EPIK Orientation Day 2

Date: 11/27

Today was Day Duo of my EPIK Orientation training.  It was much more "how to teach" focused.  It was relatively good--although I'm a little tired and just a little buzzed from some wine I had at dinner that I will try to be comprehensible, but if I make some silly mistake or go on some tangent, please be patient.  (Qualifier: I'm not drunk--just a little buzzed and happy/tired.  But I did happen to share a bottle of wine this evening with two others and it was the first GOOD/DELICIOUS/AMAZING/FANTASTIC Italian food I've had in over a month so I thoroughly enjoyed myself).

We got up and went to breakfast.  It was a nice mix of Western style food and Korean.  For example, we had little over-easy eggs (with ketchup, which I don't do, but other American are amazed over), a salad (yes, leaf lettus and ranch-pseudo dressing), bacon (a mix between Canadian and American style), and "grilled" veggies.

The coffee is the Korean Instant kind, so afterwards I went out to get some real stuff.  In between ordering coffee and saying, "Gahmsamneeda" (Thank you!) It started to snow!  TO SNOW!  I think I might have scared the coffee lady because I pointed out side, tried not to yell "SNOW!"  It was only a few minutes walk back to the NIIED center, I was laughing out loud at all the snow.  It was beautiful!

Then we sit down and proceed to have 4 classes.

1.  Classroom Management: A good basic overview of effective management skills.  I particularly liked this one because I felt like I learned a lot of stuff.  But I know that many teachers already have been teaching for a while so that they knew these styles.
2.  Multiple Intelligence:  A class based on showing the teachers different games/activities that would work for many intelligence.  It was good because some of the games might not work for everyone, but we brainstormed about how to make them applicable to different places.
LUNCH
3. Lesson Planning: This lecturer was fantastic.  She currently teaches teachers at the International teachers School and has been in Korea for 8 years.  She is a curriculum planner by career so she basically showed us exactly how to plan a lesson.  Then she opened her website and then the links to all 300 of her lessons that she did in a 2 year time period.
4.  Project-based learning: This is a different idea where you give the kids a "project" that they basically do all the English prep in class and outside they make a poster or drawing that they present in the next class.  It sounded like a good idea, just a lot of work. Maybe this would work for a little later on, once I feel like I can get the basics under my belt.
DINNER: (which I didn't really eat because I made plans with some new friends to get ITALIAN food).
5. Korean Class: which was quiet fun this time.  I sat next to Chris again and we generally have fun just learning and trying.  There are people in the class that drive me up the wall, but beyond that, I can maybe read 75% of the alaphabet after 2 hours of class.

Then I walked to a restaurant in Hyewa and shared two bottles of wine between 6 people.  It was a good time.

I am really tired so unfortunately I'm signing out.  I have notes that I really want to upload to give you examples of the lectures--but they will have to wait.

I have just one parting comment.

My favorite Korean word: 70,000.  It is read: Seven 10,000.  So seven is "chil" and 10,000 is "man."  So the Korean word 70,000 is "Chil man".   heheh!