Korean Job Discussion Forums

[huffdaddy]

Another thread got me thinking about board markers, and I didn't want to hijack that thread. So...

1. How much do you use your board markers?

2. How long do your board markers last?

3. How do you keep the board markers away from the kids?

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1. As for myself, I usually write quite a bit on the board. At least with the older kids who can read. I'm more of a visual learner and like to see words written out when learning them, but I don't know if that's the best way to teach.

2. I would guess that my board markers go bad after 20-30 hours of class use. Or basically one board marker a week. This seems rather fast. Am I misusing the board markers?

3. I've tried putting markers on top of the white board, which leads the kids to either shaking the white board to get them off, or climbing on chairs to grab them. Given my luck, sooner or later a white board will come off the wall and crack their head open or they'll fall off a chair and crack their head open.

Acnecdotes? Advice? Comments? Please share.

[ChopChaeJoe]

Pretty much, I write all the important points on the whiteboard. Verb conjugations, vocabulary, grammar structures, sentence examples, what have you.

Some people learn by hearing, some by seeing, some by doing. I try to give the students all three.

I really don't mind if the kids use the markers, except when I'm trying to conserve them. Exept for the green markers. I buy those, so only i use them.

[Hotpants]

Yeah, those markers don't last long. Best to get a type which have refills so you don't need to dispose of so much plastic.

Nothing wrong with writing things down. I'm a writer, too. Kids need to develop all English skills simultaneously, not just speaking.

Perhaps you can put your good pens in your pocket/bag or locked desk draw and give your kids the old markers to use. I agree that they should be encouraged to write anything in English that they want when your class is finished, although I typically see scrawls being left in Romanized Korean!!! Sigh.

I only get to work with a chalk board, alas.

[huffdaddy]

[Lizara]

They last about a week for me too. I write on the board all the time.

My kids never try to steal my markers.

[Qinella]

[antoniothegreat]

how do i keep students from using my board markers? easy, if i see them using them, i do one of two things. first, i will make the student that used them go to the office to get me another one. and i tell him if he is late to class, he will be punished (the office is about a good 200 meters away) they almost always are late and then are punished.

if i dont know who did it, i ask, if they dont answer, i tell them the whole class will be punished if they dont volunteer. never had to punish the whole class...

sometimes i seem like a hardarse, but they learn quickly what i allow and dont allow that way. pretty much no one touches the board markers now.

[Qinella]

Simple solution for retaining possession of your board marker: keep it in your pocket between classes.

I keep mine in my pocket 100% of the time that I'm not using it.

[Picotrain]

We're given board markers every month, usuall 2 blue, 2 red and two black. Since I hardly use the red ones, they generally last about 3 weeks or the full month. The other two colours are usually wasted within one or two weeks. Then you have to ask for some more, which they don't mind parting with.

As for keeping them from the kids, I can only recall one or two instances where they were stolen from me. The kids are generally too honest to take them, or they understand they have little use for them. That said, I usually keep them in my breast pocket, so, even if the kids wanted them, they'd have to pull a David Copperfield to get them.

[poet13]

When I first started, the kids thought it was hilarious to steal my board markers. I use them A LOT. So......one day during class a kid took my marker. I saw him do it in the shine of the whiteboard. I took it back. Then I licked it all over and put it on the table. Using telepathy only children have, every student in all my classes instantly knew what had happened. Nobody ever took another marker, and new students who are oriented by old students are told about it.

[SweetBear]

Very easy way to keep your markers away from the kids. Pretend to stick them up your nose, then go around the room offering them to the worst offenders. It works like a charm and gets laughs from the kids.