Yoga

Joe and I usually get to teach art and PE together on Fridays. Unfortunately in January and in July the class schedule changes for intensives (the kids all take an extra class because in the Korean elementary schools they are in winter or summer vacation) and we do not get to teach together on Fridays. Sad.

Last Friday, Joe has a short break and was able to help me out for most of art class. Where we made sensory balloons.
We filled large balloons with flour and/or rice. The kids got to squish them and kneed them. It was a fun quick project.

But then he had a first grade class to teach and I was on my own for PE.

We only had about 30 minutes. We played a modified dodge-ball game, then when we had about 5 minutes left we decided to do a little "yoga".

Now, I use the term "yoga" very loosely. Basically we just do some light stretching and some modified yoga positions that the kids can all do. I name them silly things that the kids like or think are funny.

The kids are really into it and stay completely silent for "yoga". They understand that it is a relaxing, quiet activity to get us focused and calmed down.

 I call this pose, "tall mountain".

 

Look at that balance.

 

"Angry Kitty Cat" 

 Stretching out our "angry kitty cat" into the "flat cat".

 My flexibility or lack there of is demonstrated in this pose, the "seal".

 Look at the little boy in the bottom left corner...hahaha. Stretch it out Tony!

 Look at how flexible these little people are.

 Big, strong "t" pose

 And finishing up our yoga session, finding our calm and centering our energy.

Namaste

I need to look up some new "yoga" positions, but until then these ones are keeping us busy.

A Walk in the Park

  
***I have a ton of catching up to do on this ol blog......but the thing is life keeps happening and my list of "to blog about" keeps growing. So I figured I might as well blog about something even if it is not at the top of my "to-do" list.

Work has been a drag. Being a teacher can really suck sometimes. The work load lately has been heavy. It's the end of a term for our older elementary students. Which means reviewing all of this terms material, making review worksheets, term test, then my least favorite...report cards! Ahgg. I HATE writing them. I won't go into it but they are more complicated then back home, its not a fill in the bubble, click a comment to add. Every single student gets a personalized comment that is no less than a paragraph long for each subject, from each teacher. It it a miserable task for me. Anyway....then at the end of this month it's term test for the first graders too. And to add to the fun this month....drum roll please....we got  four new students in pre-k! They are only Korean age 5. Which means in North American age they are between 2- 4 years old, depending on their birthday. I haven't seen their paper work yet, but I imagine one is 3 and others are 4. We build a whole new class for these little darlings.

So... Joe and I decided to take the kindergartners for a mini field trip. Getting out of the building after a long week was perfect. We have had a beautiful fall so far but it will be getting cold really soon. Winters are long in Korea and we knew it would be the last time we would be able to get outside with the kids until next spring. The weather was perfect. Cool, crisp air, sunny and dry. It was a picture perfect fall day. There is a great little park near the school that has a pond full of fish and the path to the park is lined with trees with the leaves changing colors. We had about 90 minutes to get to the park and back. Not an easy task with 20 small children, but do-able. We set out walking, then moved to speed walking, then when I noticed we might not make it back in time for the kids to catch the bus, we ran.

  

It's hard to see in this picture but Joe is carrying/running with Matthew. Matthew is by far the heaviest Kindergartner we have. He just could not keep up with the others, so Joe scooped him up and ran with him.  Matthew told the other kids he was flying. The next day Joe was sore. 

 

 I packed a small bag of Eddie's dry dog food so we could feed the fish. We were lucky enough to have some ducks come by and we got to feed them too. The kids LOVED it.

Steve- "I'm so tired, I can't wait to sleep on the bus" 

 Jayden got something stuck in his shoe. He stopped and refused to move until the issue was resolved. Of course that meant it was the perfect time for a picture according the Vicki, our photographer for the day. I swear nothing happens at BIS without a camera within reach. Joe and I didn't even think any of the Korean staff would go with us. Unfortunately as soon as we loaded up into the elevator, Vicki squeezed it. She doesn't really speak English, all she said was, "For picture", then held up the camera.

We all had a great time. We ran and played. I had the kids collect leaves for a future art project. I think the pictures speak for themselves.

Eddie Walk for PE

Joe and I get to co-teach P.E. and art with the kindergarteners.

We get and hour and 15 minutes and no one cares what we do.
Last month I decided that we should take the kids outside before summer got here and it would be way too hot for any outside activities.

Joe and I decided that a nature walk would be fun. We live and work near a few parks and the "Tan Chan". It is a stream that flows through the city and there are walking/running paths along it as well as basketball courts, tennis courts, play equipment that encourages people to be active.

Every morning and evening we take Eddie for a walk along the Tan Chan. He gets to be off his leash and run around. There is a park with a soccer field and a few places where Eddie gets to jump across rocks in the stream. Eddie LOVES his Tan Chan walk. It's about 2 miles long and takes us about 30-40 minutes.

When Joe and I decided to take the kids on a nature walk we thought that the Eddie walk would be perfect. We would walk about a mile, stop on the soccer field to kick the ball around, then walk the other mile back to school.

 For the record, my team won. 2 to 0. No big deal. It's just a game. But my team won. 

 This is Brian and Alex.. As soon as we ran onto the soccer field Brian got caught up in Alex and they both did a HUGE face plant. You can see all of the dirt on Brian's face and shirt. I had to turn around because I was laughing so hard. As soon as they hit the ground a huge puff of dust formed and Brain stood up covered in dirt. Hilarious!

 The loosing team with their team captain, Mr. Joe.

 This was my favorite part of our walk. The kids had never really jumped on these rocks before. They acted like the had to jump across the Grand Canyon. They were SO cute.
One little girl needed a little help. She held Joe's little finger while she jumped from rock to rock. They were all really proud of themselves when the got to the other side.

Joe helped some of the slow movers across.

 

 Sometimes I forget how lucky we are to be able to live in such a great location.

You can almost see our aprtment in the background. Its the building second from the right.

 

It was a great little adventure. The kids seemed to really enjoy the walk.

I think all of the kids said that their favorite part of the walk was jumping across the rocks.