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If you like people, have good communication skills, enjoy learning about other cultures, and like to feel that what you do is making a difference, Promise Cyber School might be just the thing for you.
On Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 5:30 AM Central Time, I roll out of bed with a groan. I am not a morning person and there are very few good reasons that I would ever volunteer to get up that early. The initial shock of having to face the morning before sunrise slowly subsides. I sit down at my computer at 6:25, and immediately I start becoming energized as I think about my session with six Korean students. When the class is over at 8:00, I still feel the glow from my class as I go to work at my full time job as a Staff Developer at ESSDACK Educational Service Center.
I have been teaching English to Korean adult students for about a month now and I can truthfully say that it is the most rewarding activity I have done in a long time. As a consultant for ESSDACK, I often teach educators a variety of subjects. Often, I wonder if I am having any impact on them, and through their teaching, any impact on their students.
Through Promise Cyber School, I can see the “Aha!” moments on the students faces as they understand the meaning of a new word because, amazingly, we are face to face even though they are on the other side of the world. The Marratech technology has made this kind of one-to-one, here-and-now communication possible. It is comical to the students to hear and see me try to describe or act out what an English word means, and they especially enjoy it when I try to say something in Korean!
The most significant thing, however, is that these Korean students are so eager and motivated to improve their skills. This is an element that many classroom teachers in the US are not feeling from their students these days. Congratulations to Mrs. Sue Wagner for her vision and determination to make this school a reality. I had often thought that it would be wonderful to teach English abroad but it didn’t seem like a realistic goal to me. Through Promise Cyber School and Marratech, this has all changed and now I can have this amazing experience from my living room. I feel that I am making the world a little bit smaller and am really contributing something important. I can’t think of a better reason to get up early in the morning.
Linda Schmitt, PROMISE Teacher
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