Korean Job Discussion Forums

[OiGirl]

I never give candy. I don't like the sugar high that results. (Although recent research suggests there is no such thing, my experiences tell otherwise.) When the kids ask for candy, I tell them "remember, I never give candy!" and they get over it.

I usually do one cooking-type project (often disguised as a science experiment) a month, and usually give stickers as the kids leave the room unless they've been truly horrible, and pencils if they've been exceptionally well-behaved and hard-working.

It is incredible how much a tiny sticker brightens a young child's day!

[katydid]

I never really spent a lot at the hagwan. Sometimes I bought them candy or soemthing, but it seems now, as the class size has grown larger, I can see more opportunities to buy my students candy and then give it to them. Candy makes a great bribe to get kids to read. Also, I am doing a special project for my second years and have bought cakes for the winner of a competition we are having.
Maybe when the kids' grades come out, I'll do something for those who pulled A's in English, as well.
I'll do something special for a special occasion, but can't very well do something for 900 kids.

[Dawn]

I'm close to the never-give-candy camp (I do recycle what the kids give to me), but order about $50 worth of stickers from trendenterprises.com every three months. Yeah, you can get stickers in Korea, but the kids really like the shape stickers from Trend and will just about kill to get their hands on the scratch and sniff stickers. Plus, my youngest classes can pick prizes whenever they earn 50 stickers, and by using the Trend stickers, I can keep them from filling their sheets with stars or smiles from the local stationary shop.

For the older kids, I buy pizza a couple of times a year (the award for the class with the highest overall average on mid-terms and finals). The kinders will get an ice cream cake on children's day, and any class that earns all As and Bs on the monthly test gets a popcorn and video party.

The biggest drain on my wallet is all the other neat "stuff" I can find for the classroom -- Reading Rods, magnetic word tiles, picture cards, learning games galore, puzzles, craft supplies, math manipulatives, etc. I keep thinking I'll soon reach the point where there's nothing left to buy, then Lakeshore Learning goes and adds new products ...

[Kwangjuchicken]