Korean Job Discussion Forums

[chilgok007]

I've had my fair share of kids like that. I've found that a lot of positive reinforcement and special attention works best. Even if they do something thats mundane compared to the other students, if they try their best and work hard, I'll give them a sticker or praise. I try to show them that I care about them. I try to keep an eye on kids like that. Some of them really are just plain stupid or have other problems, and they usually end up dropping, but others turn out to be great kids and with the right motivation they end up suprising everyone. Some kids just need some time to get adjusted to new surrondings.

When I first got to my school I had a kid who really was plain dumb and refused to give any effort (though I admit, I wasn't exactly Teacher of the Year when I first got here). To make matters worse his mother was one of the most vocal complainers I've ever encountered and she seriously believed her son was a genius and she was making my life a living hell with her constant demands for more homework and then less homework, more games and then less games etc. But, he'd been at the school for two years before I'd arrived and his English was on par with a student late into their first year. The other kids were leaps and bounds ahead of him in every aspect and the kid was a major distraction... always rattling on in Korean, always fighting with the other kids, always playing little games with his pencils. He quit after about two months, went to another Hagwon for a month and ended up quitting there too. Some kids really are stupid.

On the other hand, one of my students who I thought was dumb in the begining (and previous FTs agreed), is now by far one of my best students. He still stares into space alot and randomly zones out of class to play Powerrangers and Cartrider with his pencils, but he works hard and always suprises me with little tidbits of knowledge, especially about Korean history and science. He's only five years old but he explained to me that sunspots were like strong magnets on the sun, that "Chosun" is the offical name for North Korea and that the role of the kidneys are to "clean the blood." Not too bad for a five year old, eh? And to think I almost gave up on this student! All it took was giving him extra attention, being extra patient with him, and not blowing him off. I've tried this technique with several other "dumb students" and in most, but not all cases it's worked well.

Unfortunetly one of the problems with Korea is the parent's unwillingness to recognize the flaws in their children. Korea, like any country has it's fair share of kids with learning disabilities, autism, and other impediments, yet in most cases the parents just ignore them. There are several students at my school who don't have any business being in a "normal" school and really need special attention, yet at my school the parents would rather blame the FTs for not pushing the kids hard enough...

Ilsanman, Perhaps your kid falls under the aforementioned category? How long have you had him?

[mindmetoo]

I would kick it upstairs to the Korean head teacher. "This boy never brings even a pencil to class. Could you call his mother and let her know he should bring a pencil." If he keeps failing to do that and becomes disturbance, I'd simply make him stand in the hall for the whole class until he bring in a pencil. If the mother wants to throw away her money, the kid can throw it away standing in the hall. No sense dragging down the other kids.

[thegadfly]

To Kiwiliz:

You say "I take it that you have never had...." Well, you take it wrong then. I have had a lot of students that were not interested in the class, in learning, in being in school -- I worked with "alternative" kids in the US -- you know, the kids that EVERYONE ELSE had given up on? Yeah -- I dealt with those. The ones that a whole hell of a lot of other teachers had given up on. Had a higher graduation rate than the high school proper, the kids had higher average increases in test scores over time than the high school proper, too. I wasn't super-teacher, I didn't do magic. I went in and tried where others had given up, then went back and tried again when I failed, then a third time....

Nobody succeeds 100% of the time, but you fail 100% of the time when you quit. The OP didn't say he had been working with the kid for 15 months or 18 months like some other posters mentioned, the original post made it seem like a single class. If someone gives up on a kid after a single class, I will certainly judge him or her harshly, and by posting about it in a public forum, he or she has made me his or her critic (not judge or jury, since I have no way to punish misdeeds).

I believe in teaching. I think crappy teachers should get out of the profession. Most of the posters have been suggesting as I have, to keep trying. My tone may have been a bit more strident, but I was honestly angry that a teacher would even consider giving up on a kid after one lesson. If the OP was talking about the kid's behavior after 16 classes and a few meetings after class, after talking to the Korean teachers, the parents (with help, if necessary), and the other foreign teachers, after scouring websites for fresh ideas, and asking for advice on a messageboard about how to reach this kid without shortchanging other kids in the class, then I apologize.

[Ilsanman]

I had 5 others students, 3 putting a good effort into class, and 2 more kinda half way there. I have little time for a kid who can't even ask to borrow a pencil, in Korean or English.

I taught him again today. He had a pencil this time, but he still sat there like a zombie until I grabbed his hand and put the pencil to paper.

Someone here needs a private tutor.

[I_Am_Wrong]

[cubanlord]

[Son Deureo!]

[Grotto]

The only thing you can do as a teacher is your best.

Some students choose not to learn...they dont want to be their....they have no interest whatever.

As a teacher you can try everyday to include them and if they make that decision to join in then you have scored. If they dont...at least you have tried!