Making and Doing

The beginning of the final teaching-week in January marks the final week of a three-week long 'intensive' class i've been teaching (where the kids come to class every day, as opposed to every two days). As a survivor of 'intensive Calculus', I almost felt bad for the kids who had to come that often - until I heard the name of the class: Make and Do.

Me and my Korean co-teacher were tasked with preparing the Syllabus, and deciding exactly what we'd be doing in the class (all we really had to go off-of was the title, indicating it was to be an arts and crafts class). It took a few hours to iron out the details of what we wanted to do, but the format is essentially this: I present a theme for the day (Clothes, Rooms in a House, Musical Instruments, etc), tell them that today we're going to make (whatever we happen to be making that day) to get them excited. Then, using imagery, I link the word with the picture, and get them to repeat.

It's important not to make this part too long, since kids have a limited attention span (who knew?!). I've learnt a few techniques to keep it interesting, though - and at the end of that 5-10 minute segment, I quiz them. 'Okay! What's this?!' 'A shoe!'
'What's this?! A hamburger??' 'Nooo! Pants!'

And so on!

After the quiz, they get to start making the craft of the day - the most notable one being last Tuesday, when we got to make a Sandwhich. Oh, let me tell you, we had many jealous folks, as we were walking down the halls proudly with our awesome Sandwhiches.

Anyway, that class concludes this Thursday - after which, I get an extra period off every day. Score!

The weekend ended up being pretty slow-mo. I had originally planned to go to an amusement park on Friday, but unfortunately that fell through (it's still on the agenda though, for when I come back from Hong Kong). Instead, I went out at a local restaurant, and tried a new type of Korean food- not that I remember the name. I have to hear about something three or four times before i'll remember what it is - but with names like Don Ka Su, Gogi Mondu, Kimchi Bokumbop, Kimbop, and so on, it's not the easiest thing in the world to remember. Pictured here is the restroom outside said restaurant - the Man Room. Only one Man at a time (and yet three urinals!).

Aside from that, I got the chance to play some Starcraft with Dan and Jace on Sunday morning (or Saturday night, by the Ottawa standard of being slow). It was cool to finally be able to get some games going, after being here a few months - although I wasn't able to connect through the school firewall, unfortunately. I ended up going to a PC-Bong (Bong translates to Room.. it's just what PC Cafes are called). The computers are very high-end, equipped with the latest games and graphics, and remarkably cheap to use. At the end of our session, i'd been there two and a half hours - and had to pay a whopping 3$!. Fun times!

Hope everyone had a good weekend!
Cheers