RANTING/VENTING MEGATHREAD 3.0

This is a site for "teachers", yet some think it's appropriate to be alone with a student...

I sure hope you are trolls and not being sincere.

 I think this is very subjective. I don't think you should NEVER be alone with a student. If you have a close relationship with said student then I don't think there is any issue. If it was a student who you don't really know or maybe a trouble student then yes being alone COULD cause an issue. Though I think it is highly unlikely. So yeah I think it just takes an assessment of the particular situation.

Arm,

I'm NOT joking.

These are students who don't know phonics/the alphabet/etc., so the group is really small, like four or five.  However, sometimes only one student shows up.

When that happens we have our lesson in the office at the conference table.

By your response, it's obvious you have never had any formal training, because if you had, you would know that even a false accusation can destroy one's career and life.  Therefore, it is always best to err on the side of caution.

I suppose I should parrot your question back to you, "Are you mental?"

Probably not, because they wouldn't want him to be alone with the kid. It's common knowledge for Korean teachers as well, that you should not be alone with the kids.

This is a site for "teachers", yet some think it's appropriate to be alone with a student...

I sure hope you are trolls and not being sincere.

I regularly have to teach a one on one class without a CT at school and I've never thought twice about it.

Should I march into the principal's office and ask him to put a stop to this madness 

No, you should teach it with the doors open, in a classroom or office with a lot of traffic, or passers-by, so it willbe clear that nothing nefarious is going on.

Do they take it out of your salary each month or take it out of your actual bank account?

I suppose they could have helped you to set up a direct debit for school lunches but how could they have taken money for the school trip directly from your bank account?  A bit worrying 

Mine does the same thing, but it's usually like 10,000 so I don't worry about it, but come to think of it, yeah how is that possible?  They also occasionally give me odd sums of money and I have no idea why.

I've never noticed any random amounts being taken from my account. Deductions are only taken directly from paycheck before my net pay is deposited.

However, I have noticed on occasion that I have received odd sums of money. Some have been due to field trips (apparently I get paid extra if the field trip is an overnight one, for the extra hours), but some seem to have no explanation.

Talking about gyms ...
Seriously can you just not play the game for an hour or so haha!

I broke my phone in March this year and I decided, "You know what? I'll wait to get another one." And I did. Until last week. I got a rental phone from SK and it's so shit it literally is slow at running Kakao. I love it.

I can just be there. I can just wait for the subway. I can just sit still. I can do nothing. I never realised how glued I was to that damn thing in the years prior. My GF and I got to the station last week and she had her phone out with a game within 45 secs of getting on the platform. We don't need to be talking all of the time but is it too much to ask to just be together?

I don't want to self righteous, although I know I will, but it's so refreshing. I recommend trying it. Going out for dinner with a friend in your neighbourhood? Just leave your phone at home for a few hours. Waiting for a train? Just watch the people in the station. Think about tomorrow. Look at all the gorgeous Koreans walking around. Phones are super useful, there's no denying that, but to look at it every second you're not doing something active is a detriment to your health, mentally.

Enjoy the simple things that a day brings. Stop crushing candy in the bathroom.

RANT OVER

This is a site for "teachers", yet some think it's appropriate to be alone with a student...

I sure hope you are trolls and not being sincere.

 I think this is very subjective. I don't think you should NEVER be alone with a student. If you have a close relationship with said student then I don't think there is any issue. If it was a student who you don't really know or maybe a trouble student then yes being alone COULD cause an issue. Though I think it is highly unlikely. So yeah I think it just takes an assessment of the particular situation.

It's the opposite, in my opinion. The closer you are to a student, the larger that physical gap should be. If someone walks past a classroom and sees you in it talking really close with a student who is known to be one of your favorites, it casts suspicion on you.
I'm not saying the obvious (don't molest kids). I'm trying to say don't do anything that's gonna make anyone suspect you of anything inappropriate.

I'm only 5'10", and I used to weigh about 180lbs when I was in university.

I managed to get my weight down to 140 in my first few years here, and now it's back up to about 155, and I feel disgusting.

None of my pants fit comfortably, I'm too big for small shirts, and mediums are too big and fit poorly.

This is all just whining. But it sucks when you go from fat, to reasonably fit, back to kind of fat again.

And yeah - I know if I go back to the gym, I'm going to be so pissed off that all the lifts and stuff I'm doing are like 50% of what I was doing when I was in shape.

it's never too late to start. :)

Ive bought some 6kg free weights and a swiss ball and I have been doing exercises in my apartment after work. I am priming my body to get back into the routine of working out again. After months of complete physical inactivity I am really sore right now. In a couple of months I want to start going to the gym again.

My issue is that my muscle tone said GOODBYE a few months after I stopped lifting. I am not fat, but I have no tone. I like to call it skinny fat.

I would liek to look a bit stronger and have more energy like I used to when I was more diligent about it.

Didn't want to hijack the Candy Corn thread, but candy corn tastes like crap. All me and my friends did with them when we were kids was to use them as projectiles. I suspect they'll suffer a similar fate here.

Circus peanuts taste like crap too. There's a reason this candy is so unpopular its sold in a plain cellophane bag with "Candy Corn" on top.

...but these guys hover around me, try to "sneak" peeks down my shirt or at my crotch (I had to drape a towel across my lap because of this), a few try to chat me up and it's pretty damn clear that they're bothering me but they never take the hint, and it's all just super weird and annoying. The owner notices but doesn't say anything.

I am livid just reading this. And of course I'm sure you're the wanton foreigner-whore who is reveling in their attention. Fuuuuuuck these men.

Speaking of the gym, I used to go three to four times every week for about 3 years in a row.

Then I started working at a school where I was worked to exhaustion every day and haven't been to the gym in about two and a half years. And now I'm fat. It sucks. Starting again is so hard.

I've never worked out. I was just naturally skinny. And then a couple years ago I started getting "womanly", but now I'm just getting fat. Starting for the first time is also freaking hard.

I gained weight when I was little after my mom died, lost 20 pounds by starving myself when I was 9, then was skinny and conventionally attractive all through middle and high school....until mandatory gym class ended. Since then I've pretty consistently gained 15 pounds a year, and it wasn't until I reached 200 that I was like "oh shit this is a problem" since it takes a lot before I "look fat." Even now people tell me I'm not fat though I very clearly am.

I'm planning to join a gym but I'm so intimidated haha. Especially because there's no way I'm doing cardio in order to save my knees for dance. And lifting especially for a total beginner requires a trainer...ughhhhhh

None of my pants fit comfortably, I'm too big for small shirts, and mediums are too big and fit poorly.

if you start going to the gym again you might have an even worse problem. i work out and find it really difficult to find clothes that fit. and i'm not even that huge at all. same height as you and weigh 75kg. but often i'll go clothes shopping and the biggest shirt size they'll have is some super-skinny fit 105, which feels like my lats would just rip it apart if i bent over.

don't even get me started on pants. i have a 32 inch waist but most 32 inch pants here are way too tight in my thighs. i have a HUGE problem pants shopping. a 'regular' fit is fine, but regular fit is waaayyy too baggy for me. i can go up to a 34 inch 'slim fit' and cinch the waist with a belt, and that's okay in the thigh, but often it's too big at the bottom of my leg, from the knee down.

i'm really not that huge of a guy in terms of musculature, but on the bright side going clothes shopping here makes me feel like Arnold Schwarzenneger 

Aha! I bet it was probably due to some canceled meals.

On the subject of candy corn, I never particularly liked them except for the caramel apple ones. Those were strangely kind of tasty. Overall never saw the popularity of them other than having "Halloweeny" colors?

Arm,

I'm NOT joking.

These are students who don't know phonics/the alphabet/etc., so the group is really small, like four or five.  However, sometimes only one student shows up.

When that happens we have our lesson in the office at the conference table.

By your response, it's obvious you have never had any formal training, because if you had, you would know that even a false accusation can destroy one's career and life.  Therefore, it is always best to err on the side of caution.

I suppose I should parrot your question back to you, "Are you mental?"

Probably not, because they wouldn't want him to be alone with the kid. It's common knowledge for Korean teachers as well, that you should not be alone with the kids.

This is a site for "teachers", yet some think it's appropriate to be alone with a student...

I sure hope you are trolls and not being sincere.

I regularly have to teach a one on one class without a CT at school and I've never thought twice about it.

Should I march into the principal's office and ask him to put a stop to this madness 

No, you should teach it with the doors open, in a classroom or office with a lot of traffic, or passers-by, so it willbe clear that nothing nefarious is going on.

What happens when the kid goes home and tells mom and dad, "The Arm touched me there"?

Parents call the school. You get called into a meeting...

Regardless of whether it is true or not, you will forever be tainted.

Knock yourself out!

FFS

Yea I mean just to clarify, I'm not teaching this student in a darkened room in the cellar of an abandoned building at the edge of the school grounds at midnight.

There are always other teachers milling around, constantly walking past the room.

This is a site for "teachers", yet some think it's appropriate to be alone with a student...

I sure hope you are trolls and not being sincere.

 I think this is very subjective. I don't think you should NEVER be alone with a student. If you have a close relationship with said student then I don't think there is any issue. If it was a student who you don't really know or maybe a trouble student then yes being alone COULD cause an issue. Though I think it is highly unlikely. So yeah I think it just takes an assessment of the particular situation.

It's the opposite, in my opinion. The closer you are to a student, the larger that physical gap should be. If someone walks past a classroom and sees you in it talking really close with a student who is known to be one of your favorites, it casts suspicion on you.
I'm not saying the obvious (don't molest kids). I'm trying to say don't do anything that's gonna make anyone suspect you of anything inappropriate.

What??  If someone walks past a classroom and sees you in it talking really close to a student?? What does that even mean?

Didn't want to hijack the Candy Corn thread, but candy corn tastes like crap. All me and my friends did with them when we were kids was to use them as projectiles. I suspect they'll suffer a similar fate here.

Circus peanuts taste like crap too. There's a reason this candy is so unpopular its sold in a plain cellophane bag with "Candy Corn" on top.

What about candy corn flavored stuff? Like candy corn Oreos?

Talking about gyms ...
Seriously can you just not play the game for an hour or so haha!

I don't want to self righteous, although I know I will, but it's so refreshing. I recommend trying it. Going out for dinner with a friend in your neighbourhood? Just leave your phone at home for a few hours. Waiting for a train? Just watch the people in the station. Think about tomorrow. Look at all the gorgeous Koreans walking around. Phones are super useful, there's no denying that, but to look at it every second you're not doing something active is a detriment to your health, mentally.

Enjoy the simple things that a day brings. Stop crushing candy in the bathroom.

RANT OVER

Totally agree with you, lately I catch myself on my phone all the time! I'm 100% addicted but I am aware of it. Me and my mates back in the U.K. put all our phones in the middle of the table when we are out at a bar or pub. First one to pick theirs up downs their drink haha

Aha! I bet it was probably due to some canceled meals.

On the subject of candy corn, I never particularly liked them except for the caramel apple ones. Those were strangely kind of tasty. Overall never saw the popularity of them other than having "Halloweeny" colors?

I feel like, like a lot of other candies, they were "tasty" when first invented but now people think they're shit, like a lot of other iconic candies. I don't know how anyone ever thought conversation hearts or those funny sugar wafer disk things were tasty, but they were invented around the heyday of large-scale candymaking, so I guess they're just so culturally entrenched now and that's the only reason they haven't disappeared.

What about candy corn flavored stuff? Like candy corn Oreos?

...this... this is real? What kind of abomination is this?

3.4 stars on Amazon... most useful review says, "You will hate yourself for eating these." Hahahha

Aha! I bet it was probably due to some canceled meals.

On the subject of candy corn, I never particularly liked them except for the caramel apple ones. Those were strangely kind of tasty. Overall never saw the popularity of them other than having "Halloweeny" colors?

I feel like, like a lot of other candies, they were "tasty" when first invented but now people think they're shit, like a lot of other iconic candies. I don't know how anyone ever thought conversation hearts or those funny sugar wafer disk things were tasty, but they were invented around the heyday of large-scale candymaking, so I guess they're just so culturally entrenched now and that's the only reason they haven't disappeared.

Those conversation hearts taste like chalk. I feel like they're only popular due to being heart-shaped nostalgia with words on them.

[\quote]
I have never had a smartphone for that particular reason.  I even leave my 2g phone at home for that reason.  I'll never understand why it has become such a focal point for people when they have some down time.  I want to look outside and see the things going on.  I sit on the bus and look at the scenery go by.  I'm not interrupted by calls the whole time or messages arriving because I don't send many myself.  I can sit and 'be'.  I love nothing more than that.  Like you said it is almost like an emotional connection you have with it, without it leaves people anxious.  But when you do try and live without it you feel freer.

[/quote]
 
UHM HELLO!?!?!

KAKAO, WHATS APP, YOUTUBE, INSTAGRAM, TINDER, TUMBLR, NPR, FACEBOOK, SUBWAY APP, BUS APP. How do you keep up with what's current???

This is 2016. Resistance is futile, Neo.


I do, however, however object to using cell phones while at dinner. I'm not on my phone constantly. I do devote a set amount of time a day to catch up on all of the social media.

I posted in the happy thread about how my boss coteacher actually said something sort of nice (if you squint) today.

She just can't keep herself from bugging me, though, apparently.

On our way up to the classroom, she told me she thinks it's inappropriate to bring coffee to the classroom. I've been here 7 months and no one, including her, ever said anything about it being bad to bring coffee to the classroom before today. Actually, she used to bring me coffee to my classroom.

I asked another coteacher if she thought it was inappropriate, and she seemed confused as to why it would be. When I explained to her about boss coteacher being on my case she said "maybe it looks dangerous? you could use a tumbler"

I know these are just little things but when you get harassed at least a few times a week for minor crap, including doing the same things other people do, and have had other, more serious run-ins with the same person.... ughhhhh. It just drains me.

On the topic of teachers being alone with a student:
If I was asked to do one - to one classes I would insist on doing them in the office or at the back of the home room classroom with the home room teacher there. I would not be comfortable being alone with a student. Not because I'm a deviant, and not because anyone should assume foreign teachers/male teachers/any teacher should not be trusted to be alone with a child but because that child can accuse me of anything for any reason, and with no witnesses to defend me, there is no way I would be able to continue working in schools (depending on the nature of the accusation).

Yes, there is a child protection issue with an adult being alone with a child but you also need to protect yourself as a teacher. When one to one teaching has to happen, it should be in an open area where other people can see you/frequently walk passed. I thought that was standard...