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sadguy
Joined: 13 Feb 2011
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 Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 12:36 am Post subject: meeting with co-teachers, need to vent |
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ok, so yesterday i was told by a co teacher (jen) that i have a meeting with my co teachers to talk about my scheduling and teaching methods. 2 new co teachers apparently wanted to talk to me. i asked jen if they were about complaints. she said "yeah, something like that." so i felt a little stressed out today.
so i go to the meeting. the 3 old co teachers showed up, the new one was sick and didn't show up, the other came 30 minutes late.
the one that showed up late said her last foreign teacher didn't teach from the book and that he played a lot of games. the old co teacher told her that i can't do off topic lessons, that i have to teach from the book and that i played games last year. jen suggested that i do more speaking activities and less listening activies. the meeting ended. i thought it was harmless.
a bit of background information on jen. she's open with me, talks about personal things about her family, her marriage problems, etc. she's not an official teacher since she doesn't have her teaching license, but works as a teacher. she told me about the new co teacher's reputation being bad because she's part of the union and fights for teachers rights and other schools don't want her. but i worked with that new co-teacher and she seems jolly, outgoing and good with the kids. so sometimes i think jen can over exaggerate at times.
anyway, i said to jen "jeeze, u got me so nervous yesterday, i thought you said they were going to complain"
and she responded "well that's what i heard but they were being polite. i thought they were going to be more straight forward with you."
and i said "well, can you tell me what's going on then?"
and she said "i heard bad rumors about you. another teacher from another school heard you were a bad teacher and she asked if it was true. you might have problems with getting re-signed."
so i asked for more information, and she said "i can't tell you, if the other teachers won't tell you, then i can't." i pushed her to tell me more information.
she said "even if you try to leave this school, other schools won't take you because you have a bad reputation." she said she doesn't know the teacher that started this rumor, but that she just heard it.
after hearing that, i feel pretty infuriated. i teach from the book, try to teach it the best that i can. sometimes it can be boring and tedious, but i try to play games.
i have a good rapport with the students. we joke in class, they talk to me after class, in the hallways, and we have a good time in our after school classes. they give me candy, drawings, etc.
i don't know what to make of this, but it's leaving me feeling angry, confused and paranoid.
what do you guys think? i want to re-sign, but this is making me feel like crap.
Last edited by sadguy on Tue Mar 29, 2011 3:15 am; edited 1 time in total |
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tanklor1
Joined: 13 Jun 2006
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| Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 12:59 am Post subject: |
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| Why are you so attached to this school? If they did that to me I'd finish my contract and find a school who would actually appreciate me. Schools are very replaceable here. |
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TellyRules986
Joined: 09 Nov 2009
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 1:17 am Post subject: |
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I would take that with a grain of salt. If you have such a horrible reputation for being an awful teacher, then you would have been fired by now -- for actually being a bad teacher. And even then, teachers who have been fired have been able to find new jobs. If they don't let you resign then just find another position.
It just sounds like a bunch of catty gossipy Korean girls to me. |
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sadguy
Joined: 13 Feb 2011
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| Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 1:17 am Post subject: |
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for a few reasons. i like the students, the classes aren't that big so it's easy to manage. my first school, i had about 40 students and it was a headache.
i like my vacation time (i work for public school.)
i like my area.
AND, i'm an asian american. it's not that easy getting hired when you have an asian face.
i remember when i left my first school in seoul, i was looking for a hakwon job, and the only offers i got were in daegu and busan. |
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bobbybigfoot
Joined: 05 May 2007
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 3:26 am Post subject: |
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| sadguy wrote: |
f
AND, i'm an asian american. it's not that easy getting hired when you have an asian face. |
It could be a case of envious coworkers trying to put a knife in your back. You make them look bad because you speak English well. |
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Fishead soup
Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 3:28 pm Post subject: |
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| sadguy wrote: |
for a few reasons. i like the students, the classes aren't that big so it's easy to manage. my first school, i had about 40 students and it was a headache.
i like my vacation time (i work for public school.)
i like my area.
AND, i'm an asian american. it's not that easy getting hired when you have an asian face.
i remember when i left my first school in seoul, i was looking for a hakwon job, and the only offers i got were in daegu and busan. |
This pretty much sums it up. If you teach those large multi-level classes it's very hard to be a good teacher. Last semester I swiched from the large multi-level classes to smaller same level classes. It's like night and day. Explain this to the person saying you have a bad reputation. |
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sadguy
Joined: 13 Feb 2011
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| Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 3:34 pm Post subject: |
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| Fishead soup wrote: |
| sadguy wrote: |
for a few reasons. i like the students, the classes aren't that big so it's easy to manage. my first school, i had about 40 students and it was a headache.
i like my vacation time (i work for public school.)
i like my area.
AND, i'm an asian american. it's not that easy getting hired when you have an asian face.
i remember when i left my first school in seoul, i was looking for a hakwon job, and the only offers i got were in daegu and busan. |
This pretty much sums it up. If you teach those large multi-level classes it's very hard to be a good teacher. Last semester I swiched from the large multi-level classes to smaller same level classes. It's like night and day. Explain this to the person saying you have a bad reputation. |
sorry if i was unclear. at my first school 4 years ago, it was multilevel large classes. and that school loved me.
this second school, it's split levels and smaller classes, but now there is this bad rumor about me. |
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silkhighway
Joined: 24 Oct 2010
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 3:49 pm Post subject: |
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You know what, screw them. IF you feel the criticism was constructive ,then take some of it, but if not, don't worry about it and chalk them up to being chatty **disturbers.
People give their co-teachers way too much credit. They're *just* teachers. They're not your bosses, and they're definitely not the ministers of immigration and education rolled into one. |
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Summer Wine
Joined: 20 Mar 2005
Location: Next to a River
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| Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 3:59 pm Post subject: |
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| silkhighway wrote: |
You know what, screw them. IF you feel the criticism was constructive ,then take some of it, but if not, don't worry about it and chalk them up to being chatty **disturbers.
People give their co-teachers way too much credit. They're *just* teachers. They're not your bosses, and they're definitely not the ministers of immigration and education rolled into one. |
You are right, but they can ruin your life just the same. Thier opinions are considered worth more than yours nine out of ten times. |
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silkhighway
Joined: 24 Oct 2010
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 4:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Summer Wine wrote: |
| silkhighway wrote: |
You know what, screw them. IF you feel the criticism was constructive ,then take some of it, but if not, don't worry about it and chalk them up to being chatty **disturbers.
People give their co-teachers way too much credit. They're *just* teachers. They're not your bosses, and they're definitely not the ministers of immigration and education rolled into one. |
You are right, but they can ruin your life just the same. Thier opinions are considered worth more than yours nine out of ten times. |
I don't believe that. They have way less power than people give them credit for. If you get a bad rep from a school it's not just because of 1 or even 2 or 3 co-teachers. It's because of your co-teachers, and your students parents who are on the PTA, and ultimately your VP and P. Any VP/P, especially since they can't deal with you directly should be taking any criticism from any of your *NEW* co-teachers with a huge grain of salt if they've been getting good feedback before that. |
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Fishead soup
Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 4:45 pm Post subject: |
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| silkhighway wrote: |
| Summer Wine wrote: |
| silkhighway wrote: |
You know what, screw them. IF you feel the criticism was constructive ,then take some of it, but if not, don't worry about it and chalk them up to being chatty **disturbers.
People give their co-teachers way too much credit. They're *just* teachers. They're not your bosses, and they're definitely not the ministers of immigration and education rolled into one. |
You are right, but they can ruin your life just the same. Thier opinions are considered worth more than yours nine out of ten times. |
I don't believe that. They have way less power than people give them credit for. If you get a bad rep from a school it's not just because of 1 or even 2 or 3 co-teachers. It's because of your co-teachers, and your students parents who are on the PTA, and ultimately your VP and P. Any VP/P, especially since they can't deal with you directly should be taking any criticism from any of your *NEW* co-teachers with a huge grain of salt if they've been getting good feedback before that. |
Your reputation is based on the sum total of all of the above. However you can vastly improve your odds of success by having a drinking friend out of one of the above. They can nullify the complaints and add praise. As long as you don't come across as a free loader and are willing to fight the bill if neccesary. |
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sadguy
Joined: 13 Feb 2011
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| Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 6:14 pm Post subject: |
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| silkhighway wrote: |
You know what, screw them. IF you feel the criticism was constructive ,then take some of it, but if not, don't worry about it and chalk them up to being chatty **disturbers.
People give their co-teachers way too much credit. They're *just* teachers. They're not your bosses, and they're definitely not the ministers of immigration and education rolled into one. |
life would be easier if i could just think "screw them." but, i have to work with them, eat out with them, play the work politics game with them.
even though they are just teachers, they are the ones who put in a good word for you to get re-signed. the vp apparently has no idea what goes on in the english department, all the teachers want to work it out on their own and they just give him the impression that everything is fine and dandy.
but now, if one of my co teachers tells him that i should be re-signed, that could heavily influence him.
i take pride in being a teacher and i do care for my students, so it's a real big blow to my self esteem when i hear there is a rumor from other teachers who have never even met me are asking if i'm really a horrible teacher or not. |
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cyui
Joined: 10 Jan 2011
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| Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 6:20 pm Post subject: |
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Is Korea your country? No?..then it certaintly shouldn't be your life by any means..Do what you need to do while your there and then just go home to your own country.
Last edited by cyui on Tue Mar 29, 2011 6:22 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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sadguy
Joined: 13 Feb 2011
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| Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 6:22 pm Post subject: |
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| cyui wrote: |
Is Korea your country? No?..then it certaintly shouldn't be your life by any means..
Go Home..  |
go away with your useless posts, cert43. i have a serious girlfriend here that could be my potential wife. so i do have something invested in being in korea.
anyways, should i talk to the head co-teacher and confront the issue? |
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cyui
Joined: 10 Jan 2011
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| Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 6:24 pm Post subject: |
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No I told you what to do, as you're not Korean. Sorry, that's the truth and I am sure your co-teacher feels' the same way.Why would you continue to put up with thier animosity,anyways? They wouldn't have said those things' if they didn't have other internal motivators' going on.
Screw them and if your gf really loves you she'll understand. |
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