Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Summer Wine]

I told my co-teacher last week that as I was leaving, I needed my internet connection ended and the equipment picked up. She rang them and cancelled it.She mentioned that they now desired me to pay 487,000 won as a damages penalty. She gave me a number to ring, so I rang them.

The person I dealt with speaks better english than my co-teacher and it turns out that the penalty fee is only relevant if you are staying in the same building. As I am leaving the region and even possibly the country, there is no need for me to pay the fee so long as the school can confirm that I am leaving. I also had to organise thier technician to collect the cable boxes.

I then had to get my co teacher to speak to the person again, to sort out the school providing them a letter that states I am leaving the school.

What I find difficult to understand is why when she spoke to them in the first place, she didn't confirm with them a time to pick up the gear and also confirm with them that I was leaving the school. Its what I asked her to do in the first place.

It seems she doen't understand that its less work if she does it properly the first time. I am also completely unsure what the school understands about my leaving as she hasn't spoken to me at all about basic issues like where to leave the keys when I go, or anything else.

I have found her to be the most useless person I have ever dealt with in this country and can seriously see there being some problems coming up as there is no communication at all from her about what the school expects of me regarding my leaving.

[Fishead soup]

I used to have lots of useless co-teachers. The thing is to develope effective proactive communication strategies to deal with them. The main thing is not to allow a problem to fester nip it in the bud

[Caffeinated]

I feel you. My co-teacher is young, was new at her job last year and has improved somewhat since I first met her, but what I am struck by is her lack of foresight and even empathy. The idea that I may want to know the school schedule in advance seemed foreign and a bit of a nuisance to her. She denied that there was even a school schedule until another teacher quietly e-mailed it to me. I guess with her family nearby and with little desire to travel abroad it didn't occur to her that my situation may be different and that I need to plan things out much more in advance than she does. There have been major fvckups as a result and it is tiresome to have to spell things out for her but it has to be done that way or else things could turn out worse rather quickly.

[Cerulean]

I do!

[bobbybigfoot]

There are alot of useless co-teachers out there. Young and clueless college graduates who have little to no real life experience.

Unfortunately for me, this extends to the administrative staff where I work. Sometimes it's hard to tell if it's case of extreme laziness, callous intent, or just pure ineptitude.

[Skippy]

Sound like your co-teacher suffers from the yayas as in ya ya I will do it and two what has it got to do with her. This thing is no skin off her back if she does a bad job she does not suffer. If she does a good job she gets nothing.

Some advice - "it is not what you can do for me, it is what I can do for you" and "It is not what I have done for you, it is what I can do for you in the future" How have you made it not about you but about her and two how have you made it important about the future and her.

Are you close friends with the co-teacher probably not. So why should she work hard to do this. Will you leave the school in some way make her suffer - no probably not. Whoops you are already leaving!

[sadguy]

i hate it when co teachers say "yes, ok ok" to whatever u ask and in actuality, they didn't even hear your question correctly.

i had a few students who came to class late. the teacher lectured them in the hallway. i told her to let them in but that they have to stand for 10 minutes. she said "yes, ok ok" and smiled but did nothing. i had to repeat it two more times for her to understand. wtf??? i have high level students who listen and speak better than her.

[Summer Wine]

Skippy, I understand what you are saying, but considering that I have tried to not put anything on her shoulders but sort most stuff out myself, I figure she can put in the basics of what has been required of her.

I understand that she may not like it, but some how she is on the bottom rung of the totem pole and she has been stuck with me. I don't like it and neither does she, but thats the way it is.

By the way, I will give you another example of how useless she is. About a week into March, I went to speak to her about preparing for my leaving at the end of the month. She notified me that until the day before, she believed that I was leaving at the end of Feb. and then read the contract to find out it was the end of March. (why she thought I would still be at school if my contract ended, I don't know).

Rather than accepting that she made a mistake in her belief, she wanted me to find her another contract that said differently to what the one she read. She wanted me to find her a contract that stated I left at the end of Feb. as she believed.

I told her that no matter what contract she could find, if it was one that I signed, it would still say the end of March. It was only then that she started working on a class schedule for me, though I am now up to my 4th as she never managed to discuss it with any other teacher and so had to keep on making changes.

In regards to a bad co-teacher, it is sometimes easier to not even have one. Considering they are treated as they are our Lord and Master and we cant do anything without thier permission or that no one else will help you as its your co-teachers job, they are sometimes more trouble than they are worth.

[cj1976]

I have one useless co-teacher. He is an older teacher and he belongs to a past era of education. He has not updated his knowledge or skills in a long time and now that he can't use corporal punishment, he is at a loss as to how he can keep the kids in line.
Honestly, teachers like this need to be re-trained or offered early retirement, because his usefulness as a teacher seems to be done.

[winterfall]

[Ramen]

all koreans, co-teacher, school staff, neighbors, etc. are very very friendly and helpful. they're always so helpful that they are like my personal assistants.

me: where can i buy kimchi or ( )?
korean: here! have some of ours and let me know if you run out.

me: my laptop computer froze-up.
korean: let me call my friend who can take a look at your laptop.

life is so easy here when they're dying to do things for you.

[thegadfly]

...so it is your Korean co-teacher's job to assist you outside of school? Wow! I thought the job was to...ya know...teach classes. How much extra do they get paid to deal with your crap for you? How much is the "babysit a foreigner" stipend?

If your co-teacher ain't getting paid to help you do things outside of class, then everything they do is a gift, and ought not to be looked in the mouth.

Maybe your co-teacher is dragging feet to teach you to do things your own darn self....

Just a thought, ya know....

[Summer Wine]

Thanks for your thoughts Gadfly, I will be sure to file them.

[NohopeSeriously]

Oh, my useless former co-teacher. She was also the third grade teacher who treat her students like her personal dolls. She was a self-absorbing individual. She refused to talk to me so often when I needed help. She hanged out with another badmouthed female teacher. And when I needed help, she was planning for her Christmas wedding with her class kids (2nd edit: why am I using Konglish/ Students!). The financial executives of the school hated her. The vice principal liked her because she has a good looking plastic surgery face to appear good for the parents.

Why am I writing about this aweful co-teacher? She moved to another school this month.

[cj1976]