Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ewlandon]

I'm seeking advice because I have a class that is driving me crazy and taking everything out of me twice a week. Let me start by saying that I'm not completely new to teaching elementary school. I have been doing it for 3 months in Korea and a year in Spain. My classes are going very well here and im really happy with my hogwon but I have one class (specifically 3/7 students in this class) that are making my life very hard. They constantly try to mess with me by making noises (fart sounds, squeeks etc) or staring at me with a strange face or making weird voices when they talk to me. It makes teaching this one class almost impossible and I feel bad for the other students who are actually trying to listen to me and cant because I cannot focus and they cannot hear. If I move them it doesnt do anything. If i get angry it just fuels their messing with me and they laugh more. Today at the last 7 minutes of class I was exhausted and we had finished the material so I told them to relax for the last 5 minutes of class and sit in their seats and just be quiet and talk or relax but of course they didnt listen and they all put on their bags and run around the room waiting for the bell to ring. I was already exhausted so I just let them do as they wish since they werent really being loud or anything.

Anyway this ended up getting me chewed out for letting the students get their stuff together and walk around the room before class was out. Because the parents will see on CCTV. Im frustrated and not sure what to do. Any advice will be appreciated.

[cheolsu]

Obviously, there need to be consequences for this sort of behaviour. I don't teach at a hagwon anymore, and I never really had problems with student behaviour when I did. Still, a simple method I sometimes use in my public school after-school classes (essentially a hagwon) is to extend class by one minute for all students if even student is misbehaving in the slightest. This could be something like looking out the window, talking, or not sitting properly. I've never had a class go more than 3 minutes past the bell, compared to 7-8 minutes for regular school classes.

Ask yourself: why would they stop? No one's giving them a reason to stop.

[bobbybigfoot]

When you discover a rotting apple in a bushel, what should you do?

[theevilgenius]

Do you have time off after the class? If you do I suggest sending them out of the class that they are disrupting, then when the class is over bring them back in, let the other kids go home and make them do writing exercises until their hands hurt. They'll probably whine about missing their next hagwon but hey, they should have thought about that before disrupting your class.