Depends on your school

Some of you who've found my blog, may be contemplating Fulbright Korea? If so, then this post may be of interest to you!

As right now, I'm about to drop some knowledge about the program that you don't see until you're in the program.

Everything can be boiled down to four words: depends on your school.

How many classes you teach? - depends on your school.

What kind of classes you teach? - depends on your school.

Homestay Family? - depends on your school.

Coteacher's interaction with you? - depends on your school.

None of us ETAs have the same story. From one ETA who teaches 8 classes to another who teaches 25. Oh yeah, you may be teaching over 22 hours a week. Of course, you'll be paid for the extra work, but still. It's overwhelming and intimidating, but once you get into the flow of things, it's doable. You may be lucky that you don't have to create a new lesson for each hour and that you can use the same lesson for all the same grade levels. Unless, you're like me...

Me, being an Elementary ETA who teaches a total of 20 students, with my smallest class being 2 students big and my largest class being 11 students small. Practically creating new lessons at a constant rate. 

Fulbright can prepare you for some of the cultural differences and potential misunderstandings during Orientation. They can also help with your language skills. Oh! And polish some of your teaching skills through workshops and FEP teaching .

But, once you leave Orientation and you're at your placement...your school is who guides you through the rest of your year. You will get tested emotionally, physically, mentally, psychologically, and any other '-ally' that I can't think of right now. 

It is literally like any other job, if I were honest. Your first month at a new job will have you thinking, 'I love this job!' to 'Ugh, why did I take this job?'. When you become a teacher abroad, it's a bit longer than a month. And once you feel at peace with your job, you realize it's been about six months. That is why a lot of people who teach abroad tell you, 'the first six months are the hardest'. 

Probably a little harder than they need to be, but a positive attitude helps you get through the worst of it. How you look at your situations, every single one of them, will shape your experience during your grant year. While a lot of your day to day is dependent on your school, all of it is dependent on you.

Are you going to look at your situation in a negative way, making it worse, or are you going to be positive, and make the best of what you have?

I could be upset that I have to create 22 new lesson plans a week, or I could just take this as an opportunity to show my students more fun ways to learn English.

#SaveOurToya

First Day Lesson Planning

Before Orientation ended, we had to create a lesson plan for our first day. I was trying to be all smart and proactive by creating it on Google Slides so that I'll have access to it wherever and whenever.

But guess what I found out a few days ago.

No wifi.

So, no internet in the classroom...unless I'm willing to use my phone has a hot spot. Mmm, Mama ain't got that kinda data plan.

Which is why these last two days, I've been reworking my lesson plan to a none online source, that isn't Microsoft Powerpoint (since I lost access to it due to a whole other problem).

Y'all, my life is a hot mess and I don't know why...

#SaveOurToya

Shoutout to my OCTs~!

Orientation for six weeks is a long time. Even though it felt like time flew, all of could not have been possible without ETAB.

But mostly...it would've been nothing without our awesome Orientation Coordinator Team.

Seriously, the hard work that they put into making our six weeks go well is extremely appreciated.

Every issue that came up, they were able to adapt and adjust as needed. They really busted their butts for us. On top of checking in on us throughout the Orientation to make sure we were okay.

The six of them really made these six weeks something memorable for me. I'm sure the rest of my cohort would agree~!

As it stands, I will be applying to be part of the coordinator team for the cohort that comes next year!

Wish me luck~!

#SaveOurToya

So I Kinda Climbed a Mountain...

Oh my gawd. Who let me figure out how to use the record button on my phone? This is my first vlog ever. I have no editing software and this is all me. #NoFilter #ImAMess #SaveOurToya

Just a little context. I recorded this a couple of weeks ago...August 1st to be exact. I went on a little..."excursion"...

As I said, if you think I should add vlogs to my posting schedule, let me know! Leave a comment down below on your thoughts!

Superlative for 2018-19

Guess who got the superlative of Most Likely to Actually Maintain their Blog this Year?

Here's a picture of me in Seoul~!

Me.

I did.

No pressure...right?

Fingers crossed it actually happens~!

Though, this may be a good time to mention...after my Week 6 blog, I'm putting up a warning that Week 7 may be delayed or combined with Week 8! I will be settling into my Homestay and possibly starting school right away.

Which means...I don't know my schedule yet! Sunday Post Day may be switching.

So, there's your warning.

#SaveOurToya