Thursday, January 05, 2006
School Update
SO sorry that it has been so long since I have updated this blog. . . I’m sure we all agree that the holidays season is always a busy time!
It’s hard to believe I’ve been here only FOUR months…it seems like so much longer! And yet, most of the things I want to update you about seem to have happened FOREVER ago…hopefully I can remember them all accurately and with sufficient details!
Let’s start with a school update. It has been a new kind of challenge for me to be teaching 4th graders…especially since I only have FOUR of them and I am in the classroom with them for only 20 hours a week. For this reason, I want to maximize every second that we are together, which of course, means extremely careful planning and lots of preparation to make sure that there is never any “dead time“ during the day. Those of you who know me well are probably finding this all a little funny, especially as you recall that the procrastinator in me usually takes over and I generally fly by the seat of my pants where teaching is involved! I guess I am saying all this to let you know specifically why I find teaching here to be one of my greatest challenges.
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT, though! My four students are truly wonderful children, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, charms and annoyances. I guess, however, that this is no different than any other classroom full of students! The difference is that the relationship I have with each student is magnified a lot more due to the fact that there are only four students. Since we’re all foreigners in this country, we have that in common and I have become friends with the families of my students. I have been able to eat dinner with the families of three of my students and have had two of the families to my house for dinner. I feel blessed to have new friends in addition to be learning more about the Korean and Japanese cultures.
Life is not without changes, and neither is school I guess. Our school committee has been diligently meeting for the past few weeks as a follow-up to some professional advice from one of visitors over the Christmas season. Dr. Eloise Hughes met with all of the teachers in preparation for a sabbatical she is planning on taking in the fall to study how Christian colleges and universities can better prepare teachers who would like to teach in a mission field. One immediate change that will occur is that school hours will be extended. My new hours, as of January 10 will be 8:30 am - 3:00 pm. I am very excited about this and look forward to spending more time with the kids in the classroom, doing more fun activities and of course, learning!
It’s hard to believe I’ve been here only FOUR months…it seems like so much longer! And yet, most of the things I want to update you about seem to have happened FOREVER ago…hopefully I can remember them all accurately and with sufficient details!
Let’s start with a school update. It has been a new kind of challenge for me to be teaching 4th graders…especially since I only have FOUR of them and I am in the classroom with them for only 20 hours a week. For this reason, I want to maximize every second that we are together, which of course, means extremely careful planning and lots of preparation to make sure that there is never any “dead time“ during the day. Those of you who know me well are probably finding this all a little funny, especially as you recall that the procrastinator in me usually takes over and I generally fly by the seat of my pants where teaching is involved! I guess I am saying all this to let you know specifically why I find teaching here to be one of my greatest challenges.
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT, though! My four students are truly wonderful children, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, charms and annoyances. I guess, however, that this is no different than any other classroom full of students! The difference is that the relationship I have with each student is magnified a lot more due to the fact that there are only four students. Since we’re all foreigners in this country, we have that in common and I have become friends with the families of my students. I have been able to eat dinner with the families of three of my students and have had two of the families to my house for dinner. I feel blessed to have new friends in addition to be learning more about the Korean and Japanese cultures.
Life is not without changes, and neither is school I guess. Our school committee has been diligently meeting for the past few weeks as a follow-up to some professional advice from one of visitors over the Christmas season. Dr. Eloise Hughes met with all of the teachers in preparation for a sabbatical she is planning on taking in the fall to study how Christian colleges and universities can better prepare teachers who would like to teach in a mission field. One immediate change that will occur is that school hours will be extended. My new hours, as of January 10 will be 8:30 am - 3:00 pm. I am very excited about this and look forward to spending more time with the kids in the classroom, doing more fun activities and of course, learning!
# posted by beth @ 10:27 PM 
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It's probably a lot like homeschooling in that you can get a LOT more done in a lot less time with fewer students. I bet you're doing great!
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