Some of my Students

I am finally beginning to develop some real relationships with my classes as a whole, and with a few specific students individually. I am amazed by the time amount of time it took me to get used to this job (we are about to head into week 13 of the semester!)

My favorite class is my English 9 class. It is a small class, only 14 students. Throughout the whole semester, 3 students have moved up to native level English, and I have received two new students from a lower level class this year. Here are the profiles of some notable students:

1. John: Part Swedish, part Chinese, he is one of my favorite students. He sits in the back of class and is pretty shy. Before classes and between classes (on days that we have a double period), he hangs out by my desk, but not to chat. He is always trying to look through my things and figure out what the homework will be, what the next lesson will be, etc. His English is not the best in the class, and his handwriting is comically horrific. His quiet and calm demeanor is probably one of the reasons I like him most. His smile makes me laugh because he always looks innocent and guilty at the same time.

2. Lidia: Lidia sits in the front of class and works harder than anyone else. She always uses every moment of class time to complete her assignments, often asking to turn them in later in the day to finish, say, a story that is, easily, three or four times longer than anyone else’s. Even with all of this effort, she is pretty bad at grammar and is very self- conscious of it. She is the head of the Animation Club at the school, and I see her becoming some renowned anime illustrator.

3. The Terrible Three (Ryan, Jin, Jacky): They are the worst students in class, both academically and behaviorally, but somehow, they make me laugh everyday.

Ryan is pretty terrible at English, but is always ready to shout out answers. Whenever he gets something wrong, his entire face turns into this glowing smile and his cheeks turn red. I think it is a smile of embarrassment, but it does not seem to affect him any further than that.

Jin makes a point to say something nice about me everyday. However, I know it is not as innocent as it may seem. It might be sarcastic, it might be him trying to butter me up, it might just be an attempt to embarrass me and derail my lecture. I have finally had to ban him from using me in any of his grammar or vocabulary example sentences.

Jacky. Oh, where do I begin? Most of the students in my class are 14. I have one 13 year old. Jacky, for some reason unknown to me, is 17! This affects his behavior, and his behavior effects his performance in the class. This week, I finally had to move him up to the front of the class, and of course Jin and Ryan came with him. So, right in the middle front of the class are my three most disruptive students. I often find myself having to literally talk over their heads to get to the students who are listening.

4. JinHwa: With black hair and black rimmed glasses, standing hardly five feet tall, placed in the back of class, she is the most silent existence I have ever come into contact with. I often forget that she is even in the classroom. Her English is probably the best in the class, but she refuses to speak. And when I say refuses, I literally mean refuses. If I dare to ask her to answer a question, she just shakes her head. One day, after class, I asked her if she was going to try to move up to the native level. She said “no” because there was an interview involved in the process. This girl really hates to speak English. I have begun to understand her better though, and from this more clear understanding, I have begun to like her more and more.