C&T 491

Dr. Cho Weekly Journal #1 Hazara Leon

May 29, 2017

The first week of the practicum has been a rollercoaster of emotions. From the time we
stepped foot in the Korean Airport we were faced with feelings of exhaustion, excitement
and so many questions. We wondered where we would be going, what we needed to wear
to meet the teachers on that first night, what we had all forgotten to pack, etc. As soon as
we had all gathered we were on a two-hour long bus ride to our final destination. At the
bus terminal we were happily greeted by a few of the faculty of Kyunghwa Girls High
School. They were truly inviting and took care of everything for us that first night. They
even prepared us a small night snack and briefly went over the next days schedule before
sending us off to our rooms to finally enjoy a good nights rest.
Now, our first full day at Kyunghwa Girls Private School was a blur of introductions and
instructions. Before separating we all enjoyed our first breakfast at the students cafeteria,
which was truly the best meal thus far, and then we all gathered in E1 (our second home)
and went over the days schedule. As a group we all met the president and vice-president
of the school as well as the other professors. This was truly one of the most nerve-
wracking experiences I have ever faced. Being in a room full of teachers, presidents, and
other faculty made me realize that I was taking part in something so much bigger than
myself. This was followed by even more introductions, but this time at my respective
school, Kyunghwas Business High School. Although on a much smaller scale than the
first introduction, this second introduction was more intimate. We were personally
introduced to the principal and vice-principal, and were even invited to visit their office
and have a small chat with them. During our meeting with the principal of the school, we
had our first taste of the hierarchy differences in Korea. Even if this was my second time
in Korea and I knew it was expected that I bow to my elders and greet them respectfully,
I had never experience the cultural differences from the stance of a student teacher. I was
not just an exchange student this time, I was actually going to be working with the people
at my school and would be expected to follow the guidelines set by the school for the
faculty. This meeting was really the first time that our small group of four (Aiyana,
Elizabeth, Maya and I) first began to help each other out and work together. Prior to this
day we had only briefly discussed some of our worries and expectations for the
practicum, but this became a true test of our bond. As a team we used our skills to help
each other navigate through the campus and introduce ourselves to the teachers. Another
revelation that came from the hierarchy differences in Korea was the fact that wherever
we went the students greeted us with a full 90 degrees bow and a enthusiastically shouted
Hello teacher! Coming from America this was a breathe of fresh air. There is a big
difference between the levels of respect Korean students have for their teachers to
American school students that rarely acknowledge their teachers outside of class and with
a much lower level of respect. Not only is the level of respect different, their enthusiasm
for learning is also at its highest at Kyunghwa. These girls truly enjoy learning and are
able to express themselves in anything that they do. Im not sure if this has to do with it
C&T 491
Dr. Cho Weekly Journal #1 Hazara Leon
May 29, 2017

being an all-girls school and the fact that they move as a group from one grade to the
next, but the girls have all developed their personalities to the fullest and its something
that is difficult to see anywhere around the world. Their personalities shine through in
their classroom settings and in their afterschool activities.

Apart from all of the introductions we also got to introduce ourselves to the students
through English Broadcast and then met with the NEST Dionne. She was truly lovely and
welcoming. She walked us through the weekly schedule and talked to us about the girls
and got to know us a bit more throughout the week. Some of her biggest concerns for
these girls was that they were not developing a full understanding of the English
language. As part of the EB curriculum they are encouraged to learn business English
that will help prepare the girls for the work force, but rarely do the students get the
opportunity to practice with real-life situations. There is also the fact that they are limited
by their curriculum to the type of English they can learn. Therefore, one of her wishes
was that we allow the girls to learn English in a fun manner (i.e. games, activities,
mediate). In addition to that, she wishes for us to allow the girls to practice their English
with a native speaker and encourage them to just speak. Her wishes for what we do as
part of the practicum and her personal teaching philosophy brings back a lot of the
material from the first chapter. Rather than having separate approaches she has developed
a teaching philosophy that mixes a lot of the earlier approaches and she has adapted it to
the level of the girls. As part of our first week of observations we attended various first
and second grade classes and depending on the classes level of understanding, mood,
interaction, etc., Dionne was very flexible and adapted her teaching style to fit the class.
As an ESL student myself I appreciated her flexibility and the ways she tried to interact
with the girls. She encouraged them to speak English regardless of how well they spoke it
and corrected them only after they finished speaking. For instance, she had one third year
student () who she encouraged to come to her classroom during lunchtime
to just converse in English. Although they were only 20-minute chats, that
short amount of time allowed her to have one-on-one time to ask questions
and become more comfortable with small talk. Now, the last highlight of the
week was definitely English club. These were a group of 19 girls that were all
either proficient in English or had a high desire to learn it. For three hours we
were given full reign of the classroom and got to interact with them on a
more intimate level. These girls all had questions about life outside Korea and
even if they were not highly proficient, they tried their best to practice their
C&T 491
Dr. Cho Weekly Journal #1 Hazara Leon
May 29, 2017

English. All in all, I am looking forward to our future meetings and to seeing
the students open up to us. My teaching philosophy as of now is to create a
lesson plan that will allow these girls to have fun and still fit the EB English
curriculum. I also want to find a way to motivate the students to feel
confident in their English and to understand that there is no correct level of
proficiency.