Korean Job Discussion Forums

[hubbahubba]

[machoman]

i teach at a public middle school. but the classes are divided into 4 levels. so the classes are fairly small, 20 students or less in each class. behavior isn't a problem. not every school does that, but they should, it's so much easier to maintain a smaller classroom.

[cragesmure]

[whiteshoes]

One time I made a group of unruly 5th graders come to the front of class and sing, "I'm a little teapot" complete with the movements until their classmates said they sang perfectly. I told them I'd tell their homeroom teacher about their behavior if they didn't do it perfectly.

For the most part, they got better.

[dyc]

[jrwhite82]

Well think about it. If you get frustrated, angry, yell, get disappointed, etc...every day. It kind of loses its effectiveness right? The kids grow to expect your reactions and they also learn how to get that reaction out of you. So, in a way, they're managing your behavior. It ain't supposed to work that way! In my experience the less you yell or get angry, the more effective it is when you finally do.

Another trick I learned to control them is to give kids choices. For example, almost all students hate writing repetition right? Write these sentences or words 5 times each in your book. Some kids do it, some sigh and do it after you stand over their shoulder, some only write each one 2 times, the same kid writes "snowman x 5" and thinks its funny, he shows his friends who also think its funny even though they do this joke every week, etc... So instead, give them a choice, tell them they can write it in pencil or pen, or they can use marker or crayons. They can write it horizontally or vertically. Just limit it to two choices, and both choices are the outcome YOU want. Either way, you win and they feel like they get to control what they're doing. So there is less complaining and lack of participation because they are choosing how to do it.

What you have to be careful about is using this as a threat. For example, you have two choices! Write the sentences five times or stand in the back of the room. That is not going to work on your most difficult students, because it gives the student a chance to defy you and one choice is not an outcome you want. And as you know, a lot of students crave attention, and the way they learned to get it is to piss off the teachers. So you're just going to feed into it.

[some waygug-in]

So what do you do when yer "ko-teech" is doing all the wrong things right from day one and leaves you to the role of muppet in the corner?

It's hard to get a positive atmosphere after they have been ranted at in Korean all the time.

She won't let me even complete a sentence in English without interrupting to scold some student or other.

I agree with all your teaching advice by the way, I just would like some advice on how to handle the "co-teacher" who seems to know nothing about classroom control and knows everything about how to make English class a totally negative experience.

[jrwhite82]

Ugh. That is a rough situation. Her primary concern should be the success of your students. So try to reach her on that level. It is probably going to be pretty much impossible if the two of you can't agree on a plan together. If she is constantly undermining you it really won't work. No matter how well you do it, the kids will notice that she isn't buying it, so they won't either.

What I would try is buying a book about classroom management. Check out
http://www.loveandlogic.com/ecom/p-205-educator-package-a-14-discount-over-retailbremteaching-with-love-and-logicem-in-book-form.aspx or a similar program. Or a much cheaper alternative that I've read: http://www.amazon.com/Setting-Limits-Classroom-Revised-Discipline/dp/0761516751/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295107359&sr=1-8

Try to get your coteacher to set aside 20 minutes everyday or every other day so you can go over a few pages together. If she will at least be open to reading the book together, I'm sure she will see the value in trying out some of the ideas in class. I've seen some people post here that they try to suggest things to their CT in such a way that the CT thinks it was their idea to begin with. Then she can take all the credit for it working with the head teacher and VP. That is fine with me if it gets my classes to be run better.

When I did my student teaching my school had a Love and Logic club. So we met every week in the morning before school started and studied the program together. The guidance counselor ran the program and then gave us homework to do by trying to implement the system into our classroom, then the next week we'd have to come back and report on how it went. A lot of it worked. (Some didn't but it was worth the shot and was fun to experiment with different strategies).


Is there any other teachers that you are really close with at work? Try talking to them about how to get your plan incorporated into the class with your coteacher's approval.

What it might take is for you to plan out and organize the entire thing on your own and present it to her as something you really want to do. Say its something you want to put in your teaching portfolio. If you build it, they will come?

I dunno man. Sometimes teaching is the easy part and all the political crap is what makes it difficult and tedious.

[ESL Milk "Everyday]

[bobbybigfoot]

If I were a newb, I'd definitely be going the Hagwon route.

(1) PS jobs are a shadow of what they once were.
(2) There's more money to be made in Hagwons.
(3) PS system seems to be "anti" Native teacher.

* Just an opinion from a hagwon only guy. I thought about making the jump a few years back. But now. No way.

[happiness]