Korean Job Discussion Forums

[IncognitoHFX]

So I've been here for four months. I want to stay in Korea for multiple years, probably more than three. I like it here, the money is good, I have a strong network and for the first time in my life I'm content. My only problem is this:

I work at a good hagwon. We have less than 40 students. My younger classes (7-10) have between four and seven students, while the older classes (11-16) are usually only one or two students at a time. The ages range from 7 - 16, and I'm absolutely great with the 11-16 year olds. I mean really great.

I look forward to when they come to class, if they don't show up on time I get a little sad, and when we're in class I'm always having a good time... well, teaching. It goes really well.

But my younger classes... oh man. I've been hit, punched, sweared at, stole from, spit on, insulted constantly and this morning I had half of my prep work thrown out the window (literally: they threw it out the window).

I've tried many methods for classroom control, such as the sticker system, the standing up system (doesn't work--they refuse to stand up in the first place), the kicking them out of the class system (also doesn't work for the same reason), the yelling system, the rewards/punishment system, or some eclectic system with all the others combined. No success, at all.

I feel like I've made a lot of progress since my first month, and I feel like I am getting better, but the stress is coming from the fact that I feel like everyone at my hagwon (staff, students and parents) thinks I'm hopeless and not a good teacher. I feel like they think I should be getting the hang of it by now, and that I should have control over the young ones, and believe me, I do try very hard, but I can't seem to do it. Of course the staff hasn't directly told me this, its more of a collection of vibes I've been getting.

A few people *have* told me that if I can't do it by four months, then I'm never going to be able to do it.

It doesn't mean I have to leave Korea or anything. Next year I'll just work at a bigger school with an implemented discipline system, or a Hakgyo with a co-teacher. Or a middle school hagwon. There are many ways around this problem in the future, but as it is, I'm at this Hagwon for another eight months and I want to end this contract after the one year mark knowing that I've made a difference for these children. I want to be a good teacher.

Anyway, how long did it take you to get the hang of it? Am I screwed? What do you recommend? I feel all alone in this. My hagwon is really good, but it is small and new, and there really isn't much support for me as far as teaching goes.

Help?

[Yu_Bum_suk]

Trust me I know exactly what you mean, as two-and-a-half years ago I had been in Korea for four months and was having similar feelings. Getting the hang of it may mean learning what you are and are not good at teaching. I am not good at teaching little children. Maybe now that I've been in Korea for almost three years I'd have a better idea how to approach it (i.e. how to come across as an authority figure) but teaching kids below 12 is not something I have much desire to do again. Now I teach secondary school and while it doesn't always go smoothly I feel very good about what I do, and have seen the contribution I've been able to make to some students' success.

As for when you 'get it', that's a tough one. I still don't know if I've figured out how to approach teaching a class when I have to co-teach it with a hopeless Korean who teaches them 80% of the time, who's completely lost control of them or given up. I can control them but getting the majority of them to try when they don't take English as a serious subject because of their Korean teacher is impossible. Then I have other classes, mostly the ones I teach solo, that make me feel like super-teacher.

At any rate the situation you describe sounds really horrific and I can't believe you let kids get away with crap like that. I've done things that would get me fired in Canada for offences far less that spitting on or swearing at me. This is Korea where a little grief from the teacher can prevent an enormous amount of grief for everyone down the line. You might want to think of this job as training while you set about looking for a real teaching job.

[crash]

I think I had kind of a similar experience when I first started teaching here as well. I admit that I too tried hard to do my job well but had some problems with some kids having disciplinary problems. Can't say definitively how I turned the situation around but I believe these few things helped.

1. Make your classes more interesting. Younger kids need to feel that they are enjoying English class and when they go home at the end of the day and tell Mum that they're having fun, she will feel it is a good investment as well. No, I don't mean just playing games. TPR activities worked well for me.

2. Time management. I think it's just something you get better at as you gain more time in the classroom and get to know your students better. Kids have a lot of energy and can't be expected to stay in their seats without fidgeting and such. Have a good mix of activities that involve them working out of their seats for a time and then back in their seats for writing/etc activities.

3. Be flexible. If your lesson plan is done in five minutes you better be prepared for something else. I found that if my classes seemed to get done too early, I started doing review type exercises (mostly games) to find out how much they really retained. Turned out it wasn't too much. Guess this helped me get better with time management as well.

4. Have definite rules. Sounds like you've played around a lot with different reward/punishment systems and none have seemed to work. Stick to the one you like the best and tough luck to the kids. It's your classroom. I had a simple 3 strikes system written on the board next to their name. Good behavior was rewarded with smiles/stars and really go out of your way to offer positive reinforcement to the well behaved students. If a problem kid also does well, be sure to offer the same.

5. Yep, some kids just don't listen. Realize that with a hagwon you're going to have turnover with the kids. Just be sure to lose the problem kids rather than the good kids. Should turn out that there aren't that many who are actually "bad" kids, but there usually is a ringleader. The way kids behave when certain kids aren't present might surprise you.

Don't be so hard on yourself. Four months is a short time and I've seen plenty of "certified" teachers having the same trouble as you and I both had (have). Glad to read that you acknowledge your shortcomings with the younger kids and will teach the age group you feel more comfortable with in the future.

Just remember, like any other job you'll have good and bad days. You're certainly not "screwed." Keep the chin up.

[ESL Milk "Everyday]

I really don't know what to tell you about the little ones-- I still have no idea what to do with them so it's always just something I have to get through. There's really not so much you can do with them when they're like that... just don't expect much and don't give rewards easily.

Maybe try head and shoulders or simon says or eye spy or even just write the letter B on the board and try to get them to think up as many B words as they can. I used to do coloring sheets with different letters on them... it was good until about D or E, then the boys started coloring them really quickly before raising hell while the girls labored over intricate frilly designs around the letters and special hats and clothes and animals or planning complimentary color patterns so that it all ended up a magnificent work of art that took the whole class to complete.

I would just focus on trying not to make too much of a mess or break things that are expensive to replace.

[IncognitoHFX]

[Jizzo T. Clown]

Kids need structure--especially young ones.

They also need to release all that energy they got.

Find a way to have a routine they go through every time they come to class so they know what to expect. After they've learned something, give them free reign to run around for a minute or two, then get back to work.

I hated teaching little ones, but that worked for me. I was in the same boat as you a few years back, which is when I decided I wanted to teach older students. Good on you for having a positive attitude.

[postfundie]

first day is make em or break em.......give them the three strikes and you are out the door to see the director rule...and stick to it...

[CasperTheFriendlyGhost]

six months

[Fresh Prince]

[tomato]

Hello, Incog!

I hope you stay in Korea a long time. Korea has a shortage of conscientious foreign teachers, and you seem to be one of them.

And I'm glad you logged onto this forum, because I think you are getting some good advice.

Whoever told you to prove yourself by four months was asking a lot. Before I came here, I worked as a babysitter, a music teacher, a Spanish teacher, a day care worker, and a substitute teacher. And I still had trouble.

I learned a few tricks of the trade, though:

■ intruding into the offending child's territory

Sometimes you don't have to interrupt the class to correct a misbehaving student. Just walk up to the child's desk and stand close enough to make him feel uncomfortable.

■ isolate the offending child

I notice that some of your classes are small. Does that mean that there are enough vacant desks to isolate a child? That will be a dire consequence, because the children are gregarious.

If the child doesn't move to the empty desk, escort him. If he won't sit still at the empty desk, restrain him. If he throws a tantrum, God will not smite you with a thunderbolt. You have nothing to panic over. Don't scold, don't threaten, don't argue, don't lecture. Just continue to restrain him while addressing the rest of the class on numbers and colors and ABC's.

If the director hears the noise and comes in to investigate, he will see that the child is upset and you're not. The director, then, is likely to blame the incident on the child rather than you. If he doesn't, then remind him that there are plenty of job vacancies in Korea.

(This is off the subject, but my OWN director is looking for a second teacher. And he's easy to get along with.)

■ rewarding the students who behave the best

Do the students stampede out the door the second you dismiss the class? Then promise that those who behave the best will get out five minutes early. Then spend the last five minutes doing something boring.

If you have trouble announcing a rule in English and need the rule translated into Korean, come back here. There are many participants on this forum who have some proficiency in Korean.

■ Grandma's Rule

As Crash says, fun activities isn't all of it. But I would say that it's about half of it. Promise a fun activity if the class behaves, and revoke it if the class doesn't behave. Then go back and review your boring textbook. If the students complain, say, "I'm sorry, we can't play bingo because Danny won't behave." That will make Danny very unpopular with his peers.

If the class continues to misbehave the first day you try this, don't be disheartened. They're just saving face. You will probably notice a big difference the next day.

You say you have to teach social studies? No problem! You can adapt card games and bingo games to any subject matter. Jizzo's concern for the children's need for gross motor activity is good. You can design some gross motor activities with social studies.

In case you need more fun activities, try the kindergarten threads. (Most of these threads begin with messages much like yours.) The latest such thread is right http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=100106&highlight=]here. If that's not enough, click on the previous threads. I have them listed in one of my posts there.

At this point, it would be difficult to announce a prognosis. Maybe you're like Yu_Bum_Suk and Jizzo, who seem to prefer older kids, or maybe you're like me but need further experience. Whichever is the case, I wish you the best of luck.

During my first year, I never had a student throw my lesson plans out the window, but I had a group of boys draw pictures of my anatomy.

[spirit2110]

[Snowkr]

OP

I honestly feel that regardless of your classroom management style (or lack thereof), the school should not be allowing the children to disrespect you that way. If the school director/principal doesn't get behind you in disciplining the kids, I would say... leave them... however that's just me.
I have no tolerance for bratty kids and I've taught children for 7 years in 4 different countries including my own.

My first year in Korea I worked in an awesome hogwan where kids never even spoke Korean. The punishment for breaking the rules was fairly severe and they all knew it. That said, I had a few kids who tested the waters with me...
one boy(about 11 years old) kicked me when I physically took his arm and forced him to move his seat. My director saw it and really let him have it. The mother was called, came to school to meet me, and he was taken out of the school. I never saw him again.

I had a group of middle school students in China years ago who were horrible. Some of the boys would say really disgusting things to me in Chinese and when it was translated back to me (by a student who wanted to kiss up), I reported it and refused to teach the class until those boys were dealt with. Nothing was done and I left the school with no regrets. Perhaps it's a matter of pride... I refuse to be disrespected that way. I wouldn't be able to tolerate what you're putting up with from those little kids.

[normalcyispasse]

tomato, that was some good advice. I've been here a couple years already and I think I can still use some of that in addition to what I usually do for discipline.

[Atavistic]

Take their advice and then take your own next year and teach an age you like. People tell me that with a Masters in Ed and 3 years teaching in the US and more than 1 here, I should get a uni job. The vacation would be nice but I HATE teaching adults UNLESS it's one-on-one.

I LIKE middle school and high school students socially, but I DON'T want to teach them.

I like teaching elementary kids.

I can do kindy, but I really don't like it.

There's nothing wrong with liking one age better over the other.

However, I wonder if you're better with one or two kids because there are so few of them. With the bigger classes, first, try Tomato's post. Then, try to get one or two kids on your side when you're implementing his system. If you can get one or two kids on your side, it makes things much easier.

Do the routine thing, like someone else suggested. And GIVE IT TIME. It takes TIME for a routine to set in, ESPECIALLY if you are not teaching them every day!

Do lots of active things with that age. Lots of moving around games. These kids have tons of energy and they're usually stuck in hogwons and school all day. Get them moving.

Rearrange things so they don't have access to your lesson plans. Close and LOCK the windows. If you have to, remove furniture from the room. Make things spartan and only bring them back in as they start to behave. I know it sounds odd, but it works. When I taught in the States I had a HUGE classroom library. Other teachers would put their libraries out right away. I put mine out slowly, as students proved to me that they were respectful. A few times I yanked the whole library for a week at a time if I deemed it necessary. I did the same with games, art supplies, and fun, comfortable furniture.

Also, if possible, spread out rewards. I know this is a different environment, but I'll give you an example of some things I did in the States. For the first four weeks, all silent reading was done at their desks. The next month, stellar students were allowed to read on the ground or in comfy chairs as long as they were an arm's length away from their friends. As the bad kids saw that the good kids got to be more comfortable, they shaped up. Third month almost everyone was on the floor with on a few being thrown back in their desks. Fourth month, once or twice a week, the GOOD kids were allowed to pair read with their friends if they wanted...

This want on until by the end of the year kids were allowed to read damn near wherever they wanted in the room, and they were allowed to partner read almost whenever they wanted. Why? Because they had all learned, slowly, at their own pace, how to behave over time.

And when one kid decided to be an ass during silent reading time, if the regular things wouldn't work, I'd tell the other students "ignore him/her." Later, the bad kid got punished in a way he wouldn't imagine. I'd take away his recess or tell the gym teacher to make him do extra laps for me. I know people tell you to punish right away, but in cases with stubborn children who won't listen to you, AFTER YOU HAVE TRIED REGULAR PUNISHMENT you can dole out more later. This tricks them. They think they got away with being a jerk in math and then, whoops, you yank away their recess!

I know these are tips for general classrooms, but I hope you can find a way to use some of the ideas in your own class.

[tomato]