Skip to main content

A Little Hoarse, of Course

Alice the Camel has 5 humps....

(all the way to)

Alice the camel has NO humps now Alice is a HORSE! NEIGHHHHHHHHHHH!

Every day I end my kindergarten classes with this classic and it goes down like a house on fire.

After 7 days of kindergarten, the other thing that is going down quickly is my little voice.

YES people who know me MY VOICE IS NOW LITTLE! I can hardly speak anymore and as I write, can actually feel my vocal chords BEGGING me not to say one...more...word.

I can just imagine the number of people I know across the planet letting out a huge guffaw and a sigh of relief, to think that FOR ONCE I have no choice but to JUST..SHUT..UP.

I suppose I can also take solace in the fact that my fingers aren't broken, as my Uncle D has often accused me of having when I haven't written in awhile and so, I can continue to blather on in writing and simply hope that this will sustain me until my BIG voice comes back.

I've been reading some things about kindergarten teaching, as many of my new students have never been to school before and have NEVER spoken English.

A few tips include:

"Speak at a lower tone so that children know they shouldn't be yelling in the classroom." Uh WHAT?? Okay, I'll just WHISPER for 40 minutes asking them to sit down and be quiet. I'm sure the zero percent chance they will have of hearing me will REALLY help to make the classroom a calm environment.

"Make sure the children know they must sit in their desks for class and that this is not a playroom." Yes, do that IN THEIR SECOND LANGUAGE USING YOUR QUIET VOICE.

"This craft should take no longer than 30 minutes." Dear author, you should be shot. You should also try to do the craft with HUMAN 6 year olds, not the robot ones you clearly tested your craft on.

"Songs are a great way for children to learn English." Yes they are. They are also a great way for teacher to lose her voice, her patience and her mind while trying to control 12 six year olds as they run around the room, screaming at the top of their lungs about Alice and her damn humps.

They're lucky they're cute.

Comments

Anonymous said…
not going talk...did I just see a pig go by the window?

Popular posts from this blog

They Started a Heat Wave

(sing) a tropical heat wave.... (White Christmas fans? anyone? c'mon..) Yes, there is a heat wave, with warm sun and highs of 30 but NOT HERE IN KOREA. Yes, it is warm and humid but there is no sun. Do you want to know where the sun has ended up? BELFAST!! Lucky bastards....I wanted a tan by August gosh darnit - I should have stayed with the Guinness. And, it wouldn't have been a day on this blog without some reference to the weather. The weekend was a nice long relaxing one but super panic hit on Monday night and I was ready to get out of the house. I was freaking out yet again about the garbage (what the hell is wrong with me?) and didn't have a great sleep. There is something to be said for cooping yourself up in your house to watch English speaking DVDs for a day. But I think this only stops you from experiencing the culture. I did venture out on Saturday by bus (whoa, crazy bus drivers) to Pusan where the open markets you can barter and get cheap shirts - thanks to my...

I'm baaaack!

Hard to believe that last entry was almost three years ago! Many moons ago, I set this blog up to chronicle our journeys. Once we were grounded a bit more, it kind of lost its way. I spent some time working on my writing offline, taking on different projects and working full time as a technical writer. It was difficult to keep this blog up. Not for any real reason I can articulate. Just had my words redirected to other avenues for awhile. But, I'm pleased to say, after over a decade away, we are back in the UK, living and re-experiencing a place we enjoyed in the mid-2000s. Social media has certainly changed the way we look at blogs. I'm excited to navigate this new world, explore just what people post, what people read. What's better on one of the many new platforms and what's still appropriate for good old fashioned blogosphere. For now, here's a peek at where we're staying -- in a pretty little village just outside of Oxford. A temporary home ...

Korean Drivers Manual

1 - First and foremost, you are the only car on the road. Please drive this way. 2 - Be sure to keep a tally of the number of pedestrians you hit. 10 points for old ladies, 20 for young children (they can run faster you see). You can also add 5 points for each near miss and pat yourself on the back for trying. 3 - Red lights can tend to get in the way of your driving. Simply proceed through them if you need to. Honk your horn to make sure the cars that actually have the right of way know you'll be sailing through the intersection. 4 - Signalling is recommended but your car does not have blind spots. Just go ahead an change lanes. 5 - It works best if you keep one foot on the gas and one foot on the brakes at all times. This will allow you to continually pump the breaks all the way down the street avoiding 'other cars' while still revving your engine and going at the speed of light during those intervals when you are not slamming on your brakes. (By 'other cars' I ...