Korean Job Discussion Forums

[tomato]

Jack the Cat's Korean co-teacher once asked him, "Why you give them candy? If you want them to work harder, just beat them."

Those are two ways of doing it.
From my experience, I can suggest a few more:

rewards

pay individual recognition

If only a few students are participating, I say, "Thank you, Anna. Thank you, Betty." If some of the students misbehave while one student is reading from the book, I say, "I like the way Jack, Steve, Bill, Stephanie, and Lucy listened quietly." In other words, I call all of the names except those of the students who misbehaved.

offer recognition on the bulletin board

I strongly believe that language learning comes through practice. Since this seems to be a radical belief here in Korea, I express this belief whenever possible.

Whenever a student speaks English to another student in my class, I take that student's picture. When I get the pictures back from the studio, I post that picture on the bulletin board, along with a notation of the time of the class, the day of the class, and what that student said. This message board may be censored, but my bulletin board isn't.

allow the students to play a card game

The students like bingo games, but they like go fish and old maid games better.
These games can be applied to words with pictures, rhymes, synonyms, homonyms, or any other concept which you wish to put across.

I allow the students to divide into small groups for card games only if I can trust all of the class members not to hangukmall.

read a favorite picture book

Out of the picture books in my collection, these are the books most often requested by the students:

--Hug by Jez Alborough

http://www.amazon.com/gp/associates/link-types/marketplace.html?t=eslideas-20&asin=0763615765

This is an easy book because the only words are "hug," "Bobo," and "Mommy."

--What Do You See? by Rozanne Lanczak Williams

http://www.amazon.com/gp/associates/link-types/marketplace.html?t=eslideas-20&asin=0916119599

If you feign fear while reading this book, it amuses the students.

--Mr. Noisy's Book of Patterns by Rozanne Lanczak Williams

http://www.amazon.com/gp/associates/link-types/marketplace.html?t=eslideas-20&asin=0916119963

The vocal imitations in this book are amusing to children.

--Baby Faces by Margaret Miller

On the right-hand pages are baby portraits. On the left-hand pages are the words "yucky!" "yum-yum!" "stinky!" "uh-oh!" "boo hoo!" "yippee!"

This book offers a brief respite from complicated grammar study.

--Pikachu's Day by Junko Wada

http://www.amazon.com/gp/associates/link-types/marketplace.html?t=eslideas-20&asin=1569313865

The English translation contains some kyoostsy items which I edit out.
Each sentence starts with "Pikachu."
I choose a student by chanting "Eeny meeny miney mo," and then substitute the student's name for Pikachu's name.

punishments

move closer to the offending student

The offending student usually feels uncomfortable as a result.

repeat a page in the book until the misbehavior stops

"Let's read that page again and see if Chris will read the page with us." This turns the students from Chris's amused spectators to your allies.

isolate a misbehaving student

There are two ways I do this. One is to move that student to a desk facing the wall.

Another way is to put the misbehaving student on the back row and all the other students on the other rows. If a student looks back, I say, "There is nobody back there who can help you learn English."

This means that the other students cannot see that student's clever shenanigans. I try not to look at that student, either.

put a misbehaving student on the spot

When the student makes a funny face or a funny gesture, clasp your hands together, tilt your head, smile sweetly, and say "Oh, you're so cute!" Then bring that student in front of the class and ask for a repeat performance.

exclude misbehaving students from bingo games

This means that the misbehaving students have to sit and watch the other students have fun.

subject misbehaving students to boring drill practice

I have 10 copies of Side by Side I, since that is the most boring textbook I can find. I dismiss the other students early and spend the last five minutes on a page chosen at random from this book.

In addition to this list, we have one reward suggested by Jack the Cat and one punishment suggested by Jack the Cat's Korean co-teacher.

Does anyone have any other suggestions?

[Zenpickle]

I took a college class on parenting, and one thing that stuck with me is that discipline comes from the word "disciple."

Anyway, I think I got this idea from Dave's a while back when we were working on discipline solutions. This has worked well for me with my kindies and some of my elementary classes.

At the beginning of class, I write every student's name on the board, each followed by three stars. If they lose all three stars they get either
- time in the thinking chair
- spend the rest of class in the lobby with a call to their mother
- sometimes we whip out the handphone in class and threaten to call their mothers

If the children keep all three stars or earn more, we give them stickers, which are used as currency on activity days.

3 stars = 1 sticker
5 stars = 2 stickers
7 stars = 3 stickers

-----

I have also found that old things my teachers did in elementary I am successfully applying now. To get the kids quiet, I put one hand over my mouth and raise the other hand in the air. All the kids copy me one-by-one until everyone gets the idea that it's time to be quiet. Saves me from having to shout over class to tell them to be quiet.

-----

I have also instituted regular applause in classes. If a struggling or problem child gets out of character and actually acts like a good kid giving a correct answer, we all clap.

[Saxiif]

You're missing the most important part: enforced gender integration.

Nothing strikes fear into the hearts of misbehaving students like being forced to sit between two members for the opposite sex.

[JacktheCat]

My Korean co-teacher is alright, if she does have some funny ideas about the educational value of corporal punishment. Unlike most Korean teachers she actually likes what she does and is not just killing time till she finds a better job or someone to marry.

Myself, I've worked out a semi-complex system of punishment and reward involving stickers, candy, and standing in the corner holding various things over their heads, that has so far worked quite well. Korean kids are a little more energetic and disrespectful than kids of other nationalities I've taught. They seem to need a lot more discipline and guidance. But once you've got them under control they're great and a lot of fun to teach.

[JacktheCat]

[butter808fly]

Tomato, I thought those were great suggestions!

In the book 'positive discipline' it says to focus on the positive. Ive already done that from day one and the kids really suck up those positive words! Just like us, everyone loves to hear praise. Sometimes I think it prevents bad things from happening in the first place.

In my school they have a child stand instead of sit during the classes when they misbehave. In America this might not fly, but 'spare the rod, spoil the child' I think is a lost art in America as well (not saying hitting necessarily, but some kind of physical punishment like standing)

This board has helped me so much so far, thanx!

[Eazy_E]

I think the most effective way I've found of keeping kids in line is changing the seating arrangements BEFORE class begins. Bring in the arrangement you want (boy/girl alternating works best). Print it on your school's letterhead or make it look highfalutin' in some way.

It separates children who tend to misbehave when put together. It also tells them right off the bat that you are the boss and they are there to learn!

Attempting to change seating in the middle of the class can often be counterproductive. The kid may refuse outright, leaving you with a nasty standoff situation, or may do so in a surly way that makes him or her a hero to the rest of the class.

[Zenpickle]