Korean Job Discussion Forums

byrddogs · Joined: 19 Jun 2009 Location: Shanghai

I just got a call from a student that I haven't taught in well over a year. He wanted to know when I'm going to come back to my old hakwon and visit. How awesome is that? It made me feel good.

Hornbill · Joined: 09 Sep 2009

I get emails from some of my former students fairly regularly. One was a particular pain in the rear and I had to yell at her often to practice, participate, produce, and do her homework. She was a tough one. But she came around eventually.

Today she works at a school in Thailand as an English teacher. Yeah, you read right. If it hadn't been for me pushing her hard, she may now be working in a sweatshop. Nobody else in Thailand was gonna push her to realize her potential.

This story is the flip side of the more common story of my pushing my students, having them rebel and drop my classes, and my getting shown the door.

The Gipkik · Joined: 30 Mar 2009

Back in 2000, I worked at AUA in Thailand for a year. The school has a system of levels from 1 all the way up to 15. I remember teaching a couple of girls in a level 1 class back then. When I returned to live in Thailand again in 2004, I met the two girls again by accident at Seacon Square. They were so excited to see me. They were in level 15, the both of them. I felt so damn proud.

Hornbill · Joined: 09 Sep 2009

Yeah, those stories make us feel all fuzzy inside.

But at least that's better than feeling all acidic inside, as you'll feel when you lose your job for being a 'hard' teacher. In my case, as I am indeed a hard ass, I've felt much more acidic than fuzzy. It's too bad people get fired or don't get renewed because they push their students. It's too bad they get fired for simply doing their jobs.

tenchu77491 · Joined: 16 Mar 2009

I am a hard ass person in general, and even harder teacher. Yet somehow kids still call me to say happy birthday or happy holidays or ask me what I was doing on my vacation and they miss me.

Really something I will never get used to. I can never imagine that happening (to me) back in the states.

I am really new and not very experienced so I haven't been around long enough to see if the kids actually take something away from the whole experience. But it does feel like I made some sort of impact when kids start to ring me up.