21st Century Sub Plans

Our little man is sick, so my husband will be taking him to see the doctor tomorrow during school.  That means my husband is making sub plans, a task many teachers loathe.  To make sure his students don't get behind he has made a Keynote presentation and he is recording his voice as he clicks through the slides.  This is an easy way to make a podcast so you can communicate with your students even though you are not physically present.

Podcasting your lessons has its limitations. Using this method means that you are not present to field questions and you are not able to observe your students to check for their understanding.  Despite these weaknesses, I think this is one of the best options for your classes because it allows you to "be in class" while not actually being there.  It also provides the student a resource that they can continually reference on their own even when they're at home.

It is so much fun to be a teacher in the 21st Century because there are so many great tools at our fingertips.

As my husband is finishing up his podcasts for his IB math classes I'm realizing something...He is fluent in a foreign language to me: Math.

See what I mean?  Seriously, what is he talking about?

Exam Time in ROK

As my husband and I were running late driving hurriedly to school, we encountered massive traffic around the public school near our campus.  Cars were parked everywhere.  People were lining the streets. Signs were being held up.  At times you can hear people chanting.  This could only mean one thing...it was exam day in Korea.

It was then that I remembered that at the beginning of this past school week we were told during a staff meeting that we needed to be extra quiet on campus on Thursday morning because the annual Korean exams would be this week.  In many places this would seem like an odd request, but if you live in South Korea you know that every year that the entire country seems to stop for these exams.  The Collage Scholastic Ability Test is given to high school seniors in Korea and it culminates all of their YEARS of studying up until that point.  This is the one exam that a high school student's entire future rests upon (I'm not really exaggerating).  The test scores determine where students will go to college, which is especially important in this country considering 80% of the population attends higher education.

There are many things I disagree with about this test and the process leading up to it.  For one, much of the exam is based on rote memorization, rather than student understanding.  Additionally, there is so much pressure put on these students to perform it takes the joy out of the learning process and it also has led to to high suicide rates within the country.  And lastly, can you really base someones' abilities and worth on one test score?!

All that being said, part of me admires a country that really sacrifices so much for the sake of education.  I can't argue with the passion I see in Koreas to succeed and perform well, not only for themselves, but for their family and their nation.

Some of my information came from this article.  Check it out for more information: South Korean students' 'year of hell' culminates with exam day.

Korea's Aging Population

 Very interesting video about Korea's aging population. Some highlights:

• By 2050, 40% of South Koreans will be senior citizens.
• Half of all seniors in Korea live below the poverty line. 

Families use to live with and take care of their elderly relatives.  Although some still do this, the video reports that now many seniors are left without any care as "the culture has become individualistic it leaves no room to care for others."

This brings up a good question, who is responsible for caring for the elderly (and those with other such needs) in society?

I'm Back!

It's been an embarrassingly long amount of time since I've blogged, but I'm ready to be back! My absence was for a good reason.  I started this blog in the fall of 2010 because I wanted a place where I could share what I was doing in the classroom.  I was excited to be blogging about education and I felt that blogging inspired me to be more intentional about learning/refining my craft.  However, all of this came to a screeching halt when I found out I was pregnant and battled major morning all day sickness for weeks.  I literally mustered all my strength just to make it through each lesson and basketball practice (coaching through this was no fun!) for that first trimester.  

Fast forward months later and on July 22, 2011 Everett Thomas Meyer was born!  He's such a fun baby. I love being his mom.  And I think I'm learning that having a baby while juggling my career brings this concept of being a "utility player" to a whole new level.  

After my maternity leave I returned to Korea with Everett and jumped back into the classroom at the end of September.  I'm a part time teacher right now but I still teach a considerable load.  I'm teaching a 9th grade IB MYP World History, two classes of 10th grade US History, and one IB Standard Level History for 11th graders.  I elected not to coach basketball this year so I can focus on my family and my classes, but I'm still sponsoring the Global Issues Network (GIN) club once a week after school.  We have daycare at our school so Everett comes to school with my husband and I and in between classes I get to take care of our little man. Life is busy, but life is full.  

I'm excited to be sharing more about all that we're doing this school year!