It's only Wednesday and it's already been pretty bad. Monday went fine; the first-grade English teacher and I frequently communicated on what we're going to do with the first grade classes. Tuesday was when things just started to fall apart. The second-grade girls classes were OK (although the textbook material was fairly dry *surprise, surprise*), but the second grade boys on the other hand were driving me nuts! I've started to take a more active role in trying to keep things calm, but things still easily get out of hand as the little hell-raisers have hardly any respect for the Korean teacher. It's only 10 AM Wednesday now, but things already are horribly cruddy. Went to school with a terrible splitting headache and the first class (about a third of which also had colds because of all the wind and rain on Tuesday and this morning) didn't go well although some of the kids tried to keep things going (Buddha grace them). The textbook material was a snore generator and so I decided (perhaps wrongly) to perhaps throw in a quick game of pictionary to get their collective attentions back to focus. The students were cheerful. The third grade teacher, however, was furious with me; she goes by the old-school idea that English teaching should be by the book and all study-study-study and in my lightheadedness, we had a minor altercation that (to both our embarassments) the students caught in which we argued our respective philosophies on how to keep students' attentions. Even more embarassing was that they kind of understood that there was a conflict of ideas; students afterwards voiced their support for me. I tried to appear and speak as amiably as possible, but I get the feeling that our "alliance" is terribly strained if not already shattered.
Anyways, I've been given the rest of the day off to recuperate from my bloody migraine (although I have to sit in the office...). I'll need to mull over ways to repair this relationship.
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Korean Migraines
Knowing that it happens to everyone doesn't help much when everything goes wrong. Have you at least recovered from your migraine?
How about your relationship with your teacher? If I remember correctly, you have two schools. Does that mean you work with them every other day?
Some improvement
For my weekly schedule, I have Monday and Tuesday at one school and the rest of the week at the other.
Anyways, I've recovered a little from my cold, but I've decided not to go to Taekwondo class today because I'm just pretty much out of energy this week (although I'm quite pleased with most of the third grade students). Had a nice eight hours sleep on Wednesday night, but the headache lingers and oddly enough, I hardly remember what whent on Wednesday. Thursday was so-so; I've had better, I've had worse. The second grade co-teacher is new and so we are still in the process of figuring out what we're going to do with them (which isn't easy considering that they're a bit notorious). The first grade teacher walks out of class at the beginning and mostly just points out the day's schedule and what he wants me to teach in the textbook; he'll remain in the class to keep the hell-raisers in line if requested, however.
As far as the relationship in question goes, it seems to be a Cold War thaw, but things are a bit ambiguous. Now that I think about it, I think her attitude towards me was already changing the day the POE announced its policy changes some time ago. I really get the feeling that she's become more and more distant; she stopped greeting me and I keep hearing her talk about the "wonomin" (as opposed to simply using my name with the plain title -Ssi as she did last semester) with other teachers. Recollecting, it was only a matter of time that things would sour.
The first grade teacher and the new second grade teacher have been quite pleasant, however, and I intend to maintain good relations with them as much as possible.
Furious
When it comes to bad days in Korea, today really takes the cake. The 2nd grade girls weren't bad, but the boys were an absolute nuisance. Their behavior was just completely apalling today. "Are you Elementary School students or Middle School students?" I asked of them (in a pretty pissed off state). They answer that they're middle school students and seemed pretty embarassed for a while and *finally* get back on task, but then just a minute later, they go back to their bad habits. The second grade teacher attempts to get their attention, but they just ignore her. They have no respect for the Korean teacher and of course have no incliniation whatsoever to listen to me. What makes things worse is that the administration doesn't even seem to take the matter seriously. With my other school, I got swift and decisive action; the third graders know better than to cross the line with me. But here, I am not getting any results because I might as well be "just that other guy." I haven't been this bloody angry in a long time and I can see why Steve (my predecessor) said that there is no solution to the dilemma of discipline at this school.
It has come to this. I've decided to use one of the most terrible punishments I can think of - two of the worst troublemakers will be required to see me every Monday and Tuesday to practice English speaking and vocabulary. And if the same troublemakers continue to act up in class, I will have them write a one-page letter detailing their in-class behavior and have them submit it to the school administration before sending it off to their parents. If I'm not going to get any in-class support then damn it, I will do it all my self!
Near-perfect Friday
Friday at Hallim went great. I asked the teacher to remain in the class for assistance in tough spots. He didn't do much actual co-teaching, but he did keep kids from getting too loud during games and everyone on task. I'm confined to the bland textbook material, but I've been able to use some of it to crack a few jokes here and there to keep attention levels high. We all had a good time. My Friday classes with the first grade went smoothly despite the disruption of schedule changes (the last class was cut short to just 25 minutes) and I was perfectly in a good mood for the whole day.
The third grade just returned from their 3-day 200-km bike trip all around Jeju island. All classes were shortened so we all could line up along the main thoroughfare to welcome them back. It seems that they had a great time although they're all obviously quite tired.
Smooth Sailing
It's great to hear that things are back on track for you at your school. Having disruptive students and stressful classes is the worst. Is your migraine gone as well? Hopefully the weather will start to get better there in Jeju soon, too.