For the second time this week, my car wouldn’t start. Now an old pro, I called my insurance emergency English line which sent the same repair man out. “I jumpstarted your battery yesterday, right?” He asked on the phone. We’re old friends now. He jumped my car again but told me I needed a new battery. “When was the last time you bought a battery?“ “Well I bought this car used so I don’t know.” Looking horrified he called up the local insurance service center and checked the price of a new battery for me while also advising to go there straight away. I’d already been sitting in the school…

“What’s the word? Compliment?” Wendy asked me as soon as I got into the office. “Positive? Then yes, compliment.” I said. “Oh, well the 4-6 teacher complimented you.” Fourth grade is pretty good overall but some classes are easier to manage than others. About half of the teachers dip as soon as I arrive, or even before, which as we know is par for the course, no matter how much policy emphasizes that I cannot be alone with the students. Unless it’s for a whole week of summer camp then it’s allowed, for reasons I can’t begin to unravel. 4-4 is great; the homeroom teacher is always there and also…

Instead of giving 5-1 the last day worksheet, we instead talked about kpop trends and had a spontaneous fashion show, complete with YouTube catwalk music. This was inspired less by fashion and more by my boys who had spontaneously started to strut while passing out papers. Why not throw away the lesson for a modeling show? It’s the last week of the semester. Two of these boys have pretended to make out with each other in the past for the sake of theater; there’s very little this class will not do. There’s one boy I can count on to always look at in commiseration and another whose eyes literally sparkle…

As I transitioned from prepubescent to postpubescent, my secret bucket list item changed from “receive a letter from Hogwarts” to “get model scouted”. The highest form of praise for one’s looks, in my opinion back then, was for a modeling agent to professionally deem me attractive. That, of course, never happened so I had to go through all the highs and lows of puberty by myself, feeling chubby and awkward. I went to a Jonas Brothers concert when I was 16 and pretended that I could be the girl in their song, fully knowing with my shaved head and jiggly tummy that I was happily delusional. 2005 was a different…

I’ve seen my students cry, I’ve seen them pretend to be horses, I’ve seen them punch and kick and hug each other. Today marked my first experience seeing a student have a panic attack. It was like looking into a mirror. I think I need to be much more cognizant of what activities I select for fifth grade as out of all the grades I’ve taught, these students are the most sensitive. Whether it was in the capital of Seoul or down here by the coast, the student population I’ve seen cry the most are in fact fifth grade boys. Today we geared up for my famous spelling race game.…