Korean Job Discussion Forums

[KevinPark]

Hello,

I'm in the first year of ESL teacher in a public middle school.
One of the things I feel troubled is the attitude of my co-teacher against me...
She does nothing but sit backside of the class and watch my teaching. Sometimes she just leave the class in the middle...
But she always tried to find fault with my teaching.
When I asked her to give me some guidelines of classroom behavior,
her reaction was like.."there's no such things, but you just be careful!"
I feel more stressful for the relationship with my co-teacher, than the lesson itself.
One day, the vice-principal called me on, and said like "do you have a problem with your students?" Gosh!! Absolutely not, I have a problem with the co-teacher, not the students!!!
What's your reaction under this situation??

[allan of asia]

Are you sure you are not a Korean teacher as from that post, it reads totally like a non native speakers message - sorry if you wrote it in a rush or something, and im not trolling, but recruiters and K-teachers often post on here under guises looking for info or "opinions" to further their own arguments...

[sbp59]

[Otherside]

Maybe your co-teacher is angry, because she was expecting a native speaker and got you instead....

[thegadfly]

[tiger fancini]

[DaeguNL]

This is actually pretty good English for a non-native speaker. Gosh! I almost fell for it!

[amnsg2]

If you're a Korean teacher having problems with the native speaking teacher at you're school, why don't you just post the actual problem? It would be massively beneficial to a lot of public school teachers if you could share your experiences.

But nice English. I particularly enjoyed the use of the word "gosh".

[ThingsComeAround]

[eventually]

"gosh!!" this is adorable.

[allan of asia]

[isitts]

I'm not sure I understand the options in this poll relative to the subject heading. I would have thought something like:

1. My KT
2. Me (the NT)
3. We share the load.

...and maybe...

4. It's a constant butting of heads.
5. Neither of us are in control. The class is in perpetual chaos.
6. The question is irrelevant because I'm not seeking control.

To answer the OP, if I were a first timer in the scenario you gave, it would be frustrating (or rather, was frustrating). But now, it wouldn't affect me all that much.

[greatunknown]

IMO anyone who try's to get away with being lazy, a liar, or being two faced and manipulative, is an embarrassment to their country.

Give that some thought OP

[akcrono]

What's with all the hate?

I don't see why we shouldn't take the OP at face value, especially since he didn't say he was the native or Korean co-teacher. Either way, this seems like a good place to get some input on a rough situation.

It sounds like your co-teacher is not taking enough responsibility. You should try to get the class structured so that you both know what and when you're supposed to do. Give her responsibility so she can either flourish (or at least improve with practice) or crash and burn (leaving earlier, thus freeing up a spot for a new teacher). If you have complaints, they should be voiced, but they need to be specific and worded carefully, e.g. "You don't do anything except sit in the back of the classroom" would sound better as "Can you cover these sections with/for me? I feel overwhelmed and would like to see how you do it."

I would be interested in hearing from your co-teacher. She might have understandable reasons for her behavior.