Grade 1 & 2

I started this blog to talk about my life at school and students, but It's been hijacked by tales of women. At any rate, something has been on my mind lately concerning my little ones that's really gotten me into a twist... Incipit thoughtful pose?!



I teach at a rural school in the middle of Gangseo-Gu, Busan. It has a total of 32 students, many of whom are orphans. When I first arrived very few could recite the alphabet, let alone read a simple word like cat or happy. After my first year of damage control I needed to get back to the basics, especially with the younger students. Kids are so bright at that age and pick up language so fast. I really wanted to make sure every student could read, it makes the rest of the process a lot easier.

From the start of this school year I've been teaching a lot of phonics, and so far I've been quite successful! I'm a bit stumped on what to do for the grade 1 & 2 class (combined), because 2 students are MUCH better at learning simple conversational English while the rest are picking up how to read really really fast. I've been teaching for over 3 years and while I'm no super teacher, I certainly know how to conduct a great English class. Should I split my class into 20 minute blocks of phonics and conversation? Should I switch between the two every other class? It's not a question of the children being bored and not paying attention, it's the unique needs of each child.

I've attended lots of workshops and seminars in Korea, but they're all pretty much the same. They're just glossing over important points while never really touching on them in a meaningful way.

"All children are unique and have different needs..."

Ok no shit, now what? How do you tailor your lessons to maximize the potential of each student in the class? What strategies can I use to promote the best learning environment for the kids. This is the problem I'm faced with right now. I'm having a real hard time taking my game to the next level, and I really want to. Teachers must also continue to learn.

My school is awesome and my students are brilliant, they just never had a chance to learn English properly. I'm the man in the position to help open that door in their lives and I wanna make sure they have what they need to get there. They deserve the chance (if they want it, kids are fickle beings) to be given all they need to learn and grow. Anyhow that's what I've been mulling over this past week. Just gotta keep working till I find the right formula?!