::A Geek in Korea::

One of the teachers I work with has a kindergarten class before mine. The level I teach while he teaches kindergarten is what he does for the rest of the day. As such, we’ve developed a fairly reliable system where he figures out something to do in the kindergarten, and I think of something to do in my class. Then, when we change classes, we fill each other in on what we did, how it went, and general tips on making the class go smoother. This means that we both only have to prepare one lesson, and it’s always had the benefit of a trial run before we start the class. This helps everything operate in the easiest environment.

Today, I made up a game for my class, which I later shared with the other teacher. I found some dice, then labeled twelve different parts of the body. Each body part had a corresponding number. I wrote the parts and their labels on the board next to the number, then handed out a paper with the parts marked on a "Robot" I made out of word processing text boxes on the computer. The students then had to "label" the parts as they rolled the die and got the corresponding number. The first person to get their robot completed got a prize, as did the student that did the best job coloring. This kept my students well entertained.

The other teacher prepared the "Cup Monster" lesson from our kindergarten books. He found cups, marked them with five dashes equally positioned to aid in cutting for each student, then prepared a sample monster. He cut the paper cup, colored limbs and a head, then glued them onto the cup. The result was a "Cup Monster" the kids could make in class. I had already done this lesson at a previous school, so I helped him with some of the details, but he was the one that found  the cups and made the lesson work.

After those two classes are taken care of, I’m half way finished with my day. I have only one more lesson to prepare for other classes I have, as both classes study the same material. This means that on my busiest day I am only preparing materials for half my classes. The difference between four separate lessons and two well plotted and planned lessons is enormous. Everyone in the room can feel the difference when we go through a well planned lesson. The less time I have to work on each individual class, and the more time I can plan for classes as whole, the better for everyone. We designed our schedules to work this way, and it’s made a huge difference in my teaching at this school compared to my last.