Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jajdude]

[Kwangjuchicken]

[nasigoreng]

* Responding with "WHY" when the teacher calls their name.

-It's the arrogant tone they say it with that really gets me boiling:
WHyyYYyy? As in "why are you interupting my conversation with my friend?"

[Wisco Kid]

Right now my big complaint is kids who ask me questions in Korean. They've seen me for 4 months and never heard me speak anything other than English and still just about every class I get asked half a dozen questions in Korean.

Now I just respond "blah-blah blah-blah, blah-blah blah-yo"

They get a laugh and catch on that I don't understand what they asked, but do they ask me in English the next time?................nah.

[schwa]

[thorin]

[eamo]

Dropping their pencil every 30 seconds.

Throwing the eraser to each other and never catching it!

Looking at the board at the same time as writing. Korean kids seem to think this is a perfectly acceptable practice. Not looking at what you're writing!! No!

Using ever more mind-boggling pencil cases that take forever to open and close. And they have built-in games! Thanks pencil-case makers!!!

The new student who sits looking bewildered and assumes because he's new he doesn't have to do anything.

Casually writing stuff on their desks....I mean...Is that okay here??!!! Do all Koreans write on the furniture or is it only in hagwons??

[marista99]

1) MIMICKING. And apparently it never gets old--the other kids crack up every time one of them does it.
2) Packing up bags early.
3) Pretty much ignoring anything I say, even if I know they understand.
4) How hard is it to keep your butt on a chair for 10 minutes at a time?
5) The word "teacher!" --the younger kids say it to get my attention and then it's like they have no idea what to say next, or they weren't planning to say anything, they just wanted me to look at them, or something...after a standard Kindy class I can't get the word "teacher" to stop echoing in my head. Yeah, I'm going insane.
6) Heads down on desks--I say "(name), sit up!" like 30 times per class in the middle school levels.

Man, I sound really bitter. I actually like my job in general...but this is the stuff that drives me crazy. Thank goodness, the dong chim thing isn't a problem. I guess my boss told all the classes that foreigners find it really offensive and threatened them with spankings or something, because they never do it when I'm around.

[Lizara]

1) When I start the class and they continue their discussions in Korean while totally ignoring me.
2) Starting to pack up before class is finished.
3) When I walk into a class and am assaulted by six students at once wanting to show me homework or explain why their homework isn't done or show me their new toy or whatever. Along the same lines, whining because I don't immediately stop what I've doing to help with whatever it is they want help with. Asking me for help with question 6 when we're doing the page as a class and we're still on question 2.
4) When my kindergarten students get upset about something minor and put their heads down on the desk and refuse to do anything, and then ask me twenty minutes later why they don't have as many happy faces as everyone else. Get your head up off your desk and start EARNING some happy faces.
5) Again with the kindergartners: Sam starts repeating everything Ben says, and then two minutes later Peter starts repeating everything Sam says, and Sam immediately gets upset and cries. "Teeeeacherrrr! Peter is follow me!"
6) WHY can they not stay in their chairs???
7) Most of mine have no sense of personal responsibility. If I take away their toy, of course it's because I'm a mean teacher and don't like them and has nothing to do with the fact that I'd already told them fourteen times to put it away.

I could go on, but it's really all just basic courtesy/realizing you're not the only student in the school type of stuff. I know they're just kids, but you'd think after seven months (if not more) of me responding negatively to this sort of behaviour, that they might get the point that it's not working so well for them and maybe they should try something else. Sigh. It's been a long week...

[Wisco Kid]

[Wisco Kid]

We have space heaters in the classrooms at my hagwon. I turn mine on cuz it's frickin' cold. The kid sitting next to it is wearing his coat and turns off the heater because he's hot.

Take off your coat moron!

[d503]

the dong chime thing is the worse but I have a couple of other complaints.
1) desks too close to the board, all the k-teachers classrooms have the desks set up literally a foot away from the board with kids sitting on the board side of them, this only facilitates the dong chiming (on a happy side not I scared the *beep* out of one little kid by grabbing his arm mid chime, and dragging him to the wall to stand with a firm statement about why you don't touch my ass in class.)
2)rifling through my shit. No matter how many times I tell the kids, the k-teachers tell them, the directors tell them- they go through my stuff-cabinets, purse, backpack, pockets-pisses the hell out of me, not to mention that a watch, some money, candy, stickers, paper, pencils, and more have gone missing.
3)crying and then getting what they want. I am sorry but that is just so messed up. It undermines my authority, it puts the offender in a position of power, and it just makes no sense.
4)This thankfully has not happened again but I had a kid spit in class. And I am talking full and frothy made a three inch puddle on the floor, which I made him clean up, and then whilst clean he spit like that 2 more times. I used terror tactics on the little shit and it worked, dragged him out to the hall in an extremely fast manner and explained what I thought of people who spit, and that if I ever so much as caught him sucking snot up his nose he would spend the next 2 weeks of class in the hallway on his knees writing. he has not spit again, and is very cautious about his bodily habits around me.

[Ihavenolips]

[trevorcollins]

Having a kid sitting on a chair suddenly falling off it for no apparent reason seems to cause utter chaos and happens all too regularly. *beep* cultural differences this one is just out and out stupidity.
Would have to rank the ddong chim as being by far the most offensive though. Thankfully it's pretty rare. Again screw the comments about cultural insensitivity. Maybe it is a part of the Korean way of life, but unless I'm dating someone if they stick anything on any of my orifices they're gonna end up on their ass. Be they 3 or 83 years old.

[marista99]