Surprise! New Schedule (again).

Today, I taught first and second grade students at Namchang Elementary School. Usually, I teach fifth and sixth graders. Until approximately 10 minutes before class, I assumed that I would be teaching fifth and sixth graders. As per co-teacher requests, I had prepared activities for fifth and sixth graders. When I entered the teachers' room, the secretary and an unfamilar teacher, neither of whom spoke much English, informed me of the change in schedule. Oh, and today would be the first and second grade students' very first English lesson. No pressure.

Suppressing the urge to shout at someone, I checked my USB drive (memory stick) for Emergency Classroom Activities. There were several. Whenever I find something that works, whether in the regular classroom or at English camp, I keep the relevant files on the USB that travels with me at all times. This prepares me somewhat for surprise schedule changes like today's.

I chose three things: the self-introductory "Who is the Foreign Teacher?" powerpoint; the Hokey Pokey (first showing a video on youtube); and some classroom English (open the book, close the book, wait, I can't see, etc.). The students had a good time. We all laughed a lot. I heard one of the KTs telling the assistant principal (in Korean) about the foreign teacher's fun English lesson. Students were especially impressed by the photo of Chingu the cat and delighted to learn the words "backside" and "shake."

On the one hand, I am glad that classes went so well. I was able, at a moment's notice, to come up with age-appropriate activities and lead two new classes. I spoke enough Korean to explain things when the KT could not. I probably handled the situation better than a less-experienced foreign teacher would have done, simply because I had accumulated enough back-up activities. Had I walked in with only one lesson plan and nothing else, I would have panicked and floundered.

On the other hand, I cannot help but wonder if handling the switcheroo so calmly will hinder my efforts to get the coteachers at this school to TELL me in advance when they know the schedule will change. I understand that emergencies happen. By definition, emergencies are unpredictable. Today was not an emergency.

The upper grade students and teachers were off at a special training in another city. They do this training every year. All the teachers knew it was coming. They could have told me.

Yesterday at Gohyeon, upon my request, my CT went through the entire year's calendar with me, pointing out every exam, special day and holiday. Next time I teach at Namchang, I'll ask the main CT to do the same.

No matter what I do, I cannot always anticipate changes in my teaching schedule. I am a foreigner. Korean teachers and administrators seldom remember to tell the foreigner what is going to happen until the very moment before it happens. They assume that the foreigner knows what everyone else knows. Or they are uncomfortable speaking English to the foreigner.

I frequently remind myself that there are also cultural differences at work here. At the schools where I've worked in Korea, bosses and teachers seem to prefer winging it rather than planning ahead (not always, but more so than most Americans with whom I've worked). As a westerner, I try to anticipate and control everything, even the future. My Korean coworkers try to go with the flow.

After working in Korea for a little over two years, I have become more flexible, but will probably always think like a westerner at the deepest levels. Meanwhile, I'll keep collecting classroom activities that are appropriate for a variety of grade levels, no matter what I am officially scheduled to teach. That small USB is my sanity-saver.