A Ski Trip with the Kids

This weekend I went on the last Hwacheon County Office trip. This weekend we accompanied students to Yong Pyong Ski Resort in eastern Gangwondo. The ski mountain is going to be used for alpine skiing in the 2018 Winter Olympics, which are being held in nearby Pyeongchang. I am pretty sure we didn't have access to that part of the mountain though because the part we skied on was rather small since it is so early in the season and most trails are still closed.

Skiing with my students was really, really enjoyable although I must admit that I was more than a little rusty. Luckily, my students and my friend, Rachel, were slow-skiers as well. The first day my students didn't even want to leave the bunny slope! They were all really scared of the bigger slopes.

My students!

One of my favorite parts of the Hwacheon Trip Program has been the opportunity to interact with my students outside of school. I believe these trips has significantly improved my rapport with my students in the classroom. They feel much more comfortable talking to me outside of class time and participate in class a lot more. It is often a struggle to get Korean students to participate in class. They are extremely shy compared to American students and are much more nervous about getting wrong. Therefore, having a few students who are always willing to participate helps a great deal.

I also liked that these trips gave me the opportunity to interact with students from all different schools in Hwacheon. Talking to students from the other elementary schools has given me a lot of perspective on my students' English abilities. My school is by far the largest elementary school with approximately five class of 25 students in each grade. Most of the other elementary schools have only one class per grade that has a maximum of 15 students. Despite the difference in school sizes I have found that my students English abilities seem to be much better than most of the other elementary students. This makes me feel really great about the work that my co-teacher and I are doing, especially since sometimes we feel strained to think of new ways to reach students.

I have really enjoyed all of the traveling I have been able to do with my students and am so glad I was able to participate in such a great program.