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Laziness in public schools

 
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Laziness in public schools...your view?
It happens, big time
88%
 88%  [ 8 ]
I've not noticed it
11%
 11%  [ 1 ]
Total Votes : 9

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SPINOZA



Joined: 10 Jun 2005
Location: $eoul

PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 9:24 pm    Post subject: Laziness in public schools Reply with quote

As much as I enjoy public school - in particular MY public school (excellent relationships, great kids, nice area, etc) - one thing that drives me up the bleeding wall is laziness on the part of Korean teachers. On the one hand, I enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and it's the best job ever! On the other hand, if they were any more relaxed they'd be horizontal! bone bloody idle the lot of 'em! Shocked I'm trying to do my bloody job here! Some of these kids actually want to learn from me.

It's not at all uncommon to find teachers getting off their butts to go to class 5 mins after the bell has gone. When the bell goes, I'm up out of my seat straight away and off to class.

This afternoon, my co-teacher turned up to class a whopping 15 mins late. It also happens to be my rowdiest grade 3 class. It's also a monday! During class, I had to ask her to help me control this class, otherwise she would've just stood there twiddling her fookin thumbs and staring into space like a wet lettuce. As a person, she's lovely, but there are so many instances of laziness at my school it utterly defies belief. I'm sick of it.
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ilovebdt



Joined: 03 Jun 2005
Location: Nr Seoul

PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 9:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have one particular co teacher who thinks it is ok to turn up after the bell and after the students. I am always loathe to start because of the rule that you have to have a Korean teacher in the classroom with you, but, if you don't start when the students expect you to you lose their attention.

Plus, I personally think if the Korean teacher is late for my class it sends the wrong message to the students.

Ilovebdt

P.s I think I have a clone of your lazy coworker as one of my co-teachers.
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crazylemongirl



Joined: 23 Mar 2003
Location: almost there...

PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Actually I'm the one who feels lazy. I haven't taught in a week while the korean teachers have been running around like crazy.
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Yu_Bum_suk



Joined: 25 Dec 2004

PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

There are some lazy ones at my school who seem more interested in on-line shopping, cooking or fishing than teaching, but I've also been really impressed by some teachers' dedication, especially the hgih school homeroom teachers. I know that in my case my habit of coming to class a few minutes early to queue up the computer / write down my phonics words on the board, etc., seems to impress people.
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Hotpants



Joined: 27 Jan 2006

PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

yeah, I notice a bit of that 'laissez faire' going on here. But, I still think the kids are generally more lazy than the teachers! And, I also wonder, imagine if we had to spend our entire life working in a school - I think that after a few years, I'd also be prone to entering my classroom half an hour late with some fantastic excuse.

Heck, I once had a co-teacher who used to go walkabout whenever kids started vomiting or peeing themselves while another might be having both a fight and an epileptic fit in the corner. At first it annoyed me that I wasn't being assisted by her, but later, I realised I was a stronger teacher for having to deal with simultaneous multi-crises! You are the teacher. You take responsibility. Also, having a co-teacher who is absent a lot is much better for you as you will have no role conflict in who is the power holder in class. YOU should reign supreme!!!
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flotsam



Joined: 28 Mar 2006

PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 11:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ilovebdt wrote:

P.s I think I have a clone of your lazy coworker as one of my co-teachers.


Post photos. If yours match mine, we'll know Darth Sidious is behind it all...

If you are working at a public middle school, perhaps your school will share with mine the recently initiated delight of splitting up some of the classes into three ability levels for certain subjects, like....English. Now, I teach at a pretty poor middle school, and my low-level kids don't know anything. Half cannot read, 25% don't know the alphabet and none can put a sentence together. Which leaves me with some classes that cannot understand a thing I say, nor respond if they did. Not even if they get a full translation from the Korean teacher. I mean, I could teach phonics or something, but as you may guess, 40 of the least motivated rough kids in school aren't going to be a willing audience for "Buh-buh-buh-Ball."

So, I asked the teachers to help me with these classes. Four classes, in the whole school, I see once a month, no more. You should have seen the shyte slam into that fan. Now, keep in mind, these teachers follow me into class between 3 and 6 times a week and four of them(two are quite good and get involved) do not a thing unless I ask them to translate something that the kids are having trouble with. So, I felt that a little cooperation would not be too much to ask. JESUS they went nuts. They were so flabbergastingly and dramatically adamant the other two teachers(who thought it was a good idea) and the dept head were embarrassed. But we decided to let it go to keep the tempers down--they really were fired up.

Now, the four teachers that freaked are some of the weaker teachers, and my regular partner and I came to the conclusion that they were terrified of A) Teaching in English with me in the classroom and B) Having to compete with the native speaker teacher style(i.e., fun and engaging in addition to educational) so we decided to cut them some slack and I teach those classes some pretty simple games and phrases without help.

But then, just today, I was told that our school has to do a demo class on team-teaching for other Gyeonggi teachers, as many of us have done I am sure. And I simply told the English Dept:

"Sorry, I've never experienced team-teaching, so I can't take part."

That's when the sh*t hit all of their lazy mugs.

I would say small vengeances can be so sweet, but Buddha's Birthday is upon us and that might seem viciously smug.

So let's just call it karma.
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jacl



Joined: 31 Oct 2005

PostPosted: Mon May 01, 2006 5:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, it happens everywhere. I say if you can't beat 'em, join 'em or, better yet, go one up on 'em. Show them how lazy you can be. Start showing videos in class and just mess around with the kids all day. It doesn't do any good to talk to anyone about it. Nor does hinting around it.

Show up 15 minutes late a few times and say, "If you're late, I'm late" in Korean. I guess that would be like telling someone, but in a more dramatic way.

Or you could just ignore it.
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SPINOZA



Joined: 10 Jun 2005
Location: $eoul

PostPosted: Mon May 01, 2006 6:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

jacl wrote:
I say if you can't beat 'em, join 'em or, better yet, go one up on 'em. Show them how lazy you can be.


Yes.
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Dan The Chainsawman



Joined: 05 May 2005

PostPosted: Mon May 01, 2006 6:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ilovebdt wrote:
I have one particular co teacher who thinks it is ok to turn up after the bell and after the students. I am always loathe to start because of the rule that you have to have a Korean teacher in the classroom with you, but, if you don't start when the students expect you to you lose their attention.

Plus, I personally think if the Korean teacher is late for my class it sends the wrong message to the students.

Ilovebdt

P.s I think I have a clone of your lazy coworker as one of my co-teachers.



I would wait outside the door and refuse to enter until the coteacher arrived. Bring a book and read outside the classroom until he or she shows up and if anyone asks state, "Policy states two teachers in classroom, why should I take any risks that make me liable?"
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ilovebdt



Joined: 03 Jun 2005
Location: Nr Seoul

PostPosted: Mon May 01, 2006 6:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dan The Chainsawman wrote:
ilovebdt wrote:
I have one particular co teacher who thinks it is ok to turn up after the bell and after the students. I am always loathe to start because of the rule that you have to have a Korean teacher in the classroom with you, but, if you don't start when the students expect you to you lose their attention.

Plus, I personally think if the Korean teacher is late for my class it sends the wrong message to the students.

Ilovebdt

P.s I think I have a clone of your lazy coworker as one of my co-teachers.



I would wait outside the door and refuse to enter until the coteacher arrived. Bring a book and read outside the classroom until he or she shows up and if anyone asks state, "Policy states two teachers in classroom, why should I take any risks that make me liable?"


I couldn't leave a bunch of kids unsupervised.
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peppermint



Joined: 13 May 2003
Location: traversing the minefields of caddishness.

PostPosted: Mon May 01, 2006 10:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

At my old school, I'd have coffee with the homeroom teachers after the first class. ( 10 minute break) It wasn't at all unusual for them to stretch that out to 20 or 30 minutes, and they were leaving very little kids alone.
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guangho



Joined: 19 Jan 2005
Location: a spot full of deception, stupidity, and public micturation and thus unfit for longterm residency

PostPosted: Tue May 02, 2006 3:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My coteacher in Ansan would routinely show up late. Not 5, 10 minutes late but 40-60 minutes late. She would make a face and declare in a voice that could peel asbestos "It was raining very hard today."

Not that it made a difference really since she spent all her time on MSN messenger while the kids went crazy.
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