준비! Ready!

I wake up this morning and tell myself to have a good day. Let's have a good day.

I'm in the process of teaching my students about schedules. What are you doing right now? What do you like to do? What do you do everyday? Things like that. So, this morning I decided to film myself doing "daily things" like eating food, brushing my teeth, and catching the bus. You never know how well your preparation will work until the minute you begin to teach the lesson. Each day, you can just hope and pray that what you're trying to say will get across well.

Upon arrival at school, I discovered that my school slippers were missing. In Korean schools (and many Asian schools), students, teachers, and staff... everyone working at the school, and people who come to visit, wear slip-on shoes of some sort. These school shoes are only worn in the building, though sometimes people are allowed to travel across the courtyards in them. I find this pointless. If you can wear them outside in the courtyard as you run from one building to the next, how come you can't wear regular shoes in the the classrooms?

Anywho, the slippers they gave me were missing, so I hunted for them momentarily, wondering if I had somehow misplaced them. I was sure I'd put them in my TaLK cubby. Eventually I asked my mentor teacher about it. She said that all the guest slippers were being collected for parents for tomorrow. ... I don't know what's happening tomorrow. I may have to ask, because she didn't go into any more detail about it. I was just happy that I didn't lose the shoes. My mentor teacher secretly made a phone call, and then told me where the shoes were being stored. She told me I could go down and grab a pair for today. I must remember to buy my own pair and bring them to school.

Today, the first graders have a special lesson. Something about animation. Another teacher came in the classroom and wrote many words on the board. She asked them questions about what animation they liked. I recognized some words, and I think she said Totoro. If she did, I can remain happy, haha. I love Totoro! Near the end, she handed them paper, and had them draw many things. Each student had to take the syllables in their name and write them on the paper (spaced out). Then, they had to think of another word that each syllable in their name shared. For example, the syllables in my name are: Sha-nnon. I could write "share" or "shark" "or shape" ... and "nonsense" "cannon" .... Then they draw a picture of the new word. It reminds me of a similar activity people do in the States. Write each letter of your first name down the left side of the paper, then write an adjective that describes yourself using the beginning of each letter.

S hy
H appy
A ntsy
N ice
N atural
O bservant
N ifty

It's always hard for me to think of three positive N adjectives.

'Til next time,
-Shirby