How has this experience helped you grow professionally?

Although we have recently returned to the U.S., we will continue to post thoughts and stories from #AgEd2Korea participants to reflect on the breadth, depth and diversity of our experiences in Korea.  This blog showcases some of the answers to the question, "How has this experience helped you grow professionally?"

"I believe this experience has helped me grow professionally in many ways. I think one of the biggest thing was the relationship that I developed with my fellow travelers. I have hugely enlarged my network of professional agriculture teachers that are specialists and I would feel comfortable contacting them for help or advice if needed." - Abby

Cassidy and her teaching partner at Suwon High School

"The chance to microteach was very beneficial.  Co-teaching, except during workshops, was something I had never done before. During the actual lesson, we ran into problems that might occur in any classroom-lack of time, cultural/language barriers. I think this experience was a good practice for later on. Since we had more people helping us, the support system was there as well." - Cassidy

"I feel like I am much more comfortable in meeting new people and most importantly, my ability to command the attention of a group. Through the few lessons I taught at Suwon and at Yeoju I have felt like I have improved greatly in my confidence level in teaching. If I can teach a class of Korean students who can’t understand much of what I am saying and they still learn, I think I will feel very confident teaching an English speaking class!" - Stacia

"As a professional educator I am walking away from this experience with an arsenal of ideas to implement directly into my agricultural education program as well as a greater sense of social responsibility to develop my students into global citizens through agricultural education. These professional growth takeaways would not have been acquired domestically." - David

Tyler interacts with peers from Seoul National University

"I think I have developed a great deal professionally by adding a large portion of global competency to my skills tool belt. Before this trip, I had little to no experience with other cultures. Now, if I were to work with someone professionally who is from a different culture I believe I would be able to have a much more positive experience. Not only do I believe this would apply to people of different cultures, it would also apply to people of different backgrounds or thought patterns, of which I may be unfamiliar." - Tyler

"This experience has changed me several ways. As a teacher, it has changed me by having me see that I need to be incorporating more global concepts into my lesson plans." - Jess

Janae, Kelli and Sarah taking a Korean quiz

"As a professional teacher, I have become more empathetic towards my English Language Learners. After going through the language course here, where I was the language learner, I had all those frustrations, struggles, let downs, and high points that my students experience as they are learning English." - Kelli

"I feel I am more prepared to teach after this experience. If I can teach a group of Korean students in a different language, I can teach a group of American students." - Rachel 

"As an agriscience teacher, traveling to another country and immersing myself into their culture and studying the agriculture education system has opened my eyes to the global agriculture world. I plan to use this knowledge to share with my students, alumni, community and other agriscience teachers. I know that my students will benefit from this experience as well because it has made me a better teacher." - Jason








 

Meaningful Interactions

Although we have recently returned to the U.S., we will continue to post thoughts and stories from #AgEd2Korea participants to reflect on the breadth, depth and diversity of our experiences in Korea.  This blog showcases some of the answers to the question, "What was your most meaningful interaction with a Korean person?"

Deanna and her SNU Teaching Partner

"My most meaningful interaction was with my SNU teaching partner. Not only did he help us with translations and logistics, but he helped us to structure our lesson and make it more impactful for the students in the classroom. He could have sat back and watched as we prepared a lesson but he was engaged and inqusitive the entire time. It makes me wonder how I would have responded in his situation." – Deanna

"My most impactful interaction was when we got to meet the Vice Minister of Education, Dr. Na. I am always excited to meet another OSU Alumni, and one who has made such an impact on the education system, just makes it that much more exciting. He had some very insightful words about finding your passion and dedicating yourself to it. If you are not building your passions, you will not have a very rewarding life." - Kelli

Lesson Planning: Kelli, Hee Song and Janae

"I loved working with my SNU teaching partner, Hee Song. She was absolutely awesome! She really had a presence in the classroom and I really enjoyed being able to team-teach with her. What really surprised me though was the note she left me on our last day together. She wrote that my passion for teaching helped to ensure that she was in the right profession as well. It was an incredible complement and she has impacted me in just the same way."
– Janae


"When I went to Insadong for the second time, as I was shopping I had a group of 13 year-olds and their teacher run up to me and speed quiz me on camera as an English project in order to help them learn to better speak English. They were a great group and they were so excited to talk to me and enjoyed talking to me in English & Korean and it was great to see students that excited to learn new languages." - Amanda

"At Buseong Elementary in Gwangju, I asked a 6th grade student how she was doing and she responded in English by saying, “I am happy!” This was evidence of the successful implementation of the school’s mission statement, which included 'Happy Students'.” - David

Jeremy's class at Yeoju High School

"My most meaningful interaction with a Korean has been with the students at Yeoju High School. They were so excited to have us in their classroom and learn about agricultural education in America. They were the friendliest, most respectful students I had ever met and they made me want to come to Korea and teach here for a while!" - Jeremy

"My most meaningful interaction with a Korean was when Jason and I were coming home from a late night out on the town and we met Jim, a Korean student from SNU. Jim was very kind, patient and engaging. We met Jim on the subway, we all three walked home even stopping long enough to grab a bite to eat and drink, just like we had known him for years. He even answered his phone to his girlfriend saying he had met some new friends and would be home late." - Chris

Jessica, Cassidy and Abby having lunch with a Suwon Teacher

"My most meaningful personal interaction with a Korean was probably the day that we went to lunch with the Suwon teachers for bugolgi. It was meaningful because although there was a language barrier, we had a normal conversation, just like I would have with my friends. We talked about our school day, what we love about our jobs, and about our family. It was neat to share those things, and I didn’t feel pressure to make sure I was speaking perfectly. They were just happy to interact with us, like we were with them. I wish I would have exchanged contact information with them, a lesson learned, but I really enjoyed lunch that day, and wish we could have had more one on one time with just the teachers. " - Abby

Teaching Team: Stacia, NeungSu and Jessica

"My most meaningful interaction with a Korean is my work with my SNU teaching partner NeungSu. Through teaching together I really had to rely on him to translate to our class. We also had to work on our own communication together for him to be able to help translate. It has definitely helped me realize how to speak more clearly and how to work with a partner in the classroom. Out of the classroom he has also given me a lot of insight into Korean culture. I have had the opportunity to ask him all about his traditions which was
a lot of fun to learn about." - Stacia

Last day of Exploration!

With only 5 days left of our Korea adventure, all 20 of us spent our last day of free time doing different activities. On my last day of free time I decided to finish up souvenir shopping and spend some time exploring a different part of Seoul I wasn't able to see before. Even in a month we haven't begun to see that much of Seoul (the capital where we have spent most of our time) because it is so large, it holds more than half of the entire population!

Some college students from Gwangju National University of Education suggested Dongdaemun for shopping, so that is precisely where Tyler, Cassidy, and I started our day. It is not far from Myeongdong where we have all spent some time before. Dongdaemun wasn't exactly what we expected, but it was still quite an interesting experience just to see it.

Dongdaemun

There are huge department stores that we didn't get to see, but we spent all of our time there exploring the street vendors. It was similar to many other places we've seen, but it did seem to cater more toward the local population than tourists looking for souvenirs. If I didn't have to keep my suitcase under 50 pounds for the flight home I may have spent more time shopping for clothes there! The picture below shows just one small area of it, and let me tell you, most of it was much busier than this shows.

 

Street food in Dongdaemun

We took in the sights at Dongdaemun, watching all the locals buy clothes, electronics, and of course food before we went over to another "unchartered" territory in Seoul. We explored Namdaemun later in the afternoon since Dongdaemun (while interesting) didn't have souvenirs for us to give to family and keep for ourselves. Nongdaemun was not lacking in the souvenir department and reminded me a lot of a combination between the traditional souvenirs you find in Insadong mixed with some of the items like clothes seen in Dongdaemun. Basically, best of both worlds sort of deal!

Typical souvenir shop you would see in Seoul

We didn't know exactly what to expect from Namdaemun, but we did know that it is the largest market area in Korea. It was a great place to end out our last day to explore on our own. Some of the college students we have been able to talk to have told us they like this market more than Insadong. It is not as much as a tourist spot and the prices are cheaper compared to Insadong. Because it isn't as big of a tourist area, it makes it easier to bargain. I was also able to practice some of the Korean I learned in class to ask for discounts! Even more impressive - I was successful!  I would say "깎아 주세요" which basically means "give me a discount please" and sounds like "gaga ju sa yo" (very fun to say!).

Namdaemun

It is definitely a bittersweet feeling knowing this was our last day exploring on our own. Only a couple days left of our fantastic adventure in Korea, and we are all getting ready to visit Yeoju (yet another high school!) the next two days!

Exploring Insadong!

Wow, we are about 2 weeks into our trip already with so much more to see and do! It's amazing it's about halfway through and we have already accomplished so much. From educational museum visits to teaching in Suwon high school, we are doing it all!

Today was a day set aside to accomplish some free time, shopping, and cultural activities. Most of our group got to experience Insadong. Insadong is an area in Seoul known for their shopping stands containing Korean souvenirs, most of which are handmade.

Decorative Fan and Card

Probably my favorite purchased item is the decorative card. Insadong has tons of cute little shops along the way and one sold decorative items. I paid a small price and then they personalized it with my name in Korean for free! This is especially exciting for me; with a name like Stacia I never get to find souvenirs with my name on them! There were plenty of other knick-knacks to purchase in the souvenir shops such as decorative boxes, traditional chopsticks, and of course keychains that say "Korea" as the typical souvenir to take home.

I have also seen quite a few shops in Insadong that sell a pair of ducks. I asked someone about it since I kept seeing it in almost every shop. I thought it was a cute story, I love all the Korean traditions we get the chance to learn! The wooden Mandarin ducks symbolize a happy couple and are called wedding ducks. Traditionally Koreans would give them to a newly married couple to wish a long happy life together, like the ducks. They are sometimes beautifully carved and they come in a range of sizes, the smallest I saw were only a few inches long. Also, some ducks have strings tied around the beaks. I was told if one duck has it, it's the female to show that a wife should be quiet and honor her husband (traditionally, anyway!). If both ducks have the string it is meant to show that silence is a virtue. I just thought it was an interesting story to share, learning is never-ending and I personally adore hearing about the little traditions that make the Korean culture so interesting!

Korean Wedding Ducks

Collaborative lesson planning!

In such little time this trip has proven to be an amazing experience. Not only are we experiencing a completely new culture, we have been able to spend time working on ourselves as educators.

We have groups that include a Penn State Student (myself), an experienced agricultural educator and a Seoul National University student. This has given all of us the opportunity to learn more about the Korean culture as well as develop awesome lesson plans! The lesson plans we have been working hard on will be presented to high school students at Suwon High School early next week. With the help of our experienced agriculture teacher, NeungSu and I will be presenting on animal diseases and the importance of animal identification.

My Teaching Team - Jess, NeungSu and Me

Creating these lesson plans presented a great opportunity for each of us as instructors. Every group briefly presented their lessons plans to all the other groups. Everyone gave pointers to each other to improve our lesson plans and ultimately maximize our impact on the Suwon High School students. This has given me (and I'm sure many others) some insight as to how we can revamp the way we teach and look at our lessons from a new perspective. 

Feedback Session

Everyone's lesson plans were great, complete with activities to get students to think critically and every lesson gives the students the opportunity to engage with an agricultural topic.

I think the biggest challenge will be the language barrier we have been experiencing in Seoul. From trying to communicate with waiters, to something as simple as directions on a paper towel dispenser (which I was unable to figure out how to work, embarrassingly enough!) We have been working through trying to effectively communicate daily. It's amazing how well some Koreans can speak English, but my 20 hours of Korean language class just won't cut it! I attempt to speak Korean and most Koreans just laugh, although they do assure me it's good. Luckily I have NeungSu to help me effectively communicate with the students at Suwon next week.

The fact that English is the second language of the students we will teaching is an important point to take this into consideration when planning our agriculture lesson. NeungSu and I have thought about a few different ways to hopefully conquer this language barrier. I am going to have to make sure I talk slowly and regularly check-in to make sure the students catch everything I say. When needed, NeungSu will jump in to interpret when needed in order to ensure clarity. This will be especially important for directions to our activity since we want to make sure everyone understands and has a great time. NeungSu typed up half of our presentation in Korean as well so everything they here from me will be followed with the Korean version so it's easier for them to absorb. We are so lucky to have the SNU students to help all of us out along the way!

Preparing for Korea! - Stacia

Korean Tea Ceremony Presentation

I can't believe how quickly this semester is going! Looking at the syllabus and seeing only 3 more meetings for this class is unbelievable, feels like we're just starting! I guess when you really think about it though we have learned quite a bit in the last 7 weeks of class sessions to prepare for the trip. The class speakers and the readings have been so insightful into a different culture and I am more excited every day to leave for Korea.

From tea ceremony experts, to actual Korean students we have been lucky to have so many people willing to share their knowledge with us. I think the little differences in Korean culture compared to ours is so interesting and have been excited to read about it as well as hear it from experts.

For instance, it seems Koreans are more reserved and quiet compared to most Americans and the Korean students told us that most Koreans don't emphasize their emotions as much as we do here. One student mentioned that while a Korean person might not respond to something, an American might exclaim, "Oh My Gosh!" to show they are interested in a story. They also mentioned that they were surprised in America that random people you don't know will smile to you since that isn't normal in Korea. Koreans aren't a mean group of people though, I read that if someone is sitting on a bus it is not unheard of for someone sitting to take their bags so the person standing didn't have to carry all that weight, how thoughtful is that?! 

My biggest worry at this point is learning even the simplest of Korean phrases, I didn't think it would be hard, but I was so wrong. There's an app to learn some common Korean phrases though and it has been helping me along the way, and I guess we can all start looking forward to our intensive language classes once we are there!

I've also been enjoying the tidbits of information on the agriculture there. Being that I'm only familiar with local agriculture in Pennsylvania, I'm eager to be exposed to something different. One thing that blew my mind was that an average Korean farm is only about 6 acres! I live on about 100 acres and it's just a family hobby farm so it's crazy to me and I'm curious to see how they are efficient on such a small amount of land.

The class sessions have given me some great information about Korean culture and agriculture to prepare for this trip and I know we will be flying out before I know it!

Self Introduction: Stacia, 2016 PSU Student Teacher

Hey Everyone!

I'm so excited to get to know everyone over the next few weeks of class. I'm very thankful to have the opportunity to be a part of this class and go on such an amazing trip!

My name is Stacia and I just started my masters program here at Penn State in Agricultural and Extension Education this semester. I was lucky enough to graduate a semester early from Delaware Valley College with a major in Livestock Science and Management (animals are my passion!) and was - and still am - excited about continuing my education at Penn State. I have only been here a few short weeks, but it has been great and I can't wait to student teach in Spring 2016!

I come from a family of 5 with my wonderful parents and 2 younger sisters, I was born and raised in PA. My parents believe learning about other cultures (even briefly) is very important so I am fortunate enough to say I have been out of the country, but it has only been for short cruises. I have only gotten a 'taste' of other cultures from these short visits so I look forward to taking advantage of a whole month in South Korea to better understand their similarities and differences from my own in general culture as well as agriculture.

It is very exciting for me to be able to learn more about their agriculture programs over there since I am not familiar with any other than the U.S. Having to be in such a different country from ours in many ways will be exciting for me and I cannot wait to see how they do things!