A Month Into Teaching English in Korea: an Update
So, it’s roughly been a month since I’ve been teaching at my hagwon. I can’t believe that a month passed already! I wanted to post an update about how things have been. I’ve had my fair share of struggles, so stay tuned hahaha.
First of all, the curriculum we have to teach is really not that hard to adjust to. Since our school provides us with the materials, prep time is not too bad. It’s mostly printing out the students’ weekly homework reports (depends on the class), worksheets, and downloading audio files. Each class, I have to cover a unit in the textbook. It’s quite straightforward.
The problem mostly lies in the fact that a great deal of the material can be so bland... Which contributes to a lot of the lack of interest during class LOL. And it doesn’t help that the classes are only 40-50 minutes along, so there isn’t really a lot of time to fit in additional material that I might be able to do to boost interest in class. It’s a difficult situation, but it’s mostly something that I have to just accept, unless I have the time to try and fit in my own ideas for class.
Which leads me to some other issues I found during my first month of teaching. Although I really do like teaching some classes in particular, there are others that are more difficult because there are either a. sleepy students (some kids have fallen asleep in class, and they said it’s because they’re really tired) b. really quiet students, or c. really loud, disruptive, and wild students. Mind you, this is my first time teaching an actual class, so even though these kinds of students are pretty typical in any given classroom, it’s shocking when you actually experience having to teach them LOL.
For the sleepy students, I really feel for them, they come here after their actual school, and then sometimes have to leave really late (9-10pm for middle schoolers!) and then they have to go home to do homework due the next day. I know the education system in Korea is no joke. It just feels really discouraging when there are those few that doze off in class. I know not to take it personally, but I still kind of do since I have to wake them up and encourage them to push through the material LOL. Thankfully, I only experienced this with two students. One of them stopped dozing off in class but has now turned into a really loud, disruptive, and wild student... The other is just constantly sleepy, but he’s really smart and can do the work in class easily. He just nods off quickly. I’m thinking of ways to make the class more active, but there’s only so much we can do since we have to get through the book material. Thankfully, this problem isn’t too huge.
As for the quieter students. I have this one class in particular where I ask questions and I am met with awkward silence *cues Stray Kids’ ‘Awkward Silence’* and they don’t really participate much.
Me trying to be enthusiastic in class but the kids hit me with the ol’ silent treatment... *awkward smiles*
The first time I experienced this, I was so drained after. This really begs the question, which is worse, a class full of rowdy, crazy students, or a class where getting them to participate is like pulling teeth? Truth be told though, I don’t know much about this class, so maybe I should think more about what I can do. I’m sure they’re mostly, if not all introverts too, so that’s also a factor to keep in mind. It’s not a bad thing, just a different perspective!
And the crazy, loud ones... sigh. Although they do put a smile on my face, sometimes it’s just too much and it’s really mentally exhausting dealing with them. It doesn’t help that the kids don’t really see the foreign teacher as having a lot of authority in class, and that discipline is also not really a thing for us to carry out. I’ve found going to the Korean teachers for the appropriate advice and measures helps a lot. They got my back, which is such a relief. I’ve learned to be a bit firmer now since I started off really compassionate about their behavior, and I felt “too nice” too, until my coworker told me for certain wild ones, being firm and strict is necessary. Sound advice, and will continue to do so, but I’m still gonna be sweet when I can LOL.
However, I do like getting to know my students better, and sharing jokes and fun conversations in class! For example, a few students like Pokemon so I drew some on the white board for fun, and they were so hyped lol. One of them brought their switch to class to show me their Let’s go Pikachu team and I was like “OMG DON’T BRING IT TO SCHOOL THAT’S DANGEROUS, SOMEONE MIGHT TAKE IT” Lol. Oh wait, Koreans don’t steal. Never mind. HAHA. Also, some of my students are realizing that I like kpop too. One of them was really shook because I knew BTS’ “You Never Walk Alone” album title when they made a pun about it in class LOL. She was like, “Are you an ARMY?” with a shocked face HAHA. I’ll be able to chat with them about it as we progress through the semester, so that’s a fun way to bond with them~
How my students look and act some classes.
But overall, my job is not super stressful or horrible. I do have my share of stressors, but it’s still a job nonetheless! I am still getting into the routine of each teaching day, printing worksheets, posting homework, writing detention lists, submitting my daily reports, and extra assignments that come up. I had a hard time yesterday because I totally forgot about extra essays I had to give in class. It didn’t help that I was feeling under the weather and pretty bad about it, but that was a blow to me and I felt so overwhelmed. It’s taught me another lesson in stress management. I’m still not the best at letting things go and pass so that I can stop stressing about it, but I was thankful for my coworkers telling me that it will be okay, and I can just adjust the schedule next week to get the essays done in class! I know it will be fine, everything works out eventually!
Furthermore, especially for the real young ones, I don’t feel like just a teacher. I feel like a babysitter caretaker. I teach one class of first and second graders, and a lot of them just started attending this semester. They can get rambunctious, but they’re literal kids so it’s understandable! It does tire me out sometimes though, when I have to constantly tell them to finish their book work. I’m learning that I have to be there emotionally for them as well, when no one else can.
Yesterday, one particular student who is easily the rowdiest kid in my class was feeling down. They started off class per usual, going up to me, hanging on me, and treating my tummy like their own personal pillow. He literally calls me his cushion... I think it’s kinda adorable in a way, and he is LOL. Anyway, not even halfway through class, he stopped doing his work and put his head down. The other kids were hooting and getting all bouncy because of it, and at first I didn’t think too much of it. One kid said he was faking. I continued class, but as time went by, he didn’t bounce back like how he usually does. I went up to him and asked him, in a calm and kind voice, “What’s wrong?” in English. He refused to look at me.
Oh yeah, so my school has an “Only English” policy for foreign teacher classes. Which, in theory, makes a lot of sense. A ton of kids, ESPECIALLY these youngins, keep trying to make me speak Korean, or “find out” if I can, which I have to play coy about. But in situations like this, where emotional support is also something a teacher could provide, and asking him, “Why?” and, “What?” in English wasn’t helping, I asked him in Korean, “What happened?” He eventually murmured, “Something sad happened to me.” I asked him if we wanted to talk about it, but he said no. I also asked him if any of his classmates made him sad, or if I upset him (since I did tell him sternly to behave prior), but he said no again. Thankfully, it was already the end of class, and I told him to cheer up and enjoy the weekend. He nodded cutely, and seemed visibly better, and dare I say appreciative that I checked up personally on him.
It broke my heart to see him so gloomy about something I didn’t know about, but I genuinely hope the weekend gives him a lot of rest and fun with his family. Knowing him, he will bounce back and be as playful and rowdy as usual again. But it taught me another lesson.
Anyways, that’s all I can think of at the moment. This post got really long too, LOL. I’ll write down things whenever something else important happens in class! I know I’ll continue to learn from these experiences!
