Korean Job Discussion Forums

[alice0216]

For those of you who realized ESL is not for you, what was most helpful in making through your contract. I have 6 months left and I have no intention of leaving early, but teaching over 300 kids a week is stressful when your heart is not in it. I always knew I had other career plans, but thought I'd be OK doing this for a year. ( BTW I realize that I'm probably looking for positivity in the wrong place.) What did you tell yourself to make it through?

[buildbyflying]

here's my two cents...
If I had this past year as my first year teaching I can guarantee I would not be teaching now. That said, I've had some great years teaching as well.

If teaching isn't for you, at least you tried. You'll have empathy for teachers. Just as it's good for everyone to wait tables at least once in their lives to know what it's like to be on the other side, perhaps the same is true for teaching.

Hang in there. You never know when the connections you make this year (references, etc) will help you in the future. Don't waste the hard work you've put in thus far by throwing int he towel now.

Relax, take a breath and have some fun. Try not to stress. Hindsight usually shows us that things aren't as bad as they seem.

[alice0216]

true, true. I have never felt more sympathy for all the teachers in the States who are getting laid off right now because state governments are broke.

[hapigokelli]

Give yourself something to look forward to.

I would not have made it through last winter if I hadn't had a 2 week vacation to the Philippines coming up in February.

Also, for me, it was realizing that I can only teach people who want to learn. I was banging my head against the wall trying to force kids to participate. Now I try to make the class fun and exciting, but if somebody doesn't want to participate, or even *shock!* sleeps, I don't beat myself up about it.