Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Bloopity Bloop]

Class Profile:
- 35 of the lowest performing boys at my school (pub. high school)

I just finished up with a problem class this morning. My discipline with them thus far has excluded any screaming or unfair punishments. I typically just glare at them, which stops most students from doing whatever it is they shouldn't be doing. I speak in a firm, level voice when asking students to quiet down. I take cell phones/MP3 players for a week if I see them used in class. I OCCASIONALLY keep students after school if they are regularly late. The usual stuff.

It's important to note that I typically have no serious problems with any of the classes at my school--the problem classes (I have 2) just require CONSTANT vigilance on my part and my co-teacher.

But today... today I just had enough.

They're supposed to sit according to their class numbers. My co-teacher and I wasted 10 minutes getting all of them to sit in their proper seats. Every time a student would get "caught", he'd just have a stupid grin on his face like, "Oh... you got me."

My school wants me to have each student deliver 3-minute minimum speeches or presentations in class. NONE of the 10 students who were supposed to speak today did their assignments--5 of them were ALREADY given another chance to complete their work with the promise that they'd have to write lines if they were to skip it again.

At this point, it's about 20 minutes into the 50 minute class and with only 3 hours of sleep last night, I told them that we would be sitting in silence for the remainder of the class. I also handed notebooks to the 5 students who were skipped their speech assignments twice. They were assigned 10 pages (front and back) of lines: "I will do my work" x 3 per line.

I'm debating whether it was worth it going that far. At what point do you just give unmotivated students zeroes and move on to some kind of game? Or do you feel it's important to establish absolute control over your class and have every last student, no matter how unmotivated, do the work you have assigned or follow your instructions?

How do you find a good balance in that? How might I pick my battles more carefully? I end up getting kind of lost in it all sometimes.

Sometimes I really enjoy teaching, but you really ARE under appreciated in this profession. Sometimes I just feel like I don't have time for this s***. The scary part is... the benefits of this job don't seem to assuage this feeling as much as I'd like them to.

If you were in my shoes, 24, debt-free, schooled at a top 10 pub school in the States with an Int'l Econ degree, would you be here? I turned down a 6-figure salary (USD) finance job to teach abroad for a year under the impression that I could always make money later and live now. I'll be re-contracting for what will be my 3rd year in Korea mostly because I've been to lazy to look for a job/study for grad school. I am convincing myself that the 3rd year in Korea will give me more time to do those things.

I would kill (a chicken) for a uni, unigwon, or adult gig...

SEMI-HUMOROUS END NOTE: One of the cheekier students told me that he'd rather speak to the principal than do the lines. My co-teacher took him after class towards the principal's office--according to my co-teacher, right as they were about to enter, he freaked out and told her he didn't think we were serious. He ran back to my office, apologized, picked up the notebook, and left. So there was at least some satisfaction in that today.

Apologize for the rambling... my post kind of meandered off-topic, but I'd really be interested in all your perspectives.

[Ramen]

you should:

a. take a deep breath. let me say that, it's really your co-teacher's problem to enforce discipline, but not your problem.

b. set the rules and follow through with the action of discipline. sometimes you gotta discipline the class as a whole (discuss it with your co-teacher and let him/her carry the big stick).

c. if you and your co-teacher feel that vp or principal needs to get involved, do so.

good luck.

[Ramen]

[Fishead soup]

Never shout- The louder you get the louder they get.

Take students to the office.(Kyo moshill ) They really hate this. For the most part students don't think you mean business until you send the biggest trouble makers to the office. They will line them up and punish them.

Your school has a Haksan Bujangnim( Head discipline teacher)
Find out who he is. Try to get friendly with him. These guys usually don't speak much English.

[tomstar86]

I echo the above with never, ever shouting - a raised but firm voice is OK, but if you ever feel like losing it, just take a deep breath.

When my classes (hagwon) have gotten truly out of control, I'll just sit and my desk and not speak. This usually freaks the kids out enough to wonder what on earth is going on, and they'll take the hint.

I'll then bring the (extremely scary) vice principal into class and she'll go apeshit crazy at them. She's very one-track with a "how dare you disobey your teacher" attitude.

I'll also inform the Korean home-room teacher, and she'll make a few calls to the mothers of the worst offenders.

The next lesson, they're all angels - and because I didn't do any screaming or shouting, the students usually feel guilty for messing me around and our relationship isn't damaged.

Personally, I think you did the right thing with your class - although next time, don't let the kid back out of going to the principal

Tom


http://waegook-tom.com

[lifeinkorea]

Being a tyrant is not easy. Your followers must obey, and when they don't your reign is over.

You cannot do this alone. Your co-teacher cannot do this alone. You and your co-teacher cannot do this.

You need to team up with the students who are behaving and first set the example. Obviously this is not going to matter to the troublemakers. However, it's a starting point.

From there, I take the next best student and recruit him into my "club" with the rest of good students. I take the worst student and rip him to shreds. I work bottom up from the bad with discipline and top to bottom with good by rewarding.

Eventually, this moves people over to my side. There is just one problem, the gender gap. I can't always get female students and male students to work together. So, it's sometimes like the female students are one class and male students another.

[Malislamusrex]

with my worst class, they don't take my co teacher seriously, so I do basic textbook work, nothing else. I told my co teacher to come to the class and translate for me, in Korean she said "You may be 3rd graders but you are the worst class in the school I am actually embarrassed by how bad you are, now you can only do 1st grade work" From that day onward I have given them just word puzzles to do, they behave..... and 1 day I will promote them back to 3rd grade work.

[Bloopity Bloop]

[Ramen]

your co-teacher failed to take him into the principal's office and discuss the situation with him and should not allow him to back down on his misbehavior.

as i said set the rules and standards, but don't let them bend it. only then, the students will take you seriously.

[legrande]

I would kill (a chicken) for a uni, unigwon, or adult gig...

Yeah, I'd say bust a move unless you like running in place (or they offer better conditions).

[Fishead soup]

[nathanrutledge]

First, don't have them write sentences in English. English is something they don't want to do, and by using English as a punishment, it just reinforces the idea that it's something they don't want to do. I have my students write an apology letter to me if they want their cell phones back, in Korean. Never use English as a punishment. Have them write a whole notebook, but have them do it in Korean.

Second, if I'm not mistaken, you're doing a technical school, right? Do you guys have demerit cards? In Korean, they're 벌점카드. My tech HS, I've got one class, absolute worst in terms of behavior and intelligence (and I mean intelligence - these kids are just dunces in EVERY class, even in their bad behavior). Anyway, my co teacher asked the other teachers what they do, and all they do is write a list of names on the board for people who get a demerit card. 30 cards and they get expelled from the school. Last week, they were monkeys (literally, a girl was making monkey noises, just for fun) and I just started teaching class, ignoring their behavior. My co teacher wrote "Demerit Card" and started writing names and adding hash marks. We gave out about 90 cards, so about 3 or so cards per student. They shaped up REALLY quick.

Finally, as someone else pointed out, become friends with the discipline teacher. I would add, become friends with the principal and vice principal. I'm fortunate in that my principal and I are pretty good these days. You do that and you CAN walk a kid down there ANYTIME and get a solid result. I think what you guys did is good, taking him there and he chickened out, no problem with that.

As far as work goes, why do you assign work? They won't do it. You can't fail kids here. You're beating your head on a brick wall. Only do IN class work. If they don't do it there, you can punish them for not following the directions, not participating. But remember, these kids are like dogs - they pee on the rug, you punish them NOW, otherwise they don't get it.

Good luck.

[lowpo]

My students have to write a diary every week and one newspaper assignment a month. If they don't have it done by the time class starts. Then the assignment is doubled and it has to be turned in my what ever time I give them. Then if it is not turned in to me by that time. They have to spend their luch time and 10 min breaks with me in the office until they are finished.

[Son Deureo!]

You're getting a lot of really good advice here, and I hope you're taking it to heart. There are a couple of things that jump out at me that no one else has addressed yet.

[bobbybigfoot]

You turned down $100,000+ a year to teach English in Korea?