New Students

On March 4th our academy--and the Korean school system--began the new school year.

Accordingly, we accepted quite a few new students.

As a teacher, I usually find new students to be a pain, because they need to be trained to our way of doing things, such as speaking English in class, participating in discussions, etc.    There are quite a few academies in Korea that require students to be passive learners.  Ok, well, most are like that.

When some of these students who have been trained to be passive learners come to our academy, they are in for a shock, as we promote active, student-centered learning.  Instead of simply sitting at desks and copying notes, our students move around, write on the whiteboard, engage each other, and ask and answer questions.

(I realize I am preaching here, but there are so many problems with the Korean educational system . . .)

Anyway, in my 6th grade class there are two new students.  The class has been together for a few years, so the new students really stand out.

Last Friday, in the middle of class, one student asked me, "Teacher, are we going to have a test on these vocabulary words?"

As it is the first unit in the book and we are just getting started I hadn't planned to have a test, but, for amusement purposes, I responded, "Ok, sure, let's have a test."

Immediately, as expected, there came a loud vocal response from the rest of the class:

"Teacher, no!"
"No test!"
"Oh my gosh!"
"I don't like tests!"
"Only him!"

I seized on the last one.  "Only him?" I asked, pointing to the student who had asked the question in the first place.

"Yes!" the rest of the class exclaimed.

"Ok," I replied jokingly, "Only a vocabulary test for him."

"Yeah!"

It was at this point that I looked at the faces of the two new girls in the class, and I almost burst out laughing, for they were amused but also shocked, as in, "What the hell is going on in this class?"

To me that look--that feeling--means learning is finally starting to take place.