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Dung and death and a lack of imagination

 
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bobbybigfoot



Joined: 05 May 2007
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 6:39 am    Post subject: Dung and death and a lack of imagination Reply with quote

A typical day for me in Hagwonland. Any wonder I'm experiencing burnout?

It seems I have two kinds of classes:

The Dung and Death Kind

"What is your favourite food?"
"Dung Kimchi"
HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA

"What would you do if you saw a ghost?"
"I kill it."
HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH

"What would you do if you saw a tiger?"
"I kill it."
HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA

"What would you do if you had a spaceship?"
"I kill aliens."
HHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA

"What would do if you had one million Won?
"I buy your face then kill it."
HAHAHHAHAHAHHAH

The Unimaginative

"What did you do over the holiday?"
"Sleep."

"If you could fly, where would you go?"
"Go to home."

"If you could go anywhere, where would you go?"
"Go to home."

"What was the best thing that happened to you in 2010?"
"I can't remember."

"What is your favourite meal?"
"Meat."

------------

I taught five classes today and not one of them was an enjoyable class. Every class had one to five ignorant kids in it. And another one to five comatose children.

I think I'm hitting a brick wall in Korea.
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Sector7G



Joined: 24 May 2008

PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 6:45 am    Post subject: Re: Dung and death and a lack of imagination Reply with quote

bobbybigfoot wrote:


"What would do if you had one million Won?
"I buy your face then kill it."
HAHAHHAHAHAHHAH



I kind of like that one, but yes, I feel your pain.
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Rutherford



Joined: 31 Jul 2007

PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 4:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My first year at public school I had this amazing class of sixth graders. They were fun to teach and listened pretty well. I could put them in groups and give them creative assignments and each group would come back with something different. When they lacked the language to write about something they would come and try to explain it to me.

I think one of the funniest things they did was when I gave them a blank map of a school and they were to label and draw the various classrooms. One room was labeled "The bad boy's room" and in it they had drawn little stick figures leaning against their parked motorcycles smoking cigarettes.
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nathanrutledge



Joined: 01 May 2008
Location: Marakesh

PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 4:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Make a poster for the wall. When you get tired of a word, write it on the poster. Any word on there can not be used in class ever again.

My students are forbidden from saying - play computer games, sleep, kill, study, amongst other things. This is a sign of them being unable to come up with something better. Teach them some other verbs and really drill them in, and then they'll move on to pissing you off with some other verb, but at least they'll be able to mix it up a bit.
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bobbybigfoot



Joined: 05 May 2007
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 5:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rutherford, great story! It's so nice when you get creative kids with manners! The things they come up with are pure gold!


nathanrutledge wrote:
Make a poster for the wall. When you get tired of a word, write it on the poster. Any word on there can not be used in class ever again.


Interesting idea! Unfortunately, I teach in about 20 different classrooms and don't feel like toting around a poster.
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TwoFold



Joined: 31 Mar 2009

PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 5:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had a similar set of classes. They were a lower skill level and often took out their frustrations by disrupting class with nonsense (much like you have mentioned). This got old very fast and wore my patience thin.

I then started to show my students that there were consequences to acting disrespectful and silly.

I made two lesson plans everyday. One of the lesson plans was fun, the other quite boring. They covered the same material, and could be changed on the fly.

When my students would start to act up, I would change to the boring lesson plan and not allow them to have any fun. The boring lesson plan was intense and drilling. The students hated it. They hated it so much that they changed their behavior (though slowly at first).

The other important part of this was that I explained to them why they were getting a intense boring lesson. If they threatened to tell their parents, I would welcome it, as the lessons actually became more difficult (which the parents liked). They realized that respect had benefits.

I'm not saying this works for every class, or that it is a cure all. The example above just worked for my situation, and can hopefully give some ideas for you to make things more interesting for your classes.
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Rutherford



Joined: 31 Jul 2007

PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 5:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

TwoFold, I like your two lesson plan idea. It's better than stopping class to make them write some sentence 50 times or other unrelated punishments.

It seems like a lot of work, but probably isn't. Boring lessons are easier to plan than engaging ones.
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