Masters Writing

Masters Writing Spring 2009

Simon, Jinny, Sue, Emma, Kathy & Me

Despite all the partying and constant Uncle Buck jokes, I have been blessed to have yet another challenging term. Many instructors find teaching to be tiresome and same ol' same ol'. Thankfully, I have been challenged each term. I began with low level classes my first term. My second term, I jumped to mostly high level and some low level. This 3rd term, I am doing a mixture of high and low, but I am also teaching Masters Writing. This course is designed to take students away from academic style writing--5 paragraphs (intro, body, conclusion). Instead, I am teaching them to stylistically write emphasizing constant use of literary devices such as similes, metaphors, personification, sensory detail etc. It is such a unique course because I truly feel like I'm a teacher. In blended learning (memory, interactive listening and reading), I had to follow a specific structure. In Masters Writing, the students write for the first hour and last hour. During the second hour, I teach them a skill and look at prose so that they students can learn about other author's styles and apply them to their own writing. It has been so rewarding reading their essays and seeing how much they have improved.

Most of my students are 7th graders. However, I do have a 5th grader. The first thing she ever told me was that her desk is uncomfortable because her feet don't touch the ground. Later in the term I found out that this little prodigy was going to be on a quiz show on Korean television about history, social studies, and geography yet speaking English. It is amazing to witness these students get their creative juices flowing. The essays they write aren't just cupcake and ice cream puff pieces. They are required to think deeply about issues concerning the Korean work ethic, the new kid, and fears in general.

One of the most fun classes I ever taught was a lesson on connotation vs. denotation. Coming to class on a Sunday can be drag. They have to write for 2/3 hours and listen to me talk about similes, metaphors, personification, tone etc. They were about to leave me for 2 weeks because of mid-term exams, so I decided this class was going to be interactive. I gave them a mini lesson on the definition of connotative and denotative language; associated meaning and dictionary meaning respectively. Then, I gave them each a piece of paper. For their first exercise they had to imagine the person they hate or get most angry with the most and tell me why. Then I gave them some examples of "Yo Momma" jokes to help them understand the difference between what is said and what is meant. Furthermore, I gave them other put-downs that people use or at least in movies to further explain connotation vs. denotation.

"Yo momma's so fat that when she sat on a rainbow, skittles popped out."

"You think your so cool? You think your poop doesn't stink?"

*Censored version of "So you don't think your shit don't stink?"

Lame, but effective.

After they leave me at 4pm on Sunday, they are required every other week to write a 400 word essay on a topic concerning our class discussion. The beauty about Masters level is that not only do I get paid 10% higher than usual, but I have other opportunities to make money. Every essay they write during the third hour, I have to take home and proof. Each essay is 5,000 won. Then, I get paid for the 400 word essays they submit online amounting to about 15,000 won per essay. With a class of 9, I am earning extra hundred thousand won each month.

Despite the extra pay, the relaxed CCTV watching (although my tape was sent to the Program Manager for review), I have free-range of the class. This was my first dose of "real" teaching.