The power of a fresh start

The last full week in February was the end of our winter term at CDI. There are a lot of kids I'm bummed about not having again this term but overall I was just ready for a fresh start with new students and new material. By the time the last class rolled around on Friday night I was real burnt-out. The term ended pretty well though. I tried to fit in lots of games during the week and brought snacks for all my classes and donuts for my two Friday classes which were my favorites. Here are some of my Level 1 kids on their last day:

These were my Memory Mega kids. We had a rough start but by the end they were probably my second favorite class. Kids come and go so frequently at academies that if you have problem students there is a decent chance they won't last for long. This class lost a few of those trouble kids along the way and managed to pick up some really great ones. (Notice the room being distinctly divided into a "boys" side and a "girls" side. Oh kids). 

And these kids were in my Wednesday/Friday Memory Giga class. I called them my dream class because they absolutely were. If you have a crummy class then the four terms with new sets of students can be a real blessing but it's too bad to lose a group you enjoyed so much in the process.

Haha I love this last picture the most. In all the other pictures I got smiles and then there's this. Thanks for playing boys.

So far I think my new classes are going all right. My schedule is pretty decent and I don't repeat too many lessons which is great because when you end up having to teach a boring ass lesson (I'm looking at you "Christopher Columbus" lesson) more than once it can be draining. I only have one night off this term (Wednesday again which I like) which is good for my bank account though I do miss getting out early on Monday nights.

Mostly I've been a lot more confident already this term than I was last. It's hard when you start of brand new and all the kids know the schedule better than you do. I'm sure they could all tell my first few weeks that I was clueless. All my first new classes last week went smoothly though and I have better ideas for making my class more fun. There are tons of new faces but a few students from my old classes and that helps with the transition. Plus it makes for that many fewer new names to memorize which is always, always good in my book.

I have a few posts backlogged and some recent pictures I still haven't gotten around to sharing so hopefully those will be up soon!

Trivia of the Day:  The Unification Flag is a flag designed to represent all of Korea when both North and South Korea participate in sporting events. The flag was first used in 1991 when the two countries competed as a single team in the 41st World Table Tennis Championship in Chiba, Japan and the 8th World Youth Football Championship in Lisbon, Portugal. The two countries' teams marched together under the flag in the opening ceremonies of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, and the 2006 Asian Games in Doha; however, the two countries competed separately in sporting events. The flag was not used in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, due to the decision made by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG), that the two teams would enter separately. The flag represents North and South Korea. The background is white. In the center there is a blue silhouette of the Korean peninsula, including the island of Jeju-do to the southwest and Ullung-do to the east. The flag has no status as the official flag of either country.