So, I figured out why I was getting presents when, on Friday, my desk was COVERED with chocolates, flowers, perfume, and cosmetics from my kindergartners (or should I say, their parents?)...they were for Teacher's Day! I felt so loved and appreciated, which makes the long hours more worthwhile =)
Over the last few months, our early childhood program has taken a few field trips. The first one was to some botannical gardens nearby. We saw interesting insects and beautiful flowers, made soap, and enjoyed playing outside in the fresh air. :-)
This is Amy. She rarely looks this peaceful, but what a cutie she is... <3
Ah, ha! That's more like Amy. The other rambunctious girl in this photo is Rachel. Rachel has the attention span of a gnat, but she happens to be the smartest kid in my class. She's always in her own little world, not listening, or moving around in her chair bothering the kid next to her. Nonetheless, all of the students in my class were cheering her on when she got 2 happy faces the other day (you need 3 to get a sticker by your name).
To help you understand her personality, let me paint this picture for you. When everyone else in the class has happy faces, Rachel will be the one with a sad face by her name. But she never cries, never shows remorse, and approaches the sad faces with a "C'est la vie" attitude.
She's also in this phase where she enjoys kissing all of the boys because they hate it and she knows she's not supposed to. In fact, she finds it hilarious.
This is Sunny. She is one of my best students. She's a little mother hen always taking care of the other students in the class. I can't believe that she's only 6 years old...
Sunny and Olivia remind me of Becky and I when we were younger. They are best friends and they both love school. These girls are always helping me and are so eager to answer questions. It makes me want to go back to elementary school <3
Joshua is usually pretty quiet, but he can be very silly. Here he is showing his muscles =P
I wish I had taken more pictures of the gardens, but if you look away for a second, these little munchkins have run half way across the courtyard and are trying to swim in the fountain...
This is Woojin. He is a TOTAL cutie pie. At 6, he's already such a charmer, cracking jokes, giving hugs, and his smile is so contagious. I adore this kid <3
The tulips were SO beautiful, one of my favorite flowers...
Sarah is actually in my other kindergarten class, the Bears. She is so spunky and sweet. Her personality is so fun. =)
Randy and Micky
We got to play in a mini hedge maze ^.^
We also made our own soap, but all of the kids thought it smelled bad, haha!
But Micky didn't mind...
About a month ago, we took a field trip to an ice museum and I never posted the pictures.
This is Randy. He has such an adorably sly smile when he gets attention. And, when he tells me something, he always has such a serious face and speaks with such urgency. It's the sweetest thing.
Rachel, being dramatic on the slide.
Finally, meet Eddie. He is always chewing on his hands. When I ask him questions, he always looks confused and wide-eyed. I always have to say "Eddie, get your hands out of your mouth, I can't understand you." But he has this infectious giggle of a laugh and facial expressions which always make me smile.
And, just recently, we had a POLY Sport's Day in honor of the National holiday, Children's Day, celebrated in Korea on May 5th. We went to a park nearby and played all sorts of games, from tug-of-war to jump rope, as well as other interesting competitions.
A few of my kindergarten boys from the Bears class standing in line, ready to race with a parachute backpack.
Then it was the girls' turn.
The teachers also participated in the games, but separately. We were all divided into either the Red Team or the Blue Team. I was on the Red Team. The Teachers from both teams would compete against each other with all of the kids rooting us on. It was so comical and the kids had a blast!
The Blue Team teachers desperately trying to out-jump us ;)
The mighty tug-of-war competition~
This has to be one of my favorites, because when Ted asked for volunteers to help with this game, the teachers had no idea they would be sitting ducks...or standing ducks rather.
I'm tellin' you, the Red Team dominated.
Elly and Lory.
The next few weeks will be pretty exhausting because I have lots to do and I'm feeling a little under the weather. I have to write comments for all of my elementary students, which is about 100 and give behavior scores. I also have open class next week, where the parents of my kindergartners will come to visit my class and watch me teach. I had tonsillitis and a few ulcers in my throat a couple weeks ago and I've since recovered from that, but I lost my voice again today and it's only Tuesday T.T
I would really appreciate your prayers!
XOXO Miss Jones
