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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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misswindupbird
Joined: 08 Oct 2005
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 Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 6:45 am Post subject: |
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| SweetBear wrote: |
First and foremost I think it's really really important to go into the classrom with a fresh attitude and leave all your previous problems with the class at the door. This helps me a lot. When I am psyched up to feel fresh and have decided to enjoy the time, the kids can sense it and will respond. Even if I am met with dull faces and heads down, I crack a joke ( or stand behind an unsuspecting student and mimic him/her) something like that. Good vibes and attitude. You can turn it around !
You are fortunate in a couple of respects, your classes are short, so be thankful that there is no time for boredom ! Also, I have always wanted to have a modicum of artistic talent. Man that is golden! If you can draw a funny sketch to get your point across, a picture is worth a thousand..... My drawings were so bad though that the kids got a kick out of that too.
Go in relaxed, don't be afraid to get goofy. How many classes a day do you teach?
Good luck to you 
Bear |
Thank you,
That is all very true and would most definitely be the way to go about things.
I know that I should be using my artistic talent to get things stimulating, but well there is a whole other story with this place that kinda gets me struggling to find it...in any case.
You would be surprised how quickly boredom can set in. HAHAHA!
I teach 11 classes a day.
I don't really know, but I get the distinct impression that my Hagwon is rather unique in many ways. For example, There are only 4 staff...one is the director (who teaches as much as I do), one is the vice director (who also teaches the same) and the secretary/admin person, plus me. I was told that my director demanded that the vice director not speak to me, so was left on my own for the last 7 months...
Anyways, i could go on and on but my point is that I think the problems in the school are giving me issue in the classroom.
Whoa, man 'o' man, I think that I should just say thanks now and be on my way.
So, thanks |
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Homer
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| Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 6:51 am Post subject: |
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11 classes a day!
Good lord no wonder you are brain drained!
That is a a heavy work load by any standard.... |
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SweetBear
Joined: 18 May 2003
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| Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 6:54 am Post subject: |
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11 classes a day... I think that would drive me nuts to a certain extent 
So, it sounds like you are somewhat isolated ? And, there are other issues? Do you get decent breaks? Some days when I had a major split shift I would simply focus on relaxing between classes and then just focus on the task at hand for my next classes. It got me through the day. I find your signature interesting too...
Are we finishing this discussion? It seems so by your last post... |
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Muffin
Joined: 01 Mar 2006
Location: Turkey
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| Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 6:58 am Post subject: |
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I sympathise with you. How strictly do you have to stick to the curriculum? Could you take them on an outing/field trip? Do you have a printer at your school, you could get them to do a photo story starring themselves in various roles with speech bubbles.
If you want to PM me I can give you details of several games that require no preparation!
It strikes me that a lot of Korean teenagers lead quite joyless lives, their lack of enthusiasm probably isn't personal, they are most likely just fed-up in the way that only teenagers can be. |
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misswindupbird
Joined: 08 Oct 2005
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| Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 7:01 am Post subject: |
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| Homer wrote: |
11 classes a day!
Good lord no wonder you are brain drained!
That is a a heavy work load by any standard.... |
Haha! Yeah, I thought so too! Dang it! The classes are actually scheduled with no breaks in between. So if we get anymore students to fill the slots I will work 13 classes a day with no break!
OK, sorry about the whining... |
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Homer
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| Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 7:04 am Post subject: |
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| OK, sorry about the whining... |
This is not whining! Its warranted complaining. Your work load is way to heavy. I do hope you are getting Overtime for it. |
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captain kirk
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 7:05 am Post subject: |
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| That's a good observation, that teenagers in Korea lead quite joyless lives. If you bring in some pictures of pop stars, a Korean pop star magazine, a magazine about video games, or ask about some show on Korean TV that helps. They get interested. |
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SweetBear
Joined: 18 May 2003
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| Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 7:10 am Post subject: |
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| misswindupbird wrote: |
| Homer wrote: |
11 classes a day!
Good lord no wonder you are brain drained!
That is a a heavy work load by any standard.... |
Haha! Yeah, I thought so too! Dang it! The classes are actually scheduled with no breaks in between. So if we get anymore students to fill the slots I will work 13 classes a day with no break!
OK, sorry about the whining... |
No breaks? OH MY GOD ! That is totally unreasonable. See, that is key. No wonder you are at your whits end, anyone would be. |
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misswindupbird
Joined: 08 Oct 2005
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| Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 7:19 am Post subject: |
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| SweetBear wrote: |
11 classes a day... I think that would drive me nuts to a certain extent
So, it sounds like you are somewhat isolated ? And, there are other issues? Do you get decent breaks? Some days when I had a major split shift I would simply focus on relaxing between classes and then just focus on the task at hand for my next classes. It got me through the day. I find your signature interesting too...
Are we finishing this discussion? It seems so by your last post... |
Yes I am isolated, though it is getting better as the vice director realises that my director is a total nutter. I now have an hour between one class and the rest, which I use to prepare for my next 10 classes. Then an hour break from 8 till 9 which I use to eat dinner before going back to school until 10:30.
May I ask, what you find interesting about my signature?
No, no, not finished discussing, I am very interested in what people have to say. |
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SweetBear
Joined: 18 May 2003
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| Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 7:25 am Post subject: |
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Oh, I just thought that you were brewing with questions and that a little "playfulness, rebelliousness, and immaturity" ( through having fun) could help you through this dilemma . I also find peoples sigs. to be quite interesting:)
For sure you have a challenging situation and I feel for you in that. |
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misswindupbird
Joined: 08 Oct 2005
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| Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 7:31 am Post subject: |
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| SweetBear wrote: |
Oh, I just thought that you were brewing with questions and that a little "playfulness, rebelliousness, and immaturity" ( through having fun) could help you through this dilemma . I also find peoples sigs. to be quite interesting:)
For sure you have a challenging situation and I feel for you in that. |
Hmmm, well, I try to treat my life with those particular characteristics...so far they haven't helped me with the situation at all! |
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SweetBear
Joined: 18 May 2003
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| Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 7:51 am Post subject: |
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[quote="misswindupbird"]
| SweetBear wrote: |
Oh, I just thought that you were brewing with questions and that a little "playfulness, rebelliousness, and immaturity" ( through having fun) could help you through this dilemma . I also find peoples sigs. to be quite interesting:)
For sure you have a challenging situation and I feel for you in that. |
Hmmm, well, I try to treat my life with those particular characteristics...so far they haven't helped me with the situation at all![/quote]
Yeah, that's about the most important thing I took away with me from my experiences in Korea. Exactly that. I had all good intentions, felt myself to be a good person.My personal Credo was intact but simply didn't gel with the ethics I came into contact with. It wasn't all doom and gloom obviously, I stuck around for a while, enjoyed the challenge some days, hated it others. I get the sense that you are a little pissed off about your situation and I would be too. I only know what worked for me in my situation , but spent considerable time venting on this board and thinking about how it was within my power to turn things around. I believe I did. Can you adress your bad situation effectively without people losing their temper and, more importantly, losing face? |
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misswindupbird
Joined: 08 Oct 2005
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| Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 7:59 am Post subject: |
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[quote="SweetBear"]
| misswindupbird wrote: |
| SweetBear wrote: |
Oh, I just thought that you were brewing with questions and that a little "playfulness, rebelliousness, and immaturity" ( through having fun) could help you through this dilemma . I also find peoples sigs. to be quite interesting:)
For sure you have a challenging situation and I feel for you in that. |
Hmmm, well, I try to treat my life with those particular characteristics...so far they haven't helped me with the situation at all![/quote]
Yeah, that's about the most important thing I took away with me from my experiences in Korea. Exactly that. I had all good intentions, felt myself to be a good person.My personal Credo was intact but simply didn't gel with the ethics I came into contact with. It wasn't all doom and gloom obviously, I stuck around for a while, enjoyed the challenge some days, hated it others. I get the sense that you are a little pissed off about your situation and I would be too. I only know what worked for me in my situation , but spent considerable time venting on this board and thinking about how it was within my power to turn things around. I believe I did. Can you adress your bad situation effectively without people losing their temper and, more importantly, losing face? |
I truly did not want to address this issue with the Hagwon on here, but find ways to work around the situation keeping myself happy.
I tried to address the situation several times but was...hmmm...? deflected? again and again. I think in the beginning I avoided the losing their temper and losing face, but as the situation got worse and worse...my "rebellious" nature took over and may have caused one or both of those to happen. Yes, I know what that means...to some extent. |
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some waygug-in
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 4:20 pm Post subject: |
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I feel for you. I too am using English Land. But I am free to bring in other materials as I see fit............ My classes are 50 mins though, so there is a difference.
Do you have the tapes/CD's that go with the books? My guess is no.
I've had to do my best to figure out melodies that will work with the songs in the back.
This is not easy, as the lyrics are all oddball lengths and things. I've found that if I can get a melody that works with the lyrics... the students will sing along..........after a while that is, and at least they are practicing some English that way.
Do you have the teacher's guides? There are some things that may help, but for me, there is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much prep for each lesson.....especially if you are teaching 11 classes a day. You couldn't possibly manage it all.
That series can be good if you have the materials, (picture cards, CD's etc) but it's hell without them.
I don't know if this will help much, but I hope so.
best of luck. |
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Fredbob
Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Location: Yongin-Breathing the air-sometimes
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| Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 4:32 pm Post subject: |
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IMHO, as long as you have at least a BA you can probably do better than your current situation. Like a lot of people here, I completely separate my feelings about my office (which usually isn't really that bad) from my feelings about the students. I would imagine that at some point you enjoyed the teaching aspect of your job, don't let one issue cloud the other.
Your haggie seems to only care about money, SO as long as the students are happy you usually have the leeway to do whatever you want to make it interesting. Students are happy if they are learning and they are having fun (the antithesis of book learning). What are they going to do, fire you? Have you seen the amount of jobs available out here? Just Cover Your Axx and have an escape plan. If the students are happy the director is happy, if not, use the same deflection approach with him, you aren't going to convince him you are right, but you really don't need to.
This comes from personal experience, I was were you are a few weeks ago.
Competitions are key for that age group, also, give them a chance to be creative (that should inspire your own juices). Also, look at the things the students bring to classs and that they do between classes, that is what they are interested in. |
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