'Tis the season for cancelled classes

It's always a difficult challenge to plan lessons for the month or more of classes after students have completed their curriculum and written their final exams. Basically, I have free reign to make 'free topic' lessons on a topic of my choosing. The students are not particularly interested in learning or paying attention, so I need to make the lessons fun with engaging games or videos. Thankfully, I don't need to completely fill the time myself, since there is an unusually high number of cancelled classes at this time of year.

Last week on Tuesday, two of my five classes were cancelled at my boys' middle school. A guest lecturer was brought in from outside the school to speak about a topic. I was not informed of the topic, but when my co-teacher realized it was our two classes that were cancelled she squealed with joy. The two classes are by far the worst, most difficult classes in the school. Teachers always complain about the classes and lament when it's their turn to teach them. Thus, the complete joy when both of those classes were cancelled for the guest lecturer.

Back at my main school on Wednesday, I walked into a third-grade class fully prepared to teach a Christmas lesson and sing 'Santa Claus is coming to town' with my students. But several students met me at the door and pleaded with me to let them practice their dance routine for the school festival instead of having English class. It was, in their words, 'very important that they practice dancing.' They explained that they had seen another class's dance routine realized theirs wasn't up to par.

I consulted with the Korean co-teacher and we decided to let the kids practice their dance routine. I just sat back and watched the class try to choreograph and synchronize their moves to the soundtrack of a K-pop compilation. I was actually really impressed with their dance moves, although some of the less enthusiastic students were clearly just going through the motions. I decided to give all of my 3rd grades classes time to dance instead of teaching. They were more than happy to have an active class, and I was pleased to sit down and watch. I gave each student a candy cane at the end of the lesson.

The next week on Wednesday, the PE teacher had asked to take my first period class for an activity. I wouldn't need to teach. I readily agreed to this - another cancelled class. As it turned out, she also wanted my second period class as well. I learned that when I went to the class at the scheduled time and found it empty.

That very same day, after my morning classes were cancelled, I learned that a student at my boys' school had test positive for COVID-19. I would need to leave the school to go get tested. This meant that my afternoon classes were to be cancelled as well. I didn't teach a single class on that day. My COVID-19 test came back negative early the next day.

Thursday was officially the day of the much anticipated school festival, so again all classes were cancelled that day. I observed the students perform various musical, dramatic, and dance performances from my seat in the gymnasium. It was entertaining, and I couldn't help but take a small bit of credit for giving my students extra practice time to perfect their dance. No, not really. But the students did a great job and I was amazed at how talented the students were.

Friday was Christmas Eve. Classes were held in the morning. I finally had classes to teach - this time, two classes of second year students in the morning. Afternoon classes were cancelled and teachers were free to leave the school at 1:30pm. I had the head teacher and vice-principal approve and sign for my early leave, then I was out the door. For this one week, 11 of my 21 classes were cancelled. It was an interesting but restful week. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Online classes and online problems

For the first time in several months, classes at my boys' school are online. This is a short-term measure because of the high number of cases in Korea and also because some 2nd-grade middle schoolers were exposed to the COVID-19. So far there are 10 confirmed cases at the school.

When I reported to the boys' school on Monday morning, the 1st grade English teacher, who I usually teach with on Mondays, was absent. I was told that 'her condition is not good.' She had a COVID-19 test on the weekend and received her negative result this morning but she still had a fever. She stayed home from school that day.

So, arrangements were made for me to sign in and conduct the class while she signed in from her home to assist with the lesson. Usually we would sit side by side for online classes at the school. I was given her login credentials and a key to the classroom. Several problems occurred when I was setting up for the class. First, the internet was not working. I plugged in the ethernet cable but received a message of 'no internet'. I quickly called my main co-teacher to come help. She fiddled with things for a while and then brought in another teacher to help. The class had already started, so I'm sure the students (and co-teacher) were sitting at home wondering what was going on. The teacher was finally able to sign me into the WIFI.

That's when the next problem occurred. I was unable to log into the co-teachers Zoom account. I tried several times and it didn't work. My main co-teacher frantically scrolled through her phone. She soon realized that the password she had given me was wrong. It contained an extra digit, so that's why I couldn't log in. Here's the kicker, by the time we figured out the password was wrong, I had already attempted to log in too many times and the account was locked.

There was nothing else to do at that point but give up. I was instructed just to go wait in the staff office. My first period class would go without their lesson that day. This was the first time in two years that technical difficulties had prevented us from teaching an entire lesson. Many times before, technical difficulties had cost me 5, 10, even 20 minutes of a 45-minute class, but we eventually sort out the problem and teach in what time we have remaining.

By the time second period started, the teacher had recovered and unlocked her Zoom account. I was able to teach the remaining four classes that day. Things went relatively smoothly from there, except for the usual inefficiencies of online teaching. 

The teacher takes roll call in every online class, and that eats up at least 5 minutes and sometimes 10 minutes of my class time. Anytime you call on a student, it always takes a long time for them to respond. They are usually not paying attention to the class. They may be playing games or doing something else when they suddenly hear the teacher, who has been calling their name for the past minute or so. With so much time wasted, I can only cover few things in class. Learning is truly ineffeicient, but the students seem to love it. They get to stay at home. They don't have to wear their school uniforms. There is amble opportunity to play games or do other things, which would easily be spotted and stopped by the teacher if class were held in a classroom.

Things rapidly change because of the COVID-19 outbreak. Last week I was told that I wouldn't have classes on Tuesday because of a field trip. Then a few days later, I was told the field trip was cancelled and that I would have in-person lessons. Then on Monday, I was told all of my classes would be online. It's not easy to make the transition since a lot of lesson activities are designed either for online classes or in-person classes. The uncertainty adds a lot of work to my schedule. 

Online classes come with online problems, every time.

Covid test and Covid things

This week started ominously with a text from my co-teacher that read, "Bad news...". There had been a few confirmed cases of COVID-19 amongst the 2nd graders at my boys' middle school. All of the teachers were to get test for COVID-19 before they could report for school. Even though I don't teach 2nd graders at that school, and hadn't been to the school since last Tuesday, I also needed to get tested.

This was on a Sunday, so I went for my test on Monday morning. The results of the test wouldn't be known until the next day, so I missed one day of school. I was asked to send my lesson PowerPoint presentation so another teacher could teach it, but ultimately all classes at the school were cancelled so that was unnecessary.

The testing centre opened at 9am and I arrived a few minutes after that to see an already long line stretched along the sidewalk and doubled back. It was a long wait, but at least the rain started to let up. I had been to this testing centre twice before and was now familiar with the protocol. As always, a staff member helped me fill out the Korean forms. There is a brief interview before the test and the staff was able to ask basic questions in English. "Why did you come here today?" I answered, "Some of my students have COVID-19". 

The test was pretty much the same as always. Sit down in a chair and pass your vile to the staff. Remove you mask and have a much-too-long prod shoved up your nose and scratched about. At least this time, they didn't test the back of the throat which is also very unpleasant. Not sure why the change but I didn't complain. I put my mask on and left the facility. I forgot to mention that this entire process occurs outdoors - waiting in line, filling out forms, interview, and test. It takes place in the courtyard of a medical facility and there are plenty of staff on hand to make sure things run smoothly and the line moves along as quickly as possible.

All this happened while South Korea is facing a major COVID-19 wave. The country has set another record high for cases while critical cases, deaths, and strain on hospitals is higher than ever. We reached a previously unheard of 7000+ cases per day in the country. Certain social distancing measure were reinstated after the botched 'Living with Covid' scheme that the government initiated. I can't believe there was talk of removing the facemask requirements for people who had been vaccinated. We're a long way from that now.

Also new to South Korea is a digital vaccine passport. Everyone must download the phone app and register their proof of vaccination. This proof is required for many businesses including restaurants, cafes, gyms, and so on. I spent much of my weekend trying to download the app and get myself registered. One day before the nationwide requirement for digital proof of vaccination, my co-teacher hadn't heard of it, so I was on my own. After great difficulty, and using a digital translator, I had finally downloaded the app and registered my proof of vaccination. I also made an appointment for February, when I would become eligible, for my third vaccination, the so-called booster shot.

 
My COVID test came back the next morning. I was negative. So, I was required to go to school that day. I had five online classes and sat through a staff meeting where the school principal updated everyone on the status of the COVID-19 cases at the school. The plan is to conduct online lessons in the short term and then switch back to in-person classes the next week. Also, the 2nd grade final exams were postponed by one week.

I'm starting my preparations to return to Canada, so that means I need to get my documents in order. My co-teacher wrote a helpful note in Korean that I took to the vaccination clinic on Thursday to get an English language and Korean language hard copy verification of my two previous vaccinations. I will need this to show proof of vaccination, among other things, when returning to Canada to classify as a 'vaccinated person'. Completing this process will allow me to avoid a long hotel-stay, quarantine for my first weeks in Canada, assuming the rules aren't altered again.

It's so odd, almost two years after arriving in Korea, we're back where we started - COVID-19 wave, online classes, and social distancing restrictions.

Just a random week

On Tuesday of this week I taught a short lesson on greetings with my grade 3 middle school boys classes. I want to move them away from standard greetings such as the all too common, "How are you? I'm fine, and you?" I introduced some more casual greetings like, "How is your day going? What's up? What's going on?" These aren't things they'll learn in their textbooks but it will help them sound more natural when speaking English.

After the short lesson, we played a game that involved the Korean version of Rock, Paper, Scissors. It's called Kai, Bai, Bo in Korean and is used to solve most any dispute that the students may have. Well, the boys classes are super into competition, so the game quickly got wild and loud. At one point, a boy did a soccer style victory slide across the floor of the classroom to celebrate his rock, paper, scissors win and to taunt his opponent. I gave chocolates to the winning team, so the classes were more energized than ever. The students are finished with their curriculum and tests, so motivating them to learn or do anything productive in the classes is challenging, to say the least. Chocolate is a good motivator.

This week also saw all-time highs for covid-10 infections in Korea. With over 5000 cases per day, we are firmly into another wave and the strain on hospitals is becoming dire. Predictably, the 'living with covid' phase the government initiated some weeks back was completely premature and a terrible mistake according to doctors and anyone not hyper-focused on economic results. Even with this new spike in cases, the government said they would not reinstate previous restrictions not wanting to 'lose the progress that was achieved'. But I ask, what progress? We have more cases now than ever. 

Unsurprisingly, after a few more days of pressure and high case counts, the government backtracked and has implemented new social distancing restrictions on the population. Fewer people are allowed to gather at restaurant. Instead of 8 people, only six can dine together. Still too many, I think. There are reports of a digital vaccine passport being required for entry into certain businesses like restaurants and cafes, but I'm having trouble finding current information on the requirement.

Winter has definitely arrived in Korea. This week, the mornings have been cold, around 2° or 3° each day. It warms up a little throughout the afternoon but still chilly. Classrooms are being heated but also ventilated. So heating units are on and windows are open. I am living in a chilly bizzaro world.

On Friday morning, as I was gathering my things for my first period class, my co-teacher asked if I knew about the schedule change today. Of course, I did not. An extra class was added to my schedule at the end of the day. Surprise! Hope you have a spare lesson prepared. It's always been a nightmare scenario that I'd have no lesson planned for a class. Luckily, after nearly two years of teaching, I have enough material to draw on in these scenarios. 

With the surprise bonus class, I had four classes on Friday. And it was unusual in that I had four unique lessons to teach. Usually, I repeat lessons throughout the week, so it's easy to get into a groove. But with four unique lessons including one surprise class, I was definitely pushed to my limit. 

It's the weekend. What will happen next week? Stay tuned.