Schools (not) out for summer.

People around here are officially calling it summer. Few clouds hang in the sky and the temperatures are high enough to break a sweat. School is out for summer in the states, but here we have until July 20th until freedom rings. As much as I'd love for a break, a lot of great things have been happening for myself and my students.

I had an open class, which literally means opening your class to parents, local teachers, or the vice
principle/principle.All teachers in Korea are responsible for them and I think it's a really positive thing. It holds
teachers accountable for what is happening in their classroom. It could be a great thing for the U.S., eliminating
the tendency to judge teachers based on student test scores on standardized tests. Also, helping deal
with teachers that, plain and simple, just aren't teaching. 4th grade.

One of my favorite things when reading English journals is discovering a personal letter. 5th grade.

I've been tutoring a 6th grader one-on-one lately and, in just 2 months, she's gone from being too shy to say a
single word to constantly pointing around the room  saying the English word for anything and everything. She's
100% come out of her shell. She sketched my picture.

There exists a bird crazy enough to have hatched 2 babies outside our 6th grade window. Poor little ones are terrified
of my students, but they are being pretty respectful.

Restaurant Skits, 6th Grade, Anyang-si, South Korea from Lana Wright on Vimeo.

I'm really connecting with my 6th graders lately. It hasn't always come easy. They have so much going on in their lives; it's not always easy to care about what is happening in English class. But I do think we are all getting the hang of it and they absolutely loved this restaurant skit.

And just an fyi- If you're a U.S. teacher and your confidentiality alarm is going off after reading this post, the video and photos with children are completely acceptable here in Korea. No biggie :)