And I'm back to clever Disney titles again.
This one I feel deserves more thought but I guess I have put thought into it as I've taken so long to write it and so many thoughts have been swirling around in my head about it in the days following.
If you haven't yet heard, even though I hope you have been decent human beings that keep up with current events (don't worry I'm the BIGGEST culprit on embracing ignorance), on Wednesday morning an ferry line sunk off the coast of South Korea around 8am in the morning. There were around 470 people on board making a trip to the island of Jeju, otherwise known as the Hawaii of South Korea. Of the 470 passengers, around 320 were high school students on a school trip. According to the most recent article I could find, the official death toll was 50 with over 200+ still missing and only 174 that were rescued soon after the sinking. This event has been heavy on my heart teaching so many Korean students.
Here I must enter in a plug about a wonderful teacher that I may have mentioned before. One of the most valuable pieces of advice I got from any teacher was my 9th grade English teacher, Ms. Miller. Every Friday, she would tell us the wise words of, "Be safe! Be smart!" Now having my own classroom, I like to add in a, "Make good choices. Honor yourself. Honor what you believe in," as a homage to my high school small group leader, Danelle O'Dell.
I felt I couldn't let Thursday go by without mentioning or saying something to my students. I told them that I couldn't even imagine what I would do if anything like that ever happened to ANY of my students. I'm not afraid to tell my students I love them. I do. 100 percent. They're the closest things I have to children and it's incredible the type of love you have for someone that you are responsible for molding their minds and who they become as a person. I went on to tell my students that events like the ship sinking is EXACTLY why I tell them to be safe and smart and make good choices every weekend. I won't see them for 2 whole days. And until I see them again on Monday morning, I worry and wonder about them. It scares me to a certain degree even if they are gone for extended amounts of time. (Which our students are gone often it seems. Seriously, if kids in America missed as much school as our students do, the truancy officers would be breaking down the doors.)
Even though I come from a completely different culture and speak a different language from my students for 8 hours a day, we are in the same family. They are my world and I am theirs.
Two Worlds, One Family. Trust your heart.
This one I feel deserves more thought but I guess I have put thought into it as I've taken so long to write it and so many thoughts have been swirling around in my head about it in the days following.
If you haven't yet heard, even though I hope you have been decent human beings that keep up with current events (don't worry I'm the BIGGEST culprit on embracing ignorance), on Wednesday morning an ferry line sunk off the coast of South Korea around 8am in the morning. There were around 470 people on board making a trip to the island of Jeju, otherwise known as the Hawaii of South Korea. Of the 470 passengers, around 320 were high school students on a school trip. According to the most recent article I could find, the official death toll was 50 with over 200+ still missing and only 174 that were rescued soon after the sinking. This event has been heavy on my heart teaching so many Korean students.
Here I must enter in a plug about a wonderful teacher that I may have mentioned before. One of the most valuable pieces of advice I got from any teacher was my 9th grade English teacher, Ms. Miller. Every Friday, she would tell us the wise words of, "Be safe! Be smart!" Now having my own classroom, I like to add in a, "Make good choices. Honor yourself. Honor what you believe in," as a homage to my high school small group leader, Danelle O'Dell.
I felt I couldn't let Thursday go by without mentioning or saying something to my students. I told them that I couldn't even imagine what I would do if anything like that ever happened to ANY of my students. I'm not afraid to tell my students I love them. I do. 100 percent. They're the closest things I have to children and it's incredible the type of love you have for someone that you are responsible for molding their minds and who they become as a person. I went on to tell my students that events like the ship sinking is EXACTLY why I tell them to be safe and smart and make good choices every weekend. I won't see them for 2 whole days. And until I see them again on Monday morning, I worry and wonder about them. It scares me to a certain degree even if they are gone for extended amounts of time. (Which our students are gone often it seems. Seriously, if kids in America missed as much school as our students do, the truancy officers would be breaking down the doors.)
Even though I come from a completely different culture and speak a different language from my students for 8 hours a day, we are in the same family. They are my world and I am theirs.
Two Worlds, One Family. Trust your heart.
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