Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Cracker006]

My co-teacher spends her day telling me all the things she's got to do, and how tired she is...

Reminded me of this poem by Shel Silverstien

I've been working so hard you just wouldn't believe.
And I'm tired!
There's so little time, and so much to achieve.
And I'm tired!
I've been lying here holding the grass in it's place,
Pressing a leaf with the side of my face,
Tasting the apples to see if they're sweet,
Counting the toes on a centipede's feet,
I've been memorizing the shape of that cloud,
Warning the robins to not chirp so loud,
Shooing the butterflies off the tomatoes,
Keeping an eye out for floods and tornadoes,
I've been supervising the work of the ants,
Thinking pruning the cantaloupe plants,
Timing the sun to see what time it sets,
Calling the fish to swim into my nets,
And I've taken twelve thousand and forty one breaths,
And I'm TIRED!

[Countrygirl]

Wish my co-teacher worked that hard.

[plynx]

hilarious! if my ko-teacher had to be defined, this poem would be perfect! to lighten her load, i actually took over most of her duties, leaving her with minimal work. she STILL says she has "too much" to do, and that she's "so tired!" this is always uttered while i'm sitting at my desk doing her grading for her while she texts a friend. i love it!

[pootle]

Yes, oh yes.

Seriously though, what do Korean teachers have to do all day? I have never seen my co-teachers leave school with anything more then their car and a handbag (for the laydees); I have never seen them mark homework or test papers or anything else (at exam time it seems like a machine does all of that for them?); they teach directly from the textbook with no supplementary materials; I have never seen them do any form of administrative work, as that seems to be farmed out to minions.

I'm just trying to understand, not have a dig. I have friends who teach in the UK and they take piles of work home every night. So what do teachers here actually do when they're not in class?

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

My last co-teacher worked hard, but at the end of the day he was an incompetent, tractor-driving, pumpkin-headed boob of an individual from rural Gyeongsanbuk-do whose idea of fun was going to church both Saturday and Sunday.

[joshuahirtle27]

That sounds like mine.

CT-"I want to make a movie"
M- "Than make one *just leave me alone*"
CT-Yeah we should make a movie of saying the sounds for Red and Orange Star."
M-"Right... well I have to write a test today so...."
CT-"Ok well let's go get there and make a movie."

[KYC]

Mine actually does work hard. She's always running around the school, making lesson plans, materials, organizing events & festivals. She always stays late. Then at home, she has to look after her 5 year old.

I dont like bugging her for things, but sometimes I have to.

My last one was a total bum.

[seoulsucker]

I've had CT on both sides of the spectrum.

What I can't stand are the teachers who spend 3.5 hours typing, printing, cutting, coloring, laminating, and velcroing a teaching tool that is used once, and then complain that I "don't work hard" because it took me 5 minutes to create a more useful, reusable powerpoint slide that does the same thing.

[ardis]

I guess my co-teachers are pretty different. They never just start talking about how tired they are or all the work that they do. If I ask them how their week was or something, they'll occasionally say, "Oh, I had so many exams to prepare and I also had a big test at my English academy." But overall, they rarely seem tired--they're a pretty cheerful bunch. Especially considering I see them do a LOT of work.