Korean Job Discussion Forums

[DrugstoreCowgirl]

I am seriously beginning to wonder if Korean kids are slow learners or something. I've tried so hard to find activities for the kids to do, whether it's a game or a worksheet, and the teachers just say it will be too hard for the kids and we can't do it. The most recent incident was over a worksheet where all you had to do is find the differences between two pictures (The ghost is on the bed, the ghost is under the bed. The ghost is on the couch, the ghost is behind the couch. etc.) I suggested doing a Jeopardy game with house vocabulary like 'sink' or 'oven' since my teachers seem to think the kids don't know anything, but then they said it would be too easy.

I am pulling my hair out, I just don't understand how EVERYTHING can be either too hard or too easy.

And anytime I suggest a worksheet, they want them to work in pairs because working alone is too hard.

Am I alone in thinking that sometimes school work SHOULD be hard so you actually have to think and learn new things?

[Fishead soup]

They're not slow.They just like to play possam to the NET hoping he/she will dumb the class down and play lots of games. Classic behavour of false beginners. Lots of time the KET teacher will go along with it becouse they are indifferent about what happens in conversation class.

[andrewchon]

O Pharmacy-jilleroo, what level thou dost teach?

[DWAEJIMORIGUKBAP]

They are not slow OP.

It's the Korean teachers. They are so scared fo parents complaining even at public school these days that they don't push the kids at all.

I'd advise you to ignore your co-teacher and keep on trying.

Also most Korean kids have ABISMAL study skills. I always spend the first two weeks teaching through games and listen and reapeat - STUDY SKILLS such as classroom instructions, hoow to point and follow texts we are studying for listen and repat exercises etc, how to pay attention and watch me when I talk etc... Otherwise they just vacantly stare around and mouth things unsure of what they mean... One important thing is teaching them what 'point' means and then I'll say, page 4, point to exercise A, point to number 1. Rabbit, rabbit etc...' so they gewt used to knowing where to focus and how to focus

Try and get a few classes without a Korean co-teacher.

I swear once I start getting the kids clued up on how to actually study and follow what is going on in the classroom and push them to try new things when they shake their heads and them and their teachers both say it's 'too difficult' - I get amazing results and bizarely I often find the naughtiest and seemingly stuupidest studetns tend to turn around and become the brightest and best, which is odd....

[winterfall]

[DWAEJIMORIGUKBAP]

[gillod]

Teachers always think the kids are dumber than they are. I still have to kind of aim low, but \my kids usually impress. I had them writing full sentences in 4th grade when I got a new co-teacher. My new co-teacher said, "We need to test them! It will take 30 minutes!" and tried to test them with a worksheet a mealworm could have aced. They blew right through it and one of my kids said- "Teacher, you think we dumb?".

[DrugstoreCowgirl]

[Xuanzang]

No, it's the vapid public education system. I think PS has pretty much capitulated to the hagwon industry in terms of teaching these kids their core subjects. The English curriculum is pretty much a joke. Everything usually has to be supplemented with handouts. My younger students are sharper than the older ones because many have had English kindie and hagwon lessons early on.

[Teddycakes21]

"Are Korean Kids...Slow?"

The fat ones are slow. You could easily nail them with water balloons or something if they tried to run.

[DWAEJIMORIGUKBAP]

[DrugstoreCowgirl]

[The Gipkik]

Korean kids are just normal kids who are either stuck with learning a subject like English that they hate, can't be bothered learning or they like to play dumb and thus avoid responsibility or a loss of face. Take into consideration that there is a silent period that language learners have to wade through before they can start speaking. I find this is often the case with my elementary kids. When they stare or look dumbfounded, keep this absorption period in mind and work with it. I find when I throw the occasional tough activity into the mix of mindless simplicity, lots of them are up to the challenge.

[Teddycakes21]

These people sure like their snacks!


Eat eat slurp slurp munch munch crunch crunch...

[TheUrbanMyth]