Korean Job Discussion Forums

[IncognitoHFX]

I'm having some problems at work getting the younger kids to behave themselves in class. Because of the heat, a fan has been set up in the class and it became one of the many targets for wayward kids refusing to sit down. I was helping one, turned my head, and a bunch of others were just punching the cheap Chinese fan until all of the plastic fell off and the thing broke. Its not mine either, its the school's.

They've also gone on my computer. I thought disabling Korean fonts and password protecting it (or just plain unplugging it) would help, but I have several kids who will just try to use it in the middle of the lecture and end up punching the LCD and whamming the keyboard with their fists over and over again.

I'm not lazy in the classroom, I'm constantly running around, dividing my attention amongst everyone just so I can have some cooperation. Most of my classes are fine too; I'm a whiz with the middle school kids and I think that I'll aim for a middle school hagwon when my contract is up, but my youngest classes (about half of them) are just beyond control.

I was involved in a lot of military/cadet stuff when I was a kid and I remember how to discipline and importantly; how to use my diaphargm when yelling. I've tried yelling, I've tried rewards / punishments (candy if good; standing up if bad, et cetera).

I've actually tried numerous teaching methods to try and have order in the classroom, but some kids seem to come into class with the atitude that they're going to do what they want (speak Korean, fight, yell, be disruptive) and no one can do anything about it, period. I thought it was just me, but they're this bad for one of the Korean teachers as well.

Anyway, I thought it was a pointless battle and had originally decided to just tough it out. But there has to be a way to just have civilty in the classroom with 7-10 year olds. What works for you?

[bassexpander]

Stickers are your friend.

Unfortunately, it may be difficult to get them in line after they've been handing you your head for this long.

Set up a sticker board, and award them each a sticker if they are good that day. If not... no sticker. If they are problematic, threaten to take the sticker away. I used to warn once, and take away the sticker second. Be nazi-strict on this. The power of competition will help them fall into line.

This helps with most kids, but it works best from your first day onward.

It also helps to ask your staff to help you notify parents if children are problematic, but hagwons are money-making businesses, and many are reluctant to do this.

[IncognitoHFX]

Yeah, the sticker system has been long in place when I arrived here and I've been observing it diligently. The problem with that is that most of the kids have already decided that its not worth it to be good, and the pros outweigh the cons when acting badly.

I have awarded people with high sticker counts numerously in the past (in good classes anyway), but in bad classes the kids don't seem to care too much about the stickers. Sometimes they'll make a big fuss when you take one out, however they will go back to behaving badly pretty much immediately.

There was a time when I became super strict with the stickers and started taking one out for the smallest of infractions, however it didn't seem to work.

Also with the candy system... I bought a box of candy and have it on the top of a six foot tall dresser in the classroom. I thought it was good because I'm tall enough to reach individual candies from the box and the kids aren't. So, its good in theory, but I didn't plan on my grade 3 class literally swarming me when they realized I had candy that day (I was punched in the stomach, the face... kicked a few times, and one of them scaled the dresser drawers right to the top where he grabbed the entire box and left the school with it).

Of course there has been calls to parents because of this, and recently many of the "troublemakers" were put into one on one classes which has calmed a lot of nerves (effectively cutting my bad classes in half). Luckily, our hagwon is so small that most of my classes are one on one, or one on two/three, and when I refer to bad classes I'm only referring to one or two of my six daily classes.

Still though, I'd like a solution. Parental punishment only works so much, as the kids seem to forget they were punished a few days later. Strangely enough, parents call in all the time to complain about the lack of homework being assigned yet the kids of the complaining parents never do the homework that is assigned to them in the first place.

PS. This is not just a me thing either, all the teachers are having this problem. Even the brutally strict ones. If it were just me then I'd be able to observe what I was doing wrong

[yingwenlaoshi]

First and foremost, you need to take control. That's the main thing. That's by being on top of any bugger that does ANYTHING. Playing with a pencil case, talking, tapping their feet, etc. Your teaching method can do wonders with keeping them in line. You do that by making them speak individually with each exercise that you do. They don't have time to act up and they know their turn is coming. Any disruptions get dealt with immediately and made a big deal of. Go eye to eye with them and tell them what they're doing is wrong. Next offense? OUT.

Rewards are ok, but not all the time. I give rewards out monthly for when they finish their reading book work books. That's only 500 Won each, but it adds up. And I play cards with them for five minutes at the end of classes here and there and give the winner 500 Won. That's randomly though. Could be one week I don't to one week once or twice. I also take each class to the store for no reason at all once every two months or so. I don't give rewards for good or bad behavior. They all get the same. Creates teamwork and equality.

You gotta let your boss know what's going on and make noise about it. Unfortunately you really have to be quite strict with them. Let them know it's your turf. Yes, some students will eventually leave, but did they really belong there in the first place? A lot of students come through though and end up being really good. When you're at a school long enough, it becomes a cake walk. It's easy for me because this is my third year at the same hagwon.

Takes time.

Your situtation is pretty harsh though. I wouldn't even let them in the hagwon if there were doing *beep* like that. I wouldn't. I'd actually lead them out the door and block the doorway. My boss would eventually come and I'd just say, "No. The can't come in. If you let them in, they're not coming in my class. If they come in my class, I'm leaving. I don't need to take that kind of abuse and it's not my job to make sure they conduct themselves. It's YOUR job, bucko. And the parents should be making sure they behave themselves. So take that to the bank!"

I wouldn't put up with *beep* like that for a second.

[Jizzo T. Clown]

It could be that these kids aren't getting enough physical activity in their lessons so they use all that excess energy in bad ways (i.e. punching the teacher and destroying fans). I had a similar problem when I taught young 'uns. After awhile I learned that if you keep them moving most of the time then all that energy is put to better use.

How to do that? There's a ton of stuff available for TPR-based lessons and songs, etc. If you see them once a week, hell, play hangman every class if that's what works. It's a matter of trial and error to see what your kids will respond to.

If you try to be a strict disciplinarian with these kids you're gonna keel over of a heart attack before your first contract is finished. Keep it light and keep it fun.

[The Oracle]

Await not in quiet the coming of the co-teachers, the marching feet, the armed host upon the land.

Slip away. Turn your back. You will meet in the hallways anyway.

Oh holy battle of the classroom control, you will be the death of many a woman's son between the seedtime and the harvest of the grain.

[oldfatfarang]

[ddeubel]

Have a pow-wow. Clearly lay out the rules (in Korean if necessary), write them up on chart paper.

Signalling device, clear expectations. Make sure lessons have comprehensible input and are motivating.

Time out area . Yellow/red card system. (in class area, works well with Asian students who don't like to be removed from the group.

Board should have reward system for groups, just place a magnet when appropriate, tally, reward.

Here is a thread where we discuss much of this and more...
http://eflclassroom.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id=826870%3ATopic%3A825&page=1&commentId=826870%3AComment%3A1943#826870Comment1943

DD