Korean Job Discussion Forums

[gaychel]

Today was my 2nd day teaching at a Wonderland school (first time teaching EVER) and I have a few questions regarding how to keep my students under control.

My first problem class is one of my kindergarten classes. I have been assigned to the "problem" class, described to me by another foreigner teacher as the class full of kids who "are a little slower". There are 6 kids who are about 5 in this class, and I have found that they are not slow at all...just misbehaved. The one girl in the class pays absolutely no attention. Then there's one boy who is like a cartoon character: he is very animated, he repeats EVERYTHING I say, and he's very funny. He often crosses the line, though, and is too busy performing for the other students to be bothered with paying attention to the class. Of course, I am no competition, and the other boys would rather pay attention to and participate in his ridiculous antics than whatever I am talking about.

However, in the 2 hours I have spent with them, it has become very apparent that they (especially cartoon character boy) are actually quite smart. I have to ask them a question 2398472 times before they listen, but once I get their attention, they get the answers right 99% of the time. How can I get 6 kids who are feeding off of each other and probably have learning disabilities to be interested in the things I am teaching?

My other problem is a bit more general. In every class, I seem to have one or two kids who move a lot faster than their classmates. They finish their work while I am walking the others through theirs. Then, of course, the faster kids get bored and start causing trouble, making it very difficult for me to focus on the kids who need help. How do I keep the more advanced kids quiet and busy while still helping the "lowest common denominators"?

My school only "trained" me for about 6 hours on Friday before I got thrown to the wolves this week. I actually quite like my director and the school as a whole, and they seem to have their shit together. However, one of the Korean teachers just up and quit over the weekend, leaving me no more time for training and forcing everyone to scramble to cover her classes. I understand why I got thrown into the classroom so quickly, but that doesn't mean I have any idea how to handle things!

Thanks for any and all help. I know it's just a business, but it would make my day go much smoother of I could just handle these two problems. The kids would probably have a better time if they weren't getting in trouble every 5 seconds, too.

[RJjr]

Bring some supplimental material to the classroom to keep the faster kids occupied while the others catch up. Give them something fun like a find-a-word puzzle so they won't feel like they're getting punished for getting their work completed.

[Chris_Dixon]

[garykasparov]

Wonderland has one of the shittiest reputations in Korea. I think you're in for a year of hell.

[blonde researcher]

I worked 2 years ago ' survival teaching ' at a Wonderland. 10-14; 4-5 yr olds in a class! Wonderland usually has lots of kindergarten classes and you have to do two 40 min sessions back to back!
A problem is all the themed classrooms ,one class kids sit on dinosaur rock stool and then in another they are in a Korean air check in counter.
The little kids go all over the place and wiggle everywhere. Try sitting on the floor with them in a circle around you like they would in a real kindergarten and sing clapping games, nursery rhymes etc .

Korean children will do activities like coloring sheets or paper cutting activities for hours. Stock up on the crayons and nab a few picture books to read with/ to them on the floor. Also when they fall asleep they don't have so far to fall
many do fall asleep during lessons if they are comfortable Once you get to know the little ones they are more memorable to teach than the older ones. Lots of love and hugs and fast learning.

[gaychel]

[garykasparov]

I hope you atleast asked teachers at the school the following questions before you signed the contract:

Do you have a "health insurance card?"
Does your employer deduct the correct amount from your monthly salary for health insurance and pay it to the National Health Insurance Corporation?
Are deductions from your monthly salary for income taxes paid to the tax office?
Does your employer deduct the correct amount from your monthly salary for your contributions to the Korean Pension Plan and pay it to the pension office?
Are you always paid on time?
Does your employer provide you a pay receipt every payday?
Does your employer deposit your wages into you bank account or pay you in cash?
Does your employer honor your contract?

[gaychel]

[mountainous]

Try praising the kids for their correct answers. Focus on the positives in your classroom, the kids are learning something. The cartoon character who repeats everything u say is doing a good job, so praise him. Move the kids into different seats so they are less apt to communicate w/each other.

It is not going to be a perfect classroom. Remember that they are only kids. Do you remember what your classroom was like when you were at that age? good luck, sounds like u are doing a fine job.

[mrsquirrel]

They are only babies. How long do you think their attention span is?

[Hank the Iconoclast]

[Whistleblower]

[waynehead]

Seating charts seating charts seating charts. Keep moving 'em around until you have the perfect configuration and no friends are sitting next to each other.

With the kindies praise every little good thing they do and when you have to punish or tell them "no" about something do it calmly and quietly.

Develop some sort of reward system (like smiley faces on the board/stickers). The young kids go crazy for that stuff, and it's a good way to control them.

If they're really active, find games to A)channel that energy and B)shut 'em up when you have to. One game I used to play with my kindies to get them quiet was "the quiet game." Everyone has to sit perfectly still and not make a sound, if you do, you're out, and the last person left wins a sticker or something. It worked.

Good luck!

[Motto]

i was in simmilar position 8 months ago, except instead of 6 hours training i had 0.

you will get the hang of it,

1, something loud- whistle, clap, bang a stick on the board gets attention for a few seconds when they're really bad.

2, seating plans- away from their friend,, naughty boys close to you

3, naughty chair in quite corner, if being really bad move them

4, ignore the attention seekers, that nice cartoon boy. if he is being bad don't smile at him!

5, its hot here now buy a water pistol, use to squirt bad kids

6, buy some korean comics, games or bring cd and headphones for the kids who finnish quickly. wordsearch are ok but doesn't need to be study related.

7, my best punishment- i let the class leave in order of how well they behaved, with each child staying a minute longer/ untill they can answer the questions. they jusst wait in the hall for their next class but really hate being left alone with the teacher.

Good luck, you will pick it up eventually

[Yu_Bum_suk]