Korean Job Discussion Forums

[balzor]

Can you just go to another school? Do they put you in a pool of teachers to move around? I'm getting the suspiscion my school won't because not enough kids signed up for my After School class so they didn't start it up.

[sigmundsmith]

Well if they didnt resign you then that means you are not fired.

If you are asking that if your school is not planning on re-signing you, well it depends on their comments and classroom observations and overall evaluation. You can also contact your district office to see what you can do.

[Ukon]

They give you a score(your school)....if it's below 70/100 you have to argue in your defense why it's low and ask for a transfer to a different school at the SMOE head office....very unlikely to occur unless you have some serious, hard evidence to refute poor performance accusations.

If your school doesn't want you, they likely didn't give you above 70....which is the re-hiring threshold....in otherwords...

start looking for another job.....

[oldfatfarang]

No worries. I wasn't re-signed by SMOE, and it was the best thing that could have happened to me. I left my nightmare SMOE school - left K - got my docs together - had a 6 month vacation - and then got a great job teaching in a private / public (EPIK) all-girls school. What a wonderful year that was.

Thanks SMOE - I'll never forget how you turned a blind eye to all those lovely kids being beaten every day.

[sluggo832004]

[balzor]

[Ukon]

Lastly, the open class is used to judge your performance and is a BIG factor in a re-hiring concern like yours.

If your school gives you a score in the 60s(likely since it's reasonable, but allows them to release you), but you ace the open class, your in a much stronger position to argue. It also factors into your evaluation score so if they ding you heavily, you might end up being above 70

I was in your situation when I got assigned a new, nutcase boss, who disliked NETs around my 2nd re-conntract time.

Dinged me for everything under the sun and didn't help me on the open class.

Was showed the door despite having excellent praise and relations with the head office 3 months prior to this.

There was a recourse offered, but it invovled documenting everything and even then, it was a long shot. If you had submitted prior complaints, it helps quite a bit to support an argument according to the head office....granted it's much easier to send a new guy here than transfer an an employee(this was the attitude I often encountered or heard about...especially since they're cheaper).

Unless your were an model employee and they're drunken, racist louts, chances are your screwed....

BEST bet is to talk to your co-teachers and staff about it and promise to improve or be more model employee BEFORE they submit your evaluation.

One of my co-teachers advised against it....later the head office told me it likely would have saved my job
[/i][/b]

[Morticae]

Why wouldn't the kids want to be in your afterschool class? That's strange. Buddy up with the students, schmooze them into being interested.

My school tries to restrict my AS class to 20 people, and so many want in that what they do is allow 2 people from each of the 10 classrooms. How do they determine those 2 people? Rock, paper, scissors tournament. I absolutely hate that this determines the students, as it allows in some really bad ones. But I also have free reign to kick them out of class, and I can bring in some "personal picks" if I want.

[Ukon]

[balzor]

[Ramen]

You can always try applying for a job at another PS but most likely you won't get that job.

[venus envy]

I was at a nightmare elementary school my first year here. I'm not sure what I scored on the evals (almost positive it was not above 70), but I know the principal did not want me back, nor did I want to stay. The straw that broke the camel's back was when I contacted the district office about the bs I was experiencing. I asked to stay with my school during the renewal process because I feared if I asked to change schools I would be given the boot.

A few weeks after my open class I was taken by my co-teacher (from hell) to a meeting with the district supervisor and someone else from SMOE. When I asked my co-teacher what the meeting was about she told me she had no clue. Anyway, they told me that my open class was near perfect and they wanted me to stay with SMOE, but they felt I would "fit better" at a different school. Basically, code for "your school hates you". SMOE placed me at the middle school I'm at now. This is my second year at this school and I love it!! Switching schools may be a blessing in disguise, and just because you score low does not mean you will get the boot. I think the open class is what saved me, so as long as you do well with that then you should be fine.

Best of luck, OP!

[NM14456]

I've got a question related to this but different.

I've had a good year with SMOE at a public school. The school really likes me and unofficially asked me to re-sign this coming Spring with them. My open class was very good and all of the feedback is very good. It goes without saying I'll finish my contract and want to remain in good standing.

My dilemma is I'd really like to get out of Korea but I don't want to burn any bridges either. It's possible I'd be ready to come back in 6 months but obviously it probably won't be with this school. My biggest worry is how to break it to the boss/staff who like me. I've floated a story out there that there are some things going on with my family I need to really be back in the states for and I might have to take a break from working in Korea.

Any experiences with this or thoughts on it are really appreciated. I understand you get a certificate of completion from SMOE and I shouldn't have any trouble getting that with a reference.

[Caffeinated]

[NM14456]