Beginners

I found out yesterday why they gave Matt my 2 PM class--next week I'm getting a new 2 PM class of BEGINNERS. We're talking about kids who barely know their ABCs and can't yet read. NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! I worked so long and so hard to get my two 2 PM classes to a decent level, and then management goes and gives them both to Matt! Although, I guess with his tolerance for younger kids, I can probably do a better job of teaching them. First and second graders take so much energy!

Grace was here for a long time after class yesterday talking with Mr. Kim. I found out that Tanya will teach her daughter one-on-one three days a week. The daughter will be going to university in Canada in 6 months and studying science and since Tanya was a science major for a year or two it makes sense for her to do it. Joelle gave Grace Tanya's cell phone number for the daughter to call her--I warned Tanya to be careful to not be taken advantage of.

Because Tanya will be tutoring the college student at 2 PM, that means that Sandra will get the two beginner classes when she comes back, and it sounds like most of my schedule. Sandra will NOT be happy about it--she set things up so that she could keep her same classes, kids, and schedule when she got back, despite being gone for 4 months. She really shouldn't be surprised because of the way the academy business is, but because of the way Mr. Kim gives her her own way about most things, she might have a problem with it. I suppose I'll send her an email this weekend or next to clue her in on some of the things going on: schedule changes, extra work checking diaries, Joelle in general, etc. so she can be ready for it. Something I admire about Sandra is her ability to say offensive things without being offensive about it. She can tell someone very bluntly: you are wrong, this is unacceptable, you must change it, and then the same day they'll be laughing together and the best of friends. I can't figure out how she does it!

The 10~15 year age difference between me and Joelle was easily apparent yesterday when she asked me to help her with an achievement certificate. I told her there was a special way to write the date on formal things but I couldn't quite remember how, so I would search the internet to find it. She said that she'd already done that and couldn't find anything. Well, in 5 minutes (the computer crashed and had to reboot) I had found lots of stuff. Joelle was secretly trying to write down how I did it: the search engine I went to and the search terms I used, as if that would help her in the future. I changed the appropriate lines and retyped it, then left her to adjust the size and such (since I'm not familiar with the hangul word processing program). Mona had to end up helping with that part (Mona's a year older than me). It ended up looking decent.