Constructive Feedback

March 21

So, Wednesday my boss surprised me and came in to observe one of my classes - NOT the class she said she would. Ugh! I was trying out a new game in this class today though so I was feeling ok. This class speaks pretty good English and I was feeling semi confident about it. This class was also giving memorized speeches today and even they were really weirded out that the boss was there.

So time came to play the game.  It's rock paper scissors race. There are vocab words on the wall and two teams will start at each side saying them until they meet at the same word and then they do rock paper scissors. The winner keeps advancing towards the other side like chess. The goal is to reach the other side for a point.

The kids played the game, even enjoyed it, although one kept hitting the wall as he said the words. I was thinking to myself, "she should think this is good". She gave me feedback after the class saying that the game was good but not advanced enough for these students' level - which I understand,  but neither is playing Uno which we do. Again, I was feeling a little defeated. I wished she had come into one of the other classes that day.

Then, she came into the class with the two students also!!! Good news is that this class only has one book and their level is way lower. So I taught them a game I call English pong which is pretty similar to beer pong lol - just no drinking. This class I received good feedback on. She said the energy was up, the kids were exited and engaged, and the right level for their understanding. So I was finally feeling better. Good news is my student hasn't dropped my class yet and will come back again.

But I definitely needed a drink with K after this week. I kept repeating inspirational quotes to myself about how everything is a learning lesson and not to give up or get too discouraged. Maybe it worked. I'll be going to Jindo on a tour group tomorrow (Friday night after work). Hopefully, it's a blast and I meet lots of new people.

One of those days...

March 19

So apparently I need to stop staying out so late. K and I were out late again playing darts. The downfall to that is that I don't get a good night's sleep and it makes it hard to want to wake up the next morning. But our day starts so late and ends late that is nice to have some play/fun time also during the week.

Then at school I must've made 4 different kids cry. Two because they didn't win a game, one because her mom forgot to give her the correct book, and another because goodness even knows the reason. I've never made so many kids cry in my life in such a short time. And the kids that aren't crying are simply getting out of control.  Some try jumping on the furniture, running wildly during games, even hitting/kicking the walls. When I try to correct them they act like they either don't understand or that can't hear me. These are the days when I start thinking about an adult beverage after work. I'm used to being able to manage kids pretty well so this is a little aggravating to me and some days I feel like a failure.

It didn't help that after my classes today I was pulled aside to be asked about one of my students. I guess he was saying my class wasn't fun and he wanted to quit my class. This is kind of a big deal as that's money to the school. The sad thing is that it's one of the kids I really like too. Unfortunately, there is one kid in this class that gives me the hardest time of all my students. She always pretends like she doesn't understand and never pays attention. Sometimes, class time is wasted by her so if things aren't fun I tend to point fingers. This girl also gave the previous teacher the same challenges. Not sure why she keeps coming if she really hates being there so badly.

Anyway, since I received feedback to make classes more fun, I decided I would go home and research new games to teach my students but first, food. K and I grabbed dinner together at Mom's Touch but I still couldn't help but think how frustrated I was. I don't like making easy mistakes. My boss was going to come in and observe my class with the 2 students so I needed to fix my style. As much as I wanted to cry and question what the heck I'm doing, I knew better - that I couldn't let it get to me and that I had to find a new way of thinking.

I was online from about 10pm-2am looking up ESL and kids' teaching games. I came up with a few that I will try out tomorrow. So I will be getting up early to go to my money pit,  Daiso, so I can prep some new games. Wish me luck.