The kids - The good, the bad, and the ugly

One of the best and worst parts of our jobs is our students. Some brighten the day while others darken it. Some bow to us whenever they see us and others give us snotty looks and spout off in Korean if we give them homework. So last Friday I brought the camera to school and asked the students if I could take some pictures to show friends and family. So I bring you a glimpse into what we are up against Monday to Friday.


The Good:

I thought I should start with the best. Students like Izzy are few and far between. This guy tries hard, has a great attitude, and, by the looks of it, could probably kick my ass. Around 30-40% of my students are around this age.

Some more excellent students. Eve, on the right, will ask for permission before she leaves the room even when class is over or has not yet begun. Stacey, on the left, did a book report last week from a book that probably took her an hour to read, while other students her age take books with 30 words or less. By the way, one interesting part of our job is to give English names to the new students. So Stacey was the first girl that Tara named (after her friend, for those who don't know). I think I may start naming the new students after my cousins or something like that.
The Bad:
Now, when I say bad what I mean is bad behavior in class. Usually this just means excessive talking in Korean but, as I said above, some students are outrightly rude and disrespectful. Unfortunately, none of them wanted their picture taken.

Andy and Alex. Great kids. Great attitudes. But they won't shut up. Five minutes of quiet in the class would be a small miracle. Even separating them is noisy. They usually beg and beg for another chance after they already got five, and then hold onto their desks and refuse to move. When one is absent the other is very quiet and actually does work, funny how that works.

The Ugly:
Of course I don't think any of my students are ugly. But one of my students made a great face when I took his picture so I had to put it up.

June is actually a great kid although his English conversation skills are pretty much limited to talking about Pokemon. And hey, if that gets him interested in English, great.


Well there you have it, a few of the 80-90 students that I teach. I'll throw up some more pictures on flickr. Hope everyone is happy and healthy.