposed to correct any speaking mistakes and make sure they are on the correct page in the book.  I get the last 10-15 minutes to do activities from the book or activities that I come up with.  My 3rd graders are still pretty excited about learning English and usually participate really well.  Getting my 4th graders to participate, or god forbid raise their hands, is like pulling teeth!  But, I think they are warming up to me.

5th & 6th Grade
I have two 5th grade classes and three 6th grade classes.  I see them twice each week for 40 minutes each.   [At the beginning of each class, I greet the kids and ask them about what day it is and how the weather is.  My co-teacher and I check any homework they may have.  I then stand in the back of the classroom for 20-30 minutes while they practice key words and dialogue from the chapter with my co-teacher.  I am supposed to correct any speaking mistakes and make sure they are on the correct page in the book.  I get the last 10-15 minutes to do activities from the book or activities that I come up with.]  Sound familiar??  Haha!  My 5th graders aren't too bad about participating.  My co-teacher gives me candy to bribe them to answer.  It works pretty well.  One of my 6th grade classes is full of trouble makers and students who don't want to study.  The other two 6th grade classes are really great about participating which is a little unusual from what I hear from my friends.

5th Grade & 6th Grade After School Classes
On Mondays, I have two 5th grade after school classes and on Tuesday I have two 6th grade after school classes.  They are called after school classes but they run from about 2:30 pm-4:00 pm.  During the first period, we learn a new idiom and draw a picture of it and write the definition in our idiom books.  Then, we spend about 10-15 minutes in the BEPA book.  The best thing I can relate it to is an I-STEP prep.  Whatever time is left over in that period and the next, we do a lesson.  These lessons are supplementary to their classroom lessons but I have a lot more flexibility and can go beyond the book.

2nd Grade
I have one 2nd grade class once per week for 40 minutes.  This class is totally up to me.  It was suggested that I go over some key vocabulary, read a story and ask questions about the story, do worksheet or coloring sheets, and then review the ABCs.  My idea has been to have the theme be around the book that I'm reading that day.  I've had one class and that seemed to go over really well!

Kindergarten
I have two kindergarten classes.  I see each of them once per week for 30 minutes.  I have one class of 5 and 6 year-olds and one class of 7 year-olds.  I was absolutely terrified to teach these classes.  I had no idea what I was going to do with them.  However, I was told to just play with them.  I was also told that the kids in my school were mostly lower-level students.  So, in kindergarten, some of them can't even understand when the teachers speak to them in Korean.  This past week, I taught them for the first time.  I taught them 'stop' and 'go'.  Then, we went outside and played Red Light, Green Light.  They absolutely wore me out!  But, I am no longer scared of the class.  They are a ton of fun and playing with them will be easy!

Adult Classes
I have one adult class at 3:00 pm every Friday and it lasts for 40 minutes.  The adults who attend are teachers and staff from my school.  As with the kindergarten classes, I was terrified to teach this class.  This past Friday was the first class and it wasn't too bad.  Forty minutes actually goes by fairly fast.  I had eight students show up last Friday (this number will constantly fluctuate according to how busy they are).  The four women want to discuss practical English and the four men want to discuss news and things that are happening around the world.  I hope I can find a nice balance.

In total, I have 22 teaching hours per week.  Each 40 minute or 30 minute class counts as 1 hour.  The rest of the 18 "hours" is mine to plan for the classes.  I only have one co-teacher in elementary school compared to the five I had in middle school.

Once I feel a little more comfortable in school, I will have to take some pictures.  These kids are so cute!