Korean Job Discussion Forums

[captain kirk]

The Korean teachers told me this.
"The foreign teacher who just left and who had been here a month had two 'personalities'. He would seem to be a really great guy smoothing out the management but with the kids he just didn't do anything. Particularly with the younger kids he'd get them to read the textbook while he just sat at the head of the table, sometimes slumped forward on the desk with his head in his hands".
(Me) "Really. I don't believe it. He seemed to be such a great guy, got along with the boss and the other teachers, relaxed, smart, funny".
"Like I said he had 'two faces'. He also smoked in class".
(Me). "What?"
"Yeah. He'd give them something to repeat or some workbook pages to do and then would go to the window and smoke. The supervisor warned him to stop doing this and he just said, "So what. Call the fire department".

[beast]

I thought everyone smoked in class.

[matthews_world]

Sitting on the desk count?

I understand that students find this rude.

[PECisDplace2B]

Is sitting on the desk o.k?

Sometimes I do it but then I feel uneasy and guilty so I stop.

[the_beaver]

[sadsac]

Both, sometimes there is a need to sit. If I am correcting a reasonable umber of workbooks or in smaller more personal classes. Younger students, I stand and I'm like a shark circling its prey. I walk around the room constantly, better control with the unruly kids.

[barrybrown]

Ok...Let me explain why I posted this in the first place. There are some people I dislike at work! So there is this late thirty something adjumma; all of a sudden after 3 months she decides to drag the podium into a class I mostly use. Naturally I dragged the damn thing out before my class starts, since space is a commodity in my class. A few classes later she asks who took the podium out? I said I did and she says why!? I did not answer her and walked away before i started to yell at the dumb b!@#$h

I was thinking seriously of standing for the rest of my contract (5 months) just to keep the peace. But NO!
Okay maybe I am a picky son' of a b!@#$h. Then again you weren't there when I was asked to help move the 35 ft sign indoors while it was pouring outside( Needless to say the adjumma in question CAME OUT WITH AN UMBRELLA AFTER WE HAD IN BEEN IN THE RAIN FOR 10 MINUTES AND WAS GALLOPING BACK AND FORTH WITH IT AMONG THE 5 OF US)

To add even more she gets to wear jeans everyday and I am gonna go blind because her a#r$s is so wide! But wait...More in the next chapter...

[crazylemongirl]

I teach classes of 40 or more middle school boys. I need to be stand up for two reasons. Number one I use my height as a way to establish power over the kids. Unfourtantly teaching kids in this enviroment calls on a lot of teacher centered approaches to let them know I'm the boss. Number two there's no way I can see what the hell the kids at the back are up to and chances are their up to no good.

When I taught kindy I could never sit down much because I needed to keep an eye on the class as a whole. But for smallish hogwon classes I would nearly always sit down as I wanted to create a more collabrative style of learning.

[jazblanc77]

It depends on the class, the activity, the age group, and my energy level. For young kids, I try not to tower too much. Eye level is much more beneficial with the young ones. If we are active, I am standing. If we are talking, I am sitting. If I am doing something at the white board, I am always standing. If I am helping them at their desk, I crouch.

[Son Deureo!]

Now that I teach adults, I try to sit while I'm teaching as much as possible. They're conversation classes, so I try to make it feel like a natural atmosphere for them to speak in. I try to act like a talk show host rather than a teacher.

When I need their attention while I explain something complicated, or when I am writing a lot on the board I stand.

Interestingly enough, management doesn't see things quite the same way so the took the teachers' chairs out of all the classrooms. They seemed to think that standing was more "teacherly", whatever that means. When all the foreign teachers started bringing in their own chairs from the teachers' room (which were the same chairs that were taken out of the classrooms), management either didn't notice, or didn't bother to complain.

When I taught children it was a little different. For big classes, standing and wandering around fighting crime was pretty much a requirement.

[ryleeys]

All of my classes are small... usually no more than 6. I used to teach with both standing and sitting periods... standing while lecturing and sitting while assisting students with work (shifting between seats to sit next to different students). I was then reprimanded for an hour after the first time my boss saw me sitting in between the only two students I had in a particular class. The problem is, I've been having horrendous hip pain the last 6 months and I can't physically stand for 50 minutes anymore. So, I sit down... when my director walks by (even after 9 months, she still peaks in my window once during every class... for god sakes, just install cameras and save the walk), I just stare straight at her while I'm sitting down and won't start teaching again until she leaves.

[captain kirk]

I should add that, being a sitter, I 'establish power' in class by doing 100 kilo seated military presses.

[Paula May]

I agree with most of the posters here on the board, that it depends greatly on the class that you are teaching. Last year, I was teaching a Mother's class, with about 4-5 students, and we all sat together at a round table. Likewise, this past year I had a Kindergarten class with only 3 students, and I would sit at the table with them, one on each side of me and usually one right across from me, while they were doing work in their books, and it worked well for both these classes.

However, I also had larger elementary classes (about 10-12) and I found it was more advantageous to teach standing, usually walking around the classroom checking on everyone's work, or teaching from the front of the class writing notes on the whiteboard.

[Blind Willie]

[katydid]

You should always stand...it makes them think you are bigger than them, and gives you a sense of authority. Having said that, I do tend to be a big leaner on my podium or desk. And I never stand still either....it's too easy to walk around the room from a standing position than to get up and walk around constantly.