New coteacher, for a few weeks.

So, Sukkyeong (I'm now spelling her name properly, thanks to the wonder of e-mail nametags) is away for the next four weeks at a JLP camp. This is an opportunity for english teachers to brush up on their English and review things with native speakers. Jessie participated in one over the winter break, and said that it was the best teaching she had done up to that point. Why? Well, I think the camps are voluntary, so the teachers want to be there, and actually participate! Of course, there is usually added incentive, so that the most improved/best graded teachers get to go on some trip or something to an English-speaking country.
So, good for her. It'll be weird at the boys' school without her, but it's a good opportunity for her to study a bit more.
In the meantime, James Park, a teacher at a local hagwon that Jessie and I have gone on trips with in the past (trip) is filling in.
I'm actually really nervous with him. Firstly, he seems to actually teach his students English. This is a big change from some of the English teachers I have met. He speaks to them in English, he scolds them in English. Students from his hagwon are usually the best students in my classes. They're the ones who carry the lectures that should bomb.
Well, I'm off to a good start. I have had one lesson with him so far, and all I did was play a game. I've been working the grade ones pretty hard with phonics, so I thought I would reward them with a game.
You see, it was supposed to be a reward for their having worked so hard. The game was pretty simple. The students hear a word (very simple, like "dog" of "blue") and then it's a race to see who can slap the correct vowel sound (long or short) written on the board.
Jessie pointed out to me last night that that would lead to way too much guessing. I had already inadvertantly worked around that though.
After getting the correct sound, they would have to tell me which vowel made the sound. This made it pretty clear that they had basically retained nothing. First off, on guessing, one students said that the long vowel sound in "bike" was made by an "f".
Yikes.
Now, that wouldn't be so bad, I mean, the kid guessed a letter, at least.
But I had all the vowels written on the board! He could literally have just pointed at it! I even ask "Is it A, E, I, O or U?" while pointing at each letter.
I think I may run out of candy prizes...