FYinSK - Jan 2013

First Year in South Korea 

A-Class Academy

At that point I had just gotten to Korea and it felt unreal.

While I had planned on going to Korea for years, my going at that precise moment felt like a last minute whim, I was gliding through the procedures without really realizing, like some sort of surreal movie. Things were stressing, visa paperwork took longer than expected, Canada Post was being STUPID as usual (and at that point, we had not even had any budget cutting by Mr. Stupid). It really sucks to make visa procedures in Canada, unless you live in a big city.

And Rouyn oddly does not have it's own South Korean Embassy... isn't that weird?

I think it really should.

This school had some good points.

• It was clean (the interior design was lovely, and had probably been redone in the last few years).
• They were using a teaching system I really like with the kindies, Grapeseed, that uses songs, poems, stories and chants to teach English and it's mysteries.
• The coworkers were nice, and while the teacher's room didn't allow much privacy, it helped create a nice working atmosphere, stolen in one of the few small breaks we had.

There were bad points.

• The school has a VERY tight and strict way of dealing with classes.
• As such, with such a strict Do and DON'T system, they should have a consistent training method. They don't. You are pretty much left to figure what is important and what is not by watching teachers classes. Now while it might be something easy for experienced teachers, to make the difference between what seems to be the teacher's ad-lib and the school's rules, it absolutely isn't for a new teacher with no teaching experience. 
• They hired me saying that it didn't matter if I had no experience. But it does matter. 

I am just recalling the hardships I went through last year, and those informations are very personal to me. I do not intend on using those to do direct harm to any organism or anyone, that is why I am not « tagging » any of the schools I am talking about, or linking their websites to it when I am talking about negative stuff. What happened to me is probably very different from what other people might have experienced. And that’s all the best.

That does not mean that it will not be a great experience for someone else. I would rather think of myself as having had no luck. Sometimes, whatever you do, it's not meant to work. It's meant to bring you somewhere further along your path.

January 2013

Big adaptation time.

I had to learn all the Grapeseed songs and stories of level 1 and level 21 (as those were the levels I'd get to teach when the teacher I'd replace would leave. I was told I'd be a kindergarten teacher, but as I got to Korea, I ended up being an elementary teacher. Thus, most of my classes were with older kids. I don't hate teaching older kids, but I definitely love younger ones much better.

I was amazed at the teaching abilities of the teacher I replaced. All she did was so smooth, that we wouldn't see the technique behind her teaching. She was not fond of my lack of experience, and didn't like that I had an accent (while I did all my higher studies in English, when I got to Korea, I had just spent over 2 years in an French speaking environment, and my French accent was probably pretty strong...). I sadly think that, even if not on purpose, that played a big role in what happened next, as the school had her opinion in great esteem.
While she was an amazing teacher to the kids, her way of teaching me was not really effective (not blaming anyone here, maybe that technique would have been perfect with anyone else than me). She would basically get me to see her flawless teaching, but not give me ANY feedback on what was important, why she did so and so. I was sitting there with my notebook, writing down all I could see. Thing is, with effective teaching, the efforts made by a teacher seem non-existent, it's just a smooth ride through time.
After each class she'd be appalled at how little I had written down. Everything was to write, but I had no eye for small teaching details and techniques. I often wonder if after a full year of teaching, I would have noticed things differently. Not that I regret anything. It'd be a great way to see my own evolution.

In any case, it was hard for me because she saw me as another teacher, while I believe at that point, the only thing I was, was technically her "student".

My way of learning is very technical. I need precise directions told to be, and ideally written down. Then, when I try it out, I will ask numerous questions, so make sure that I am right. That gets bothersome for other people I suppose, but that's the way I learn. When people are expecting very precise result, I think they should give precise explanations. It's only natural...