Come One, Come All!

Alright, I get it. I'm not good at this whole "post with consistency" thing.

In my defense, I do have a few posts written that I've been wanting to post, but haven't been able to due to lack of pictures. I'll try to remedy that this weekend...

I had my first (and, I suppose, only) Open Class yesterday. At this point, you may have an overwhelming urge to ask "Open Class? What is this thing you speak of?" Don't worry, I'm about to tell you.

Instead of having normal parent-teacher interviews, which are stressful enough in their own right, Korean hogwans invite the parents of each student to come and sit in on, and participate in, one of their children's classes.

This is on top of the fact that each classroom's door has a little window in it so that Mummy can stop by and watch her child any time she sees fit.

Oh, and have I mentioned that we have cameras in each of our classrooms so that the Principal, the Director, the Maintenance Staff... anyone and everyone can "look in on us" from the comfort and privacy of their office?

So I COMPLETELY understand the need for an Open Class. Really, I do.

But I digress.

So last Tuesday I was informed that it was time for 6A2 to have their Open Class. Normally, this would cause me a little bit of stress. However, OISE had all but rid of me of any need I may once have felt to experience paralyzing fear at being judged while trying my damnedest to instill knowledge into the minds of today's youth. Thank-you Usha and, of course, Olga.

Now Open Classes are a big deal, for the school at least. They're often what determines whether or not a student re-enrolls the next year, or a parent recommends the school to their friends. So, if you don't get it right the first time, you have to keep doing it over until you do. One colleague had to redo hers three or four times because the parents weren't satisfied. They couldn't understand why their children weren't speaking, didn't seem to be having fun.

I could be wrong, but perhaps it's because their parents are all stuffed into their classroom, waiting anxiously for their little Einstein to re-discover the Theory of Relativity while simultaneously composing the world's next great symphony and achieving their black belt in Taekwondo. But like I said, I could be wrong.

Ya, so that may be a bit of an exaggeration. A bit. Parents here are VERY concerned with their child's academic success and are not above using corporal punishment to help their little darlings achieve. I'm not passing judgement, I'm just saying... if I knew that I was going to get a whack when I got home for answering something incorrectly at school, I wouldn't talk either.

Ok, back on topic.

So I knew that I had to get it right the first time. Mainly because a lot of effort goes into planning these things and, well, I'm a little lazy. I'd rather hang out at Caitlin's, watch zombie movies and eat soup on a week day night....

So, to make an already long-ish story a little bit shorter, I will not be re-doing my Open Class. My nine Mums and 1 Dad were thoroughly impressed with how well my students are doing and seemed to enjoy making shadow animals with their children (give me a break, we're learning about shadows right now).

So now I'm on my way to Caitlin's. 30 Days of Night, here I come!