Korean Job Discussion Forums

[pangaea]

I graduated from high school in the days before everyone and their newborn had a mobile phone. Maybe that is why I am having trouble dealing with the phone issue. I teach elementary and middle school and all of them, down to the youngest student, seems to have a phone. I don't mind them using their dictionary in class as it means they are making an attempt to learn and I have found mine very useful. But some of them don't seem to have a problem answering their phones in the middle of class.

Just this week:

One of my elementary girls jumped up and ran out with her phone at the beginning of class. When I asked her what she was doing she said her friend called.

Another elementary girl answered her phone while she was sitting next to me in class because she said her teacher called.

After I had stated the rules regarding phones to one of my most troublesome classes, one boy pointed to his ringing phone.
"Teacher, phone!"
"No."
"But teacher, important."
"No"
pause
"But teacher, important!"
"NO."

I asked the student if it was his mom or dad calling. He said no. Ok...if you are an elementary student what kind of "important" calls can you possibly be getting? If it's not your mom or dad, who the hell is it? Your stockbroker?

Am I missing something? If I had a child old enough to use a phone, I probably would provide one for safety reasons. But I would definitely explain the rules regarding its use, specifically no using it in class. I assume that parents know when their children are in class and wouldn't call them during that time. If there is a true emergency, I assume they have the school's number and could easily call and have them pulled out of class. Am I being unreasonable? Is there something I don't know? I mean that seriously.

[oskinny1]

My high school has a policy- you are caught using your phone it's gone for a month. I am a bit kinder and only take it for a few days because I like them to have their dictionaries handy.

What does your co-teacher do? What do the other teachers in your school do in these situations. Find out their policy and copy that.

[edwardcatflap]

Before the mobile was invented there was never anything urgent enough for a kid to interupt a lesson so why should there be now? I can't think of any kid who was pulled out of class during my whole time at school. One of my mates' Dad had a heart attack at work when he was 11 but they waited for the class to finish to tell him about it.

[ttompatz]

Phones are required to be turned OFF in class.

If your phone rings then I take the battery.

Your parent can get it back any time (in person) or you can wait 2 days to get it back from me.

.

[seonsengnimble]

Although dictionaries can be useful, phones cause more problems then the dictionaries are worth. I recommend walking around with a basket and collecting all of the phones at the beginning of class and returning them at the end.

[AsiaESLbound]

If a truly important call is to come during class such as death of a parent, it comes on the classroom phone and I'm not even sure how pressingly important those calls are since those callers don't speak English. Often teachers, principals, and staff announce their last minute plans during class times so that's why I'm not completely sure if all those phone calls are important enough to interrupt class. Am I annoyed? Yes, it's an insult to be interrupted unless it's really an urgent call. Students get their phones taken until the end of class if caught using them. And my co-teacher is more inclined to have personal conversations with me during class, but distance herself when no students are around. She also does all her prep during class times. This shows students it's OK to talk and do anything during class.

[toniyellow]

I think in some ways it is cultural. My korean friends will abruptly leave conversations to dive for their phone, or text away whilst talking to me. Its rude but so many people do it that it has lost its shock value for me.

One of my co-teachers will answer personal calls on her phone during class which I find really annoying. Its hypocritical of her to to enforce the no phone ban against her elementary students, then turn around and call her own 6th grade son during class ever time the poor kid has so much as a spelling test at school.

That being said the school really do enforce the no phone thing, and have no problem with me keeping a phone or an mp3 or a stupid pencil case that transforms into a table soccer game for a day or two if a student has been disruptive.

[Steve_Rogers2008]

I do what I did when some discovered the joy of giving the White Man the finger.... I told 'em in the USA a teacher can cut your middle finger off you do it to them.....


With cell phones it's a bit different.... you get to cut off ears.... and that some teachers in new york make necklaces out of the ears they get to collect....


I havent had trouble with the finger salute of phones in the classroom since!

[schwa]

My middle school simply collects all cellphones at the beginning of the day & returns them at the end.

[talika]

[sulperman]

Get a cardboard box. Put a picture of a phone on it. Collect the phones and put em in the box at the beginning of every class.

There ya go.

[Harpeau]

I'm lecturing at a university. If any my students' phone rings (any kind of ring or loud noise) during class, I charge them 500 won. If it buzzes (manner mode), they can choose to answer it quietly, but they have to be off in less than 20 seconds or they will be charged 500 won.

Myself, I'm trying to get them to keep it on manner mode as much as possible.

[KoreanAmbition]

Sweet, time to vent about cell phone use.


Cell phone use is a very disturbing addiction here. It's so bad that basically anything is an excuse to need to answer/use your phone, and it's actually resulted in a warped sense of responsibility.

If you tell students they don't require one, they will ask, "What about for an emergency?" Meanwhile, if you question them further, you'll find 1 of 2 things. 1) Their concept of an emergency has become completely pathetic. 2) They understand an emergency, but the chances of it occurring are 1 in a million, and therefore it's ridiculous they count it as a reason.


Here's the even funnier part. Every time you see a student with a cell phone, it's quite obvious they NEVER let it out of their sight. As said, they break conversations just to grab it, and they actually have heroin-like withdrawal symptoms if they aren't near their phone.

So the question is this:

"How come, when I actually text something important to someone (something this is possibly inconvenient for them, or not in their favour), they suddenly don't respond for 2 (or more) hours?" [Sometimes, the response comes through after it's too late for the issue to be solved properly.] And they give some answer like, "My battery ran out" or "I didn't see my phone" or "I couldn't answer". It's awesome how that ONLY occurs during these types of situations. What a load of....


In Korea, a cell phone is just a 40,000 won per month tool that will allow you to be late for ANY meeting for ANY reason at ANY time.

If Apple really wants to make some money, they should make an Iphone application that randomly generates bull$#it excuses for the user, for whatever new appointment/commitment they feel the need to break spur of the moment because something better came up.

Unfortunately, it's cultural, it's rude, and you can't say anything about it. If you call someone on their lame excuse (such as they are sick, but it's the middle of exams, so obviously they are just studying) they won't know how to deal with it. They just can't understand that it wasn't acceptable, because they've been socialized to understand that any excuse is acceptable, as long as you can think of a lie to tell.

[BoholDiver]

Phones in general are rude. Even my wife does it, until I freaked out last week.

Everytime we're talking about something and the phone rings, she answers it rather than letting me finish what I am saying. It doesn't happen again.

Kids can't have phones in my class. Period. It's rude and they won't get away with it. They can get out until they learn to turn it off during class.

[balzor]