Gittleson Goes Abroad: Saying Goodbye to My Students

I'm wrote part of this at 5am at the airport after sleeping maybe an hour. Hopefully it makes sense. If not...well, I tried.

Although there were many days where I reverted to my elementary school self- curled up under my blankets in the morning, hoping that school got canceled due to snow/rain/anything- for the majority of my time in Korea I really enjoyed teaching.

Last August I started at the english center not knowing what to expect. I was immediately greeted by wonderful coworkers, cute students and a beautiful school. While my morning classes were made up from 5th graders visiting from schools around Gwangju for two day experiences in the English Center, my afternoon classes were mine. I saw the same faces four days a week- whether either of us wanted to be there. I had three afternoon classes; 1-2 grade, 3-4 grade and 5-6 grade. For the first few semesters I taught the lower level classes My 1st and 2nd graders were adorable as they learned phonics, my 3rd and 4th graders struggled but overcame in the beginner classes, and my 5th and 6th graders were sassy but sweet in my beginner/intermediate classes.

I really enjoyed teaching the lower levels because you could see their progress so quickly and clearly. While it was challenging at times to get information across, it was always rewarding when they understood an answer or responded well in English. As someone who was always in low level language classes, I really related to the beginner/lower level class kids.

When the new school year started in February, I was switched from low level classes to all advanced classes. This was a totally different world. Gone were the days when it was a challenge to make kids speak a sentence- now it was a challenge to keep them quiet so I could teach new concepts. The kids were all brilliant (and they were not afraid to remind me of their genius). I loved being able to hold conversations with my 3rd-6th graders and it was amazing that the 1st and 2nd graders understood almost everything I said in class. I felt like I was really able to bond with these classes. I learned about their families, likes, dislikes, dreams, hopes and everything in between.

While I really liked teaching in Korea, I knew it was time to move on come August. It just felt right. What I didn't realize was how sad leaving the kids would make me. For my last classes I brought ice cream, cards and things for them to sign. I had them fill out some information sheets for the new teacher and then we took pictures. It was a really relaxed atmosphere and made me really sad.

I'll never forget how fantastic these kids were and I expect to hear more about them in the future.