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grahamb
Joined: 30 Apr 2003
Posts: 1945
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 Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 12:45 pm Post subject: All well and good! |
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The MJ comment was frivolous, hence the winking emoticon.
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| quantity is no guarantee of quality |
I'd be most surprised if anyone disagreed with you. If you'd said that earlier you could have avoided getting into an argument.
By the way it's wilfully, not willfully, and the apostrophe in ones' is superfluous. |
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hash
Joined: 17 Dec 2014
Posts: 456
Location: Wadi Jinn
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| Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 12:52 pm Post subject: |
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| gregory999 wrote: |
Americans work 137 more hours per year than Japanese workers, 260 more hours per year than British workers, and 499 more hours per year than French workers[/i].
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It also depends on what one means by "work". You mean ATTENDANCE at the employer's place of business? Does your definition include hours teachers put in CORRECTING PAPERS at home or does it mean only "CONTACT HOURS" in class with students? Does it also mean ONLY "TEACHING" while in class or is "TAKING ATTENDANCE" while in class also considered "work"?
(I'd say, taking attendance is the most time and energy consuming "activity" in my classes. Actual "teaching" in my classes has long since been relegated to a "side issue or activity", way down the list in order or importance)
If Americans "work" 499 MORE hours per year than French workers, does anyone know how many more hours American workers work than Greek workers? (I understand Greeks can retire at age 50 at full pension....or at least they used to be able to do that). |
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johnslat
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 13859
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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| Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 12:56 pm Post subject: |
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Dear PC Parrot,
If you don't mind a few questions:
1. Do you feel any responsibility to do the best you can on the job?
2. Do you think doing the "minimum" is the best?
3. Do you care about whether your students succeed?
If someone answers "Yes" to 1 and 3 and "No" to 2. does that make him/her a "do-gooder?"
Or is "do-gooding" evaluated not by what people may say but by how they actually perform?
My experience has been different from yours in that good teachers seldom if ever prattle in the workplace about "doing good" - they just do it.
Regards,
John |
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PC Parrot
Joined: 11 Dec 2009
Posts: 459
Location: Moral Police Station
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| Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 1:02 pm Post subject: Re: All well and good! |
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| grahamb wrote: |
By the way ... the apostrophe in ones' is superfluous. |
I thought I'd mistakenly written one's ... but thanks for clearing that up. |
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grahamb
Joined: 30 Apr 2003
Posts: 1945
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| Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 1:18 pm Post subject: Apostrophe catastrophe |
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| I'm happy to admit my mistake. |
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PC Parrot
Joined: 11 Dec 2009
Posts: 459
Location: Moral Police Station
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| Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 1:37 pm Post subject: |
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| johnslat wrote: |
Dear PC Parrot,
If you don't mind a few questions:
1. Do you feel any responsibility to do the best you can on the job?
2. Do you think doing the "minimum" is the best?
3. Do you care about whether your students succeed?
If someone answers "Yes" to 1 and 3 and "No" to 2. does that make him/her a "do-gooder?"
Or is "do-gooding" evaluated not by what people may say but by how they actually perform?
My experience has been different from yours in that good teachers seldom if ever prattle in the workplace about "doing good" - they just do it.
Regards,
John |
I see that this 'do-gooder' idea has quite grabbed your attention. I didn't realise it was such a foreign concept.
If you're interested in furthering your understanding of it, may I recommend 'Boule de Suif' by Guy de Maupassant. |
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grahamb
Joined: 30 Apr 2003
Posts: 1945
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| Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 1:53 pm Post subject: Foreign relations |
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| Quote: |
I see that this 'do-gooder' idea has quite grabbed your attention. I didn't realise it was such a foreign concept.
If you're interested in furthering your understanding of it, may I recommend 'Boule de Suif' by Guy de Maupassant. |
I don't know if John's ever read any French literature, but he's certainly been to Parris. |
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johnslat
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 13859
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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| Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 1:58 pm Post subject: |
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Dear PC Parrot,
Oh, I'm aware of the negative connotations, but you're the one who calls them "do-gooders," not I.
Were those questions too hard? 
Regards,
John |
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PC Parrot
Joined: 11 Dec 2009
Posts: 459
Location: Moral Police Station
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| Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 2:32 pm Post subject: |
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They certainly weren't $250,000 questions  |
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johnslat
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 13859
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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| Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 6:09 pm Post subject: |
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Dear PC Parrot,
I'll go as high as 50 cents per answer. Hey, I'm a teacher; I can't afford more than that,
Regards,
John |
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gregory999
Joined: 29 Jul 2015
Posts: 372
Location: 999
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| Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 7:18 pm Post subject: Re: Foreign relations |
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| grahamb wrote: |
| I don't know if John's ever read any French literature, but he's certainly been to Parris. |
When good Americans die, they go to Paris.”
― Oscar Wilde
“When good British die, they go to Parris.”
― Unknown
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gregory999
Joined: 29 Jul 2015
Posts: 372
Location: 999
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| Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 7:20 pm Post subject: |
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Remember that $100 an hour in Saudi is equivalent to what a regular English teacher in Thailand makes in 2-3 days.
Do the maths–$50,000+ and a healthy dose of private lessons means that making $300,000 tax-free is well within the realm of possibility in Saudi Arabia.
http://www.bankerinthesun.com/2014/02/teaching-english-abroad/
One year of teaching English in the Magic Kingdom, you’ll have more money saved up than the average US person does at the age 50!
http://www.bankerinthesun.com/2014/02/teaching-english-abroad/
Some teachers are working to live, and others are living to work. Don’t be the latter! |
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grahamb
Joined: 30 Apr 2003
Posts: 1945
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| Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 7:42 pm Post subject: I love Parris in the springtime |
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That was naughty of me. Parris Island in South Carolina is where recruits to the US Marine Corps do their training.* Johnslat was there many moons ago; I think Private Joker from Full Metal Jacket was based on him ... or was it Animal Mother?
* Those who live east of the Mississippi, that is; those from the west go to California. |
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johnslat
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 13859
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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| Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 10:47 pm Post subject: |
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It's not work if you love what you do.
They go to San Diego, grahamb - we call them "Hollywood Marines."
And it was Animal Mother - except he was too nice and civilized.
Regards,
John |
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pooroldedgar
Joined: 07 Oct 2010
Posts: 181
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| Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2015 2:51 am Post subject: |
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Johnslat,
I'd like to take a go at your questions. First of all, I try to teach each lesson the best I can, and when students seek me out outside of class I try to be the most helpful I'm able to.
That said, I prefer to spend the minimum amount of time doing my job. I much prefer timetables with 14 contact hours than 25. I'm coming to Saudi Arabia largely because it requires me to work only about 35 weeks per year as opposed to the 50 I'd be working at a hogwan in S. Korea. I guess that could paint me as lazy or unprofessional, but personally I think that working the minimum and being a good teacher are seemingly conflicted ideas that actually can be reconciled. I'll be emphatic: My goal is to spend the minimum amount of my time at work, while still doing the best I can there. I'm comfortable with however that may look. |
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