It's time to give an update on things going on here. The culture shock is getting better and this is putting me in a better mood. Being in a better mood is helping things out at work too. Most of the challenges I have been having in the classroom are gradually going away. This is in part because I have lowered my expectations and am motivating the students with rewards. This has resulted in significant changes in some of my worst classes.
Surprisingly, I only have one class where the girls are worse than my boys. They started out being a good class then just decided that they wanted to be bad and disrespectful. There will be tears from them on Tuesday. Conversely, one of my former bad classes has transformed into one of my favorite afternoon classes. This is a class that did not start well as my first day the boys decided not to like me as they were rude and I made them stand in the corner with their books over their head. It got so bad in that class that their Korean teacher and I put our heads together and told the director that if they did not change we don't want to teach them anymore.
The director talked to them and they got a bit better. Well that change in them relaxed me a bit so I could have some fun with them instead of managing the challenges. This created a snowball effect where they behaved better and I made the classes more fun. Now all I have to tell them is that we sometimes need to push through some hard and miserable "work" so we can get to the fun part, and the hard and miserable "work" is equally as unpleasant for me as it is for them so let's just get through it together. Yesterday everyone passed their weekly test. The highest grade was 100% and the lowest was one point lower.
On the personal side I understand now why I am here. "The plan," you can say, is coming together. I have learned a lot about myself in the last four months and am now putting a contingency plan together to resolve some things that need urgent attention. For me this journey is about becoming a better person and learning how to feel comfortable in my own skin. I was doing good for a while, but slipped once I got out of my comfort zone. Things are getting better now. Everyday that I implement the contingency plans I begin to feel better and more relaxed.
My leg is doing much better. I have been doing exercises and even go bowling on a regular basis. I walk a lot and that has caused some serious pain; so I have had to do some exercises to strengthen the muscles. Now I can at least live without pain killers most of the week. I was told early on that it would take at least a year to recover, assuming my chances of a full recovery land in the 20% range. I can live with a short leg as long as I can walk and run with a lift in my shoe with no pain. I am hoping that as the anniversary date of the surgery comes closer (February 1) the pain will abide. For now, I remain positive that this will happen.
Surprisingly, I only have one class where the girls are worse than my boys. They started out being a good class then just decided that they wanted to be bad and disrespectful. There will be tears from them on Tuesday. Conversely, one of my former bad classes has transformed into one of my favorite afternoon classes. This is a class that did not start well as my first day the boys decided not to like me as they were rude and I made them stand in the corner with their books over their head. It got so bad in that class that their Korean teacher and I put our heads together and told the director that if they did not change we don't want to teach them anymore.
The director talked to them and they got a bit better. Well that change in them relaxed me a bit so I could have some fun with them instead of managing the challenges. This created a snowball effect where they behaved better and I made the classes more fun. Now all I have to tell them is that we sometimes need to push through some hard and miserable "work" so we can get to the fun part, and the hard and miserable "work" is equally as unpleasant for me as it is for them so let's just get through it together. Yesterday everyone passed their weekly test. The highest grade was 100% and the lowest was one point lower.
On the personal side I understand now why I am here. "The plan," you can say, is coming together. I have learned a lot about myself in the last four months and am now putting a contingency plan together to resolve some things that need urgent attention. For me this journey is about becoming a better person and learning how to feel comfortable in my own skin. I was doing good for a while, but slipped once I got out of my comfort zone. Things are getting better now. Everyday that I implement the contingency plans I begin to feel better and more relaxed.
My leg is doing much better. I have been doing exercises and even go bowling on a regular basis. I walk a lot and that has caused some serious pain; so I have had to do some exercises to strengthen the muscles. Now I can at least live without pain killers most of the week. I was told early on that it would take at least a year to recover, assuming my chances of a full recovery land in the 20% range. I can live with a short leg as long as I can walk and run with a lift in my shoe with no pain. I am hoping that as the anniversary date of the surgery comes closer (February 1) the pain will abide. For now, I remain positive that this will happen.
