Teach the SAT, Bonnie?

This reminds me of the time the principal from my old school asked me to play the saxophone in the school faculty band a few years ago. I play the flute, not the saxophone, but said, "no problem" anyway.

Today, Dr. Park called me to meet him about the possibility of teaching more classes for the new term starting in March. Dr. Park is my boss from my internet/Korean school job. I walked into his office and he told me that our new focus is high school students at a very elite school in Seoul. I noticed a very thick SAT prep book on his desk and started to get a little nervous. I can't teach math or science to high schoolers! I barely passed myself! I remained calm as he explained the new hours (4-6AM, 1.30-2.20PM, 5 days a week), new students, new class sizes (20-30 per class), and new subject material (SAT test prep). To my great relief, he asked if I could teach the reading and writing sections of the SAT prep. Whew!

BUT, I never took the SAT.

I don't know much about it, either. How hard can it be? I said, "no problem Doc." OK, I didn't call him Doc, just kidding about that part.

So, for now folks, I am again employed (but don't start till March)! That is a very positive thing...that means I can stay here for a while longer, as long as I find a place to live.

One more thing: he tried to recruit me to go back to Seoul for a year as a high school counselor. The salary would be higher, the benefits would be the same (free housing/round-trip airfare/no taxes), and I wouldn't have to teach. I would simply help students apply for colleges and universities here in the States. I wish this position would have been available to me in 2007 when I went! I think I would have really enjoyed it! My answer to Dr. Park?: not at the moment, but I won't rule it out for the future.

Let me explain...

Now that I've started this new job, I have tried a few times to explain how it all works without success. Images are sometimes better.

Last night, as I waited for my students to finish their placement test, I snapped a few pictures of my non-traditional classroom. Here is what I see:


On the TV screen, you can see a small box in the upper left-hand corner. That is the image the students see on their TV. Here is my whiteboard (only about 6 feet away from the video camera):


BTW: I hate when kids are made to call me Miss Bonnie--I would prefer them to either call me just plain 'Bonnie' or to be really formal and address me by my family name.

Even though most of my teaching experience is with elementary students, I don't really do the cutesy teacherey things (like, baby talk, naming the paper bear mascot on the board, etc.). I generally feel that kids don't want to be patronized and respond just as well, if not better, to normal speech patterns and vocabulary. Just my opinion.

Finally, here is a close-up of the video camera that figures out all the details of how to make it all work:


Clarification: My students are Koreans in Korea. Their school is really close to where I used to live in Seoul.