Korean Job Discussion Forums

[iggyb]

So, I had to throw away 2-classes worth of copies and change 2 ppts for the next unit because the words "skinny" and "mean" were "inappropriate" for 3rd grade minds.

Today, after showing the new learning ppt to the first class, she told me I should change this picture http://www.esolers.org/ESOL/lowbeginner/vd/adj/bodyplus/pretty02.jpg for the words pretty/beautfiful.

Why?

Because, she wants 3rd graders to know about natural beauty and the beauty of nature and so on...

...which is why skinny and mean were inappropriate. And "artificial" beauty is also inappropriate for young 3rd grade minds.

[jcan]

I think you need a vacation.

And could you not continue your original thread instead of making a second one and posting it 3 times?

[thegadfly]

Well, that sucks that your sincere effort to teach the students something is being stifled -- I do sympathize with the situation, and you certainly have every right to be upset about it, but....

...she is the one that catches the heat for what goes on in class. If someone higher up the food chain isn't happy with what happens in the class, SHE gets the first earful, and maybe it does indeed trickle down to you, but she bears more of it....

As a result, she may be trying to head problems off before they arise, or she may be too chicken to even risk the hint of a problem...honestly, bare shoulders on a slide for grade three elementary students would give ME pause about the appropriateness of the picture. I'd just find one that showed a person who clearly was wearing all of his or her clothes, instead of one that suggests nudity. Scenes of natural beauty would be even better (and so I agree with her suggestion). I'm not with her on the "too many words" thing, but hey, her students' performance won't effect MY job security....

...just sayin' that every story has two sides, and yeah, you have my sympathy for your side of things...but the other person doesn't HAVE to be wrong or a villain in order for you to be right....

[iggyb]

Sorry for the extra posts. The system had a glitch, and I don't see how to delete duplicate posts.

[ThingsComeAround]

Wow. You already decided in your other thread that you didn't care to change anything, because you are leaving. So why are you complaining?

[iggyb]

I didn't say it wasn't irritating...I said the chances of coming away with something better by talking it out or fighting it were not high enough to warrant the effort - especially since the chance is higher it would make the work environment worse.

[PatrickGHBusan]

I think Gadfly nailed it OP.

He has the right take on the fact that there is more at play here than your side of things.


It is too bad your efforts are being criticized but the Korean teacher is the one ultimately in charge of the class and is the one who is responsible for the results of said class.

For natural beauty, you could achieve the same effect with a picture of a flower, a sunset....

It would also be a tad more appropriate for 3rd graders AND it would maintain the core of your concept-idea.

[winterfall]

Could you describe your lesson in more detail? And what level your students are? Maybe if you changed some stuff, threw in some more dialogues with a picture drawing exercise, your CT would be more malleable. I saw your blog but, it doesn't really show what the rest of the class is doing.

[iggyb]

By natural beauty, she meant a person who looks naturally beautiful - as in without makeup and stylist hair. She didn't meantion anything about an uncovered shoulder.

I had to fill ten minutes. It was the first lesson for the chapter, so it was a basic powerpoint with images followed by the target word in a basic sentence when clicked.

Anyway, I've vented and am done.

The situation is not a horrible one but it comes with enough irritations.

The major irritation is being given a short amount of time to cover in the class with no prior guidance on what to do, doing what I think is good for the students (based on experience and training), then occasionally having her tell me to change it or do something else at any time - just before class, between classes, and so on -- for no reasonable reason.

There are other minor issues, some of which I've mentioned, but the primary one is having to change material at the last minute. (Including throwing away prepared handouts, editing ppts, or coming up with an alternative activity).

[some waygug-in]

I feel for you, as one who has been there:

Do your best, grin and bear it.

It is a VERY common situation at elementary schools in the EPIK system as well as others.

Remember that the KT probably feels a bit insecure and threatened by you,

so she may be nit-picking as a way to make herself look better.


Don't take it personally.

[Rocktek]

This.

[PatrickGHBusan]

[some waygug-in]

Yep,

Could be or some combination of the aforementioned.

I didn't mean to imply anything negative, just that the OP said she was new to teaching English, so she probably might feel a bit insecure.

If this is the case, the OP should allow him/her a bit of understanding is all I meant.

[PatrickGHBusan]

Indeed!

[iggyb]

I don't think she is insecure. She was stuggling early on with the young kids but has found some things to straighten much of that out.

She is doing what she thinks is best for the kids. I can respect her for that. But, she isn't the type of person who should be co-teaching with someone. She wants the control, and the difference in experience levels means that she is frequently enough interfering with what I am doing for insufficient reasons - which can be somewhat annoying at times.

One example - that worked out fine - was an extra class we were to teach. She kept asking me what I thought we could do, and she immediately shot down every suggestion - a majority of them for nonsense reasons. Finally, after I had prepared for a different project, she changed it to a newspaper/news project.

I'm trying to just go with the flow, and I was also fine with this, because I had used creating newsletters with my ESL classes in the US. I told her all about it. I showed her an example newsletter we'd created. I told her about the extreme mix of levels I had to work with. And so on.

But, when we came down to doing the project, she didn't have ideas about how to do it, but kept saying "no" "no" to what I was saying and planning - but she kept asking me to come up with stuff.

It was a case of her not knowing how to do it and having a knee-jerk "no" personality when it comes to ideas that aren't her own.

Finally, as the second week of the project approached, I just took over the class at the start and did things like I have done before.

She let me handle the classes from then on because she didn't have an alternative ready.

And it all worked out. Yesterday, she thanked me for the work and reminded me of the fears she had when we started the project. I said, "Thank you" and reminded her -- saying - that I really didn't do anything special for the class. It was simply a matter of having experience doing it. I had done it before with a similar makeup of students. I didn't do anything special, and the work didn't show that I was a "superior" teacher. It just worked because I had the experience.

She wants what is best for the classes, but in a co-teaching situation, and working with someone who has much more experience than her in teaching ESL, she should not periodically micro-manage things without a strong, clear reason.

The "she is ultimately responsible for the class" is fine but only a half-truth. A FT will not have to listen directly to parents complaining, but if you are given time to fill in the class and you suck greatly, and the kids start complaining to parents, you will hear about it. If you suck consistently, you'll hear about it before it becomes a parental issue.