RANTING/VENTING MEGATHREAD 3.0

Co-Teacher 1: Hey, your camp was really great last summer! Can you make another really great one for this winter?

Me: Sure

Co-Teacher 1: But you really need to make it easier for (Co-teacher 2). It was really stressful for her having to order camp materials and prepare snacks for the students.

Me: Okay (Me in my head: Are you F-ing kidding me? Me planning an entire camp for 20 students for three hours a day for 2 weeks by myself without an ounce of help from anyone on short notice (as in we need your summer camp lesson in 2 days with no previous mention of when it was due), while teaching and planning for all of my regular classes during this time. God forbid we don't stress Co-teacher 2 out who has to simply order food online and prepare the snacks to bring up to the classroom again. )

Tis the season, when elem. coT gets uber interested in what I'm doing for middle school camp. Except this time, instead of asking me, she tells me she "had better talk to [my main coT] about winter camp." Umm okay. Trying to go behind my back to get specifics?? My main coT only requires a general outline of the camp schedule so it's not like she has detailed lesson plans and materials.

Like if this coT wanted to know a general idea of what I'm doing, I'm not averse to chatting about it. But last year she wanted me to send her ALL my lesson plans and materials for a camp that's not even the grade levels she teaches  Of course I didn't. I even told her that most of the material wasn't anything I could send via email anyway. To which she just responded, "You had better send me all the lesson plans and materials."

Miserable. I'm a material factory and I'm really, really fussy about the quality of anything I make. I'm totally willing to share stuff when it's relevant or applicable to something one of my coteachers is doing. But when people just want me to dump ALL my stuff on them, especially when they've literally never made a single thing and just use stuff as-is from indieschool without even taking a tiny bit of time to proof it for mistakes or alter the vocabulary to match the textbook, then I draw the line.

Yup. My sentiments exactly. All I have to say is, "Vesetables."

I understand why Korean people are so sensitive about Japan, but what I don't understand is when they try to claim something small and insignificant doesn't come from Japan. Teaching the Konglish class when we got to "arbeit" meaning part-time job and I mentioned that this is the word that Japan uses, which is why it came to Korea and they all vehemently deny that suck a thing could happen ... 

for extra lulz tell them that Doraemon is actually Japanese. which it is.

had one obnoxious 6th grade kid once banging on and on about how korean animation is so great and blah blah blah, just look at Doraemon. pointed out to him that Doraemon was japanese and he vehemently denied it. showed him evidence online, little shit looked like he wanted to cry. that's what you get when you play with the big boys son.

I just got low-key yelled at by the vice principal and two other admins because I wasn't in some classroom proctoring a test that I knew nothing about. No one told me anything, yet I am supposed to know every classes schedule for tests and when someone signs me up to proctor them????

CO2 Teacher, can you look over this English passage and add come things to it? And improve what's there already?

Sure. I gots dem native skilled like she asked fo. (It's a formal document. Not long, but it's formal.)

Ad some flourishes here and there. Change some of the wording to make it less awkward.

  No, not like that.

  This is a perfect example of how this would look and sound in North America.

  Noooo. If I translate that into Korean below the English part, it will sound strange.

 

Oi vey

I understand why Korean people are so sensitive about Japan, but what I don't understand is when they try to claim something small and insignificant doesn't come from Japan. Teaching the Konglish class when we got to "arbeit" meaning part-time job and I mentioned that this is the word that Japan uses, which is why it came to Korea and they all vehemently deny that suck a thing could happen ... 

for extra lulz tell them that Doraemon is actually Japanese. which it is.

had one obnoxious 6th grade kid once banging on and on about how korean animation is so great and blah blah blah, just look at Doraemon. pointed out to him that Doraemon was japanese and he vehemently denied it. showed him evidence online, little shit looked like he wanted to cry. that's what you get when you play with the big boys son.

All "Korean" famous cartoons are Japanese' crayon shinchan too.. etc..

My MOE has just blocked Youtube. I'm trying to look up DIY videos for camp but I have to go through Naver to get to Youtube.

Just the usual camp gripes.

• Submit a camp without knowing how many students will attend.
• Submit a camp without knowing how the students will be grouped.
• Make and submit camp for no budget, as per instruction, only to find out there is a budget.
• Said budget is a mystery.
• Edit camp and prepare materials for mystery budget.
• Prediction: Materials exceed or fall short of mystery budget by mystery amount. Resubmit materials list until they exactly match the mystery number in the VP's mind. Number is between 1 and 1,000,000. Do it by yesterday.

My MOE has just blocked Youtube. I'm trying to look up DIY videos for camp but I have to go through Naver to get to Youtube.

How can she slap?

Just the usual camp gripes.

• Submit a camp without knowing how many students will attend.
• Submit a camp without knowing how the students will be grouped.
• Make and submit camp for no budget, as per instruction, only to find out there is a budget.
• Said budget is a mystery.
• Edit camp and prepare materials for mystery budget.
• Prediction: Materials exceed or fall short of mystery budget by mystery amount. Resubmit materials list until they exactly match the mystery number in the VP's mind. Number is between 1 and 1,000,000. Do it by yesterday.

This.

Plus at my travel school, my KT sayd "There might not be camp. There is no budget." Is there camp or isn't there?!

I had one coteacher who, after I would make all my materials, would say she didn't like them because I'd done something similar a few months ago and it wasn't original enough, and then I found out she was using them in her classes and making me make more stuff. I was irritated.

A friend had a class that loved a particular game. She would rotate the games so that they'd remain relatively fresh. Then one day she brought back that beloved game only to hear the students sigh, "Again??" Found out her coT had been playing that game for EVERY class the coT taught alone for the past few weeks. The lengths of such laziness is astounding.

My MOE has just blocked Youtube. I'm trying to look up DIY videos for camp but I have to go through Naver to get to Youtube.

How can she slap?

I think there's slang in that thar yonder post but I ain't gettin' it... Slapping? No. No slapping. Fire. I want to set things on fire. I HATE this week. In the latest installment of the unnecessary-drama-that-is-camp, I know there's a budget. I know how much the budget is. It hasn't change din years. But my CT has just informed that there is no money for camp. Meanwhile, mysterious, useless, DUMB miscellaneous items totalling my mystery budget have just appeared on my CT's desk who keeps muttering to himself and asking why he ordered it.

But that's OK. I don't mind. I have fire. And it's only Tuesday and this week won't get any worse.

[Keeps an eye on the news for a fire at a school, and an NET arrested for arson.]

I had one coteacher who, after I would make all my materials, would say she didn't like them because I'd done something similar a few months ago and it wasn't original enough, and then I found out she was using them in her classes and making me make more stuff. I was irritated.

lmao

How did you eventually find out?

Not really ranting, but we don't have a thread for bemoaning our existence... yet.

There's something seriously wrong with my emotions right now.

My school sent out a survey to our 4th and 5th graders and their parents asking how they felt about the English program and about me in particular. I got very... mixed reviews.

I'm a teacher. Kids aren't all supposed to like me and obviously some parents are against NETs in the classroom. So I shouldn't be so shocked and hurt.

I'm not normally the "cries-in-a-bathroom" type, but I have seriously gave my all this year. I create good lessons, I'm never late or absent, and I always say yes when asked to do something.

I don't know. I just feel discouraged right now. I was finally starting to feel good about staying for another year, I'm so excited about my Christmas lessons, and now I'm just... sad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwVNuyfhF0Q

This is not the path that should be taken.

Look back at some of the teachers you didn't like as a kid. I'm sure some of them were not your friend, but you learned a lot.

I create good lessons, I'm never late or absent, and I always say yes when asked to do something.

I don't know. I just feel discouraged right now. I was finally starting to feel good about staying for another year, I'm so excited about my Christmas lessons, and now I'm just... sad.

Popularity contests aren't easy.

What you listed above is pretty bare minimum.

I would suggest:

1. Learn your students names
2. In the beginning of every school year, have each student make an info card that contains key info, birthday, likes, dreams, family, etc.
3. Always smile and greet your students wherever you are.
4. Make a simple calendar with all of the students birthdays on0 them and acknowledge them on their special day.

So many other things you can do, but I'd start with the above.

I create good lessons, I'm never late or absent, and I always say yes when asked to do something.

I don't know. I just feel discouraged right now. I was finally starting to feel good about staying for another year, I'm so excited about my Christmas lessons, and now I'm just... sad.

Popularity contests aren't easy.

What you listed above is pretty bare minimum.

I would suggest:

1. Learn your students names
2. In the beginning of every school year, have each student make an info card that contains key info, birthday, likes, dreams, family, etc.
3. Always smile and greet your students wherever you are.
4. Make a simple calendar with all of the students birthdays on0 them and acknowledge them on their special day.

So many other things you can do, but I'd start with the above.

I'll try to smile more often, but learning all of their names is daunting. I would love to. But I've got over 500 students across three different schools. They all use different books, so I average 14 unique lesson plans a week (two classes at a rural school are back-to-back; I do actually know those kids' names). I tried the name-card thing, but the kids don't have an English classroom and the homeroom teachers don't care, so they're inevitably lost from week to week. Probably used as spitball material. 

Hmm. Anyone have tips for learning names when there are just. so. many? Lol. That would actually be a cool goal for next year.

That's rough.

Much more difficult to build rapport in your situation.

Surely, every school, every classroom has a seating chart, no?

Start there.

Nicknames would make it easier.

I create good lessons, I'm never late or absent, and I always say yes when asked to do something.

I don't know. I just feel discouraged right now. I was finally starting to feel good about staying for another year, I'm so excited about my Christmas lessons, and now I'm just... sad.

Popularity contests aren't easy.

What you listed above is pretty bare minimum.

I would suggest:

1. Learn your students names
2. In the beginning of every school year, have each student make an info card that contains key info, birthday, likes, dreams, family, etc.
3. Always smile and greet your students wherever you are.
4. Make a simple calendar with all of the students birthdays on0 them and acknowledge them on their special day.

So many other things you can do, but I'd start with the above.

I'll try to smile more often, but learning all of their names is daunting. I would love to. But I've got over 500 students across three different schools. They all use different books, so I average 14 unique lesson plans a week (two classes at a rural school are back-to-back; I do actually know those kids' names). I tried the name-card thing, but the kids don't have an English classroom and the homeroom teachers don't care, so they're inevitably lost from week to week. Probably used as spitball material. 

Hmm. Anyone have tips for learning names when there are just. so. many? Lol. That would actually be a cool goal for next year.

Yeah every class will have a document with students pictures and names, there is a Korean word for it but can't remember right now. If somehow they don't know what you're talking about then use the first intro class to make the name cards and take a picture of each student with the name card.
Take the document to every class so even if you can't remember you can sneakily look and remind yourself.

I have the same amount of kids as you and this is how i do it at my bigger schools. I still don't remember them all but I've got the main players down.

Not really ranting, but we don't have a thread for bemoaning our existence... yet.

There's something seriously wrong with my emotions right now.

My school sent out a survey to our 4th and 5th graders and their parents asking how they felt about the English program and about me in particular. I got very... mixed reviews.

I'm a teacher. Kids aren't all supposed to like me and obviously some parents are against NETs in the classroom. So I shouldn't be so shocked and hurt.

I'm not normally the "cries-in-a-bathroom" type, but I have seriously gave my all this year. I create good lessons, I'm never late or absent, and I always say yes when asked to do something.

I don't know. I just feel discouraged right now. I was finally starting to feel good about staying for another year, I'm so excited about my Christmas lessons, and now I'm just... sad.

This is what happened to me 2 years ago.. That's when I decided, like the NET'S before me said, you are putting in waaay to much effort.

I teach what I am suppose to at a bare minimum, and actually my teaching stress has gone WAAAAY down, and some how the staff like me more etc... Kids attitudes didn't change at all.

People don't appreciate hard word and dedication/passion in Korea. They appreciate the illusion of it. It's not about doing work, its about being more stressed than your counter parts, alluding to your special situation why you don't do things.


Seriously, I used to care, now I am just another, laughing all the way to the bank NET. It's sad, but I am waaay better off from it, and the attitude towards my teaching, and input from students hasn't change AT ALL.