So during the normal school year, I have an after school club class that I meet with a couple times a week. Usually all of them (but the girl on the left-most side in the photo below) come every week. They have made teaching all the more rewarding because they have so much zeal for learning and have continuously and successfully (though at times reluctantly) met the challenges that I give them.
A lot of times I hear them say, "Teacher, too hard," to which I reply, "That's why you're here." I've thrown questions at them like, "What is creativity? Why is it important?" I've gone over the script for one of The Simpsons' "Treehouse of Horror" episodes and then made them watch the show without Korean subtitles (and to my delight, they even laughed at the appropriate times, an almost full-proof way to determine if they understand the language). We've played "Apples to Apples." They teach me Korean. The three students in the middle of the picture below have been attending my 2-week winter English Camp (of which I will write about later). They're only in what would translate to 7th grade by American standards, and so I'm always impressed by their hard work and ability to communicate in what is for them a foreign language. I have a feeling that someday, maybe in 10 years from now, I will be receiving a phone call informing me that they're in the USA visiting... I hope so at least.^^
Does it ever freak you out that characters from your drawings have come to life and are sitting across from you in the classroom?
ReplyDeleteCan we expect an expansion of some of these themes in your work per this new, nuanced, experience of the little people in the uniforms?
Hmmm, or how they get beaten up by teachers with sticks? No joke.
ReplyDeletedaaam. remind me never to get reincarnated as a Korean schoolchild. The sheer amount of crap i pulled in elementary school would lead to significant deforestation!
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