Korean Job Discussion Forums

[nautilus]

If you really want to succeed at a bad 6th grade class, it is possible but I doubt you get paid enough for the amount of effort required.

[zombiedog]

I understand, working in a hagwon myself, that in Korea you automatically start with 2.5 strikes against you. Koreans typically practice 0 pedagogy, and they are loath to understand even the most basic concept of the Western teaching styles they've hired us to teach. Books that are the wrong level, mixed level students, etc. only worsen the situation.

However, that said, it sounds like you could better prep for your class in order to save yourself a lot grief. For instance, don't spend time correcting essays while the kids run wild. They know you're down correcting and they will do whatever havoc they want. 15 minutes is wasted time. It's insane, unfruitful, wasting the kids' time, their parents money, the good will with your employers, and your own sanity. And who knows what those kids out in the halls are doing, probably not writing essays.

Here's one thing you could try if it's a 60 minute class.

First 15 minutes - review from the last assignment, have a couple students read their essays aloud, critique their work as a class. Collect their homework and correct it before or after class. Hand back at next class.

Second 15 minutes - preteach a writing skill having to do with essays: intro, body paragraphs, conclusion, attention getter (aka the "hook").

Third 15 minutes - have students practice that skill in class. Do it as a worksheet that you can collect or they put in their journals/notebooks for the next class.

Last 15 minutes - provide input (topic) for their next essay that they will write at home. Maybe this is a reading, or a short video, or an in-class debate, but you provide the input so that they know what to go home and write about.

I have dysfunctional classes, too. And I'm always my own worst critic when it comes to things I can do better or that I missed. That's all you can hope for. But at the very least I'm prepared and when my boss comes to me complaining, as happens from time to time. I have everything I need to shower her/him about what I'm having the kids do.

[nero]

@three equals seven

You need to supplement your class. You need to create your own worksheet which simplifies the book's main points and work through it together, rewarding students who finish quickly and accurately.
Of course they speak in Korean - is there a punishment if they don't?

I added time to a clock I had drawn on the w.b every time a student spoke Korean, and the whole class had to stay the extra time. Get them to manage themselves.

OR - the students who have done well can leave on time the others have to stay...OR moving the bad boy next to you facing the wall etc etc.

You need to add some fun learning activities to get them motivated and speaking.

The class may be bad, but a lot of classes are. Students will keep misbehaving if you are not managing them correctly.

It sounds like you need to do some reading on classroom management and lesson planning.

[tanklor1]

[Who's Your Daddy?]

[Threequalseven]

I appreciate the feedback. I might change the lesson up a bit, per your recommendations, but there are a lot of limitations that I have that it seems other teachers don't have.

1st, the students write their essays in notebooks. So if I keep their notebooks after class, they have nothing to write their homework in for the next day. So that doesn't work. I've tried having students bring two notebooks, but only half the class followed through - the other half just didn't do the work.
2nd, I can't keep students late (as nero suggested). They have other academies to go to, and some students have to catch the bus to get home.
3rd, my class is 40 minutes not 60. This greatly limits the amount of depth I can get into, especially if I have to correct essays in class.
4th, I have a 15 minute dinner break before this class, so the students get to run wild for 15 minutes anyway while I'm not even in the class. This makes it very hard to settle them down after they've been talking and playing on their phones for so long.
5th, I'm already given designated topics to have students write about from the book. And I don't have any multimedia devices to play with. My entire hagwon is very regimented and very bare bones, so there's little freedom to assign more homework or deviate from the book in any way (aside from making more worksheets I suppose).

I do like the idea of making them read their essays in class. I'll try that today. However, I know the other students will still try talking over them. So maybe I'll employ the air conditioner as punishment if they do so. I also like the idea of making them write something in class. I'll try a few of these things today and see how it goes.

[Threequalseven]

Wow! Today was a night-and-day difference with this class. And I only did two things differently. First, I made a worksheet of the questions in the book. That way, instead of just calling on the students to say the answers, every student had to find the answers on their own and write them out. Second, I gave them an incentive. I said if they don't talk or use their phones in class, I will give them 12 minutes of free time at the end (which happens to be just enough time for me to finish correcting their essays). However, if even one person talked out of turn or used their phones, I would deduct time from everybody. And it worked wonders! No talking, no disruptions! I actually had even more material planned than I could get to (which is a good problem to have). Basically the class went like this:

0:00 - Tell the students who didn't finish their essays to finish them out in the hall.
0:01 - Write "No talking + No phone = 12 minutes free time" on the board and a column with "infractions" as the header.
0:04 - Collect all the students' essays as they return.
0:05 - Explain the new no talking/phone rule, have them open their books, and pass out worksheets
0:08 - Tell the students to start their worksheets, and say they can work in pairs if they want.
0:18 - Review the worksheets with the class
0:28 - Finish reviewing worksheets, give the class free time as promised, and start correcting essays.
0:38 - Assign essay homework for tomorrow
0:40 - Dismiss class

In the future, when I have classes that don't involve questions, I will make them read their essays instead and also prepare a worksheet just in case. Also, I acknowledge that my class would be better if I didn't have to correct essays in-class, but this is the only class where I'm required to do that.

Lastly, I tried the air conditioner trick with another class earlier today. This class started out fine earlier this year, but lately they've been playing the "it's fun to belittle the foreign teacher in Korean" game with me and the other foreign teacher. Some students in this class would even repeat what I said in a dumb person voice just to get a rise out of the other students. Unfortunately, the AC trick didn't really work. It wasn't cold enough, and my windows don't open. However, the stand-silently-and-wait trick worked well enough. Regardless, I honestly don't think that EVERY class can be remedied by having a good enough lesson plan... at least not for a hagwon, where there are few if any consequences. If a class openly disrespects you and will not participate in anything you present to them, even a movie, then there's really only so much you can do. I can only wonder what else is going on in those students' lives that makes it permissible to behave this way.

[nautilus]

[12ax7]

[PRagic]

Show them the door. If they disrupt the class, tell them to leave. No warnings, no second chances. This counts as an absense, with X number of absenses equating to an F in the class. Once they're gone for the day, they're gone. Period. Make sure that mom, the co-teacher, and the principal/V.P. know the deal.

[nautilus]

[NQ]

[erasmus]

One bad kid...the whole class pays. None of these kids want to be hated. They may not care what you think but they definitely care what their classmates think.

[nautilus]

[young_clinton]