for the most part, online teaching is fun when i’m not dealing with students who get on my nerves because they’re too tired to make an effort to learn. and it takes a lot to get on my nerves. so the moment they do, i know i’ve had it up to here.

but i have students who make me laugh and smile. i have students who love to draw, and would rather draw than read but i let them draw anyway, as creativity is something you can never suppress. the frustrated artist that i am, i help them color their drawings. because frustration is also something you can never suppress.

i have a student who sings when i ask him to. and i’ve been asking him to do so almost everyday. nevermind that i cannot understand korean. just as i have a student who will never dance even if i tell him i’m going to die tomorrow.

i have had a student so smart and so cheerful i thought she was one of the most interesting 10-year old girls i know. i don’t know a lot of 10-year olds, though. but she was interesting either way.

i have students who make you repeat every word you said because they didn’t get it, no matter how slowly you syllabicated each and every syllable of a simplified sentence. and then there are those who keep nodding “okay” simply because you punctuated your instruction with “okay?” even when they didn’t have a clue as to what you just said and you both end up staring at each other — you waiting for the student to do what you asked; the student sitting there politely looking at you with a blank smile.

which brings me to this vital realization: okay doesn’t always mean okay. it’s one of the vaguest words i know. next to “yes.”