Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Sprite06]

Are students pretty curious to see pictures of your life in America?

Background Info : I live in a pretty nice house (not bragging AT ALL)

I told my friend I was planning to show pictures of where I live/hometown/college/etc in my introduction powerpoint, and my friend said that I shouldn't show a picture of my house, because students would be intimidated or find it distasteful, or think that I was trying to put myself above them.

For people who currently live in Korea, is that true?
If your house was considered nice, would they think you were a douche for including it in your intro?

[jvalmer]

How nice is your home?

I showed photos of my family home, but then again my home is pretty average. But Koreans often assume if you live in a stand alone home you're pretty rich.

I say show it.

[rumdiary]

My students think I live in the Winchester Mystery House. Korean kids will believe anything.

[Sprite06]

[SCAshley]

[schwa]

Kids will be curious about your background, sure, but I suggest holding off till you know your students better. If they're reasonably well-off themselves, no problem, but if they come from struggling families you do run the real danger of creating envy or resentment, & distance.

[lovebug]

i showed my house during my intro ppt and all the rooms of my house for the 5th grade public school lesson ''this is a bedroom."

it's understandable that simply showing photos of something could be misconstrued as showing off, but i think context is everything. it's inaccurate for students to just assume that because you have a nice or larger house, that you're rich.
you didn't mention the level of your students, but my students understood that i was not rich when i taught my students about my parents' jobs. now they don't make the assumption of how much money we have simply based on our house.
if you think it's as if you're showing off, look for opportunities to self deprecate a bit, like goofy photos of you during the holidays, or pictures of you as a kid. i showed my students my old bedroom, which is always a mess. they loved it.
my students also love it when i show them where i live through google earth. that might be a good compromise since they are seeing more of a bird's eye view (unless you also want to do streetview, etc)

[dongjak]

I showed my students pictures of my families lake cottage. Only after they pleaded and begged. But most of the pictures were just of me and my sisters lying in inner tubes in the middle of the lake. And they should be jealous, because cottages in the middle of the woods on clean lakes are awesome.

[brauggi]

[jonpurdy]

Students are always amazed at the size of my parent's house back home. They DO know that there's more space and that houses are cheaper in North America but they still find it interesting.

[jvalmer]

[happiness]

it may or may not, bu we cant really do anything about it creating envy or whatever here, the korean nature this seems to be regular, no? if youre nice and the kids like you, itll be a positive. I have a few guitars and I have alot of tshirts, and some of the teachers I worked with thought I was rich because I was always wearing different clothes. Theyll think what they think about non-koreans, but I would make sure the kids knew you a bit first...

[enchoo]

I showed my house and last school through the satellite imagery of map.google.com and my students were like WOW^^