Teachable Moments

I suppose that, as I am a teacher, my life should be filled with teachable moments, those tender and heartfelt exchanges of wisdom that are so often chronicled in after-school specials. Alas, after almost 15 months of teaching, I have realized that in some classes, especially upper-level reading skills, I should consider myself lucky if everyone stays awake. The program design for these classes leaves little room for conversation in the strict regiment of skill-practice-review-practice-review ad nausem. For example, yesterday's topic for the three-hour class was distinguishing between fact and opinion. An important ability, yet not something that's easy to get fifth and sixth graders excited about.

Yesterday, one class's perpetual quest to take us on a tangent (a practice I don't quite discourage) broached yet again the topic of the Presidential election. At first I had been surprised by the number of Barack Obama supporters among these Korean students. They are young and are likely to be getting their opinions from their parents, a group that I don't always find to be accepting of things considered "different". Initially, I had shied away from discussing my personal views with the students, thinking that they should be free to form their own opinions, however, I have since changed my mind. Korea is largely affected by what goes on in the US, and I now think that in my role as cultural liaison, that they should know how a real American thinks.


Anyway, despite overwhelming Obama support, one student mentioned, "He talks like a white person". Now, as far as diversity in Korea is concerned, I am the diversity. At least in Daejeon white Americans and Canadians make up the majority of the foreign population. There is a smattering of other races mixed in, especially around the universities, but not many that my students would encounter.

Suddenly, I found myself in Teachable Momentville. I would like to think that I handled the situation as responsibly as, say, Danny Tanner, although I would tend to think it was far less graceful. We deconstructed what it means to "talk white" or "talk black" or "talk Korean" and were actually (gasp!) able to relate it back to a fact/opinion discussion.

So anyway, I guess what they say is right about these moments. They do sneak up on you. They can't be planned and they are fleeting. It is also true that the news chatter in the states, the cries of "terrorist" or hints of racism have an effect that is greater than the election itself. They are not only working to the detriment of our own country, but also to that of a much greater reach.

Yay

By the way, I'll be coming home December 5. Get your party hats ready.

Chincha? #1 - Fans

Sometimes life in Korea is crazy. Really crazy. In the last few weeks of my stay I'm beginning a new series of entries entitled "Chincha?" (which means really? in Korean). These entries will attempt to share with you a little dose of strange so that when I arrive home you can better understand why I act the way I do.

Recently my students were asked to respond to the following prompt:

In Korea there is a widespread belief that sleeping with an electric fan can cause death. What evidence is used to support this phenomenon?

I would like to assert that Fan Death is a real cause for concern here. The lesson was supposed to be teaching them about being critical of the news that they read or see, as there were news stories asserting the dangers of sleeping in a closed room with a fan. Here are some of the responses I received. Seriously. (edited slightly for coherence but DEFINITELY not context)

"If you turned on electric fan in sealed room, you can't breathe O2 and you breathe CO2 and you could die."

"Person's body temp is 36.5. When only one degree is deleted it is harmful for body. If we sleep with fan our body temp will go down so we will die."

"Fan takes fresh air and if you turn on fan in closed room there'll be no fresh air left."

And, my personal favorite:

"Fan make tornado ---> suck air
temperature down
O2 to CO2 ---> worse than a candle"

Mind you that these are middle school students. When pressed for real, actual evidence and when confronted with the reality that fans make wind and do NOT change the chemical composition of air, they resorted to the old standby "My mom said so". At least they're listening to their parents.

Lantern Festival Redux

I went to the lantern festival in Jinju last year, but frigid rains kept us from really enjoying the event. This weekend was perfect. A beautiful festival set next to an impressive fortress. I've got a lot to say (as you may know from earlier posts) but since I've had my camera back for the first time since June, I figure for today I'll let the pictures do the talking.