RANTING/VENTING MEGATHREAD 3.0

Lunch was extraordinarily bad today. Overcooked carbonara mush, sweet garlic bread, bland white rice and the shitty leftover rice-water slop? Ughh

Carbs on carbs on carbs on blech..

The only time I ever skip school lunch is when they try to serve some sort of miserable junk like 'spaghetti' or 'carbonara' or sweet 'garlic bread.' There's absolutely nothing worse than when schools try to serve foreign food. It's so gross.

Agree! I'm pretty lucky in that my school lunches are generally really good, but I do wish they would stop trying to imitate foreign foods, particularly the carbonara and cream of mushroom. And the garlic bread.

My CT knows my distaste for Korean attempts at carbonara so after lunch she smirked and asked me "Did you eat a lot today?" 

Yeah 95% of the time my school lunch is really good. When it's Korean food... Tomorrow I check the menu first.

NASTY RICE CAKE CARBONARA! That's what greeted me at lunch today. It was the most offensive thing I've never seen. Who wants to gnaw on that for an hour before giving up any more of breaking it down and just letting is slink it's slimy way down your throat. Gross. Rice cakes are the devil. Sorry to rant but your post gave me flashbacks.

I have tried. This class is legendarily bad, and not just with me, they are like this with all the teachers, though I imagine it is the worst for me. We have had all staff meeting on how to deal with them before.  However, I have tried writing notes to their homeroom teacher, to the discipline office... it doesn't do anything.

I hate giving advice on these kind of things, as one kind of needs to be there to get it, but has the idea of having the parents of the worst trouble makers stay in a class or two ever come up? How about splitting the class apart (ie, into two groups who then are taught in separate classrooms)? Even changing the location of the class can impact how the kids behave (new territory where they dont feel as comfortable).

Barring all that, try a dog whistle (19 Khz is perfect: adults can't hear it while kids can) and a spray bottle. 

I have tried. This class is legendarily bad, and not just with me, they are like this with all the teachers, though I imagine it is the worst for me. We have had all staff meeting on how to deal with them before.  However, I have tried writing notes to their homeroom teacher, to the discipline office... it doesn't do anything.

I hate giving advice on these kind of things, as one kind of needs to be there to get it, but has the idea of having the parents of the worst trouble makers stay in a class or two ever come up? How about splitting the class apart (ie, into two groups who then are taught in separate classrooms)? Even changing the location of the class can impact how the kids behave (new territory where they dont feel as comfortable).

Barring all that, try a dog whistle (19 Khz is perfect: adults can't hear it while kids can) and a spray bottle. 

The whistle is a great idea, haha.

I have had class a few times in my English room and a few times in their room. That doesn't make a difference. I do know that the school has mentioned a few times that I need to take video of the bad classes so that the parents can't just say "It's because they don't understand English" or pass it off as no biggie. Or even worse that I'm lying, which is basically what it is.

Yes, I realize finals are over.

No, that doesn't meant classes are over.

Ugh. The percentage of students coming to class without their book is coming dangerously close to 50%.

I know the US is far from the paragon of educational standards, but in this one case I really do wish Korea would do it like the US does: Finals are at the very end of the school year. None of this finals two or three weeks before break starts, and then an additional two or three weeks of classes after the break but before the new school year starts nonsense.

It really doesn't make any sense. It's hard enough to get students to participate when they don't think they're done learning for the year. One of my CoTs even admitted today that it's exacerbated by all the pressure the system puts on the exams, so once those are over with, the students just sort of... check out.

Ugggggh.

Mine are like that too, now. I ask them a question and they just stare straight through me. As far as they`re concerned school is over.

Honestly, I've kinda checked out by that point too. Fortunately I get to do free lessons after finals (at least with my middle schools) because my coTs think cultural/fun lessons are important and feel the students should have a break following exams.

In elem, I have to continue doing lessons based on the vocab/key expressions of the chapters. For the last class of the year I do get to have a fun Christmas lesson though.

This afternoon I was checking what supplies I had on hand for camp. The camp stuff is in boxes on the top of a tall cupboard so I reached up, pulled one down, opened it up and I found fly larvae EVERYWHERE IN THE BOX. EVERYWHERE! Dead ones, live ones, big ones, small ones, they were everywhere (and tonight they'll be in my dreams, too). They'd even crawled into seemingly sealed packets.

I screamed like a little girl.

Someone very smart, very hygenic and very knowledgeable had - for reasons known only to themselves - decided to use that closed box (on top of a cupboard! Because really, that's the first place you think of to throw your trash away) as a trash bin for plastic ice lolly covers.

Plastic ice-lolly covers + summer + flies + unbothered environment = a whole bunch of camp stuff thrown out and a feeling of disgust that reaches all the way to the bottom of my stomach.

I brought Christmas cookies to school in a nice decorative Christmas tin.

The cookies were well received, but as my colleagues were enjoying them, one of the teachers tells the rest of the teachers that when the cookies are all gone, that she wants the tin.

The other teachers all said "OK".

In all my years of bringing Christmas treats to school, I've never encountered this sort of behavior.

I'm well aware that most Koreans don't understand nor appreciate the lineage and sentimental value that can be placed on these tins, but it struck me as rather bold.

My wife isn't thrilled, but prefers harmony over confrontation and has advised me to smile and bite my tongue.

Anyone experience this sort of thing before?

I mean, when we have brought food over to welcome new neighbors and the like, they have always returned our dishes.

What am I missing?

Man that's just... ugh

Maybe they thought you bought the cookies and that was just the tin that came with them? That's the only situation where I can see that being even remotely appropriate

Even then, I'd ask "Is this your tin or did it come with the cookies? If it came with them, could I have it?"

Yes, I realize finals are over.

No, that doesn't meant classes are over.

Ugggggh.

I still have to teach lessons (review of everything they learned this year). But I don't even know if these lessons will take place. The homeroom teachers just get to decide if they want to send the kids over that day. So I have to prep for lessons I don't even know if I'll have. This will continue into February.

Co-teacher is a no-show but she's sick and preggo so fair enough. However, her computer is the only one connected to the TV and it's password protected. Book review it is, then.

Yes, I realize finals are over.

No, that doesn't meant classes are over.

Ugggggh.

I still have to teach lessons (review of everything they learned this year). But I don't even know if these lessons will take place. The homeroom teachers just get to decide if they want to send the kids over that day. So I have to prep for lessons I don't even know if I'll have. This will continue into February.

It isn't even a case of review lessons for me: My students didn't even finish the books. Some classes still had two full chapters to finish when finals came around. That's what happens when classes are constantly cancelled throughout the semester and the finals take place two months before the school year ends, I suppose.

I'll still have to teach most of these kids next year (if my contract is renewed and I'm not moved again, which sure would be nice to know right about now), so I'd like to make sure they've at least completed this year's material before starting the new books next year. Once they're done with the books we can start doing the "fun" lessons, or perhaps a movie day or two, but until then it'd be nice if they'd at least pretend like the school year isn't over just yet.

I haven't finished all the books with my students, but I am so exhausted and over this year that my "good teacher" persona has left without so much as a goodbye and I do not care what I teach right now. In fact I would be quite happy to let the students just run rampant.

I was a great teacher all year and have been run into the ground with criticism and pettiness, I no longer give a flying ****

Co-teacher is a no-show but she's sick and preggo so fair enough. However, her computer is the only one connected to the TV and it's password protected. Book review it is, then.

Under the keyboard?

Co-teacher is a no-show but she's sick and preggo so fair enough. However, her computer is the only one connected to the TV and it's password protected. Book review it is, then.

Surely, everyone in your school knows the passwords to all the computers, no?

If not, the computer teacher will have it, at least.

Yes, I realize finals are over.

No, that doesn't meant classes are over.

Ugggggh.

I still have to teach lessons (review of everything they learned this year). But I don't even know if these lessons will take place. The homeroom teachers just get to decide if they want to send the kids over that day. So I have to prep for lessons I don't even know if I'll have. This will continue into February.

It isn't even a case of review lessons for me: My students didn't even finish the books. Some classes still had two full chapters to finish when finals came around. That's what happens when classes are constantly cancelled throughout the semester and the finals take place two months before the school year ends, I suppose.

I'll still have to teach most of these kids next year (if my contract is renewed and I'm not moved again, which sure would be nice to know right about now), so I'd like to make sure they've at least completed this year's material before starting the new books next year. Once they're done with the books we can start doing the "fun" lessons, or perhaps a movie day or two, but until then it'd be nice if they'd at least pretend like the school year isn't over just yet.

+1110000000000000000000000000

You still dont know about renewals? That's tough. Do you have any idea when you'll know?

I'm desperate to know about my school situation, kids and teachers keep asking me and I sound like an idiot.
Maybe it would be a better use of the POE time to work on renewals instead of learning to see 

Anyone have any success in ridding themselves of an online stalker, legally?

+1110000000000000000000000000

You still dont know about renewals? That's tough. Do you have any idea when you'll know?

I'm desperate to know about my school situation, kids and teachers keep asking me and I sound like an idiot.
Maybe it would be a better use of the POE time to work on renewals instead of learning to see 

Nope, haven't heard a thing, and I have no idea when I will.

On the subject of good use of their time, two weeks ago, the POE told my CoT that I needed some follow-up tests for my health check. I had already had the tests at a different clinic in the past, so my CoT tried to call the office to let them know, and to see if they still wanted me to go get the tests again.

...and he tried, tried, and tried again, all day long. No answer. Nobody on the messenger service. There was literally nobody at the POE for an entire day. I don't know what they were all out doing, but I suspect it wasn't trying to finalize our renewals.

Incidentally, we went and had the tests done, since we weren't able to get a hold of the POE. The results were exactly the same as they were the last time I had the tests, and I knew they would be. That was time out of my day and money out of my pocket wasted, because the POE couldn't bother to leave someone at their office to answer phones at some point during a full workday.

Anyone have any success in ridding themselves of an online stalker, legally?

Legally it's usually pretty difficult

My boyfriend had a stalker and he just had to change all his contact info and scrub his online presence

Anyone have any success in ridding themselves of an online stalker, legally?

Legally it's usually pretty difficult

My boyfriend had a stalker and he just had to change all his contact info and scrub his online presence

And that got rid of you?

 

waygook took a break again