Korean Job Discussion Forums

[BigBlackEquus]

I have been watching/grading student presentations today (and will on Friday as well). It has been... um... very unenjoyable -- mainly because I have had to give some pretty poor grades.

I thought I would have a lot of fun doing this, but in truth it has been somewhat depressing.

Perhaps I expect too much, but I saw too many students burying their face in their scripts, reading word-for-word. It's almost painful to watch. Of course I had to dock them points for this behavior.

Why does this make me sad? I can put on a hard face, give them the score they deserve, but at the end of the day I still feel sad.

Maybe I'm focusing on the negative too much.

[Ya-ta Boy]

[BigBlackEquus]

I can respect what you're saying about giving a presentation in another language to a point. The thing that I can't stand is when the script they are reading is stolen almost word-for-word off of the internet. I buried one group because it was obvious that they had merely divided a recipie for making cookies between the 4 group members, and blammo -- instant presentation. Oh, and they did type it into a powerpoint, which they read verbatim without once looking at the audience.

That's not even trying.

As for "knowing" what score a student will get after a few days... kind of makes it difficult to judge improvement. Approching past classes with that kind of attitude would have stolen much of the joy I have received from teaching (seeing students improve and grow).

If you expect mediocrity, you will receive it.

[crazylemongirl]

actually a little of both... sometimes I'm amazed by a student who says very little in class, who will then dazzle me with their english. OTOH I also have classes where I'm so depressed that nothing I've said has stuck.

[HapKi]

I'm having the same problems in my ����ġ class, which I've renamed Speech and Presentation Skills. I grade on 10 criteria, including natural speaking (no reading), eye contact, body language, interesting, time length, speak loudly, speak slowly, structure, and some others. Each is given a 1-5 point, 50 is best.
Ideally I'd like them to have notes on little cards to refer to, but they either memorize or read off the cards. Reading is only 5 points out of 50, so what the heck.
I've set up some pretty good expections, and they do a pretty good. Just a few of them keep their head buried in their script, reading the whole thing. They know the snoozefest they are projecting, and don't seem to care.

[coolsage]

Yes, the dreaded midterms. We have to it three times: devise them, assemble them, grade them. They have to do it only once; which is to say, show up on time to write them. I'm certain that nobody in the racket we're in likes the idea of giving exams, but this is our current reality. Of course some form of evaluation is necessary in order to measure progress. It ought to be as painless as possible, as fair as possible, and as teacher-friendly as possible (which is to say, don't keep yourself up all night marking tests). Freshman English conversation classes: a waste of time, space and energy for 90% of those involved. The boys (and they are boys at this juncture) are off to military service anytime soon, so they have nothing to gain, or lose. The girls, when not texting on their cellphones, are involved with checking their faces in their personal mirror. Not that is exclusive to Korean princesses, but during class? By this time the guys are face-down on their desks from a heavy night on the makkoli.Even a failing grade is no deterrent; they'll just repeat their mandatory English credit in their senior year, when they can play the 'senior card' : if you don't pass me, I'll never get a job, yadda, yadda. Ultimately, it's their future at stake more than ours, and while we can and will walk away from here at some point, most of these people will have to live here forever. I do the best possible work that I can do here, given the circumstances; that is the mandate. But I also give thanks to the gods, every other day, that I wasn't born in this country.

[Unreal]

I just finished grading presentations last week and my students did well for the most part but the most depressing part was the kids coming to me later begging to have higher scores. Of course the low mark I gave some means that they will hereafter lead unsuccessful lives , so I considered changing some marks. But after listening to a horde of grade-grubbing students, I realized the can of worms I'd be opening and decided that I will not change any marks. In truth the difference between the best student and the worst student is about 1% of their final English grade so it's not really worth the stress to go back and change anything.

[spliff]

[jajdude]

We want an 80% average at my school. Some students are badly mismatched. We have the big test coming next week. Some will bomb it. That 80% will not happen in a few classes. I don't know. Some kids were out of their league from day 1.

[indytrucks]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I don't have to do anything at my job besides provide some test material based on what I've taught (and with so many class cancellations this can be tricky), but in my former life as a career student I worked as a TA for four years doing heaps of marking. The only thing I couldn't stand was giving a poor grade to a student I really liked or who was really, really trying hard. I'd always write 'please come see me and I can help you improve' or whatever at the end.

I had one Korean student in Canada I think I made drop a course. I think she was taking it as part of a necessary quota of Arts and Sciences classes and thinking back to it now, knowing what I do about the educational system here, I feel so badly about how I butchered her first paper - I really should have tried to arrange an unofficial re-write. I even photocopied her paper to pass around to the other TAs for a laugh. It was perhaps the first such paper she had ever tried to write in her life.

[mindmetoo]

Knowing giving an otherwise well behaved student a poor grade based on performance is going to result in a beating for that child. Well, that kinda bothers me.

[antoniothegreat]

this stuff always bothers me too. at my middle school, i can tell someone to stand and tell them to say a word. any word. and i get a blank stare. the coteacher translates it into korean and i get a blank stare. because i didnt write five words for them to choose from. they lack creative abillity.

remember in this culture, tests are done by multiple choice, and grades are determined by comparing to everyone else, not mastery of the material. they do work to be right, not to learn.

so we are bringing western learning styles and expectations into another world and wondering why they fail at these styles.

one thing i have learned to teaching well is you must more very slowly. baby steps...
if you make them do a presentation, you can't just tell them "next week present"

slowly get them to the level to make a project, and tell them what you want. teach the material, make sure they understand it. then let them make something, and make sure it is right. go over each students part, so they dont have to worry about accuracy when they are speaking. then tell them they must do it in front of the class, and tell them you are grading on clarity. so if they mumble and bury their face in their paper, they get a bad grade. sure it will be hard for them, but do it, do it and do it more. make them talk... and you could make them memorize it. if it is too long to memorize then probabley it is too difficult to be doing anyways.

that is what works for my middle school...

[Paji eh Wong]