Korean Job Discussion Forums

RedRob · Joined: 07 Jul 2003 Location: Narnia

For 2 years here I was a hard old bastard, losta discipline, push ups, jumping jacks, yelling etc. Mainly because that is the kinda skool I went to. Old crusty buggers wandering around with canes in their hands, ruling by fear.

Aaanyway in the middle of last year I met this dude here, a bit of an older guy, but just so chill, he really loved the kids, and he really helped me with one completely nutso hypo kid, who I thought was a bit disturbed, this kid was just really after attention, but any kind.

So, from him I borrowed the idea of trying to deal with troublemakers with kindness, -take 5-10 minutes at the end of a day to hang with them, find out what they are into, shoot the breeze about Diablo for 5 mins. Wander to the corner store and shout them some ramen. Find out when their birthday is and make a bit of a deal out of it- a few grand for dukbokki for the whole class and a round of happy birthday won't break the bank. This really works, I have turned around a bunch of scrappy boys, and snooty haughty girls who wouldn't even speak ( one of them has turned into a real chatterbox which is almost as bad!)

So try and make minature friends out of them, ( as well as try to avoid favoritism, which can be tough/tricky to balance, but do-able)

I'm also quite physical with them, walk around, a pat on the shoulder for a good job, wrestling and TKD with the boys when they are a bit hypo, I let 'em have a bit of fun, and then quieten them down to an acceptable level and get on with the lesson.

Oh yeah, try not to be too hung over during the week, I find after a bash with the dreaded green bottle they all just sound like little screaming monsters that set my nerves on edge and I wanna yell at 'em and beat 'em and completely contradict everything I have spent the last 5 minutes typing!!

bjonothan · Joined: 29 Apr 2003 Location: All over the place

My own personal opinion is:
Here is a bunch of kids who study in sometimes up to 5 or 6 institutes...
They hate English....
Are they going to take your classes seriously???
NO!!!
First personally I think you have to get a good boss....
I never have to discipline my kids at all....
I threatened two of my students one day that I would send them to the boss....
I never had to say anything again.....
If the school is good they will handle that stuff well.....
If you have a bad school and you want your boss to listen this is how you do it. Bosses only listen to what will affect them. If one boy is bad say: he is bad in class and if the classes stop going smoothly the other parents will pull their kids out which means you will lose money. You watch how quick that kid is punished. You have to hit your boss where it hurts. By quitting, you are showing that you are angry but not what your intent is.......
It seems to work for me, but hey horses for courses......

Jon

bjonothan · Joined: 29 Apr 2003 Location: All over the place

and the guy on the next one above me has some really good ideas too....
I don't know how far I would go as far as hanging with them, but as far as making them your new miniature mates goes....I reckon it is a good idea....work with them.....not against them....

captain kirk · Joined: 29 Jan 2003

Redrob, I'm going to print your post, put it up on the wall, and have a better time in Korea for it.

titanicman · Joined: 31 Jan 2003

I spank in the elementary hokwan where I teach.

I take them outside and apply the rod to their butt. They behave beter afterwards.

I sometimes tell parents who follow-up with another spanking at home. Does wonders.

Titanicman

Zed · Joined: 20 Jan 2003 Location: Shakedown Street

Zed · Joined: 20 Jan 2003 Location: Shakedown Street

Austin · Joined: 23 May 2003 Location: In the kitchen

Discipline, what is it good for? What is your objective for using it? Are your kids disinterested? Are they restless? Are you pacing your lessons appropriately for each class to keep your kids engaged (if you were able to engage them in the first place)?

I do not believe that kids are "evil" or intentionally seek to disrupt class, so understanding what the issues really are will help you to fashion a more appropriate action to remedy and prevent most of the students' off-task behavior.

You do not need to raise your voice to get your students' attention. You do not need to beat your kids to teach them a lesson. You do not need to swear at your kids to get your point across. Some "teachers" resort to the above, because they either do not know any better or they feel it is the easiest option.

The biggest obstacle that many of us face throughout our day is getting our students to "buy-in" to what is being "sold" in the classroom and keeping them "interested." Unfortunately, too many "teachers" do not prepare teaching material that is appropriate for their students, do not know how, or do not care, so kids tune out!

Can any of us really blame them for being off-task?

We have all had at least one great teacher in our past, and most of us have had our share of crappy teachers as well. The substandard teachers' classes were painful to have to attend, but the great teachers' classes were looked forward to attending.

Discipline, like rules, laws, the police, etc. are needed when the "community" fails to function. In other words, instead of spending excessive amounts of time worrying about disciplining your kids in the classroom, why not spend a bit more time on creating quality lessons and developing a healthy teacher:student relationship with your kids.

One would hope that your kids like you and that you like your kids! If not, you might want to reevaluate your situation.

Austin

ulsanchris · Joined: 19 Jun 2003 Location: take a wild guess

Austin you have some good advice there, unfortunately, its seems a little condenscending.
The sad reality is that very few of us have had proper training (if any at all) and don't know how to teach very well. being a good teacher takes a lot of skill and its hard to get that skill on your own. I would suggest all teachers here read a few books on how to teach. You might see a lot of your classroom problem disapear.

Corporal · Joined: 25 Jan 2003

rapier · Joined: 16 Feb 2003

Nice work redrob: you have turned everything around into a positive experience. good on ya. sometimes the kids just need a surrogate parent to take notice of them. I actually feel sorry for most of them- aaaalll work and no play is the story of their lives. If you have the time to be big brother, i admire you. Problem is that many teachers either don't care , or in my case- don't really have the time because I'm so busy.
Its a pity that korea is such a tight-scheduled, performance - driven scenario. A lot of teachers relish even the 5 minute breaks in between lessons as time to smoke, relax or have to themselves as a break from the kids. I know i do. And i know the system is hardly giving the kids everything they need. But, i'm not about to take on the Korean educational system and try to reform it..don't have time or energy enough.

ulsanchris · Joined: 19 Jun 2003 Location: take a wild guess

Corporal I would guess that most of us teaching in hagwons haven't had any teacher training. I haven't and i know a fair number who haven't. I would also guess that most of us would be better teachers if we had teacher training. You cannot expect an untrained teacher to teach as well as a fully trained teacher. (I am not knocking the efforts of those who try hard to teach.) There are those who are gifted and can be great teachers without training and ( I imagine) they read up on how to be better teachers.

sunlit · Joined: 14 Apr 2003 Location: Ilsan

after getting kicked out of my hagwon ( the director was afraid i would tell the new teacher how bad things were, so i was harangued and fired the night before the new teacher started). 4 days later, i was offered a job at a place where the director takes discipline seriously and will even boot out constant offenders! that worked out nicely. Very Happy