On and On…

I wish that I could give another great little tidbit here about all the exciting things we have been doing, but to be quite honest, we have done little since we returned from out Valentine's weekend in downtown Seoul.

 

I have a couple options here, first I could answer questions given on my New Challenge post but seeing that only one person (thanks so much Michele!) has asked any questions, I will postpone that at least a little while longer. 

 

Perhaps I could talk about some of the funny things happening in the class...or maybe our search for a puppy (or kitten as Charity has a hard time making up her mind). 

Well, as I can't decide and chronology is my default, lets see what happens with a little shift to topical.

 

My students, and this seems somewhat typical of Korea, have a great ability to memorize and store amazing amounts of facts, formulas and passages.  However, they have a very hard time with analytics, general logic and powers of observation.  Now while most of math is based almost entirely on cumulative memorization, geometry breaks that mold a bit.  My students have a hard time applying what they know to what they see.

 

For instance, they can tell me how to measure a triangle’s area but they have a hard time seeing the relationship between the measurement of a rectangle and a triangle.  Ok, for those of you that haven’t taken geometry in a while, go find a 9th grader and have them explain it to you. 

 

The long and short of it is that I have been learning some new techniques for making them THINK!  First, those that read ahead haven’t been overly surprised at my new “pop” quiz (I say pop as I have been warning them to be ready for quite some time now. 

 

Also, I have been using word games such as the one that goes “When I drove the bus, at the first stop 9 people go on 2 people got off…” and at the end when they have been trying to keep up with the passengers on the bus, you ask something like “What color are the bus drivers eyes"?”.  I think the record for the most repetitions was something like 6 before they caught on.  Usually when they figure it out they get very loud and the groans can be heard on the floor below.  Not only are those types of stories very enjoyable, they also test their powers of observation. 

 

On another note, there is a Korean “old wives tale” that states, those that have been here can back me up on this one, “if you fall asleep with a fan on blowing in your face and all the windows are closed then you will die.”  I have been trying to find out the origin of this belief and to date am still lost.  While I found it very humorous, many intelligent Koreans still believe this saying to have some merit. 

 

I found out that my 9th graders believed it when I made reference to an American old wives tale.  When they asked me what that was, I told them it is something that is believed to be true but isn’t backed up with any real evidence like the Korean fan myth.  Stunned silence met my remarks and then “Oh, really?” and “Are you sure?” (which are very common expressions from them) rang out.  Whoops!  I think I burst a cultural bubble there…

 

And that is about all can think to say.  I will hopefully have some more interesting things to say after this weekend.  I think Charity, Lisa, Mylinda and I are going to go to Itaewon for some electronics shopping and probably go and look at some kittens for Mylinda…they taste just like tender chicken.

 

Just Kidding!!!

 

More later…