I have never been good at celebrating victories because there always seems to be something else off in the distance that needs to be done. Today I want to acknowledge two victories I've had in the last week or so. They aren't huge or dramatic but having lived in Korea for almost ten months now they are as close to a victory as I'll ever get.
On one of my few all-day-desk-warming days I brought my laptop with so I could make a movie of my Sports Day pictures. It was a great way to spend a few hours and I think it turned out great. I was very excited to show it to my students and to have a solid ten minutes planned for each class.
After finials I showed the movie to each grade. The responses were pretty similar, lots of laughing at their friends and hidden faces when their picture came up. Last Friday one of my 4th grade classes asked if they could watch the movie again. I didn't have anything super special planned because the textbook was finished so I decided to show the movie. As the movie progressed I noticed one boy sitting under his desk. When he saw me looking at him he crossed his arms to make an X (which is the common body language of "no" here) and said "no teachuh". The students in the class started to make a drum roll on their desks and I realized they only wanted to watch for one reason - to laugh at the boy under the desk. I knew he had a close up picture of himself in the movie (and I still remember him asking me to take his picture) and that the students must have planned this little humiliating act. Right before the boys picture came up I turned off the tv so the boy wouldn't have to endure that torture. You would have thought I'd murdered someone right in front of them by the noise they made. "TEACHUH NO" "BACK TEACHUH BACK". The little boy under the desk gave me a big smile and he sat in his chair. The students continued to yell at me and when I turned the tv on so they could watch the rest of the movie I explained that their friend didn't want his picture on the tv so they need to be nice to their friend. That caused a great shift in the yelling and the class started to yell at the boy in Korean. I didn't know what was being said but I could tell it wasn't nice.
I knew I wouldn't be able to convey to the students why I did what I did and I knew they wouldn't understand my reasoning even if they understood my words because the standard of bullying isn't the same. I have been in far too many classes where the whole class picks on one student and the teacher does nothing to stop it, as if this is part of everyday life and the kids who are difference should get used to it. It broke my heart when I first got here and it still does.
After the movie finished my Co Teacher could tell that the tension was still bad so she came up and started to speak to them in Korean. I could tell she was using her "mom" voice and by the end of her speech a few students were looking shamefully at their desks. I was very surprised by the turn of events. There I was feeling proud and shameful for what I had just done because it was against the grain of what I've seen teachers do here and my Co Teacher seemed to pick up on what happened and translated for me.
When class was finally over the little boy who hid under the desk ran out so fast I couldn't tell him I was sorry for showing the movie. I told my Co Teacher that I didn't know they were going to tease the student or else I wouldn't have played the movie again. My Co Teacher then continued to surprise me by explaining that she told the students that this was my culture (turning off the tv because someone didn't want to watch it) and that they needed to respect my culture. She then told me how she thinks the American culture is better because if someone is hurt then they won't do it but in Korea everyone will still do it even if someone is crying.
I was totally blown away by what happened in that hot classroom. I still am. I don't think we ended that classes' ability to bully each other but at least that little boy wasn't totally humiliated by his class and maybe they will remember what my Co Teacher said about considering everyone's feelings.
My last victory is on a much lighter note. I showed my 5th grade "What time is it" from High School Musical 2 for their lesson titled "I go to school at 8". The song really has nothing to do with the lesson but it is July and those poor students are sick of school. They really enjoyed it because it has dancing and they could understand "what time is it? summer time!". My Co Teacher liked the song too and I guess has been showing the students the song every class period since.
So during story telling yesterday I walked into 5-5's classroom and when a few boys saw me they all turned to the clock (like in the movie) and started to chant "summer. summer" just like in the song. That was a very happy American pop culture moment I was glad to have.
Today is the last day of the semester (finally) and I get to sit at my desk in the air conditioned room (YAY!) all day.
Bless friends.
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