Who will YOU be?

Teaching English overseas involves a lot of entertainment ... and guess who will be providing? That's right, you will be a jester, a magician, a circus performer, a mime, and an all-around clown. Oh yeah, and you have to teach as well. Before you turn your nose up at this idea, think about this. Remember when you were a student? Which teachers stand out the most in your mind? Which ones make you smile when you remember them? The ones who forced you to take volumes of notes and memorize, memorize, memorize? Or the ones who made you laugh while you learned? Now, from which teacher do you think you learned the most? That big scary one, or the fun one? See what I mean? Something else to keep in mind is that these kids are in school literally all day. After they finish their regular school, they go to various institutes to study music, dance, English, martial arts, or just to enhance their studies of what they learn in their regular school. They have been sitting at a desk all day long listening to teachers and studying. They are KIDS! Let them have some fun in your class. Not only will they love YOU for it, but you just might accidentally teach them to love English. Keep in mind that you are no longer in America and won't be charged with child molestation if you give a child a hug. These kids crave attention and will even fight with one another for your attention and affection. Hug them. Pat them on the back. Play with their hair. Steal their shoes and pretend to try to wear them. Anything. Just be sure that you don't always single out the same student for attention no matter how adorable he or she is. Remember how I said that you could show affection to Korean children without getting your mug shot made? Well, technically, you can also hit the children without being in trouble. Of course, this may vary from school to school depending on the director. I was advised to hit a student to punish him when I asked for advice on how to handle a sticky situation. However, I'll say right now, DON'T DO IT!! You can, however, give them a light tap on the head with your book to drag their attention back to the same solar system. There are other ways to punish the students when it becomes necessary, and believe me, it will. Korean children are just as naughty and mischevious as children everywhere else. You just have to be creative in your approach to punish them. I dabbled in many different ways before finally hitting upon the best solution.....The Purple Kiss My kids talk too much...in Korean. I'm too angry to kiss them...what else can I do?