Monthly Musings: One

Happy, laughing Sandy in my Singapore class.

It is official: I've been in Taiwan for one month. I spend a lot of time reflecting and planning for the future, and I really always have. I celebrated every monthly anniversary in Korea, every semester in university, every milestone. Here is my reflection on my first month in Taiwan.

The biggest victory in this month has been at school. I was initially frustrated, because my students' classroom habits and behaviors did not meet my expectations. Starting my contract mid-semester means that I get whatever the previous teachers have excepted, plus a little sass, and some efforts to test me. My teaching style and even subjects were a big change for the students, and some of them adamantly pushed back. Luckily, my manager, James, and I have been brainstorming methods to direct their behavior, and it has made a huge change. I am, as always, a workaholic, so it is really inspiring to have someone at school who is as creative and inspired to come up with solutions to cope with classroom challenges as I am. I was hired to help facilitate some changes in our school, and I love having a supportive network ready to help achieve those goals. James has also been excellent at facilitating conferences with the parents. Every parent was encouraged to sign up for a meeting with James and me to discuss the new direction we were taking the class in and their student's progress. Quite a few already have, and more will be coming every week. I love that the parents want to be involved, and it gives me a lot of insight into the individual students and Taiwan's culture as a whole. I have never been in parent conferences before, mostly due to the language barrier, but I am so pleased to able to here.

Shocked Keynes during our scent lab in Science. 

If you know anything about my teaching experiences, you know I love teaching Science. It is my absolute favorite, but generally not taught at after-school programs in English in Taiwan. My school is willing to try it out though, which is huge. It is a way to excite kids and inspire them. It is hands-on with immediate results. It incorporates multiple learning styles and types of intelligence easily. It is everything I love about teaching in one class. Luckily, I've been given the books and materials I need to create the science classes and labs I want. My younger, lower level classes have been doing the five senses this month, while my older, more advanced classes are using a Foresman book from the States. It has been a great month, and the excitement over this new vocabulary has carried over to our phonics, conversation, and writing classes. It is awesome to see the kids adapting to the new structures and expectations.

Here's to eleven more awesome months in Taiwan!

After School Program

I have been so busy I completely forgot to post about my new job. This is my "but, what do you DO there?" post, and can be read in contrast to my previous post on my hagwon job.

Now I am working for an after school program. This is similar to a hagwon, in that I do not work for the Korean public school system. It is different than most hagwons though in a few key ways. My employer is an agency that has contracts with many different public schools in Daegu, and they hire Korean and native English teachers to work at these programs. In general, each school has a native teacher one day a week and a Korean teacher for the rest. That said, their employees can end up going all over Daegu to work - sometimes five different schools a week! The biggest downfall is the commute. Some schools may be close and easy to get to, while others are a pain.

Personally, I live downtown, but my schools are far away. I commute for up to three hours four days a week, and thirty minutes each way for the fifth day. I work at one school four days a week - two days in each Korean teachers' class, and the fifth day at a different school on the other side of town. Each teacher has their own style of teaching and idea of what I am supposed to do - some only want me to review or play games, others want me to introduce new material and do more teaching. I try to do the best I can within their expectations.

I work at elementary schools, so my students are older than last year. They are also a lot lower levels, since they didn't go to an English kindy program. The classes are bigger - at most they can have twenty students, as opposed to the max of 10 at my old school. It is a mixed bag, and it is difficult to say which is "better," but I felt like my old job was a lot closer to a teacher's role in the US.

For those considering working for an after school program - brace yourself for the commute. You might luck out, but it isn't reliable. You can be moved to a new school at any semester break. They generally do not hire out of country - you have to already have been working in Korea AND be here for an in person interview. They pay well, better than most places - but you have to pay for the commute costs. Don't expect classroom resources, you probably won't have a copier, printer, paper, anything really. I am lucky if I have computer access and board markers. In general, the parents are less invested in their kids schooling, since they are paying so much less than hagwon parents. This is a blessing and a curse.

This is Shunnie, one of my co-teachers.

This is Noa, one of my co-teachers.

Noa had asked me to have a Halloween party, since it fell on my turn to teach her class this year. It was lots of fun, we played games and such. Here are a few shots from that day..