I haven't really written much about work because there hasn't been that much interesting stuff to blog about.

Things are going swimmingly. Both my coteachers are dedicated and work hard to communicate with me. I would like some things to be done a bit differently. I think they stick to the book too much. I'd rather use the book as a guide, instead of a rigidly enforced law, but if that's my biggest complaint I should consider myself lucky.

I don't have quite the freedom that I had the first semester. Both of my coteachers, while being great teachers, were both intimidated by me and let me do whatever I wanted. Not any more. In fact, it's been the opposite. Early in the year, I sat down and planned a lesson with the 6th grade English teacher. Everything she said was, "I will....then, I will....then, I will." When she finished talking, I said, "Great. Now, what am I doing?" From that point on she realized that this is a cooperative effort. She would also say, "my students," when talking to me about the kids. I kept correcting her, "Oh, you mean OUR students." I think she gets it now.

I still have no idea what to make of the 5th grade teacher, except that her lessons are a lot of fun and we spend more time smiling and laughing than we ever did last year. She's a big fan of TPR and so am I. For those out of the biz, TPR stands for Total Physical Response. It's a method of teaching that uses muscle memory to help students learn new words and concepts. I've liked doing this so much that I get my first grade monsters doing it. Fun!

I have less than 50 days to my vacation. I can't wait. The plan is to hit Incheon for a few days. Catch a ballgame, see some of the war memorials(it was the site of MacArthur's daring raid!), then take my flight on Saturday morning. Hang out for a bit, see some friends, relax, suck down a few dozen delicious American beers, then visit Milwaukee and St.Louis(I've never been, ever). Finally, return to Chicago and take my flight to Korea, ready to battle monsters for another year.