Self-portrait of a Wyvern Lover.

Never have I witnessed self portraits not be a success in either an ESL or non-ESL classroom. Bottom line, students love drawing themselves and they appreciate exploring who they are, so the silhouette and "I am..." poem combo was a hit with my 4th grade winter camp. Using the overhead projector, the teachers traced the student silhouettes projected on white paper. Students then wrote their poems (after review of some key phases and vocabulary...nice time to talk about personality characteristics). Students could also partner and draw one another, but we simply didn't have time. I still remember the silhouette activity I did as a 5th grader. I remember thinking how neat it was that it was my actual shadow on paper. And then the "I am..." poem is something that stood out in one of my favorite graduate courses: Multicultural Education.

Enjoy :)

  
My cellphone camera was accidentally on negative setting. Fyi, a Wyvern is a dragon/lizard/snake and apparently awesome.

Winter Camp: The tale of the the oozing Canapé

A lot of people strongly dislike winter camp, but I love it. I'm lucky enough to be at a school that is allowing myself and one of my co-teachers a lot of freedom in planning. With a small class that we get to see every day, this means a whole lot of fun. Planning/preparation was intense to say the least, but it was more than worth it to see the students as excited as they have been thus far.

What is winter camp you ask? School is out and it is now officially winter break here in South Korea. Winter camp is a little something extra, often for students falling behind in English class. They come to school for 3.5 hours/day for a week and participate in (for my camp), daily story line activities. Ex. cooks at the schools restaurant, the organizers of a garage sale, etc. It being only 3.5 hours long and everything having already been planned and prepared means I am working half days for two weeks. Perfect! Because I have some winter break planning to attend to... Departing for...drum roll...

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Chiang Mai, Thailand on the 14th of January. Compare Chiang Mai's 85 F and sunny to Anyang's current 13-26 F and snowy and you might understand my excitement. For two weeks, I will be volunteering at an orphanage with Friends for Asia. Of course, there will also be some zip-lining, climbing, exploring, traveling, and massaging throughout and afterward.


The Tale of the Oozing Canapé, brought to you by my 3rd grade students:

Just another lemon tree.

Just one of "those days" that I think all expats in Korea experience. Blah, blah, you know...TGIF.

Outside the window @ school. I need some of this Vitamin D.

This video was used in a lesson today and I love it. I know it is pretty commonly used, but it was my first time seeing it today. Great for South Korea's Grade 5 "What are you doing?"
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Hiking this weekend FOR SURE.