RANTING/VENTING MEGATHREAD 3.0

Saw a lady with a baby strapped to her chest get in the front seat of her car and drive off with the baby still strapped to her chest between her and the steering wheel. I wanted to say something along the lines of, if you crash you will crush your baby or the air bag will crush your baby. A few years ago I would have said something but these days I just think meh, what's the point? 

Saw a lady with a baby strapped to her chest get in the front seat of her car and drive off with the baby still strapped to her chest between her and the steering wheel. I wanted to say something along the lines of, if you crash you will crush your baby or the air bag will crush your baby. A few years ago I would have said something but these days I just think meh, what's the point? 

At least the baby was strapped to something, I guess. I've seen a few instances of mothers driving along with their babies just sitting in their laps.

Saw a lady with a baby strapped to her chest get in the front seat of her car and drive off with the baby still strapped to her chest between her and the steering wheel. I wanted to say something along the lines of, if you crash you will crush your baby or the air bag will crush your baby. A few years ago I would have said something but these days I just think meh, what's the point? 

At least the baby was strapped to something, I guess. I've consistently seen a few instances,mothers driving along with their babies just sitting in their laps.

I see this kind of stuff all the time.The IF can become a reality at the drop of a hat. I am waiting for the police crackdown. I may be waiting forever...

Saw a lady with a baby strapped to her chest get in the front seat of her car and drive off with the baby still strapped to her chest between her and the steering wheel. I wanted to say something along the lines of, if you crash you will crush your baby or the air bag will crush your baby. A few years ago I would have said something but these days I just think meh, what's the point? 

At least the baby was strapped to something, I guess. I've consistently seen a few instances,mothers driving along with their babies just sitting in their laps.

I see this kind of stuff all the time.The IF can become a reality at the drop of a hat. I am waiting for the police crackdown. I may be waiting forever...

I see kids not buckled in and crawling around all over the place in the backs of cars fairly regularly. I suppose I'll consider myself (and my blood pressure) lucky that I haven't seen too many lap-babies in the driver's seat. 

Today I had my most dreaded class with the 2nd grade (Middle School) boys.

One of the students asked me if they could use the restroom, and I told him like a lazy father to go ask my CT. I only did this because I knew he was one of the most disruptive students. Later my CT tells me that he and another student are missing and she leaves to find them. This class still remains somehow more behaved than usual.

After they come back, I'm trying to do the listening activities but my CT is chastising them and nobody can hear the dialogue. She had them both stand in the back, and the other kid had the absolute worst attitude (the kind that would get you smacked back home). He sat next to the cleaning cabinet, and started hawking up loogies and spitting them inside, behind and around the cabinet area.

The amount of disrespect this kid had. I would've been furious if my CT wasn't already.

I see kids not buckled in and crawling around all over the place in the backs of cars fairly regularly. I suppose I'll consider myself (and my blood pressure) lucky that I haven't seen too many lap-babies in the driver's seat. 

The day after I made this comment, I went and had my annual health check.

Surprise! High blood pressure!

 

 

 

Speaking tests have begun again.

And the pressure to give students undeserved grades is a lot higher this semester than in previous semesters. Their reasoning? That more students are wanting to attend non-technical high schools than in previous recent years, so they want to encourage that.

And it's like... students who put in zero effort for their speaking exam won't do very well in "regular" high school anyway. The only reason why those students even have a chance of getting into a non-technical high school is because KTs have fudged with their scores and grades. And they keep pushing me to do the same, when, honestly, those kids SHOULD go to a technical high school. They're clearly not invested in their academics, so they need to learn a trade instead.

I will not be persuaded. The teachers are just gonna have to start learning to push the students to take the speaking exams more seriously and to stop sheltering them from life. More students would take reality more seriously if teachers weren't so easily manipulated or coerced into rewarding students for putting in little to no effort.

There's just no ****** way I will be pressured into giving a student who can't even answer "How are you?" an 'A'. ********* no.

This is probably why certain KTs kept coming at me with "English is hard" within the last few weeks. They knew that the speaking exams were close and were trying to manipulate me into being "easier" on the students (i.e. giving them high grades regardless of their actual performances). To complete the picture for everyone, they were insisting that I only really needed to do it for certain students, not all (basically, their pets).

I ****** said 'no'. I will never change my mind. I'm actually seriously tempted to be harsher in my grading this year because of the constant pressure. You're just hurting yourself at this point, start ****** realizing that, I will ****** leave Korea before I dole out A's or B's to arrogant brats who refused to put in any effort because they felt entitled and above it all.

Speaking tests have begun again.

And the pressure to give students undeserved grades is a lot higher this semester than in previous semesters. Their reasoning? That more students are wanting to attend non-technical high schools than in previous recent years, so they want to encourage that.

And it's like... students who put in zero effort for their speaking exam won't do very well in "regular" high school anyway. The only reason why those students even have a chance of getting into a non-technical high school is because KTs have fudged with their scores and grades. And they keep pushing me to do the same, when, honestly, those kids SHOULD go to a technical high school. They're clearly not invested in their academics, so they need to learn a trade instead.

I will not be persuaded. The teachers are just gonna have to start learning to push the students to take the speaking exams more seriously and to stop sheltering them from life. More students would take reality more seriously if teachers weren't so easily manipulated or coerced into rewarding students for putting in little to no effort.

There's just no ****** way I will be pressured into giving a student who can't even answer "How are you?" an 'A'. ********* no.

This is probably why certain KTs kept coming at me with "English is hard" within the last few weeks. They knew that the speaking exams were close and were trying to manipulate me into being "easier" on the students (i.e. giving them high grades regardless of their actual performances). To complete the picture for everyone, they were insisting that I only really needed to do it for certain students, not all (basically, their pets).

I ****** said 'no'. I will never change my mind. I'm actually seriously tempted to be harsher in my grading this year because of the constant pressure. You're just hurting yourself at this point, start ****** realizing that, I will ****** leave Korea before I dole out A's or B's to arrogant brats who refused to put in any effort because they felt entitled and above it all.

In Korea, your integrity is the last bastion defending your mental well-being.

Speaking tests have begun again.

And the pressure to give students undeserved grades is a lot higher this semester than in previous semesters. Their reasoning? That more students are wanting to attend non-technical high schools than in previous recent years, so they want to encourage that.

And it's like... students who put in zero effort for their speaking exam won't do very well in "regular" high school anyway. The only reason why those students even have a chance of getting into a non-technical high school is because KTs have fudged with their scores and grades. And they keep pushing me to do the same, when, honestly, those kids SHOULD go to a technical high school. They're clearly not invested in their academics, so they need to learn a trade instead.

I will not be persuaded. The teachers are just gonna have to start learning to push the students to take the speaking exams more seriously and to stop sheltering them from life. More students would take reality more seriously if teachers weren't so easily manipulated or coerced into rewarding students for putting in little to no effort.

There's just no ****** way I will be pressured into giving a student who can't even answer "How are you?" an 'A'. ********* no.

This is probably why certain KTs kept coming at me with "English is hard" within the last few weeks. They knew that the speaking exams were close and were trying to manipulate me into being "easier" on the students (i.e. giving them high grades regardless of their actual performances). To complete the picture for everyone, they were insisting that I only really needed to do it for certain students, not all (basically, their pets).

I ****** said 'no'. I will never change my mind. I'm actually seriously tempted to be harsher in my grading this year because of the constant pressure. You're just hurting yourself at this point, start ****** realizing that, I will ****** leave Korea before I dole out A's or B's to arrogant brats who refused to put in any effort because they felt entitled and above it all.

Accurate. I will, very, very occasionally, reward effort or improvement over actual performance. Like, if a student just naturally isn't very good at English (or academics, in general), but they always make an effort to complete all the assignments, participate actively, and really make a genuine effort to learn, I may mark them more generously than I would someone who refuses to pick up a pencil for the entire year. But yeah. I refuse to give free grades to students who literally just sit there and say nothing. Like, yeah, I get it - English is hard, but like, that doesn't mean you can't try.

Also, ugh - the whole attitude towards technical schools being for the failed students really grinds my gears. Measuring intelligence or potential by such narrow criteria as academic performance in a small selection of subjects is so wrong. Some people might be awful at math, language, and science, but could be a gifted musician, woodworker, electrician, plumber, or something. And all of those are skilled labour. There's literally no shame in that.

But regrettably, in Korea, tradespeople are not necessarily expected to be educated in their field, or particularly skilled, or anything. And they're paid accordingly. And this is why you get shoddy, poor quality buildings, and people generally not taking pride in their work, because nobody would recognize a good job if they even saw it.

Tradespeople should be required to be educated and / or licensed in what they do, for a lot of jobs. They should also be paid accordingly. There's a reason why, in most western countries, plumbers, electricians etc make respectable money - it's because they need to be good at what they do, and what they do is difficult.

Maybe youth unemployment here wouldn't be so miserably high if society didn't actively discourage students from going into fields where workers are most desperately needed.

(Disclaimer: yes, obviously there are skilled, professional tradespeople here - but there are also a lot who are not)

In Korea, your integrity is the last bastion defending your mental well-being.

Nah. Even if they totally destroy my integrity, they will then need to deal with plan b, which is utter apathy. That said, I feel that while I've learned to be flexible, my integrity is still okay. Hopefully it'll stay that way, fingers crossed.


Also, be careful about taking a very strong stance wrt speaking tests.

If I were a Korean teacher, and was unhappy with the grades my lazy-ass NET was giving to my little angels, I would just fudge them when I enter the scores into their grade spread sheets. It's super easy, completely avoids conflict, and leaves everybody happy (because ignorance is bliss).

I suspect it's been done a few times behind my back which is frustrating but, I mean, it's not like I can demand to see the final grade breakdown of each and every student...

In Korea, your integrity is the last bastion defending your mental well-being.

Nah. Even if they totally destroy my integrity, they will then need to deal with plan b, which is utter apathy. That said, I feel that while I've learned to be flexible, my integrity is still okay. Hopefully it'll stay that way, fingers crossed.


Also, be careful about taking a very strong stance wrt speaking tests.

If I were a Korean teacher, and was unhappy with the grades my lazy-ass NET was giving to my little angels, I would just fudge them when I enter the scores into their grade spread sheets. It's super easy, completely avoids conflict, and leaves everybody happy (because ignorance is bliss).

I suspect it's been done a few times behind my back which is frustrating but, I mean, it's not like I can demand to see the final grade breakdown of each and every student...

Waygook.org moderator LVL 1 kyndo knows what's up.

Apathy is the answer.

I ****** said 'no'. I will never change my mind. I'm actually seriously tempted to be harsher in my grading this year because of the constant pressure. You're just hurting yourself at this point, start ****** realizing that, I will ****** leave Korea before I dole out A's or B's to arrogant brats who refused to put in any effort because they felt entitled and above it all.

I wish so badly that I could give some of these kids a 0. I don't see the point of lower numbers existing if they can't be used. If all the students get A's or B's by default, the bad students who don't try don't deserve it, and it's unfair to the students that DO make an effort. Not to mention the arrogance it fills in some of their heads knowing there's no consequence to not trying.

I'd be pissed if I studied for hours and hours on end just to end up with the same result as my slacker of a classmate who didn't even make an attempt on the test.

Haha, sorry to hear that.  Will that effect you if you're trying to renew your contract?

I guess we'll find out soon enough.

EDIT: Well, that's a first. Never had a post I'm responding to disappear while i'm typing my response to it before. 

Haha, sorry to hear that.  Will that effect you if you're trying to renew your contract?

I guess we'll find out soon enough.

EDIT: Well, that's a first. Never had a post I'm responding to disappear while i'm typing my response to it before. 

Lol sorry I wanted to edit my post to make it look neater (reduce the quoted part).  You replied too quick haha. Good luck.

Haha, sorry to hear that.  Will that effect you if you're trying to renew your contract?

I guess we'll find out soon enough.

EDIT: Well, that's a first. Never had a post I'm responding to disappear while i'm typing my response to it before. 

You should be fine. If they don't make you schedule a return visit when you get the results, you're good. If they do decide it's too high, they'll just tell you to come back and test it again in a week or so. Giving you time to make it okay.

If I were a Korean teacher, and was unhappy with the grades my lazy-ass NET was giving to my little angels, I would just fudge them when I enter the scores into their grade spread sheets. It's super easy, completely avoids conflict, and leaves everybody happy (because ignorance is bliss).

I suspect it's been done a few times behind my back which is frustrating but, I mean, it's not like I can demand to see the final grade breakdown of each and every student...

I know for a fact that they give students the opportunity to complete extra credit assignments to help raise their final scores.

I think that's the main reason why they keep trying to push me to grade more leniently -- so that they can avoid more work on their own parts because I think my school has safeguards in place to prevent manipulation of other teachers' submitted grades.

But I mean, that's their prerogative. I don't care if they want to change the grades or whatever (this is where my apathy kicks in), but I'm not going to make it easier for them. I do my part, and whatever they decide to do about that after the fact is on their heads. If they want to shelter the students, if they want to coddle them and enable terrible study habits, then they can do that without my help. I'm not about to enable their bad habits, too.

Also, ugh - the whole attitude towards technical schools being for the failed students really grinds my gears. Measuring intelligence or potential by such narrow criteria as academic performance in a small selection of subjects is so wrong. Some people might be awful at math, language, and science, but could be a gifted musician, woodworker, electrician, plumber, or something. And all of those are skilled labour. There's literally no shame in that.

I agree, skilled tradesman usually make more money than people with fancy degrees, lol, as long as they're coming from places that require an apprenticeship and certification process. They earn a ton of money while they're learning the trade, and it doubles, even triples, once they become certified.

There's no shame in it whatsover, but people the world over will often look down their noses at electricians or plumbers, never once realizing that those guys can easily make six figures (in dollars) once certified. It's the best thing for people who can't take their academics seriously (or who just aren't good at book learning in general) because the training (and learning process) is mostly hands on and immediately applicable.

I can relate to giving bonus points to students that have made obvious effort and marked improvement, too. I have a specific category in my grading rubric for it. Many students take advantage of that to help boost their grade, and they deserve it. Then you have other students who think they can just cry to their KTs so that their KTs can champion their causes for them. And to those kids, nope, it ain't gonna work. Or when you get students who scored very well in the first semester, then slacked off in the second semester because they'd believed that they would get the same score ragardless of how they actually performed. Like for some reason they believe this will carry over.  Then they cry "unfair" when reality slaps them in the face, and make a lot of unsubstatiated claims that most KTs (in my experience) will auto-believe. These students are the ones that cause the most trouble, tbh. They're the reasons why I started keeping detailed notes and even record some of them.

Some of you guys on here gave me advice to challenge my middle school students as a way to keep them engaged in the class. Well I tried, and my CT told me that it was too hard for them (I'm literally teaching animal kingdom vocabulary like mammals, reptiles, etc.). Oh but I bet you it wouldn't be if these scoundrels actually payed attention.

She told me I should give them something on the elementary level instead.

This is all so counter-productive! And now I gotta come up with another lesson for this week.

Some of you guys on here gave me advice to challenge my middle school students as a way to keep them engaged in the class. Well I tried, and my CT told me that it was too hard for them (I'm literally teaching animal kingdom vocabulary like mammals, reptiles, etc.). Oh but I bet you it wouldn't be if these scoundrels actually payed attention.

She told me I should give them something on the elementary level instead.

This is all so counter-productive! And now I gotta come up with another lesson for this week.

Keep the animal theme, but dumb it way the heck down...

Think "barnyard animals and thier sounds".

Some of you guys on here gave me advice to challenge my students as a way to keep them engaged in the class. Well I tried, and my CT told me that it was too hard for them (I'm literally teaching animal kingdom vocabulary like mammals, reptiles, etc.).

Nonsense. I taught a whole series of lessons on that same topic, and it was just fine. Sure, there were some kids for whom it was too difficult, but they were the same kids who managed to make it to middle school 3rd grade without learning how to count past ten or answer "how's the weather."

Yeah, the ones that find it too difficult are normally the ones who don't try.

Like, for example, I'll put up a display slide of both questions and responses to those questions whenever I need the students to complete a writing intensive worksheet. You have the basic structure of the sentences with blanks that students can fill in with their own personalized word choices (usually their choice of verbs and corresponding nouns or noun clauses), and I always include the Korean translation of those sentences so that low level students have something to refer to while thinking about their answers.

And I still get a bunch of students who take the entire class period to finish writing, at most, five sentences, because they can't ****** remember what the sentences mean, despite me going through it with everyone at the beginning of class AND keeping a display slide up for reference... or at least, this is the excuse that they give. What happens is they don't ****** pay attention, so they don't notice the display until I show it to them again, and even then they don't actually look at the slide because they don't ever seem to realize that the Korean translation is there for them until I physically take them by the wrists and sit them down in front of it. It's like as soon as they see English writing, their brains just shut down, and they blank out. 

So no matter how simple the assignment is, I can't leave students to work through it on their own, even with a display. I have to go through each section one at a time, and have myself and the coT visit with each student to make sure (s)he written what we're currently going over, literally one sentence at a time. As time-consuming as this is, it takes less time than trusting the students to work on their own, and it's easier to keep up with the schedule this way.

And even though I instruct more advanced students to help classmates that aren't finished with their assignments, they normally don't unless I hover nearby. Sometimes this is because of reasons that are outside of their control, but sometimes it's because they don't want to put in more work than they have to, and helping classmates is too much work.

Beginning of next year I'm going to try assigning roles to students to help with project and worksheet management.