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jajdude
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
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 Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 9:05 am Post subject: If you dislike nearly half your classes... |
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| Almost half of my classes now are getting on my nerves. The others are OK. But the painful ones make me just not want to show up. Maybe I will give notice and try to do better. It just seems like the kids in the crappier classes just don't give a crap and don't want to be there. I'm not relating to them well, the material is not good, etc.. |
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teachingld2004
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
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| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 2:40 pm Post subject: classes |
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The grass is not always greener on the other side u know.
How is the area? Do u get paid on time? How is the apartment? Do u get paid on time? Do u work with ok people? Do u get paid on time..... |
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the_beaver
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 2:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Been there. I didn't quit but I did actively look for other stuff to do afterwards. |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 4:22 pm Post subject: Re: If you dislike nearly half your classes... |
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| jajdude wrote: |
| Almost half of my classes now are getting on my nerves. The others are OK. But the painful ones make me just not want to show up. Maybe I will give notice and try to do better. It just seems like the kids in the crappier classes just don't give a crap and don't want to be there. I'm not relating to them well, the material is not good, etc.. |
I keep a list. If one day someone comes to me and asks for a list of kids I'd want to die in a Korea department store collapse or a Korean bridge falling down or a crashing Korean airliner, I got a list ready. |
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Kimchieluver
Joined: 02 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 5:12 pm Post subject: |
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My first year in Korea was like that. First, Kindy really seemed to stretch out. Then I had an okay class. After that the next three were nightmares. The plus side was is that I was only working 4 - 4.5 hours a day.
Do you have a co-teacher? If so, have him/her come in and settle things down.
Have you tried any disciplinary tactics? You can always remove a child from class and have him/her kneel on his knees with his hands in the air for ten minutes.
Also keep in mind that they are F students simply because they are F students. Try to teach them but don't let them stress you out. My rule of thumb was to reach out to them 1 - 3 times a class, after that simply write them off for the rest of the class.
Absolute silence in the classroom is not a requirement like Western cultures. So don't let the bad actors ruin your day simply becasue they won't shut up. Just discipline them if they are distracting the good students in the class. |
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inthewild
Joined: 28 Mar 2004
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 5:39 pm Post subject: |
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jajdude, are you still lesson planning? I bet it's hard to keep motivated.
Do you think you might lose your job? If you aren't enjoying your classes that much I wonder if the kids are. 
Good luck! |
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Badmojo
Joined: 07 Mar 2004
Location: I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round
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| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 6:27 pm Post subject: |
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How old are they?
How many are in a class?
What's their book?
What's their level? |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 6:39 pm Post subject: Re: If you dislike nearly half your classes... |
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| mindmetoo wrote: |
| I keep a list. If one day someone comes to me and asks for a list of kids I'd want to die in a Korea department store collapse or a Korean bridge falling down or a crashing Korean airliner, I got a list ready. |
I hope you're joking. Such resentment must be felt by your students.
That said, now that you mention it, there is this one kid... |
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Corporal
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 7:10 pm Post subject: Re: If you dislike nearly half your classes... |
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| VanIslander wrote: |
| mindmetoo wrote: |
| I keep a list. If one day someone comes to me and asks for a list of kids I'd want to die in a Korea department store collapse or a Korean bridge falling down or a crashing Korean airliner, I got a list ready. |
I hope you're joking. Such resentment must be felt by your students.
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He does seem to be a bitter sort. Perhaps it's all the rejection he experiences. |
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Hollywoodaction
Joined: 02 Jul 2004
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| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 9:05 pm Post subject: Re: If you dislike nearly half your classes... |
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| jajdude wrote: |
| Almost half of my classes now are getting on my nerves. The others are OK. But the painful ones make me just not want to show up. Maybe I will give notice and try to do better. It just seems like the kids in the crappier classes just don't give a crap and don't want to be there. I'm not relating to them well, the material is not good, etc.. |
Welcome to the wonderful world of teaching. How old are your students? You might want to use activities where you use the students' competitiveness. Give a little prize for the winning team: candy, a few 100 won erasers, or a sticker to put on the cover of their notebook (like a badge of honour). Having the chance of winning face can be a strong motivatior.
Last edited by Hollywoodaction on Sun Mar 20, 2005 9:12 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Blind Willie
Joined: 05 May 2004
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| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 9:06 pm Post subject: |
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| Good ol' burnout. Take a vacation ASAP. |
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Yu_Bum_suk
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 9:37 pm Post subject: Re: If you dislike nearly half your classes... |
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| VanIslander wrote: |
| mindmetoo wrote: |
| I keep a list. If one day someone comes to me and asks for a list of kids I'd want to die in a Korea department store collapse or a Korean bridge falling down or a crashing Korean airliner, I got a list ready. |
I hope you're joking. Such resentment must be felt by your students.
That said, now that you mention it, there is this one kid... |
I can think of a few I wish had been born in NK. Fortunately there are more whom I'd teach for free if they were all like that.
As someone else said, if your place is OK and the pay is reliable, just go into auto-pilot mode and stick with it. |
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manlyboy
Joined: 01 Aug 2004
Location: Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
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| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 9:40 pm Post subject: Re: If you dislike nearly half your classes... |
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| jajdude wrote: |
| Almost half of my classes now are getting on my nerves. The others are OK. But the painful ones make me just not want to show up. Maybe I will give notice and try to do better. It just seems like the kids in the crappier classes just don't give a crap and don't want to be there. I'm not relating to them well, the material is not good, etc.. |
I have a theory that you should always be trying out new things in the classroom. Even if the tried and true stuff is working well, the monotony is going to grind you down, and eventually you won't have the juice to present it as enthusiastically as you should. Whenever I teach the same lesson, I always introduce something new, even if it's just tweaking something a little differently. Seeing whether or not it's going to succeed never fails to peak my interest. I've found it to be a really fruitful method for keeping myself interested when dealing with difficult classes. I've also stumbled on to some of my choicest stuff this way. Activities and techniques that I might never have had the balls to try out otherwise, have sometimes turned out to be really successful - just because of trying out new stuff for it's own sake.
Also, don't think of it as "I'm doing all this for them, and they don't appreciate it". Kids, and frankly, a lot of adult students as well, don't have any idea how much we have to bust our a*ses to do our job well. Feeling unappreciated is par for the course in the teaching game. I often liken our job to that of a cordon bleu chef who slaves away creating a culinary masterpiece, only to have some slob come in and shovel it down like baked beans and not give a thought to the time and artistic effort that went in to creating the meal. Think of it as "I'm doing this for myself". The satisfaction comes from being good at what you do, not from winning the adulation of your students. |
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schwa
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Yap
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| Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 12:58 am Post subject: |
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If you walk into class expecting things to be bad, you wont be disappointed. Youre saying, Here we go again, the kids are saying, Here we go again.
Kids can change suddenly, a lot -- theyre simple that way. Forget yesterday's class -- the kids already have. Try entering class like its a clean slate, with energy & a smile. Try new things. |
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JacktheCat
Joined: 08 May 2004
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| Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 1:19 am Post subject: Re: If you dislike nearly half your classes... |
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| manlyboy wrote: |
I have a theory that you should always be trying out new things in the classroom. Even if the tried and true stuff is working well, the monotony is going to grind you down, and eventually you won't have the juice to present it as enthusiastically as you should. Whenever I teach the same lesson, I always introduce something new, even if it's just tweaking something a little differently. Seeing whether or not it's going to succeed never fails to peak my interest. I've found it to be a really fruitful method for keeping myself interested when dealing with difficult classes. I've also stumbled on to some of my choicest stuff this way. Activities and techniques that I might never have had the balls to try out otherwise, have sometimes turned out to be really successful - just because of trying out new stuff for it's own sake.
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I've done that in the past aswell and highly recommend it.
I've thought "well the hellspawn in this class think whatever I do sucks anyway, so let me try this crazy off the wall idea."
Use the difficult classes to experiment and try out different teaching methods.
And if you can get away with it, carry a big stick into your class. |
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