the "Best" post

I have to say, Wednesday was a pretty good day at school. First thing when we came in, we were called to the gym for a surprise meeting where myself and 3 other teachers (2 elementary, 2 kindergarten) were given the "Best Teacher" award for the first quarter of the year. 50,000 won richer, I went back to my office to prepare for my classes.

Not only did they announce "Best Teacher" on Wednesday, but the "Best Class" for each class level was also announced and given a pizza party. This was a new incentive introduced a few months ago to encourage students to study hard for their tests. It seems to be working, at least for some classes. Test scores have gone up considerably for quite a few classes. Though, one of my worst classes asked me... "Teacher, we want a pizza party!" I told them, "You can have a pizza party... when you study hard and get the best score on your test.", to which they replied, "No, thanks."
The class pictured above is one of my favorites. They drive me nuts sometimes, but they are really great. They are an advanced 2nd grade class which studies from an American curriculum. They all attended English preschool for at least one year, most of them probably two years. They were so excited to get the pizza party. It was their first time.. they've brought up their scores a lot since I started teaching them. I don't know if it's the pizza party incentive or not, but they're doing something right.
This is another one of my classes, the second of two of my 7 classes to receive a pizza party this month. They are another advanced class that follows an American curriculum, most of them probably attended 1 year of English preschool. This is their second pizza party in 3 months. They all work pretty hard and love learning. These kids are great too. Very well behaved and really want to learn. Every class should be like them!

Finally, the "Most Improved Student" award was also given to one of my students. It seems like a terrible award to give, and most kids hate gettting it... since it means you were terrible, but now you're good. Anyway, this kid came in quite behind, but it was the lowest level for his grade we could put him in. We weren't sure if he was going to make it, he had a lot of trouble reading and his speaking and listening comprehension skills were far below the other kids. But, he's worked hard, and taken some extra classes, and he got a 90% on his last test! Good job Vincent!