grade 6~~

today was my last day teaching my 6th graders, which is legitimately sad.

the korean school calendar is set up much differently than that in the united states. the school year begins in march, has a 5 week summer vacation from july-august, and then a long winter break beginning after christmas and lasting until february. the students then return for a week and a half of school before going on a 2 week spring break [crazy, i know]. even though there are still about 2 weeks left of the school year, my 6th graders have already finished their english books and taken their final exams so they won't have english class any more until they reach middle school.

anyways, i've been a little sad about it all week because i really love teaching my grade 6 students. honestly, there's not a single student or class that i don't like. [they were my favorites last year as 5th graders, so it's no surprise that they're still my favs.]

last year, my 6th graders were like little holy terrors. probably because i came in halfway through the year and they'd never had a foreign english teacher before. and also probably because my coteacher couldn't speak english. i literally hated 90% of them. but my 5th graders were like a breath of fresh air. they were always excited when i'd walk in to their classroom, and they were always prepared for class and ready to learn. they actually paid attention.

i was worried that my precious fifth graders would magically change when they moved on into the 6th grade. but, they didn't--for the most part. they still act so excited to see me [even though they've been seeing me for the past year and a half], and even when we don't play games or even do anything fun, they still listen and pay attention. it's amazing.

that being said, i'm really going to miss my students. they've been really awesome all year, and my 6th graders were actually part of the reason why i decided to stay at my school for another year instead of moving elsewhere. when i wasn't feeling well, or was having a bad day they'd always cheer me up--coming to visit me in my office or bringing me small presents [pictures of bigbang!!]; the boys would always sing "hello" by g-dragon or "hello" by shinee when they'd see me in the hall [not entirely appropriate, but funny nonetheless]. and then of course there were the puns on my name [a mispronunciation of my name sounds like "i don't know" in korean]. ahh, i will miss it!!

so to whoever gets my 6th graders as grade 1 in middle school: i envy you. these kids are awesome.