Warning: Super Angsty Ranting Emotional Entry
I observed a few of my fellow teachers classes today, just to get a feeling for the student dynamic. It's like the second I started teaching I forgot what it felt like to be a kid, particularly a 16 year old kid. Two girls walked into the classroom twenty minutes late, both of them beautiful, but one in particular incredibly disarming and perhaps even a bit mysterious. They talked through the whole class, put their feet up, texted- you know typical teen rebellion bullshit, but that's not what I noticed. I found myself getting a bit angry, upset that the teacher hadn't stopped them and upset that they seemed to set the whole mood of the class. The one in the particular, held up her hand mirror, fixed her hair and put on a coat of lipstick. She looked dead at me; the first direct challenge I have ever been given by a student. What I saw was a wildness I haven't seen in a very long time. Something I used to do. I saw a bit of myself in her and I felt guilty for immediately thinking of punishment. I crossed out my notes about discipline. I can tell my normal methods won't work, especially since her English level is very low.
She left the school temporarily last year when she got pregnant and gave away the child.Basically unheard of in Korea, although quite common in the U.S. Since she's returned, the teachers dislike her, she acts up all the time,the kids are afraid of her and I find her impossibly interesting and terribly sad. I always tell myself to stop taking my work home with me, but I have a feeling she will be my motivation to learn Korean much faster than I thought I could. I am going to understand this girl if it kills me.
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