a student's point of view

In high school they skim the 'top' students (by exam scores) and group them into one class. they schedule more "cram class" for them (supervised self-study time, usually until 11 pm, Saturdays and Sundays). On top of that, they are also a target of gossip and bullying from the other students. These "elite" students are groomed to produce top exam scores. Thus, my class interferes with exam prep; they are too 'mature' to pry themselves away from their physics text book to enjoy a game for an hour or do a simple conversation activity. Many go to extra curricular Academies, so their English abilities are higher but it's harder to get it out of them. They are smart girls for sure, but often more difficult to engage. My lowest level girls make more mistakes, but they're so excited to talk to me about the latest Gossip Girl plot, boys, or the co-teacher who doesn't wear a bra that they don't need much coaxing to get talking. So, for this special class, I need to come up more challenging activities, that they can't just ignore since I make them present the final result to the class and my camera (I lie and say the other teachers will watch it... which they don't; too busy. Christ).

Awhile back I held a speech contest where students could talk about anything they felt strongly about. Not surprisingly, a lot of students chose problems with the Korean education system (although a few girls did use the 2 minutes for an in depth analysis of the sexiness of Johnny Depp). I told the students to express themselves freely, and share their honest opinions without fear. The co-teacher was a bit shocked, I think, to hear these normally docile, obedient 'top' students express such rebellious, anti-establishment thoughts. And probably she was a bit confused with my choices for the top 3 speeches. While the standard "Impossible is nothing" "Respect Public Order" "Dokdo is Ours" speeches might impress in one of the Board of Education speech contests (borrrring), I was more interested in creativity, originality, intelligence and spirit.

This is one of my favorite speeches from the bunch. Her original script was much more incendiary, with some musings about protesting, and breaking into the principal's office, but on the day of her speech a Korean co-teacher attended, so she censored a little. Her pronunciation isn't great, but I like when she says "some student's souls leave their bodies and they play outside... they become dead jelly fish." Very true... I've had similar thoughts at the front of the class, looking out at the sea of dead eyes. How sad is it that all she wants is enough time to eat dinner and lunch?

They are essentially good kids. I would have liked to have made more of a difference, if the situation had allowed them more time and energy to give my class.