Saturday, October 16, 2010

It's all in the family


I recently finished a two week unit on comparatives and superlatives (big, bigger, biggest, tall, taller, tallest, etc..)  that culminated with a writing activity about families. I was focusing on the grammar structure "___ is ____ than ____" and "____ is the ____."  Some activities during the first week included an arm wrestling tournament to determine who is the strongest, a foot stomping competition to determine who is the loudest, and a game I invented called "comparative and superlative soccer shootout." While the first week was filled with friendly competition and lots of comparisons, the second week proved to be the most amusing.
The lesson started off with a review of last week, as well as a brief review of the names of the family members. After analyzing a picture of the Simpsons Family, (in which I learned that Marge is indeed taller than Homer due to her hair) we launched into a writing activity about the people who live in our house. They were to use their previous acquired knowledge of comparatives and superlatives to write 5 sentences about their family. Who is taller? Your mom or dad? Who is the oldest? Youngest? Afterwards, I told them we would share what we wrote about our families. Of course, they rolled their eyes and cursed me under their breath. After all, I had made them write silently for the last 15 minutes. Little did they know I had a trick up my sleeve....
As I mentioned earlier, I've had the peculiar problem of partially nude students in my class. I've been wracking my brain to find a way to combat this most bizarre of classroom management issues, and have begun to question if it was even a battle worth fighting. 
Then it dawned on me. 
Why not turn this scantily issue into a learning opportunity?
So, to model the way I wanted them to share their families, I went first. I told the kids a few sentences about my host family. "In my house," I told them, "I have a mom, dad and sister. I am older than my sister and my mom is younger than my dad. I am the tallest and my sister is the shortest." Afterwards, I would ask them comprehension questions about my family. "Who is taller? My mom or my dad?" I would inquire.  Next, I told the class, "after we share about our families, we need to take a family photograph. But I need my mom, dad, and sister for the picture!" I would then select 3 kids to assume the role of my parents and my little sister. Although the class giggled slightly, I could sense the boredom in their eyes.
However, I did not arbitrarily choose just any kids to play my family. Oh no, it was premeditated. I had a score to settle with these young punks. And I would settle it on my terms, by my rules, and the best part of it all is that they would never know I had it out for them...
As 30 sets of teenage eyes were blankly staring at me, I exclaimed "But we need CLOTHES for our picture!"as I pulled out a big bag of clothing I had collected. Inside were dresses, handbags from my little sister, ajumma (middle aged women) visors, and other goodies. I then proceeded to pass out the necessary articles of clothing to each family member- the ajumma visor and pants for mother, the dress and handbag for sister, and the bowling cap for father.
At that point, the class went BEZERK. Every student, including the perpetual sleepers, were standing on their seats yelling and hollering as their classmates begrudgingly cross dressed in the name of learning. They then whipped out their cell phones and swarmed the unassuming "family" as they accosted them like paparazzi. 
"Muahahahaha," I giggled to myself. "My plan worked perfectly!" 
That one kid who arrogantly strolled into my class 40 minutes earlier without pants on was now sporting a dress and handbag while his classmates enthusiastically photographed him: 

Thats right Min Young, if you can't find the time to put your pants on, i'll just give you something to wear!
Sometimes, however, my plan backfired. As you can see, this young "woman" enthusiastically embraced "her" new gender role.



My host family as portrayed by class 1-4. Apparently, I have a habit of annoying the fathers in my life. You're not alone dad!


This student wrote this about his family:"My mother is smarter than me! My sister is stronger than me! I  My father has bigger masheene than me! I am defunct!"
Gotta love high school boys....


I was waiting for my students to turn the tables on me. Here is Momma Joshie with her flock.


 
All in all, the lesson was a huge success. Not only did my students demonstrate communicate competence of comparatives and superlatives through the four major forms of language (reading, writing, listening, and speaking), but I also established another rule for my class: If you forget to put your knickers on before you enter the classroom, don't worry! I have a pretty little dress for you to wear instead!

Until next time...



    



Monday, October 11, 2010

It's time for Celebration!!!


This past weekend, two important milestones were reached. On October 9th, the Fulbright Korea program celebrated it's 60th anniversary, and my dad celebrated his (somewhere close to) 60th birthday. While I couldn't be physically present with my dad on his special day, here is a greeting from class 2-3: 

This is "Happy Birthday" attempted by 16 year old high school boys. They're probably my best group of students in regards to behavior, participation, and competency.  Just so you know dad, they thought your name was hilarious. They kept saying "alien" instead of "Eliot." Happy Birthday pops!


A  환갑, or Hwangab, is a very significant event in Korean culture.  Since the traditional Korean calendar is 60 years long, the completion of the cycle marks a fresh beginning. It is common for organizations, people, and companies to organize large celebrations marking their 60th anniversary or birthday.  Interestingly enough, the significance of the  환갑 in recent years has declined due to the advent of modern medicine. Only a few short decades ago, most Koreans did not live to see their 60th birthday, but now that South Koreans' average life expectancy is one of the highest in the developed world, this once monumental milestone is less important. 
Nonetheless, not only does October 9th mark the 60th Anniversary for the South Korea Fulbright program, it also marks the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War. Labeled as the "Forgotten War" by American historians, the Korean conflict that raged from 1950-1953 has left the peninsula divided, and sure has not been "forgotten" by the South Korean people.  The Fulbright program was originally drafted by Arkansas senator J. William Fulbright as a way to help heal a world scarred by World War II. Ironically enough, only a month before the start of the Korean war, the Republic of Korea signed the official agreement with the United States to establish the Fulbright Program in Korea. Sixty years later, more than 4,200 grantees, both Korean and American, have benefitted from the Fulbright program in Korea.  Today, Fulbright operates in over 120 countries world-wide, bringing scholars, teachers, and researchers together in the name of intercultural understanding.  The program operates on numerous fronts- there is an English Teaching Assistantship Program, (which I am a part of), a grant program for researchers, and a guest lecturer position for foreign teachers. As the largest and oldest of the Programs, Korea is the "flagship Fulbright program." 


For the weekend, all the ETAs headed up to Seoul courtesy of Fulbright. We convened on the 5 star Shilla hotel for an elegant evening of food, drink, and distinguished guests. The Fulbright Office in Seoul had been planning an elaborate gala for months around the theme of "Towards Peace in Korea and the World."  During the gala, many important people spoke about the laurels and importance of the Fulbright program in South Korea. Among the guests were the Honorable Christopher R. Hill, (former ambassador to Iraq,) the Honorable Ahn Byong Man, (Minister of Education, Science and Technology) as well as other government officials from both South Korea and the United States. It was a star studded night, but the Fulbright ETAs also had a moment in the spotlight as well.  We were to debut our original choral arrangement, "We Share in the Dream" in front of a packed house. 




Myself and other ETAs at the gala in our monochromatic choir outfits.


Although the speeches were really interesting, the best part of the evening was the food. Check out this spread!

The Fulbright Flag!


During our bi annual ETA conference, the 2010-2011 ETA class rehearsed a special song composed, written, and performed entirely by the ETAs.  Entitled "We Share the Dream," the song centered around the anniversary's theme "Toward Peace in Korea and the World."  


This is the video of our dress rehearsal. Can you find me? Hint: I'm the only one who's not standing still...


So far this year, I have learned a new language, began my career as a teacher, engaged in a variety of new activities, and made my choral debut. For those of you that have had the blessing of hearing my heavenly voice, it won't come to a surprise when I say that it may or may not have been strongly suggested that I don't sing. Apparently, I was making the male soprano section laugh too hard with my tone deaf cackling.

Nonetheless, the performance went off without a hitch. It was a really neat experience to see a choral arrangement come to life.  And now I can truly say that I am a jack-of-all-trades: cultural ambassador, Jokhu athlete, English teacher, and choir boy.  

Until next time......