My new job

I'm very happy with my new job. It's working out well for me so far.

My boss has been a great guy to me so far, as are the other people that I work with.

My schedule is like this:

Monday/Wednesday:
4:00-4:50 - class (10-11 year olds)
5:00-5:50 - class (11-12 year olds)
6:00-6:50 - class (12-13 year olds)
7:00-7:50 - class (13-14 year olds)
8:00-8:50 - class (14-15 year olds)
9:00-9:50 - interviews

Tuesday/Thursday:
4:00-4:50 - class (10-11 year olds)
5:00-5:50 - class (11-12 year olds)
6:00-6:50 - class (12-13 year olds)
7:00-7:50 - class (13-14 year olds)
8:00-8:50 - interviews
9:00-9:50 - interviews

Friday:
3:00-3:50 - interviews
4:00-4:50 - interviews
5:00-5:50 - interviews
6:00-6:50 - interviews
7:00-7:50 - interviews
8:00-8:50 - interviews

I might be a bit off on the ages, but you get the idea. Basically, my kids get older as the day goes on. The oldest classes are not the best at English. It seems that the children in the 11-13 age range are the best. They seem more interested in learning their new language, as well as actively practicing it. Many of them are very talkative. The older ones aren't interested in what I have to say for the most part, aside from a handful of the students. One of the older girls seems to be intensely interested in my every word, and a few of the boys think that I'm the coolest guy ever because I showed them my motorbike after class. All in all though, most of the kids are pretty good. I took over Ken's former schedule (the guy I replaced), and he had a pretty effective discipline/reward system in place. This is how it goes:

Like a football official (soccer), I give out yellow cards when something wrong occurs. For too much talking, talking in Korean (aside from trying to figure the English out of course!!!), fighting, using bad words, not paying attention, getting lost in the book, etc., I give out a yellow card. Not a real card, just a figurative one. Unlike in football, I give out three cards (instead of two). Three cards equals a red card, and an ejection from class for a period of time determined by me (depending on what the kid did). Maybe I'll only be for a minute, or maybe for the entire class if they did something really bad, like telling me to fuck off or something. I also have the option of getting a Korean teacher to phone their mother, and they DO NOT want that! Corperal punishment in still in full usage in Korean homes, and I think it works. All of the kids know this system, and I has been working well for me. The classes are a breeze so far.

For rewards, I buy candy and give it out for good work. If a kid uses a full sentence correctly, or just generally impresses me, I give them candy. It's fun for the students and it's fun for me. It also encourages everyone to participate and really think about how they can respond to questions and situations. Those bored kids really do pay more attention if there are rewards involved. It's amazing that everyone really does like candy. I probably spend a dollar or two every day on this. It's worth it.

Mostly in class, I just try to have interesting conversations and a lot of oral question and answer. I don't really even try to teach grammar. If I do, I keep it very simple. I don't know how to speak Korean, and therefore am really in no position to explain things in detail. My job is to provide an opportunity for Koreans to talk to a native speaker of English, and to correct things like pronunciation and strange word orders. My last job, for example, didn't realize this. They tried to make me into a full-on teacher, which was stupid. I just can't do that without knowing Korea. If they had visited this school and learned a thing or two, my last job may have been much better.

As you're reading this, you're probably wondering what the "interviews" in my schedule are. Well, they are just that; interviews. In my school, which, including the basement, is five floors of maybe 5 or so classrooms each, there are small interview rooms. These rooms consist of a table and a few chairs. I interview usually one or two students at a time. There is a daily topic to talk about, and I just take it from there with the students. Sometimes there are many students waiting to be interviewed, and sometimes only a few. So, the interview time varies. Some are only 5 minutes or so, and I've had some for as long as 30 minutes. Often the kids get right into it, and we have a pretty cool conversation. Lots of the kids are quite good at stringing together a conversation. One little guy, maybe 11 years old, has memorized all sorts of big words from a college textbook. He's like a walking thesaurus. It's quite fun talking to him, because he'll say long words that I actually have to think of the meaning for! He once went into a diatribe (yes, he has used that word) about the inadequicies (and that one) of George W. Bush, comparing him to his own president, as well as Bill Clinton, in the process. I was floored. Maybe I'll introduce him to Descartes, Leibniz and Hume (philosophers) and see where he can take that. Some kids are just brilliant.

On the other hand, some kids are just strange.

One little girl, who is not one of my students, sees me on most days of the week in the hallway. On both Monday and Tuesday, I tried to be friendly with her and say "hello, how are you?", etc. She ran away in terror of the new foreigner both times. On Wednesday, she managed one word.

"Ugly."

On Friday, she talked a little more. She say me, walked right up to me and asked me when I had interviews. I told here that I had one at 6 (I substituded for a few classes on Friday). She said that was good, because she had one at 5 and didn't want an ugly teacher to interview her. :O (this was all done in very broken English.)

What do you say to that???

I really do enjoy my new job so far.