Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mindmetoo]

[manlyboy]

Two effective techniques I've picked up from watching K-teachers recently:

* Count down loudly but steadily from five to zero. Anyone who doesn't have hands on head and mouth shut at the end of the count cops a genuine punishment (not something trivial like "put your hands in the air"...the threat of being sent to the Principal, hollow though it may be, scares the hell out of them).

* Pointing. It's considered very rude to point in Korean culture, but I noticed a K-teacher using this to great effect, so I gave it a try myself recently, and to my surprise I found that it stops them in their tracks.

[Qinella]

Okay, thanks for the advice everyone. I've been talking to the other teachers about it also, and they are going to try to help me figure something out. They are native Koreans, and both female, and neither have had as much trouble as me.

Let me ask this: what about getting a tin can filled with nuts and bolts, then shaking it? If you've never heard this sound before, it's excruciating (and is also a good way to train animals). Would this be effective?

[d503]

I teach a variety of classes from ages 4-13, some with English ability, some with none, but generally mixed.

I keep a good classroom. Some things I have learned for dealing with kids with little to no English ability:
For sit down and stand up commands, use a two handed up and down motion. the kids aren't dumb they know they should sit or stand. I switch to a sharp one-handed point with up and down motion when angry.

Yelling, yelling does crap for long term control (unless you want to yell all the time). With new untrained classes, I do not raise my voice until they have been disruptive and ignored me for too long (I let them have about 3 minutes for the first offense) Like you noticed, kids shut up an sit down with that. I then rant at them for about five or ten minutes in English in a normal level speaking voice telling them how disappointed I am in them, and anything else that I feel like. I try to make my voice as disgusted as possible, tossing in some clicks of disgust and head shaking. I work in words they recognise, like sit, school, teacher, book, anything I can think of to keep them semi tuned in. Should any of them do anything (other than burst into tears which 8 year olds are prone to doing) I stop the offender dead--a harsh word, a point, and if worse comes to worse make the little punk go to the front desk. I also do not believe in dragging students out of class. But I am lucky, my classroom is right by the front desk, when I kick a kid out of class I open the door step outside and tell them to follow, should they not there is always someone who hears the counting down for them and comes to go call their mother, with them in tow.

I don't speak korean when I am angry. Hell I only speak a very low level of Korean. I only ever use Korean to help an English lesson, or make a child feel mor comfortable. Also as for rules, kids know it is not acceptable to run on desks, throw things at teachers, etc etc. What you have to do is make them know that it is unacceptable for you.

A nice little way to keep the crap they throw at you away from them (or anything that they shouldn't have in class) is to put (or toss) it into the hallway. I had a kid throw a slipper at me, in one of my new classes this year, I took his other one and his bag, they went into the hallway. He was not allowed to leave until all the other children had left and he had made the classroom tidy. He was an intro English student. I showed him what I expected and blocked the door till it was done.

good luck, kids can be hell, but they are highly trainable, and they are happier in the long run with the rules.

[matthewwoodford]

My experience is mostly with ages 9 and above so not sure if the same things will work with under 9s. I suggest a No Korean rule. Don't know if it's feasible for 7 year olds but if you can do it it cuts down on the noise they make. They'll tell on each other like crazy too for breaking this rule, so it becomes self-enforcing.

Again, don't know if 7 year olds can be relied on - note to parents perhaps? - but another rule is always bring books, pencils, erasers, pens and notebooks. Not crucial but commonsense.

Give stickers as rewards and make some sticker sheets for them to put them on. They'll focus all their energy on getting that sticker. It brings out all their competitiveness. You give out stickers for doing whatever you're doing the right way, hopefully getting English right. If they won't behave you can put black marks next to their name on the board: even if that doesn't lead to anything they don't know that. I used to give losing teams 1 sticker each and winning teams 2 if they all tried hard, cos you don't want them to feel hard done by or discriminated against. Also it's good if they feel generosity comes from you: they're by no means generous to each other.

Keep the lesson fast-paced. Don't give them time to get fidgety. Do some things the same every lesson so they get used to it, e.g. I used to ask them the date at the beginning and give a sticker to whoever gave the right answer.

I think stickers are far more powerful than threats. If a kid repeatedly misbehaves and ignores warnings, stares, etc, sending them out in the corridor for 5 minutes usually works: that way coming into class is a reward.

Believe that they want to learn and they want your attention: they do.

Oh yes, and don't speak Korean to them because they'll think it's funny, ask you to say something else and then you have to invest effort in focusing them on the lesson again.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[UncleAlex]

The 'Death Stare' has always worked for me.
The lethal look in my eyes is more intimidating
than a cattle prod or even my machete.

[Shutterfly]

I use two methods, one I use to quiet down students individually, the other to quiet the students down as a class. I have all the students names written on the board, and they stay there for the class. If a student misbehaves, or is talking when he/ she shouldn't be they get an "x" beside their name. Once they reach 3 x's they have to go to the wonjongnim.
As for getting a class to be quiet when they sound like a heard of elephants is difficult i found a technique that works ( It must be a miracle ) Basically I have a "Quiet Stick" It is a peice of dowling about a foot long ( I NEVER use for corporal punishment!, quite the opposite) I have it decorated with ribbons, and stickers, kind of resembles a magic wand. When the kids are being loud i hold it in the air, or tap it on the desk in a repetitive rhythm. The kids become quiet very quickly. The neat thing is , that the other students notice the wand and shush the other students. I like this method because it doesnt scare the poop out of the kids, I hate making kids cry!

[-666-]

Two words
Duct tape! Keeps em in their chairs too

[Qinella]

I just thought I would update on my progress with classroom behavior. For the class of first graders, the ones that were throwing things at me, I had the Korean teachers give them a stern talking-to, which worked wonders. They did great two days in a row, but today one of the kids acted up. My solution with him was to pick him up (so small and easy to carry lol) and put him in the teacher's room, where he had to sit and be lectured once again by the KTs. He was fine when he returned.

In my other class of first graders, there is only one problem child. He wouldn't remain seated and kept pretending to leave, so I opened the door and ushered him out, and told him when he wants to act straight to come back. He didn't understand my words, but my tone and action got the message across. He ran around for a few minutes enjoying his newfound freedom, but soon realized it wasn't so great if it's forced on him. He came back in and did his work without saying another word. After class I gave him some American gum and had a KT tell him thank you for his good behavior, and I gave him a hug.

For my other classes, I have attempted a death glare. But, I haven't got a mean bone in my body, so it's hard to do. My approach is to stare directly at the troublemaker in the eye and communicate that I am hurt by their behavior. And that seems to work well, especially if I say their name and point.

Also, the KTs have called a few parents at home.

I'm still thinking about bringing a whistle in to class, but I don't know where to get one.

Anyway, thanks again for the advice, everyone. Things are improving.