Ending of a successful reading camp + only 2 days!!!!

I am so proud of my 9 students that worked so hard in my 3 week, 2 hr a day, winter reading camp. We read the book, The Missing Mummy and I included many many activities, worksheets, and games that helped them improve their vocabulary and reading comprehension.

Tomorrow is our final day for review games, in which I will give them one last "test" over the book in the form of the game, Who Wants To Be a Millionare. The class has been divided into two teams since the beginning. The girls named themselves "Dragonball" (a popular Korean computer game character I think) and the boys team's name is the "Simpons" (which is also very popular here). So tomorrow will be the final game to see who will win for pepperosticks. All my students are so competitive and the teams are very even with ability levels. I also plan on playing a jeopardy review game, pictionary, flippy cup (which I have been wanting to try after hearing how much Keith's kids love the game)and bags. In addition, I will have my students fill out a questionarre so that I can evaluate my teaching for the camp and find out any suggestions for improvements for future reading camps.

On Thursday, the students will come to class one last time and we will all watch Get Smart, an English kids' movie with Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, and Dwayne Johnson. The kids already downloaded the movie and was able to get Korean subtitles to help them understand the English. Originally I was planning on having them watch The Mummy; however, all the kids have seen the movie several times and the girls in my class think it's very scary. So Get Smart, it is. I haven't seen this movie but it looks like a good detective movie for kids. The Missing Mummy was about detectives and mummies, so it will be a fun little way to end the camp. The little party will reward my students for their hard work during the reading camp.

My students have really impressed me with their predictions in the book, with keeping all the clues in their "clues book", which helped them all to figure out who stole the mummy and the gold before the end of the book. This was one of the goals during the camp, along with the students improving their vocabulary, fluency, reading, reading comprehension, along with having fun with all the activities.

Since this is now the second time I have taught this book, I feel that I have improved my teaching style, my activities and my teaching in general. I understand what the students struggle with, which allows me to alter my lessons, spend more time in one area, or include more activities to help them learn, remember, comprehend, and analyze.

I am excited to start the new teaching year in March and to apply new teaching methods and strategies, as well as activities and classroom management that I feel will help improve my ESL teaching. And it will be nice to have some of the same students, since I teach both 1st and 2nd grade in the middle school. So my 1st graders from last year will now be my 2nd graders. It will hopefully be a fun and improved semester.


The last few weeks have been really nice. I have definitely felt like I have been on vacation, since I only have to go to school from 10am-12pm, so have time to sleep in, while also having my whole afternoon off. However, the real vacation for me and Keith starts this Thursday....in only 2 days!!

We will be flying to Busan, South Korea and then the following morning flying to Cambodia. The plan is to spend a few days in Cambodia, where we will see the main cities of Siemp Reap and Phnom Penh, see Aspara dancing, shoot a bazooka and fire a rocket launcher, see Budhist temples and a floating village, check out the Russian Market, see Angkor Wat, the Royal Palace and the Killing Fields, and probably lots more.

Then we have a flight monday night to Hanoi/ Vietnam. The next two days we will be taking a Halong Bay cruise ship to celebrate our 2 year anniversary! Ya!! On this ship, we will visit caves, bays, many islands, do a little fishing, enjoy some Vietnamese wine and seafood meals, learn about Vietnamese culture and traditions, and to see the beauty of the Halong Bay river.

The next night evening we will be dropped back off in Hanoi city, where we will visit the historic Old Quarter area, see many pagodas, have some dinner and then go to a traditional water puppet show near the Hoan Kiem Lake.

From there, we plan on flying the next morning to a beautiful and secluded island called Phu Quoc, which is supposedly the up and running new tourist area in the near future, similar to Thailand. We will spend the day and night on the island exploring what is has to offer and rlaxing just the same.

The final stop will be flying to Ho Chi Minh city and see the cu chi tunnels, along with the rest of the city. The next morning we can spend more time in the city, then take a boat ride back to Phnom Penh airport in Cambodia, where we will then head back to our new sweet little home in Jeju Island.

And the best part....this is only our first trip we will be taking this winter break. Our next destination is Thailand and Laos during the last week of February. We have so many exciting things to always look forward to! Keith and I are very grateful to have the opportunity to travel and see other countries.