Science Class

As I mentioned in my last blog, we're currently in the middle of intensives.

What are intensives?

I'm glad you asked. Let me tell you...

In Korea, the school system is year-round. There is a one month break in January and a one month break in August (actually late-July to late-August). So during the school break, kids take extra classes. That's right - for vacation, they spend more time at academies.

I'm not sure if I've really explained this before, but I teach English at an academy. There are academies for all kinds of subjects - my students have mentioned Math, Science, and TaeKwonDo as some of the academies they attend. I think most of my students attend at least 2 academies. They do this in the evening, after spending a full day at school. Where I work, the kids are there for almost 3 hours, 2-3 times per week. Kids here study hardcore. They have school on Saturday, too!

Anyway, back to intensives. They're a lot different from our regular classes and a lot more laid-back. I'm teaching two science classes and two literature classes. Anyone who knows me very well knows that I hate science and love lit. So my reaction was a bit like this, "Ugh....Yay!"

But actually, I don't mind the science class. I guess when I really think about it, it's mostly chemistry that I hate.

So anyway, we did an experiment in one of my classes last week. I thought it was worthy of a video. What do you think?

Science Class from Marianna Willey on Vimeo.

In case you're wondering, I do usually keep a bit more order in my classes, but there are only 4 students and like I said, it's intensives. These poor kids are on vacation, for heaven's sake.

One other little note, did you notice the cute kid playing the part of class clown? He's one of my favorites, even though he acts up. Anyway, I made him cry yesterday. Yep. Way to go, me.