Job Discussion Forums

[mizzoumike76]

[mushroomyakuza]

I had a hellhole class when I was first-time summer schooler. Oh man.

I had 4 kids who were constantly interrupting, talking over me, just endlessly ruining everything...

One incident lead to one of them throwing water over another. I sent him out on numerous occasions to no real avail. After telling him to go to the DOS' office and tell him what had gone on, he'd just wander the corridors and say he couldn't find him. I had to write up a report about it. This was my fourth day. Baptism by fire indeed.

Worse, the DOS' most useful piece of advice was to "try and motivate them more, make it fun, make it about them". This was bullshit because a) I was already going to considerably more length than my fellow teachers to make the lesson more "fun" b) my DOS' idea of making it fun was to use texts that were rather embarrassingly trying to be "cool" and down with the kids by using topics like Franz Ferdinand... in the mean time he did continually assure me that he had "strong words" with the students, who just carried on like nothing had changed. Only after threatening them with being sent home with reports to their parents did they start to behave better, by it was fifty-fifty because they were going home in a matter of days, so what difference did it make?

It was hell. Just cocky know it all 16 year olds who care more about touching each other up than anything else. I guess, being 16, I couldn't blame them, but then I had another class that were just blissful and always worked here. I guess there will always be bad apples.

Ah, summer school. Won't do that again.

[Greg_R]

Depends on both the teacher and the students

[cornishmuppet]

[Inflames]

I had it once earlier this year where I was taking attendance, and I looked up and a kid who had been fine a minute before had a bloody nose and blood all over his book (this classroom is a special eikaiwa classroom at my school so the chairs are in a u-shape next to each other). One of the other teachers had an incident with a student (this is a senmon gakko) touching her inappropriately (the school's response was to talk to the student and explain that if he did that again, to mark him as absent).

I agree that it depends on the students and the teachers, and what you're making them do. Speaking in a loud voice and having them do stuff (no down time or long periods of talking) makes less trouble, although there are still some who can't be helped. I have a class Thursday mornings with 3 girls who just won't shut up. Fortunately they weren't here today. I always make 30% of the grade "class" (so one point is attendance each day and the rest is class, which I basically use to reward students who try hard and punish students who show up and talk all class).

[Chris_Crossley]

[budgie]

Adults are polite but in the eikaiwa business they'll stab you in the back. A list of some of the complaints passed on from management in the big schools:

*Sitting cross-legged, figure-four or *gasp* the catapult.

*Placing class materials on the carpet: dirty, apparently

*yawning, okay cultural no-no; but failing to sufficiently stifle said yawn - sufficiently being subjective, of course

*Looking tired (apparently 12 hour days with 8-10 lessons six days a week is a breeze)

*looking "demotivated": working said hours for chump change, no benefits, unpaid leave, unpaid salaries is apparently very motivating

So no they don't respect us. Nor does the industry. We are performing seals, product deliverers, human tape recorders. Not a lot more.

This has nothing to do with adult education. It's pure marketing and customer service.

[Imseriouslylost]

Budgie: That sounds like hell. I worked in a similar environment for a year and had enough of it though I only had to deal with adults in proxy through their brats. "Uh, Lisa's mom said that your class wasn't interesting for her so, uh, make your class more fun. Sing more, dance more!" Etc.

Randomly, why do so many people work in Eikaiwas? They sound terrible. ALT positions (similar to what I'm doing here) sound so much less stressful.

[mizzoumike76]

[Inflames]

[steki47]

[ShioriEigoKyoushi]

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[Glenski]

[Apsara]

I thought most ALT jobs didn't require teaching qualifications either? Perhaps I was wrong.

I personally went for eikaiwa teaching over ALT work because I would rather poke myself in the eye with a pencil and endure many other horrible tortures than stand in front of a bunch of teenagers and try to teach them, which is the stuff of nightmares for me. Not all of us are cut out to be school teachers.

[ShioriEigoKyoushi]

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