Korean Job Discussion Forums

[crazylemongirl]

I work in a public middle school so we get all sorts of students in here. Some of them have real problems. Last year I had a deaf kid, two downs syndrom kids, and a few with serious developmental problems in my class. My school had a special class for them (with the exception of the deaf kid who was extremely talented) so they weren't so much of a problem.

This year I have a second grade class with two kids well below the bell curve and a three in a first year class. In general I'm happy as long as they arne't disrupting the class then they are fine. I thought about perhaps getting my kindy stuff out and some coloring pencils to keep them occupied in class.

I do have one kid that's a little bit of a worry. He doesn't seem to be able to process the outside world very well. He definetly won't respond in english however I have trouble communicating with him in Korean and so do the korean teachers. Today he grabbed my pony tail. I communicated very clearly in Korean not to do that but he wouldn't let go. I had to pull it out of his hands.

So how do you deal with kids that aren't able to function well in the classroom enviroment?

[JacktheCat]

I have this one kid in my freshman high school class who is severally mentally disabled, with an IQ of around 65 or so. He really should be in a special class or school, but his parents insist upon putting him in regular classes. A nice kid, real happy-go-lucky; but he has enough problems speaking Korean and putting on his clothes, let alone learning English.

There is not a whole lot I can do with him or to help him, as I teach him in a class of 39 other students and I don't have the Korean skills or the training necessary to deal with him. What I have done is paired him with two sweet girls who have sort of adopted him and watch out for him.

[OiGirl]

With my low-functioning multi-handicapped or developmentally delayed students, my goal is to increase the number of:

1) English words they can say when I show them a flashcard
2) English words for wich they can point to the correct flashcard wen I say the word and show them 2-3 flashcards
3) English commands, verbs, body parts they can demonstrate physically when I say the word

I choose the words from the unit I am studying with the rest of the class, so this student is getting repeated exposure to their "target" language, and the time spent checking this student's progress is also vocabulary reinforcement for the rest of the students.

[Koreabound2004]

I don't have students with any major handicaps or disabilties. However. I do have a few borderline cases, and some that seem to learn at a much slower pace than others.

My problem is that the K-teachers don't identify these students to me, and I have been left to discover these things for myself.

I don't like this idea, because sometimes I have prompted a student to speak or do something beyond his capabilities simply because I wasn't made aware of the situation previously. Afterwards, I feel like a jerk.

[Gollum]

[Koreabound2004]

[hari seldon]

If you consider how many thousands of students are identified as ADD in the states and medicated...

[Thunndarr]

I have to teach phonics to a deaf girl. How's that rate?

[dulouz]

I miss my elementary public school days. That was real life. The Koreans only seem to make large retarded boys. Great big bears. Its the responsibility of the others to tame him. The girls do all of the work.
I had one kid that was nice. Nice but nice in that lead poisoning kind of way. He smiled a wonderful smile and was slow, dirty and neglected.
This place is refered to as a ghetto, it really wasn't bad.

[bourquetheman]

My school has a special education class and my hat is off to the special ed teacher as I know it is challenging. The thing is the students are taught to be kind to them and even look out for them, somtimes being late for class because they make sure the special ed students get to their class. There is zero tolerance for teasing etc. and it really pleases me to see how the students treat them with kindness and understanding.
At the start of each semester there are usually 2 special students put into each of my classes, yet they are there for just the first two weeks so it's not really a problem. for me. Last year I did have a few "low" students who's parents insisted they stay in, so I just made sure their table mates helped them and it worked out fine. I remember for their final exam they had to do a movie preview and video tape it. Well they even included the low student in their video as they had her say "Coming soon". I was touched that they gave her something to do and I'm sure she felt included.

[OiGirl]

[Derrek]

I have a few students like that, and I just try to go out of my way to be nice to them. If one of them showed some great interest in learning English, I'd help them in any way I could. Unfortunately, I've found that most of the "slow" girls tend to keep their heads down praying the teacher will avoid them. I make it a point to go out of my way to talk to them outside of class, give them treats, etc. I figure their lives are difficult enough, so I'm nice. There is one girl who actually knows quite a bit of english, but is a bit slow. She's a lot of fun.

[margaret]

[OiGirl]

[steroidmaximus]

There are several special needs students at the schools I visit. My favorite was a girl who would bark everytime a stranger came near her. BAP@! At one school, 2 boys have 'adopted' me as their new bestest friend. One of them constantly follows me around at EVERY break, hovers over my shoulder as I'm working etc. Both of these kids insist on having lunch with me when I'm there; it could suffice to say their eating habits are far from exemplary, yet picture this: talking with their mouth full, spewing rice into MY chiggae. . . is this your idea of an enjoyable lunch?

I want to be 'generous' and talk to them, since actually their English is not that bad, but after 2 months of this I've had it. I've taken to disappearing during break times and eating my lunch at a nearby shikdang, since the Korean teachers don't see anything wrong with their behaviour despite my entreaties to them for aid and advice. I've tried to correct these kids (Close your mouth when you're chewing, I'm sorry but I'm busy right now, you shouldn't follow me into the bathroom), but it persists. Am I being a bad teacher?