RANTING/VENTING MEGATHREAD 3.0

Probably. One of my middle school coTs is easily embarrassed and would probably hate to be observed (even if by just me and we get along pretty well).

I have seen how my elem. coT "teaches" sometimes when she needs to take my class period to "catch up on the book." All she literally does is sit at the computer and click through the CD and make the class repeat after her. And yet she still manages to get behind.

Also, further annoyed as my elem. coT keeps talking about how things are going to be "easy" for me now that lessons are repeating. I still have middle schools to prepare new lessons and materials for not to mention improving previous lessons that didn't go over well or could be better. (Something I'm sure she doesn't believe in as she seems interested on coasting by as easily as possible. Don't project your laziness on me, woman  )

Also, further annoyed as my elem. coT keeps talking about how things are going to be "easy" for me now that lessons are repeating. I still have middle schools to prepare new lessons and materials for not to mention improving previous lessons that didn't go over well or could be better. (Something I'm sure she doesn't believe in as she seems interested on coasting by as easily as possible. Don't project your laziness on me, woman  )

God I get this as well and I hate it.  Heaven forbid we reuse material (something that every teacher in the world does).

I'm pretty sure that if the school textbook doesn't change then our CTs are just teaching the same classes with the same worksheets every year.

I taught at the same school for four years. I had one co-teacher who told me I wasn't allowed to use material I'd made for the previous year.

I don't understand. This makes the lessons BETTER. You know what works and what doesn't. You know how to improve it.

And the best part? IT'S STILL NEW FOR THE STUDENTS. The teachers have done it sure, but it's not about them. It's about education for the students. And if you know that something is engaging and educational, you should be able to use it a million times. As long as you don't act bored with the material, who gives a shit?

So stupid.

I taught at the same school for four years. I had one co-teacher who told me I wasn't allowed to use material I'd made for the previous year.

I don't understand. This makes the lessons BETTER. You know what works and what doesn't. You know how to improve it.

And the best part? IT'S STILL NEW FOR THE STUDENTS. The teachers have done it sure, but it's not about them. It's about education for the students. And if you know that something is engaging and educational, you should be able to use it a million times. As long as you don't act bored with the material, who gives a shit?

So stupid.

Yeah. It was absurd. I had one lesson I wanted to do for the grade six writing period in a lesson. Students see a sentence on the TV and have to find the mistakes, correct them, and write it in their notebook. I was at a really high level school, so students actually really enjoyed stuff like this that was a bit of a challenge. I had made it from scratch the previous year with sentences that exactly matched the lesson material, etc.

So, I was like, "Let's use this lesson, it worked really well last year and students really enjoyed it."

She responded, "Well, you should be making new material and being more creative. Plus, it doesn't matter if students enjoyed it, it matters whether or not it was useful. We can't just do whatever students want all the time."

And I was like, "This is an activity for the writing period which actively gets students writing, and also writing correctly and learning how to spot their own mistakes, and they enjoy it."

And in the end she said she didn't like it and I had to make something new.

Should have told her "Well it doesn't matter if you like it, it matters that it was useful. We can't just do what you want all the time." 

I taught at the same school for four years. I had one co-teacher who told me I wasn't allowed to use material I'd made for the previous year.

I don't understand. This makes the lessons BETTER. You know what works and what doesn't. You know how to improve it.

And the best part? IT'S STILL NEW FOR THE STUDENTS. The teachers have done it sure, but it's not about them. It's about education for the students. And if you know that something is engaging and educational, you should be able to use it a million times. As long as you don't act bored with the material, who gives a shit?

So stupid.

Yeah. It was absurd. I had one lesson I wanted to do for the grade six writing period in a lesson. Students see a sentence on the TV and have to find the mistakes, correct them, and write it in their notebook. I was at a really high level school, so students actually really enjoyed stuff like this that was a bit of a challenge. I had made it from scratch the previous year with sentences that exactly matched the lesson material, etc.

So, I was like, "Let's use this lesson, it worked really well last year and students really enjoyed it."

She responded, "Well, you should be making new material and being more creative. Plus, it doesn't matter if students enjoyed it, it matters whether or not it was useful. We can't just do whatever students want all the time."

And I was like, "This is an activity for the writing period which actively gets students writing, and also writing correctly and learning how to spot their own mistakes, and they enjoy it."

And in the end she said she didn't like it and I had to make something new.

Should have told her "Well it doesn't matter if you like it, it matters that it was useful. We can't just do what you want all the time." 

Well yes, but you can't just tell your superior that they're wrong. That's a really good way to get your contract not-renewed.

I know. But we can dream, eh? 

I taught at the same school for four years. I had one co-teacher who told me I wasn't allowed to use material I'd made for the previous year.

I don't understand. This makes the lessons BETTER. You know what works and what doesn't. You know how to improve it.

And the best part? IT'S STILL NEW FOR THE STUDENTS. The teachers have done it sure, but it's not about them. It's about education for the students. And if you know that something is engaging and educational, you should be able to use it a million times. As long as you don't act bored with the material, who gives a shit?

So stupid.

Yeah. It was absurd. I had one lesson I wanted to do for the grade six writing period in a lesson. Students see a sentence on the TV and have to find the mistakes, correct them, and write it in their notebook. I was at a really high level school, so students actually really enjoyed stuff like this that was a bit of a challenge. I had made it from scratch the previous year with sentences that exactly matched the lesson material, etc.

So, I was like, "Let's use this lesson, it worked really well last year and students really enjoyed it."

She responded, "Well, you should be making new material and being more creative. Plus, it doesn't matter if students enjoyed it, it matters whether or not it was useful. We can't just do whatever students want all the time."

And I was like, "This is an activity for the writing period which actively gets students writing, and also writing correctly and learning how to spot their own mistakes, and they enjoy it."

And in the end she said she didn't like it and I had to make something new.

Honestly, some co-teachers make no sense at all. I have one who prefers to handle all of the speaking bits, including listening and repeating..... Like, hello...? I'm the native speaker... Maybe it would be better if they heard my pronunciation... And I appreciate that he tries to teach them phrases and vocabulary that aren't in the textbook, but it would be a lot better if he actually checked them with me so that he doesn't go and teach them grammatically incorrect phrases. It would be fine if he was actually good at English...

The one who I had this disagreement with had exceptionally good English, but...

Oh, yeah, my situation was completely different. I just quoted you because it kind of reminded me of my one co-teacher. In your case, it's annoying regardless of the KT's English ability when they try to control your lesson just for the sake of being in control.

Honestly, some co-teachers make no sense at all. I have one who prefers to handle all of the speaking bits, including listening and repeating..... Like, hello...? I'm the native speaker... Maybe it would be better if they heard my pronunciation... And I appreciate that he tries to teach them phrases and vocabulary that aren't in the textbook, but it would be a lot better if he actually checked them with me so that he doesn't go and teach them grammatically incorrect phrases. It would be fine if he was actually good at English...

THIS. For some reason my elem. coT has decided that her speaking and pronunciation is much more important than mine in our grade 3 classes... it's as if she wants to impress upon them her own pronunciations instead of more correct ways. With grade 3s I feel it is especially important for them to listen to a, oh, I don't know, NATIVE SPEAKER. 

I will pronounce things but then she'll keep trying to take over the class and force her own pronunciation on them. I will repeat pronunciation for the kids but sometimes she'll insist on having the last word (literally). The battles become time wasters so I have to just let it go a lot of the time.

But this is a teacher who mixes up L & R, F & V, even S and Th. Not to mention dropping articles and teaching the students incorrectly even after I've stated the correct way (ex. How many dog? Do you like a dog?  )

I hate eating lunch with my coworkers. It's so lonely. Every day I go with my 3 English coteachers and sometimes the gym and music teachers. All 5 of them can speak English to some degree, however they always exclude me from conversation. I've tried making small talk with them... "How was your trip?" "Wow did you feel the earthquake last night?" But it just turns into a simple response and they carry on the conversation without me in Korean. I feel like it's a little rude to butt in and ask what's going on, so I just kinda gave up and eat lunch in silence every day. I understand and don't expect them to go way out of their comfort zone to speak English to me all during lunch time, but I would appreciate them including me every once in a while....

#basedcowboyshirt: I completely agree. I hate co-teaching and it doesn't even necessarily have to do anything with the KT. I only dislike one co-teacher at the moment but that doesn't even matter. I just hate co-teaching--period.

yirj17: One of my co-teachers last year actually tried to correct my pronunciation one time in the middle of class. I didn't even bother telling her how stupid that was; I think the look I gave her was enough to get the message across.

It's a bit more complex than that.

No it isn't. If you take in fewer calories than you expend you will lose weight. Whether or not you put it on again when you change your diet afterwards and how quickly, is a different issue and not one I was commenting on. 

#basedcowboyshirt: I completely agree. I hate co-teaching and it doesn't even necessarily have to do anything with the KT. I only dislike one co-teacher at the moment but that doesn't even matter. I just hate co-teaching--period.

yirj17: One of my co-teachers last year actually tried to correct my pronunciation one time in the middle of class. I didn't even bother telling her how stupid that was; I think the look I gave her was enough to get the message across.

I was once told that it's incorrect to pronounce the 't' in 'badminton,' and that it should be pronounced 'badmin'on' with a glottal stop. I disagreed, and she said "You don't know because you didn't study this. You're just going by your instinct as a native speaker."

Wrap your head around that.

To be completely honest, I don't think anyone around me has ever pronounced it without the 't'... Your KT is stupid.

When I first started teaching, this coT would constantly try to change the rules in games. Occasionally there were times when things could be a little flexible (like 2 teams or 3 teams) but other times... once I was teaching a version of battleship and she tried to interrupt and say "oh, but I think it's ok if they can see (each other's boards)" to which I shut her down and just told her no.  The game literally does not work the way she wanted to play it.

A lot of the kids know how she is though. When she goes off on a rambling tangent they just look at me despairingly. And they get disappointed if it turns out she's using a class to "catch up on the book" because the book is boring as hell and then they don't get to play any games or do any activities.

Honestly, some co-teachers make no sense at all. I have one who prefers to handle all of the speaking bits, including listening and repeating..... Like, hello...? I'm the native speaker... Maybe it would be better if they heard my pronunciation... And I appreciate that he tries to teach them phrases and vocabulary that aren't in the textbook, but it would be a lot better if he actually checked them with me so that he doesn't go and teach them grammatically incorrect phrases. It would be fine if he was actually good at English...

THIS. For some reason my elem. coT has decided that her speaking and pronunciation is much more important than mine in our grade 3 classes... it's as if she wants to impress upon them her own pronunciations instead of more correct ways. With grade 3s I feel it is especially important for them to listen to a, oh, I don't know, NATIVE SPEAKER. 

I will pronounce things but then she'll keep trying to take over the class and force her own pronunciation on them. I will repeat pronunciation for the kids but sometimes she'll insist on having the last word (literally). The battles become time wasters so I have to just let it go a lot of the time.

But this is a teacher who mixes up L & R, F & V, even S and Th. Not to mention dropping articles and teaching the students incorrectly even after I've stated the correct way (ex. How many dog? Do you like a dog?  )

Do your students get confused with the pronunciation? I have these same types of battles with my CT over the word "finished", and the students faces when I correct them are like 

Honestly, some co-teachers make no sense at all. I have one who prefers to handle all of the speaking bits, including listening and repeating..... Like, hello...? I'm the native speaker... Maybe it would be better if they heard my pronunciation... And I appreciate that he tries to teach them phrases and vocabulary that aren't in the textbook, but it would be a lot better if he actually checked them with me so that he doesn't go and teach them grammatically incorrect phrases. It would be fine if he was actually good at English...

THIS. For some reason my elem. coT has decided that her speaking and pronunciation is much more important than mine in our grade 3 classes... it's as if she wants to impress upon them her own pronunciations instead of more correct ways. With grade 3s I feel it is especially important for them to listen to a, oh, I don't know, NATIVE SPEAKER. 

I will pronounce things but then she'll keep trying to take over the class and force her own pronunciation on them. I will repeat pronunciation for the kids but sometimes she'll insist on having the last word (literally). The battles become time wasters so I have to just let it go a lot of the time.

But this is a teacher who mixes up L & R, F & V, even S and Th. Not to mention dropping articles and teaching the students incorrectly even after I've stated the correct way (ex. How many dog? Do you like a dog?  )

Do your students get confused with the pronunciation? I have these same types of battles with my CT over the word "finished", and the students faces when I correct them are like 

I can hear some of the students fixing their pronunciation to follow mine but some I think just aren't good at pronunciation [yet]. It's an uphill battle. If she would just shut up and stop yapping there could be some more improvement but...

Also, badmin'on?!? What dafuq!!

once I was teaching a version of battleship and she tried to interrupt and say "oh, but I think it's ok if they can see (each other's boards)" to which I shut her down and just told her no.  The game literally does not work the way she wanted to play it.

  x 1000

Right? And this is the coT who is stockpiling my materials... I shudder to think if she actually tries to use any of them herself when I'm gone.

Right? And this is the coT who is stockpiling my materials... I shudder to think if she actually tries to use any of them herself when I'm gone.

My annoying co-teacher from last year asked me for all my powerpoints before she left because she wants to coast through her classes at her new school (she literally said that...) and I told her that my USB was corrupted so I couldn't give her everything. The few I gave her, though... All I can say is good luck using them lol I customise all my PPTs to suit the way that I teach and explain. There are no notes and a lot of times there are no actual words so you have to know how the powerpoint is set up in order to use them. A lot of times, I have a general script in my head and the order of the slides and animations reflect that unwritten script.

Right? And this is the coT who is stockpiling my materials... I shudder to think if she actually tries to use any of them herself when I'm gone.

My annoying co-teacher from last year asked me for all my powerpoints before she left because she wants to coast through her classes at her new school (she literally said that...) and I told her that my USB was corrupted so I couldn't give her everything. The few I gave her, though... All I can say is good luck using them lol I customise all my PPTs to suit the way that I teach and explain. There are no notes and a lot of times there are no actual words so you have to know how the powerpoint is set up in order to use them. A lot of times, I have a general script in my head and the order of the slides and animations reflect that unwritten script.

Another thing that annoys me-- this coT would insist I email her everything (lesson plans, ppts, materials) in advance but quickly stopped actually checking any of it (after which I sent her bunk). If she had actually checked my PPTs beforehand, she might understand the flow of the lesson. Instead, she often interrupts me to "tell them something" that actually comes up later in the PPT. A lot of times I cut her off and tell her that it's in the PPT but honestly I swear she just likes to hear herself talk 

Right? And this is the coT who is stockpiling my materials... I shudder to think if she actually tries to use any of them herself when I'm gone.

My annoying co-teacher from last year asked me for all my powerpoints before she left because she wants to coast through her classes at her new school (she literally said that...) and I told her that my USB was corrupted so I couldn't give her everything. The few I gave her, though... All I can say is good luck using them lol I customise all my PPTs to suit the way that I teach and explain. There are no notes and a lot of times there are no actual words so you have to know how the powerpoint is set up in order to use them. A lot of times, I have a general script in my head and the order of the slides and animations reflect that unwritten script.

Another thing that annoys me-- this coT would insist I email her everything (lesson plans, ppts, materials) in advance but quickly stopped actually checking any of it (after which I sent her bunk). If she had actually checked my PPTs beforehand, she might understand the flow of the lesson. Instead, she often interrupts me to "tell them something" that actually comes up later in the PPT. A lot of times I cut her off and tell her that it's in the PPT but honestly I swear she just likes to hear herself talk 

This conversation is making me so glad that my old co-teacher left.