Korean Job Discussion Forums

[desultude]

My worst class was one of my first. In my freshman university conversation class I was making first day introductions. One wild-eyed young male looked up at me and blurted out that I looked sexy in my sweater. This was the first of several inappropriate comments.

I just tried to ignore him, but he was on a roll. That is, until he had to run to the bathroom to throw up. Then he returned to class as if everything were normal. By now I realized that he had a bit too much soju before class, so I asked him to leave. He looked as if he would cry, and said that he couldn't leave, he didn't want to miss class. He was pitifully sincere. I had a couple of other students take him to his room.

In the next year of having him as a student, he turned out to be one of my best students, and he never missed a class. He had been taken drinking that night by his seniors, and he came to class because he really did never miss class.

[Homer]

Rapier,

I ain't no "Great One".

I just made the rules clear in my classes and have the support of my academic supervisor and director.
Guess I am lucky there.

I am also flexible and will let them do their homework if they give me a solid 30 minutes of attention concerning the lesson at hand. Usually I get a solid 45 but this technique gives me what I need (their attention).
My students also know where the line is. Some cross it and we discuss it (we are talking about middle schoolers or HS kids here).
If a problem persists I have contacted some parents, with the support of my school and things have usually worked out.
Before that I usually take the student aside and try and find out what the bottom of the problem is.
Quite often we can fix the problem right there. It sometimes is because they find the lesson plan boring. This just means I have to tweak it as there are many ways to reach a lesson goal.

Thats the way it works for me Rapier.

As for comedy and drama, I would think my worst lesson (as described earlier in here) would qualify....

[Corporal]

[OiGirl]

I was thinking of a bad lesson as one that flopped due to my lack of planning or poor planning skills, rather than one where I lost control of the students.

The last time I sent a kid out in the hall was for calling someone a "f a ggot," but I sincerely doubt he understood how bad that was and I have never heard him say that word again. (Unfortunately, another teacher saw hinm out in the hall when she was coming to my classroom for the purpose of offering him an dhis brother a special treat.)

I have one class where, whenever I do a certain activity, one kid is guaranteed to burt into tears. And it's a different kid every time...

Ok, this is a funny one. But I think an example of my overestimating my students' ability level. We had read a story and done a whole unit on the first day at a new school. We spend one whole class making and labeling a collage on the problems one might experience on the first day at a new school. I modeled for the kids, made one myself, did a "think-aloud" of my own thought processes while creating this thing. We were using a bunch of my old Time and Newsweek magazines. At the end of the period, one girl comes up to me with.....a full-page Viagra ad on her paper. Nothing else!

One more...we had to read a book, you know the traditonal tale of the rooster going to a wedding, or something like that. The lesson plan said I was to ask students to brainstorm their ideal qualities in a mate. When I asked my class of Korean middle school boys this question, the head of one boy exploded. Not quite, but he did have a severe, sudden, heavy nosebleed.

[Homer]

I do teach elementary school kids Corp....but that requires a different approach.
They are overall much easier to teach and to keep interested.

[some waygug-in]

My worst class ever? Hmm. I guess it was when I first started last year at a kid's hagwan. This one class 8 - 10 year olds (I think) refused to do anything but scream, shout, fight, swear at me, give me the finger, push their desks around the classroom, throw things, jump on the desks, ddong chim me etc. All and all, a very welcoming experience.

The director didn't support me at all, any attempts at discipline were frowned upon and usually lead to me being lectured on how I should be able to control the class. Yeah right.

They did get better (or else I did) over time, but they were never one of my better classes. There are some groups that no matter what you do, they will turn it into an exercise in frustration. I just had to accept that, and do the best I could with them.

I had some luck using games as incentive to get them to actually take out their books, also we started a rewards program using phony bucks. These things helped, but the class was still bad no matter what I did.

The director then complained that I was playing too many games, not following the text etc. The usual.


I hope I never teach kids again. Eventhough there are some little darlings who are a joy to teach, there are far more who will drive you crazy, it's just not worth it. I suppose it would be different if the school offered some support and had some kind of policy for dealing with discipline problems other than , "it's always the teacher's fault"

Anyway, that's my tale of woe and dispair. (lot's more too, if you want 'em).

cheers

[Toby]

A whole year at ECC. Does that count as a bad lesson?

Or my second school. Gangnam. I set up a picture website for my parents in the school and also for my family at home to see what was happening. Random snaps. Nothing special. One month in, one father has called and complained that his son isn't looking at the camera in any of the pictures.

Here's 100 won. Go and phone someone who cares.