Whining Wednesday

Well, Mr Beak seemed to have a lot of work to do on his laptop this morning, because I was given free reign to do way more speak and repeat than usual. I enjoyed the extra class interaction, but I still hesitate to call it 'teaching'. What was super duper annoying is that Mr Beak will start the class, talk to them in Korean and then turn to me and go 'O.K., your turn to teach', with no extra info or anything (like exactly what I'm teaching). So I deal with that, quickly - disguised as concept checking with the kids -  work out where they're up to, and start the lesson. I'm happy chugging along, and Mr Beak will randomly decide it's his turn again, right in the middle of my sentence, or in the middle of an activity. He'll also 'help' by getting the students to turn the lights on (right after I have gotten them set up so everone can see the screen properly), or by clicking onto the next slide when he thinks I'm done with the one I'm on (and I'm not), or telling me to show the kids the answers right away, when I'm trying to get them to answer me, rather than copy off the board. I'm pretty sure he's just trying to help, but it's rather annoying! And, he gives no space for anything. He doesn't pause to let the kids think, or wait to see if they understand my instructions before translating into Korean. At even the slightest hesitation, he pounces and either provides the answer, or asks someone else. I am a much slower teacher, prefering to listen than to speak, and to give space rather than pressure, for the most part.

So, all the teachers (or which I am clearly not one) left after lunch today to do something to do with the big high school exams tomorrow. I had to stay in the empty office and find things to do. I actually managed to keep pretty busy, making two tests for later in the week, and making an over-all outline for the winter camp. I'm doing a big 'animal themed' series of lessons where the kids can learn good stuff like talking about their likes and dislikes, discussing animals and the environment, describing things, and so on, all under the clever disguise of cute, fluffy, animals. I'm hoping to get a hold of a copy of the movie 'Madagasca' with Korean subtitles for the end of camp party :)