Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Gollum]

I thought this was really funny...

In my new job at the high school, all teachers and administrators (mostly all) share the same big huge room for an office. There are over 40 of us, and our desks are all set up in groups of maybe 8 or 10. Sitting next to me is a male Korean teacher. At the end of the day, while I'm slaving away on the internet between class (ha, ha), a very timid high school girl/student walks up, and gives him a ticket. She starts begging him for her phone in Korean. He pulls open his desk, and inside the drawer are about 30 handphones. He takes the ticket from her and gives her the correct phone.

Afterward, I asked him why he had so many handphones. Apparently, he caught one of the girls texting someone during his class. He not only took her phone -- he took EVERY phone for the entire day!

I bet that's the last time that student sends a text in class any time soon!

(By the way, one of the other teachers told me that some teachers keep the handphones and NEVER return them if they are caught using them in class).

Wow....

[The Lemon]

Good. Students are there to study. Teachers shouldn't have to play hide-and-seek games with students who are busy playing with their phones behind books. I'm sure that teacher's method is effective.

[Gollum]

I'm sure this will backfire, so I won't do it, but ...

I'd like to take an old broken handphone of mine and give it to one of the better students I trust.

I'd tell that student, "In the middle of class, pretend to pull it out and send a text message."

I'd then catch her with the phone, take the phone, and snap it in half or stomp on it -- then walk away. (I'd tell her about my joke beforehand, so she could act shocked/sad after I do it). I'm sure this would shock the rest of the class, it would be the talk of the school, and I'd never again have problems with phones.

Then again, it's just a fantasy I'd never actually do.

[J.B. Clamence]

[Gollum]

Yeah, I'm sure it would backfire, and I'd probably see the negative effect of students trying to play with me by getting out their phones during class just to tease.

[lawyertood]

I have had Korean colleagues at my old college tell me they take the phone for one week if it rings in class. I just make my students stand up and answer it in English......

[ratslash]

that's funny.

[Harpeau]

I tell my students the first day of class~ If the phone rings/text messages, etc., then you must pay me obeg won (500 won). If it's on buzz and you very quietly answer ~ find out who it is, get the number and tell them you'll call them back (take less than 20 seconds) ~ then I'll let it go. One second longer 500 won. Medical emergency~ take it outside the class. Proffesor~ tell them you call back after class.

I like Gollum's idea. A big tall handsome man told me the same thing at 3 Alley pub last fall~ wonder if you know him?

[peppermint]

I suggest to my students that if they have to answer the phone, they should say excuse me and leave the class while talking- simple manners really. I have used the fine system- but I had the class make up other rules too, both for them and me. The fines went to fund a class party.

[Gollum]

[batman]

How I hate the sound of a phone ringing in class (whether it is a meloday or a buzz).
When a phone would ring, I would make a big production of taking the phone flipping it open and answering it.
(Hello! Pizza Pizza! How may I help you?....)
Jabbering on like an insane pizza technician for a while (Yobeseyo, yobeseyo) I would use the offending phonecall as a lesson in classroom etiquette.
The phone would be returned at the end of the day.
And the next day the offender would have to bring coffee and cookies enough for the entire class to enjoy.
I used to just take the student's phone and call my mother.
The student would be stuck with the bill as punishment.
I changed the penalty into snacks for the class as a way of bringing the students together.
99% of the offenders would bring their punishment.

I tell the students on the first day of class that there are 5000 rules in the class.
I only tell them the first three (the others remain secret until needed).
No cellphones is rule number three.
I also had anti-cellphone signs posted around the class.
I hate the sound of ringing/buzzing phones.
They are a distraction from the rhythm of the class.
And, as I point out to them, when a phone rings/buzzes the offending student is wasting my time as well as that of their fellow classmates.

[Mr. Pink]

I work in a high school. If I see a phone I could take it indefinately if I wanted. But why go on people's sh*t list over something pretty trival.

What I do if I see them with it is give 1 warning. It is their only warning for the whole year. The next time I take the phone for 1day to a week. It all depends.

Once a girl had her phone ring. I grabbed the phone and answered in English. Then kept the phone for a few days.

There are Korean teachers at my school that will keep the phone for either a month or the semester. OR until the parents call to get the phone back...How much you want to bet that NEVER happens The kids would rather say they lost it on the bus etc.

If you're teaching at a uni, yeah I can feel for ya...the snack idea is probably the best one I have heard of, good on ya!

[FUBAR]

[schwa]

My middle school students told me how they rank their teachers:

Good teacher -- tells them please, turn off your phone & put it away.

So-so -- takes it away till the end of the day & gives it back with a scolding.

Bad teacher -- hangs onto it for a month.

Me, I think phones are funny. Speaking comfortable english is all about interruptions. Lesson rhythm, bah. Anything that happens is a teaching moment.

[FUBAR]