Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rawfooddan]

So I work at a GnB in Jeju, and I use the Daily talk books. ok. So this is my first teaching job ever, and I've been here for 4 months now. From the first day the kids have been difficult and LOUD. I did not expect the children to be this loud and unruly. But anyways, I see the kids in the korean teachers class all nice and quiet, but for me its like totally opposite. They don't pay attention to me unless they want to. I'm sure this is nothing new for any of you.

So, I've been trying to make my classes more fun and interesting by bringing in my own materials and using them in addition to the GnB books. And its been working. Frankly the gnb books aren't that great and for my boss to expect me to use them for 45 minutes straight and only a few pages each class isn't reasonable.

So I get the feeling that I'm the frog in the boiling pot and my boss has slowly been turning up the heat. slowly restricting what i can do in my class. Yesterday she said i have to only use the GnB book. And any variations I do in class must be based on the GnB book. "She didn't have time to talk" -- typical here. she never wants to talk to me.

But i'm thinking today I'm going to tell them that they need to let me do what i want, or I'm going to leave.

any suggestions on dealing with a crazy boss.

[Junior]

She doesn't have time to talk because she knows she's left you in an impossible situation, and doing whats needed might cut into her profits.

Hagwon workers are paid to take Cr*p and keep smiling. You are a tightrope walker, in a ring fighting with both hands tied behind your back. While walking the wire, you get prodded from all sides. You balance the ridiculous burden of Korean mommies demands on the left, and the burden of a tyrannical boss and students on the right.Any slip ups will be all your fault.

Why do people still work in hogwons??

[ilovebdt]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I completely agree with you. What's the worst she can do - fire you so you can get a better job? She's probably afraid that the parents will hear that you're not using the hogwan's books and will think the hogwan's books are crap. In other words, she's afraid the parents will discover the truth. Well, you're a teacher, not a professional BSer like she probably is, so just do what you want. Make bricks with straw if you have to.

[mindmetoo]

Bricks without straw is my favorite biblical allusion.

[Lizara]

Say okay and then keep doing it your way.

[jurassic82]

First I want to start my response by saying I love the title "bricks out of straw" that totally explains my situation right now also. I work for W Language Academy and when they ordered the textbooks they made a huge mistake. I teach writing and speaking. The speaking books they ordered were alright even though I thought they were to easy for some classes but the writing books thats a different story. They ordered speaking books for the writing classes. There are exercises that say listen and then practice. There has nothing to do with writing in the books except some fill in the blanks when answering question about a story we have read. I do the same thing. I supply materials like worksheets and essays. The kids did get Essay books where they have to write one essay every class about a different topic. What I do is teach out of the book for maybe one or two pages and they say the hell with it and use the material I brought. Your boss is an idiot. Don't listen to him/her. Just smile, say yes you will use the book then continue doing what your doing. Make those kids learn something because your boss doesn't care she just wants the parents money. You are doing the right thing.

[just because]

[Hater Depot]

[spliff]

If I idn't like my job here I'd simply - BAIL....

[Son Deureo!]

[saw6436]

Next time you boss gives you instructions just smile, nod your head in agreement, then do what YOU want. As long as you are providing quality teaching you will find most schools really don't care what your doing.

But first you must gain control of your students. I recommend coming down on them like a ton if bricks. I have always found that if you start out strict as he11 with them you can always ease up later. But if you start out soft the kids will walk all over you.

[yospeck]

Best advice I read for those starting out was from laogaiguk. Start off as their teacher, learn to become their friend.

You want to make a good impression, but kids will eat you alive if you dont lay down the law from day one and let them know who is in charge.

[adverge]

Wow, you're lucky to even have books. The week I arrived my boss decided to toss the text books in favour of 'topic based' lessons. We had to pick a topic and write the lesson around it, with no other guidelines. Then the boss complained about what we were teaching.

Now about half the classes have text books and the other half (sadly the half I teach) do not.

You have no idea what it is like to come up with 3 different levels of writing lessons twice a week with absolutely nothing to go on except level 1 does sentences, level 2 does paragraphs, and level 3 does essays (and I came up with those distinctions myself).

Do what the others suggest. Smile, nod, say okay, and do what you think is best.

As for the discipline thing - I give my middle school students a ton of homework. They love me. They gave me crap during the summer because I didn't know what I was doing. Now I give them crap. It's lots of fun (for me at least).

[sophie23]