Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Olivencia]

Questions:
1. Do you stand the entire time while teaching?
2. If not, do you feel obligated to stand if the principal comes in?

I was told that when the principal comes I ought to stand up.

[RufusW]

Yes. I teach elementary and the kids at the back aren't going to see me, let alone listen if I'm seated.

I would expect to stand up if my principal came in, common courtesy.

[VanIslander]

sitting down while teaching?

[lifeinkorea]

I stand up when I teach, but I REFUSE to stand up or bow as a matter of "common courtesy". Sometimes, I stand. Sometimes, I don't. In the end, I decide.

I don't expect anyone to stand for me, but at certain times it makes practical sense.

[runthegauntlet]

I have smaller classes so it's not such a big issue for being seen or heard. I'll sit on the edge of a desk when we're reading a story. Then I'll usually walk around checking when we're doing work or something else. Maybe I'll sit 10-15 minutes out of 50... Something like that.

[frankly speaking]

I don't see how a teacher could sit during a class. Perhaps for taking attendance or administrative paperwork like quickly checking someone's paper during an exercise.

Teachers need to circulate the room, keep active and create an energy in the class room that fosters participation.

I will rest on the corner of the desk like guantlet, but I am very active in the classroom.

I don't stand up the entire time because some administrator thinks that I should, I stand up because that is what a teacher must do in order to facilitate a classroom. Or if you are in a wheel chair at least center yourself so that you are not behind the desk.

[Easter Clark]

It seems to me that the only time a teacher should be sitting would be when there are 4 or fewer students at a table. Otherwise our job requires us to stand, right?

[lost at sea]

[jiberish]

I sit down in winter next to the heater

[sulperman]

At a hagwon I see absolutely no problem with sitting down, as long as the class is small enough. But at a public school? Are you out of your mind?

[Big Mac]

At one of my hogwans, the theory that the school had was that sitting down at a group table with the kids makes them feel more comfortable with you. Even then, I didn't sit down the whole time. Obviously when I was teaching a lesson I would stand at the whiteboard. Also, if the kids were working on something in their workbooks, I would circulate. But if we were reading or just practicing conversation I would sit.

My first hogwan had a totally different theory. We were never allowed to sit. In fact, they took the chair away from the teacher's desk so we could not sit.

At the public school job I am at now, I don't think I have ever sat in class. That just wouldn't make sense with such big classes.

[sulperman]

[bigtexas]

Sitting down? lolololol

A sitting teacher wont survive at any level in any country. Would you want the teacher who is teaching your class to sit down?

[Street Magic]

[ChilgokBlackHole]

I can't hear them and they can't hear me if I'm not walking around the room. Some of those hakwon tables can be pretty big. I rarely sit while teaching.