Desk-Warming in 2016

It seems like the only time I really update my blog is when I have some desk-warming time. So, here I am, sitting at my desk with nothing much to do. I have three more days of this.

Some news -- apparently one of my co-teachers is not staying next year and, due to some budget cuts, she’s not being replaced. It’ll just be me and one Korean English teacher. Not only that, but the ct I thought for sure would be my ct next year still doesn’t know what’s going to happen. Yaaay…..

I’ve had to deal with substitute ct’s, working with homeroom teachers and pretty much teaching on my own, so what else could they possibly throw at me? Famous last words, I know. Good thing this is my last year.

I have no idea how this is going to affect the lesson schedules next year. We’ve typically had it so each grade had one lesson with just the Korean teacher and then 1-2 with both of us. That’s ten lessons, split between 4 grade levels a week, 2 grades per ct (about 3-4 classes per grade). That gives me 7 lessons a week, counting the KG classes I teach solo once a week.

I have this dreaded feeling they’ll decide that, hey, Emily Teacher did ok teaching with the homeroom teachers. Let’s do that for an entire academic year!

Nope. Nopety nope. I hope the HR teachers object to any proposals resembling that, should they arise. Do you know how stressful and difficult it was to communicate with those teachers, to sync the lessons and then teach while most of them sat in the back and didn’t bother to talk to me until last minute?

Nope. Nope. Nope.

Nope.

Well, it’s certainly been an adventure so far, hasn’t it? And I seem to have named my blog fairly well, because things do get stranger by the minute. You’d think that being here for two years would diminish the surprise, but you’d be wrong. I still roll with the punches, though. That, or go sit at my computer and browse flight options…

Other than the unknown future of English classes at this school… I’m cold. It’s dropped well below freezing point today. There are only so many layers I can fit under my coat. I’m very grateful to my ct, who left me her little electric mat to keep me warm while I’m at school. If I could carry a hot pack the size of this thing with me on my walk home, I’d be very happy.

Thanks for reading! 3ish more days of this weather.  

Intrigued with a dash of Grammar Nazi

There are 2 things in this world, which I find I know a lot more about than I initially thought. Those are: technology and grammar.

When you grow up around technology, are older than the Internet (It's true) and take a hand-full of classes that require you to use computers on a regular basis, it sort of creeps up on you. You know how to navigate computers and the Internet fairly well, and when it comes to the continuing growth of technology you tend to pick up on the new basics faster.

But, this post is not about technology. It is about grammar.

I am not an expert on grammar. I know that there are many things that I still do not have memorized. Half the time, I can't even remember the proper names. The more and more I read things online, however, the more I am aware that my level of grammar skills are actually quite good. And, unfortunately, there are a number of English teachers abroad who have grammatical errors up to their ears, and you wonder what they are teaching those foreign kiddies.

They probably have great luck when it comes to conversation English, most definitely. When it comes to writing... not so much. I have seen apostrophes where they ought not be and misused words, my grammar-aware friends. I have even seen an English teacher write a sentence that went along the lines of: "I was talking to this girl, who's English is quite well."

Now, I'm not a Grammar Nazi. I don't have the qualifications to be one. However, if I see a sentence like this I'm going to think, "This is very, very off." Then, I'm going to write about it in my blog. :)

First of all -- the apostrophe. From what I've seen of their posts, they seem to be under the impression that apostrophes must be used as much as possible. This is incorrect. Use them rarely.

Second of all -- "English is quite well." It sounds awkward, like you're saying that a guy named English is doing well, thanks for asking.

In the end, it should have been something more like this: "I was talking to this girl, whose English is quite good."

I'm not trying to be mean. I didn't furiously begin typing up this blog post, trying to convey my anger and annoyance to the world. I just want to point out something I've noticed over the last month or so while browsing the Internet for information on South Korean English teaching. I get punctuation wrong all the time. ALL THE TIME. I'm just not the worst offender out there... thank goodness.

Let's hope that this means I have an even better chance at a job.

Go Fund Me.... please?

Guess what everyone? I started a GoFundMe page to raise money for my crazy dream! I'm going to make a short video to add to it soon, but for now I have some written details on the page, which you can visit here.

I need all the help I can get. Part of the reason I'm doing this -- other than the personal self fulfillment, getting to teach little munchkins and experiencing/sharing a culture -- is that I have no money. I'm hardly making enough money to pay my loans at the moment, and I really want to do more with my life (and paycheck) than pay off loans.

I also have a widget to the side of this blog that will be there even when this post has been pushed out by a new one. Just click on the gofundme widget and you can donate through there. I would like to ask that, instead of gifts for Christmas this year (far way off, I know) from family and friends, a donation through GoFundMe is all I'm asking for. Any amount you can give would be fantastic. Also, you can check out my Etsy Page, where I'm selling polymer clay figurines. Thank You!