I taught high school. I use the past tense because, well, it happened in the past. Or so I thought. Apparently, I still do. Here's why:
1. Comments About Physical Appearance-
High School: Ms. P what are you wearing?! Wow, please never wear that again.
Korean Men: Ah Jennifer, you have new hair style today. You look like little girl.
Lord help me if I look the least bit tired. They will notice and comment.
2. The Smell-
High school boys smell like sweat, body odor, too much Axe body spray, and that unwashable adolescent smell that all high school boys carry with them. Windows were always open in my classroom.
Korean men smell like the cigarrette they just smoked, last nights soju, or they smell absolutely wonderful in the new cologne their girlfriends bought to help the poor soul.
3. They don't do their homework.
4. They're not highly motivated or passionate about whatever you're teaching them. I still get glazed over looks sometimes. However, the high school boys dead pan empty stare was probably from lack of souls as the Korean men glassy eyed look is from not being able to understand a word I'm saying.
5. Jokes about sex and/or bodily functions are still funny. Boys will be boys eh.
6. They come to class late.
7. They "borrow" my pens/pencils, which inevitably means I have to go buy more because they don't fully grasp the meaning of "borrow".
8. They talk while you're talking. However, I can't always understand them here.
9. They're surprised when I catch them doing something they shouldn't i.e. talking, cheating. They always act so surprised. Don't they know that teachers take a special class in uni so that we can detect any bad behavior?
10. There are still brown nosers and troublemakers; a hierarchy among students.
When I meet new people here in Korea and they find out that I teach adults, they are so envious. My job must be the pinnacle of my teaching career. Umm....well. It might not be as different from your public school job. However, here are some reasons as to why teaching my boys here is a little different from teaching my "real" boys back home.
1. Going drinking with them is perfectly acceptable.
2. They buy the drinks.
3. They buy dinner.
4. It's ok to ride in the car with them.
5. Being seen in a coffee shop with two or three of them is cool.
6. The more sloshed you get on the drinks they buy you, earns you respect at your workplace (I've yet to earn a lot of respect. I hate soju.)
I love teaching these guys. But still, when I look really closely, teaching boys is the same in any classroom.
Showing posts with label teaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teaching. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Teaching Here Teaching There
Most expats that I meet are not teachers in their home countries. I am the rare exception; the one that comes to the country with a knowledge of pedagogy, constructivism, Gardner's theory, etc. etc. When other expats find out that standing before them is a real live teacher they have a few reactions/questions. 1) What's the biggest difference between the states and Korea? 2) Really? Like, you're an actual teacher? Oh. 3) So you must be, like, an awesome teacher here eh? (of course...)
I teach adults where conversation can run anywhere from the Free Trade Agreement to how to land myself a Korean boy toy. I have learned a significant bit of culture on that topic I can tell you. The children that I teach is no more than a hyped up tutor session with three students in one class, three in the next, and two in the last. Compared to other expats situations, I have it easy, and I will not argue with that. Public school teachers can sometimes have 600 students that they see on a weekly basis. They don't play here. Fo reals.
Kids are still kids, no matter the ethnicity. Everyone told me, "Oh Jennifer, you are going to love teaching in Korea. Asian kids are so disciplined, smart, and studious." Yeah, um, no. They are not. Just like in the states, some kids rock and you wish you could just take them home, other kids you want to grab by the collar, throw out the window while laughing wickedly, and glare at the class daring the next student to step out of line.
I've already spoken about my previous teaching experiences in the states and I've yet to see such horrific circumstances in students. In my last school I had a student tell me in a journal entry that when he was 14 his step-dad was beating his mother and he stepped in to defend her, beating up the step-dad in return. The mother called the police and pressed charges on her son. He went to juvenile detention and that's why he was a year behind in school. I've heard nothing like that, but I haven't met every child either.
Kids curse, are selfish, and pick their nose all day. They answer their cell phones in class, sneeze on you, and say, "no teacha" everyday, to everything, every time. Plus they don't understand %50 of what you say so "palm to face" happens about 20 times a day for me, and I only have eight kids. Imagine being in a hagwon or public school.
Being a licensed teacher helps me out all the time and just like during student teaching, where professors are throwing down those "theories" down our throats to make us "better teachers", more than anything I just need to know how to fix the copier (or read it). There are things I miss like curriculums, a discipline system that doesn't involve a corner, and supplies. I often had to buy my own school supplies in the states, but at least I knew exactly where to go for them, unlike here.
So while my stateside teaching experience consisted of restraining students during a fight, receiving students fresh out of rehab, and consoling those who just needed to cry, my Korean teaching experience still consist of discipline issues, problems with the higher ups, parents (who are sometimes worse than the kids), and a lack of concern from the kids. Sometimes it's so different you forget what you left behind in the states and then little Choi or Kim or Lee go and try standing on the table saying, "NO TEACHA! NO NOTEBOOK!" Aigoo.
Point is, there are good days, bad days, and "I'm never going back" days in every profession, teaching being no expectation. But I love teaching; opening their little mouths and throwing information down their throats, it's what I love and am usually good at, sometimes. If you're coming to Korea hoping for an easy job as a teacher, don't board that Asiana Airplane. Get off now. Return to your parent's house and look for another job. Now. This ain't for the weak son.
I teach adults where conversation can run anywhere from the Free Trade Agreement to how to land myself a Korean boy toy. I have learned a significant bit of culture on that topic I can tell you. The children that I teach is no more than a hyped up tutor session with three students in one class, three in the next, and two in the last. Compared to other expats situations, I have it easy, and I will not argue with that. Public school teachers can sometimes have 600 students that they see on a weekly basis. They don't play here. Fo reals.
Kids are still kids, no matter the ethnicity. Everyone told me, "Oh Jennifer, you are going to love teaching in Korea. Asian kids are so disciplined, smart, and studious." Yeah, um, no. They are not. Just like in the states, some kids rock and you wish you could just take them home, other kids you want to grab by the collar, throw out the window while laughing wickedly, and glare at the class daring the next student to step out of line.
I've already spoken about my previous teaching experiences in the states and I've yet to see such horrific circumstances in students. In my last school I had a student tell me in a journal entry that when he was 14 his step-dad was beating his mother and he stepped in to defend her, beating up the step-dad in return. The mother called the police and pressed charges on her son. He went to juvenile detention and that's why he was a year behind in school. I've heard nothing like that, but I haven't met every child either.
Kids curse, are selfish, and pick their nose all day. They answer their cell phones in class, sneeze on you, and say, "no teacha" everyday, to everything, every time. Plus they don't understand %50 of what you say so "palm to face" happens about 20 times a day for me, and I only have eight kids. Imagine being in a hagwon or public school.
Being a licensed teacher helps me out all the time and just like during student teaching, where professors are throwing down those "theories" down our throats to make us "better teachers", more than anything I just need to know how to fix the copier (or read it). There are things I miss like curriculums, a discipline system that doesn't involve a corner, and supplies. I often had to buy my own school supplies in the states, but at least I knew exactly where to go for them, unlike here.
So while my stateside teaching experience consisted of restraining students during a fight, receiving students fresh out of rehab, and consoling those who just needed to cry, my Korean teaching experience still consist of discipline issues, problems with the higher ups, parents (who are sometimes worse than the kids), and a lack of concern from the kids. Sometimes it's so different you forget what you left behind in the states and then little Choi or Kim or Lee go and try standing on the table saying, "NO TEACHA! NO NOTEBOOK!" Aigoo.
Point is, there are good days, bad days, and "I'm never going back" days in every profession, teaching being no expectation. But I love teaching; opening their little mouths and throwing information down their throats, it's what I love and am usually good at, sometimes. If you're coming to Korea hoping for an easy job as a teacher, don't board that Asiana Airplane. Get off now. Return to your parent's house and look for another job. Now. This ain't for the weak son.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
The J.O.B.
When I first started applying to jobs in Korea I figured I was going to join the masses of ESL teachers who are abused at their hagwons. I was going to fight "the man" for my vacation, my overtime, all the while being cursed at in Korean by small innocent little monsters with toothy grins. See here
I longed for a public school job where there is respect, loads of vacation, and morals, (monsters still included). The children wasn't what scared me. I was a high school teacher who had broken up fights, been afraid to come to school because of the pyscho emotional zombies called teenagers, and had taught students with criminal records longer than you can imagine. No, I wasn't worried about dealing with children. It was the job I was worried about. Alas, fate smiled down upon me and handed me the golden job, much like Charlie entering the Chocolate Factory, I waltzed into LG Chem.
I teach five classes, two adult and three children. My first class is an adult class at 8am. I have six students on roll. The second adult class at 12:30 has four on roll. The adults are taking the class so that they may pass the LAP test and become promoted within the company. Most of the students are men, who are too shy to speak, or so I thought. More on that later.
The kid's classes are at 2:30, 3:30, and 4:30. Fifty minutes each and with a total of eight kids in all. Pause as teachers around the world throw rotten fruit and curse my good, amazing, fantastic, out of this world luck. Going back to America to teach will never be the same. Ah Korea, the land of awesomeness.
Now the kid classes are a little different. They are held in one of the apartments at LG complex which makes things seem less...official. The children don't really take it seriously and the previous teacher pretty much let them do what they wanted. Enter JENNIFER TEACHER. I'll let you know how it goes.
Working for a company such as LG is pretty fantastic. Take last night for example. The previous teacher had a going away party that the big boss paid for. We went to Outback Steakhouse. When I say we I mean me, the other teacher and ten Korean men. If I thought I was stared at before, I had no idea. I'm not really sure I want to know what people thought when they say a foreign woman with 11 men, 10 being Korean. After the party, there was the after party of course. About six of us went to a bar in Naju where I watched the Korean men drink, while I sipped my lone beer (it was a weekday!). We stayed out until 11. One of the guys? Maybe. It's all part of the culture. By participating I was being accepted into their world. I learned a great deal about Koea, the respect for elders (a junior at the company, cut up the bosses meat and we all stood when he stood), the closeness of friends, and how much Koreans love to laugh and enjoy each other's company. Ah Korea, may long you stand.
I longed for a public school job where there is respect, loads of vacation, and morals, (monsters still included). The children wasn't what scared me. I was a high school teacher who had broken up fights, been afraid to come to school because of the pyscho emotional zombies called teenagers, and had taught students with criminal records longer than you can imagine. No, I wasn't worried about dealing with children. It was the job I was worried about. Alas, fate smiled down upon me and handed me the golden job, much like Charlie entering the Chocolate Factory, I waltzed into LG Chem.
I teach five classes, two adult and three children. My first class is an adult class at 8am. I have six students on roll. The second adult class at 12:30 has four on roll. The adults are taking the class so that they may pass the LAP test and become promoted within the company. Most of the students are men, who are too shy to speak, or so I thought. More on that later.
The kid's classes are at 2:30, 3:30, and 4:30. Fifty minutes each and with a total of eight kids in all. Pause as teachers around the world throw rotten fruit and curse my good, amazing, fantastic, out of this world luck. Going back to America to teach will never be the same. Ah Korea, the land of awesomeness.
Now the kid classes are a little different. They are held in one of the apartments at LG complex which makes things seem less...official. The children don't really take it seriously and the previous teacher pretty much let them do what they wanted. Enter JENNIFER TEACHER. I'll let you know how it goes.
Working for a company such as LG is pretty fantastic. Take last night for example. The previous teacher had a going away party that the big boss paid for. We went to Outback Steakhouse. When I say we I mean me, the other teacher and ten Korean men. If I thought I was stared at before, I had no idea. I'm not really sure I want to know what people thought when they say a foreign woman with 11 men, 10 being Korean. After the party, there was the after party of course. About six of us went to a bar in Naju where I watched the Korean men drink, while I sipped my lone beer (it was a weekday!). We stayed out until 11. One of the guys? Maybe. It's all part of the culture. By participating I was being accepted into their world. I learned a great deal about Koea, the respect for elders (a junior at the company, cut up the bosses meat and we all stood when he stood), the closeness of friends, and how much Koreans love to laugh and enjoy each other's company. Ah Korea, may long you stand.
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