Korean Job Discussion Forums

[dean_burrito]

I moved this here from another thread becuase I thought it might be interesting to hear from other people in similar situations.

I'm sure some people on here will give me a lot of lecturing about class room management and teaching skills. So be it. Unless you've ever taught in a technical high school I don't think you should judge me too harshly. If you do work in a technical school and face similar problems I'd love to hear some useful advice. Anyways this is from a blog I wrote and this is what happens when you have no co-teacher. On a side note I did have a co-teacher last semester but it only made for slightly better conditions. The closest I"ve come to contrloling the class was telling the kids the days lesson was a test. They told the head teacher and principal and turns out I get in trouble for giving them a test. Apparently I'm not allowed to. It's a lose-lose situation.


So my best class would be 1-9. They are great speakers and original thinkers. If all groups of Korean technical high school boys were the same it would make teaching a literal walk in the park with a side of sunshine. But I won't bore you with the details of this and it's a rare occurrence for a technical school.
It's much more interesting to hear tales of devil spawn and psychotic loonies. We've all got a worst class I'm sure and for me class 1-16 takes the lead with a clear cut victory. Last semester the worst of the worst was class 1-11. I saw some kid reach down into his bag and pull out a bottle of Soju. Before I could even react he had smashed it over the head of the boy in front of him. By the time I got to the scene the bottle was broken and jagged and being used as if it was a prison shank. Next as a teacher you must get between these two and restore peace and order. There is a big problem that you quickly realize. These boys have an estimated 10 years of kung fu training as opposed to say the zero years of martial arts experience that I have undergone.
It's a new school year and the torch has been passed. Class 1-16 are the new minions in the reign of terror at (edit out name) High School. I guess it was yesterday that I surrendered in defeat. The class is chaos from beginning to finish. I'm not exaggerating when I say there was three games of baseball being played at once.
I stopped one group saying "you can't play baseball in here."
The boy seemed confused while looking around the class and asked "why?"
I looked around and had to agree with him. It seemed pretty silly to single the kid out and who the hell puts wheels on chairs and put these chairs in a class room? Students were zooming around as if they were on the bumper cars at the county fair. Other students were playing some game where the loser or winner, I'm not quite sure, gets a slapping to the face. Off in the corner I'm pretty sure that they were looking at internet porn. I say this because one boy was rubbing his imaginary *beep* as another was ecstatically dry humping into the air.
In the rear of the class is a big cubicle sort of like you'd see in an office complex. The students are constantly sneaking in there every time I turn my back. On this days I hear suddenly hear cries of help being shouted from that direction. I head to back of the room to see what is the matter. I see a small boy being held down by six other students. They apply makeup and he eventually looks like someone imitating a feline at a poor production of Cats.
The boy continues to plead for help. I guess with my hernia operation I can't do much to help the poor fellow out.
"Are you teacher or not?" he says.
"No I'm not," I say and walk away conceding the white flag of defeat.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

It sounds like that might top the worst technical HS in our district. And that would be quite an acheivement, from the stories I've heard from teachers who've worked there.

Things like this make a 3% drop-out rate look like it might not be such a great thing after-all.

[espoir]

Yea that is far beyond anything I've ever had to deal with in my technical high school. But my school is also mixed (with boy/girl mixed classes as well) so maybe thats why its a bit more tame.

But I can definately relate to the whole loss of control amongst the students. Whenever I dont have my co-teacher present it is next to impossible to control the students. Thankfully in most of my lessons I have a portion set aside for them to practice speaking or reading a particlar dialogue with other students. If the class is unrulely I just make this the majority of the lesson and skip the rest of my plan.

Now I know its not helping them learn anything some of the time, because I gaurentee that that 90% arent even looking at the sheet, but its better than me fruitlessly yelling for quiet so that I can explain things and causing undue stress and strain upon myself. So I just let them free-for-all.

That being said I do, however, walk around the room and stay at certain tables with certain groups (my class is divided into 6 tables of 6 students) and the tables that I know want to learn or that know the material I help them and stay with them the most. The worst tables I try to get them to do it, but after 1min and not getting anything from them I leave them to their own devices. Basically its a form of organised chaos, in that those that want to learn I teach and those that don't I ignore. c'est la vie.

So all summed up in the unruly classes I dont bother teaching the class on the whole, I focus on smaller groups instead.

[Fishead soup]

Does your school allow you to use physical punishment?
Is your school willing to contact students parents on your behalf.
Where is the Korean co-teacher when this is happening?

You are being set up for failure. It isn't your fault.

[Johnny_Bravo]

where are the disciplinary/phys ed. teachers with big sticks?

every technical school has them.

if I were a tech school principal, I'd hire large American males with weightlifting/football backgrounds.

Problem solved.

[dean_burrito]

[Johnny_Bravo]

not your fault.

if there is a special group of students that NEEDS a co-teacher, it's technical students.

if you can actually teach a class without one, my hat is off you you. That can be pulled off an average of one time in a hundred, if that.

re punishment, don't listen in terms of what?

like sending them off into a corner? assuming the position against the wall?

they should.. if they don't.. control was lost a long time ago. You're probably dead in the water now.

who's the homeroom teacher?

[Xuanzang]

If it makes you feel any better. I would have waved the white flag up long ago. That sounds like Korean hell to me. No body should give you shit for classroom management. Most times those schools and students are a lost cause. Most of us couldn`t do better in your shoes.

I am surprised about the tests, though. Considering we are in the Land of Tests and testing.

[Otherside]

[Johnny_Bravo]

[Ruraljuror]

What you need to do is find out what is expected from you.

I've had classes like this before, and it's not much fun. But after talking to people at the school, I discovered that no one expects you to actually teach them. Give them something to do...word searches, puzzles, activities. Most student won't do it, but let them do whatever they want to do, so long as no one gets hurt...porn surfing, baseball, cell phones...as long as you don't walk around, you can't see what they are doing and you will have deniability.

Always act like you are busy...very busy. Make it seem like you are trying your utmost to reach these unreachable kids.

Teach the kids that want to be taught. Ignore the rest.

Never complain.

Collect your check every month.

Find a new job next year now that you have more experience. Don't teach at a technical high school.

[Johnny_Bravo]

I've been told by several Korean co-teachers that some academic high schools are no better if not worse than technical ones.

so, it all depends.

in a decent technical high school with proper co-teacher support, etc that job will be a thousand times easier than one in a demanding academic one without all of your summer and winter breaks filled with mandatory camps and all such nonsense.

Yes, there are frustrations and challenges, the OP's story being one extreme but your pay is the same (outside of after school classes, where "better" academic schools often pay beyond contract specs) and you often deal with a lot less BS.

I'll take the easy and pretty much the same paycheck and more vacation time, thank you.... and other goodies like no power trips by co-teachers, a complete free hand and ability to go and do as I please, including taking naps in the lab inside the English zone, going outside to buy some fruit or to the bank if necessary without having to sign in or out of some stupid book.

[Fishead soup]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[wylies99]