Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Fishead soup]

[leopard7]

To those of you complaining about Korean kids and teachers---Why aren't you teaching in your home country now? At least Koreans don't bring guns, knives and baseball bats to school, and Korean kids are much more respectful than Western kids. When I taught in public schools in the U.S., some students threatened to sexually molest women teachers. No kids in any country are "all" thrilled to learn another language. I wasn't thrilled in my Spanish classes either. If it's so bad in Korea, why not go home?

[buildbyflying]

I find it useful as it provides me with an idea of why my students behave as they do. however, a study on the possible solutions seems long overdue.

[shifter2009]

[leopard7]

That is exactly my point: no place is perfect so we shouldn't complain about Korean kids when they are more respectful than Western kids. Our own Western education system has flaws, too. We should be careful about saying all that's wrong with Korean education system when we have a lot to fix ourselves. The average cost of graduate school in the states is double that of Korea. Big problem.

[T-J]

[leopard7]

Please forgive TJ; he's a "moderator" on AFEK and suffers from amnesia, i.e. he thinks he's also a moderator at Dave's. he tried to be, but they turned him down. Better luck next time.

[buildbyflying]

On a tangent... what's the best way to deal with trolls? Is it best simply to ignore them?

[DrugstoreCowgirl]

[NYC_Gal]

I teach elementary, so incentive is probably a little easier. For numbers practice, I play numerous games in the BAAM family, as well as simple things like finding the correct page in the textbook. As soon as they find the page they have to hold their book up. If I hear any whispered Korean, their team (each class has teams) loses points.

Getting them to raise their hands:

3rd grade: Each class has 7 teams. Each team is a vegetable. I made velcro vegetable gardens on one wall, and had the kids color in and cut out loads of the veggies at the beginning of the term, which I now keep in a basket. Teams who get a lot of points for participation get a vegetable or two at the end of the class. The first team to get 10 vegetables will get popcorn (we have a machine).

4th grade: I don't teach the 4th grade this year. They hired a Korean teacher for conversation, as they increased the 3rd and 4th grade curriculum. It's a shame. I miss some of those kids, but they come by during off time for hellos and high fives.

5th grade: Individual stamps in their books. When they have enough stamps, they get a free homework pass day. I also score my classes on a point system. I promised each class that when they reached 20 points, they would have a movie and popcorn day. When they come into class, anyone who doesn't have their 2 textbooks, workbook, or homework must line up at the back of the room. Each kid at the back is one "minus point" for the class. If everyone's prepared, the whole class gets 3 "plus points." If it's a matter of homework, and the students come in after classes and complete the assignment to my satisfaction, and can read what they wrote, I let them add their points back.

6th grade: I teach in a different English zone, so I use a color code system. I have pink, blue, yellow, and green desks, so I made 4 groups. Missing homework, book, etc gets points deducted from their team. Volunteered answers get a point. Role play dialogues get two points. Some really good answers (thinking creatively and not just substitution drills) get two or three points. Here's the catch: the winning team gets a stamp in their books, which add up for free homework passes, but the losing team has to clean the floor. This keeps the two lower teams from giving up.

[Nester Noodlemon]

[leopard7]

True enough. But I ask all of us to think back to when you were in school, and be honest, were you really the most attentive students? like most people, I paid attention to what interested me, which in my case was history and literature; math and science were just subjects to wade through, and I suspect it's like that for most of us. If you are an enthusiastic teacher, it will create enthusiasm, and if you're not, your kids will be bored. Some are tired and bored no matter what you do. Korean kids go to school a lot more than we do in the West. Most of them endure 9 or 10 hours a day of school. It's hard to stay enthusiastic after that many hours, I dare say. I have seen many NETs teach over here, and some go on and on aboout certification, but certification doesn't mean a thing. Just like I knew many a boring, lifeless professor, and, fortunately some that made their subject come alive. I had a Geology Professor who managed to capture my interest in a subject I initially had little for. Like it or not, we have to have an element of the circus performer combined with good teaching skills or kids just get bored. But there is no one solution to make everything better, so we just keep trying our best.

[dirving]

[CentralCali]

[CentralCali]