The Girls from Team Olympus Performing Their National Anthem

The girls set their national anthem to the Korean theme song for the Pokemons. Click on the image above  or the link below to see a video of my girls performing

http://youtu.be/fRo5z3p-RZQ

Meyers & Briggs Personality Type Tests

Have you ever taken a Meyers & Briggs Personality Type Test? It's a personality test based on the psychologist C.G.Jung's theory of psychological types. 

Source: http://www.bridgitsmith.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/myersBriggs_gfx_1a.jpg

I have to say that though the Meyers & Briggs personality types have been considered valid and reliable, I often get different results depending on the website I'm using. 

In fact, I've recently taken the test from three different sites and have received three different results: 

• The test at HumanMetrics tells me that I am a INFJ (Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Judging). 
• The test at TeamTechnology tells me that I am a ISTJ (Introverted Sensing Thinking Judging).
• The test at Kisa Personality Inventory tells me that I am a INTJ (Introvert iNtuitive Thinking Judging).

So which website is correct? Truth to tell, I don't know. 

However, somethings appear to be consistent no matter what website I use: I am an introvert, meaning that I am more reflective and prefer to focus on my inner world rather than actively involve myself in projects and interact with others. And as I live my outer life, I prefer a more orderly and structured (Judging) lifestyle than one filled with change and unpredictability (Perceiving). 

As for whether I am more iNtuition based or Sensing based or Thinking based or Feeling based, it appears that it is not easy to tell. In fact, the Kisa Personality Inventory tells me that I am almost evenly split between iNtuition and Sensing and Thinking and Feeling. 

And having read through all of the personality types, I find myself agreeing with each and every one of them. After all, we have within all of us some part of each personality preference. Moreover, I love that taking these tests have given me another chance to reflect on how I interact with others. 

Let me introduce myself

My name is Mireenae Lee. Hard to pronounce? Just call me "Mi"--pronounced like the first pronoun "me". It actually means galaxy or Milky Way in Korean.

I currently live in Southern California where I'm currently pursuing a teaching credential and masters in education. After graduating college in 2010 with a bachelor's in English and Art History, I spent two years teaching English abroad in South Korea. There, I discovered that I loved teaching and I returned to the states to pursuing teaching as a career.

I hope to become a high school English teacher.

If you've ever read Helen Keller's biography, The Story of My Life, you may recall that famous scene when Anne Sullivan holds Helen's hand under the water pump to feel the water while spelling out w-a-t-e-r onto her palm. The moment that Helen finally makes the connection between the water and the letters, a new light shone upon her face and the world opened to her.

The famous scene from the movie "the Miracle Worker" (1962) based on the life of Helen Keller.

If you've ever taught, you know what moment Helen Keller is talking about. And it is moments like these that make teaching worthwhile.

I want to be a teacher because I want to be a part of that experience. I want to be there to guide and to help students discover the world around them.

I want to be there to help the discover the beauty of Shakespeare's Sonnets and the insidious darkness of Huxley's vision.

I want to be there because each time I see that light go on over a students head, it's like I'm discovering that knowledge and understanding for the first time myself once again.

Taking a picture with my students during the school festival in South Korea.

Nation-building: Making Long-term Teams

One of the projects that my students enjoyed the most was the Nations Project. At the beginning of the year, I formed groups. 

I told them...

"There's been a nuclear war and you are the only survivors. Civilization must go on and you must form your own countries and laws."

Each group was asked to come up with:

1. The name of their nation
2. Their country flag: what does each symbol stand for? 
3. Their anthem 
4. Type of government: monarchy, dictatorship, democracy...etc. 
5. Their Leader: Why did you choose this person? 
6. Their motto
7. Set of rules

The girls in this team decided to call themselves Olympus. Each leaf on the laurel  crown stands for one of the members. Note law number 3: "if someone brings disgrace on other, slave him". A bit harsh, no? The grammar isn't perfect but they get their point across. 

All the students enjoyed working together on a group project--something that they don't actually have much experience with in the South Korea. Due to a combination of several factors (from the focus on high-stakes testing and the consequent teaching to the test and the Neo-Confucian cultural system) many classes in South Korea largely consist of teachers lecturing, students taking notes, and everyone going through pages and pages of workbook problems and practice tests. As such, the students found my classes, which largely focused on group projects, presentations, and games, quite refreshing. 

My goal as a Native English Teacher (NET) was not to teach students grammar. My goal was to teach them that English could be fun. It, like any other language, should be used to communicate. Grammar rules and vocabulary are important and can help prevent misunderstanding but they are not the end all of an entire language. I wanted my students to have fun learning and speaking English. 

Teaching English in South Korea part 1

I know that many people who want a taste of what teaching will be like before committing to it as a full time career are looking into teaching English abroad, so let me share my experiences teaching English abroad in South Korea. I taught in South Korea for 2 years from 2010 to 2012. 

My high school 3rd year students posing on the last day before winter break.

Let me preface this by saying that I went to Korea through the English Program in Korea (EPIK) program which works with the provincial board of education to station native English teachers at schools throughout South Korea. I myself was placed in a more rural area of Gyeongbuk province. This was not uncommon. People being placed at schools through EPIK oftentimes receive very little information about where they will be placed beforehand other than a general sense of to which province they will be assigned. But I do have to say that I lucked out. The area was beautiful and only an hour bus ride away from a decently sized city. And most of all all the teachers and students were kind and eager to help me settle down.

I was fortunate enough to be placed 20 minutes from Ju Wang San  National Park, a tourist hot spot in the fall when the autumn foliage started coming in. 

Those who'd rather be in a more metropolitan area might do better in seeking spots at a private academies or a hakwon in the city areas or applying directly to GEPIK (Gyeonggi-do's version of EPIK). Gyeonggi is the province surrounding Seoul, the capital of South Korea, and is much more metropolitan. If you think you'll have difficulty living in an area where you and perhaps only a few other English teachers are the only foreigners, you may do better in a more metropolitan area where foreigners and English speakers are more common. That said, there are advantages to being in a more rural area. The students are oftentimes less jaded than their city counterparts. Whereas many students in Korean cities have opportunities to meet native English speakers either as instructors at their schools or private academies and some even take their breaks abroad to learn English, most students in the countryside don't have these same opportunities. They will be fascinated with meeting someone so different and so new. 

However, don't think that you can get by on your 'newness'. Students may be fascinated by you at first but as the weeks pass on that will mean less and less and you will have to find something else to catch your students' interests and motivate them to learn. 

How English Sounds to Non-English Speakers

In case anyone is curious about how English may sound to non-English speakers, someone's actually made a clever short movie about it. The intonation is so natural that I listened spellbound and convinced that I should be able to understand every word. It reminds me of the time I caught my Korean students playing around and speaking fake English to each other.