My students are reading about holidays in various countries called Days to Remember. It’s part of this Canadian curriculum distributed by my hog-wan here in Suwon. For example, ANZAC Day (Australia/New Zealand), Canada Day and Martin Luther King, Jr. day (MLK) in the U.S.
The unit focuses on these national holidays in attempts to make them aware of the soldiers who fought for freedom, consolidating provinces into a confederation like Canada and those individuals, like MLK, who fought and pushed for civil rights of African-Americans.
The other day I handed them two MLK worksheets. It had a picture of MLK and parts of “I had a dream…” speech. And the other had a comparison chart of MLK and “me” the student.
We did the comparison chart. It asked how many brothers/sisters did King have and how many does the student have. It asked what did King’s mother do for a living and what the kid’s mother does for a living, etc. You get the picture.
After they filled out the comparison chart, we went around the room and asked them the questions from the activity sheet. They liked it, it got them talking. I like when they talk in English.
I thought it would be great time to introduce the sheet with his most famous speech on it. Instead, they immediately started drawing. The kids decided MLK would look better if he had a full on beard, big horse teeth, Zulu style earrings and tattoos on his cheeks. They are very irreverent and disrespectful at the same time. I wonder if students back in the States would do such a thing? Would they do this to one of their Korean leaders of the past? I know I was serious about the lesson and activity but they were not. I am disappointed in them. If you are thinking about teaching English in Korea, maybe you should not.
The unit focuses on these national holidays in attempts to make them aware of the soldiers who fought for freedom, consolidating provinces into a confederation like Canada and those individuals, like MLK, who fought and pushed for civil rights of African-Americans.
The other day I handed them two MLK worksheets. It had a picture of MLK and parts of “I had a dream…” speech. And the other had a comparison chart of MLK and “me” the student.
We did the comparison chart. It asked how many brothers/sisters did King have and how many does the student have. It asked what did King’s mother do for a living and what the kid’s mother does for a living, etc. You get the picture.
After they filled out the comparison chart, we went around the room and asked them the questions from the activity sheet. They liked it, it got them talking. I like when they talk in English.
I thought it would be great time to introduce the sheet with his most famous speech on it. Instead, they immediately started drawing. The kids decided MLK would look better if he had a full on beard, big horse teeth, Zulu style earrings and tattoos on his cheeks. They are very irreverent and disrespectful at the same time. I wonder if students back in the States would do such a thing? Would they do this to one of their Korean leaders of the past? I know I was serious about the lesson and activity but they were not. I am disappointed in them. If you are thinking about teaching English in Korea, maybe you should not.
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