Korean Job Discussion Forums

[SPINOZA]

I've been in this teaching-in-Korea game a long, long time now - 2 months - and I thought I'd seen pretty much everything there is to see. But not so!

There's this one class I have that are particularly awful to teach. I like many of the students - they're not horrible kids - but 70% are totally uninterested, and trying to get them to participate is a bit like trying to extract Cocaine from Morphine - totally impossible. Some of them are very capable but they're just bloody teens and have the attention span of a drunk jellyfish and as much motivation as a dead sheep. There I was today, playing my awesome game, and did they pay attention to what was going on? Did they bo11ocks. Co-teacher is no use sadly - not a disciplinarian unlike another co-teacher who's a stick-wielding dragon! Some of the kids are into it and other whole classes are very interested, totally competitive and wanna join in, but this one class are bloody awful, I dread teaching them. Rowdy buggers! I think there comes a point when you can only do so much to interest (let alone teach) some students and it's up to them to at least try and pay attention even if doing so is about as interesting as the World Grass-Growing Olympics. It's their education and their life. I've been to university and done my exams and am pretty much set - no biggie for me. It does get on my nerves though and I do feel responsibility but they have responsibilities too! There comes a point when tiresome cliches like "make classes more fun and communcative" aren't applicable because you could have the most brilliant classes in the world and some grade 3 middle schoolers will still do f__k all.

Do you have a class that's just terrible? Give details. How do you take it?
How do you differentiate between good classes and ones that are impossible to get any work out of? Use different materials entirely? Please explain, give an example.

[ilovebdt]

I know exactly how you feel. I had one such class today. My problem is they just sit there as if they are made of wood. I have tried being nice and I have tried being nasty. I am not sure what my next move will be.
I agree with you, why should we bust our balls trying to think up fun, imaginative, creative things for them to do when they just don't really care.

I don't think that their level is that bad, but my co-teacher, I use the term loosely, translates everything into Korean and doesn't let the students answer my questions themselves. I'm quite tempted to kick my co teacher out.

However, there are classes which are a blessing, and they make up for the two bad classes in part.

[moptop]

I just had my evil, uninterested, unmotivated, mostly sleeping slackers. I have been trying a few things that people on this board have been suggesting for my "monster" class.

What has worked really well is music. Last week I used "The Tide is High" by Blondie. I gave them some background, showed them some pictures from the internet ("Sexy, teacher!"), played them a sampling of "Call Me", "Heart of Glass", and "One Way or Another". Most of them recognized the songs, too. Then I showed a clip from the "Coyote Ugly" DVD where they sing "One way or Another" in Ch. 15 ("Sexy, teacher!"). We did a fill in the blanks worksheet, and I let them sing the song in the leftover time.

This week I used "Yesterday" by the Beatles. They did a fill in the blanks again, much better because they were used to the setup. I had cut the lyrics into strips and paperclipped, which they then had to put in order. (don't forget to mix them up so the cut lines don't match). They did this without music, and the group that finished first got a candy. (I usually don't do this in classes but it gives me peace of mind in this one!).

They were much more relaxed and happy than when I was trying to "teach" them. Now, I'm just happy they are listening, getting used to the language, and occasionally repeating the words out loud. I let the worst narcoleptics sleep, and the others I give lots of "smart students!". When I sing parts of the songs to them, I actually have fun too! They are tickled that I can sing, and they are always asking for a diversional song. I tease them with songs I might use in future classes, and even the old stuff they like because they recognize it.

I only do this for my lowest level classes, and it gives me a break too without resorting to the unacceptable DVD. My other classes I have a more "academic" lesson.

[roybetis1]

This is in a public school? If so, the difficulties in the class are the responsibility of both you. I know, in a perfect world. Discuss with your co teacher remedies for your situation. The responsibility of the class is ultimately on the Public School Teacher. Not on the just out of college with little educational experience ASSISTANT English Teacher.
If your co teacher is not helping you control the class and there is nothing you can do, stop teaching, turn the class over to the co teacher, and go stand at the back of the room and stare out the window like they do. Trust me you'll get some kind of reaction.
I really advise talking about the situation with your coteacher first, and telling her/him what'll happen if there is no improvement.

[Sofa_King]

Oh...the horrible class. I know exactly what you mean.

I have a horrible class that has changed my approach to all my classes. You can try this approach and see if it works for you. What I have done is I've separated my classes into teams. Every class, I make them compete, and their team gets plus 1 everytime they give an answer or do something of which I approve. If they are sleeping, not participating or doing something that is absolutely ridiculous, I give them minus 1. The team that gets the most points at the end is the winner. The winning team gets to leave early, followed by the 2nd place team and so on.

This worked for about two weeks. The students adapted to this and it made my classes much more interesting. I find that Korean students are very interested in competition. However, my horrible class decided to compete with each other to get negatives. The other day, one team received minus 9. They threw things at each other and just didn't listen. I suggested to the Korean teacher that we need to discipline the teams that end the class in the negative, so instead of yelling at them (as they shrug it off and smile), her and I made them do 10 leg squats for every minus.
I know it sounds a little harsh, but it is better than letting them get hit with a stick. Also, some of the fat kids need to lose a little weight.

I felt a little conflicted about the punishment, as I hardly yell or try to be negative in class. I prefer to use positive reinforcement, but it just didn't work in this case. However, I was celebrated and congratulated by the other English teachers (and their homeroom teacher). In addition, they were better behaved the last time I taught them.

Give it a try and see if it works. If it doesn't, then I suggest beating them with a bat and stuffing them in a kimchi jar.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

My 'most useless' class is a group of 3rd grade HS students who are not writing the university matriculation exam, are going into college programmes instead, have effectively finished, and are just killing time at school. But they're really not that bad. If 1/3 of them are into it and the other 2/3 aren't, that's find so long as they don't disturb the lesson. Read a book, sleep, or pay attention if something looks fun.

I know what you're saying about the class making all the difference. Some of my classes got re-arranged and condensed, and this moring I had a class of 42 1st grade academic HS students. They were just fantastic, and I managed them fine teaching all by myself with almost everyone paying attention and trying hard, and me in complete control. Then this afternoon I had a 1st grade vocational HS class with a co-teacher who was really trying hard to help, and it was all the two of us could do to keep 19 of them interested and paying attention for 50 minutes. But I still like teaching them ... I think my difficulties are pretty minor to what others have to deal with or what I had to deal with at my old job.

[JacktheCat]

[TheUrbanMyth]

[Ya-ta Boy]

Welcome to the real world of teaching.

It seems like there is always one class (at least) that drives you to drink (or at least gives you the rationalization to do it anyway).

You have two choices as I see it: 1) Stay up nights making different materials for them, try to psychoanalyze them, find out about their home-life and make adjustments for their wretched home situations, compensate for their adolescent angst...or 2) say F...it! They are just different and your life is not long enough to waste any more of it on them than is absolutely necessary.

Every class has its own personality. And every day is different with every different group. What works wonders with one group, flops with another, but on a different day would have been great but Johnny was in a terrible mood because his girlfriend sent him a note and now he's stressed out about it and is disturbing every kid in a 3 row radius. It's not necessarily your fault or the fault of what you are doing.

Do what you can within reason and hope that someone at the next level gets 'em on a better day and picks up the slack...just as you get the kid who is still struggling with the alphabet because he wet his pants 6 years ago and that teacher didn't handle it as well as he/she would have on a better day.

Story: I have one class that goes well or ill depending on how one kid is feeling. He technically lives with his brother because both were abandoned by their parents. However, his brother lives somewhere else while he goes to college, so my kid lives alone. He's 16. He's desperate for attention. Desperate for approval. Desperate for some structure and probably sometimes desperate for some food. He's also 16 and good-looking. I can't control how his hormones are doing during my class time or how the girls reacted to him the night before or whether he got breakfast this morning...but all of it and more affects how he feels when he arrives in my class and because he has a major influence on the kids around him.

Do the best that you can, but accept that sometimes you have to drop back and punt.

[ajuma]

Ya-ta Boy is right about the class "ring-leader". If you can get that kid on your side, your battle is 3/4 won. You have to really pay attention to who it is...it could be that quiet girl that's giving the other students the "thumbs down". Find out what works. Play up that student...praise everything. Sometimes, a little "humiliation" works.

Group work is great...and rotating groups can be good...they're not always working with their close friends and changing group members can change the dynamics.

And don't worry too much!! Everyone has at least one "monster" class.

[Zyzyfer]

Long posts blah blah blah...

YAH! I KNOW WHATCHA MEAN!

[SPINOZA]

I love this board because it's funny how we all have the same experiences:

[SPINOZA]

oops

[SPINOZA]

double

[joe_doufu]

I have some evil kids in one class. They decided that they hated me, so now they don't let me look at their textbooks (somebody taught them "It's none of your business") and if I touch their desks or chairs they pretend it's unclean and they wipe it with tissues.

Naturally I retaliate by touching as much of their stuff as possible, and picking up their textbooks to demonstrate things to the class. Oh, and sitting on their desks, they really hate that.

Originally I tried to discipline them by making the worst ones go outside into the hallway, especially the male and female ringleaders. But several kids dropped the class and my boss begged me to let them have their way because we're on the verge of going out of business. So now I've convinced the ringleaders to use the class as naptime, and the other students aren't so bad. Nevertheless I try to make the class as boring as possible for them unless they're nice to me.