Adventures in Teaching: Making Children Cry

So, yesterday, I made a 9 year old cry. Really cry. This kid sobbed for a good 15 minutes; maybe more. Class ended and he was still crying on his way out the door. Oh well. He shouldn't have misbehaved.

The incident started towards the end of class. I was teaching Memory English, level 2. This class focuses on reading comprehension and is a fairly low level class. Kids usually take it somewhere around fourth to sixth grade. The kids in it are somewhat conversational. They aren't fluent but, they can read simple stories and can have a slow, age appropriate conversation. It's usually a cute class. The kids are adorable and their lack of vocabulary makes them say really funny things.

During the last 40 minutes of each class (each class is 3 hours long), the kids work on their Critical Thinking Projects (CTP). Each day is a different project. The CTP is designed to teach the kids to work in groups and gives them a chance to apply the vocabulary and facts they learned during the class onto a project that they present to the class.

Yesterday, we read a story about a baseball team that had ugly uniforms. The CTP was for the kids to make up a team and design a uniform for it. They also had to pick a mascot and a symbol for the team. It seemed like it would be a fun project. I put the kids into groups and we started the project.

While the groups are working, I go from group to group. This helps to keep them on track and for me to answer any questions that come up during the project.

When I visited group 3, I noticed that one kid, Ryan (pronounced Ree-anne for some unknown reason), had his workbook closed and was staring at the desk. So, I asked him what was wrong. He told me that his group was stupid and he wouldn't work with them. Ryan also told me that his group was making stupid choices for the project and that he would get a F. I assured him that their choices were fine and that they wouldn't get an F b/c their team had a weird name. We then discussed getting along with others and how just b/c he didn't come up with an idea, it wasn't automatically stupid. I told him that he just got out voted this time and maybe his idea would be the one used in his next group project. I thought I handled it ok.

The next time I look over, Ryan had turned around and wouldn't even look at his group. I went back and Ryan then announced to me that not only was his group stupid and he wouldn't work with them but, the entire project was stupid and he wouldn't do it. I told Ryan that he had to work with his group on the project to get a good grade. Ryan told me he didn't care, give him a F. He said he wasn't going to do anything at all that was related to the stupid project. He was quite adamant about this and confident with his choice.

I reminded Ryan that he was going to get a F and he would be punished and then I gave him 1 minute to think and give me his final decision. After the minute, Ryan said he was not going to do anything at all. At this point, the entire class was staring at us.

I told Ryan that he had made his choice and he would be getting a F. Also, he was being a disruption and he would have to leave the class and go sit with the Korean staff in their office. At that point, he became belligerent. He refused to leave the class. He said "Teacher, you can give me a F but, I will not leave this class." I repeated myself a few more times and he kept refusing to leave. So, I left the class to get one of the Korean staff members to remove him from the class.

I should probably mention that the kids are terrified of the Korean staff members. I don't know why. It is suspected that either the Korean staff hits the kids or, tells on the kids to their parents and the parents hit the kids. I'm not really sure which it is but, the kids are afraid of the Korean staff.

I went out of the class and ran into one of the Head Instructors, Richard. The Head Instructors are above a teacher. So, I asked Richard for help and he came to my class.

Ryan saw Richard and completely flipped out. He started sobbing and screaming. Richard is American but, of Asian descent. So, I think Ryan thought I brought a Korean staff member to remove him. I actually would have brought a Korean staff member but, I found Richard first.

Richard removed a sobbing, hysterical Ryan from my class. Richard was actually really nice and kind to Ryan but, Ryan didn't seem to agree. Ryan continued to cry and scream until it was time to leave.

What a way to end the week!

Seoul Pics 3 - Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty

When we were in Seoul, I decided to go jogging. So, I went to a park that was near the hotel. I just thought it was a park, like TY Park. It turns out that it was a collection of very old, royal tombs. Unfortunately, I lost the brochure that the ticket lady gave to me so, I have no idea which members of the royal family are buried there. All I remember was a king and a queen from the 11th century were buried there.

A building in the park.


A second building


A third building (I really wish I knew the names of these buildings)


One of the tomb areas. There were three in the park and they all looked the same.


A statue in the tomb area


A second statue


More statues. It's funny how these hundreds of years old statutes are next to apartment buildings and high rises.


For my fellow Floridians: A picture of fall.

Seoul Pics - Part 2

As I said in the previous post, training was very intense. Since the school is a nationwide chain, they want to ensure that the curriculum and teaching methods are consistent at every location. Plus, their goal is that when a child goes through all of the levels (it takes years), that child will have a near native fluency in English. This is done through a variety of methods. Most schools emphasis rote memorization so, this is a different approach.

Anyway, one really strange thing about training was the obsession with Swine Flu. Specifically, if we have it, what will happen when we get it, and how to prevent us from spreading it to others. I tried to explain that I was vaccinated against both the seasonal flu and against the Swine Flu but, no one cared.

So, there were four big precautions taken against Swine Flu:

1. We were all scatted amongst several hotels. This was done to create ready made quarantine groups, just in case someone came down with Swine Flu.

2. Our temperatures were taken daily.

3. We had to sign a form daily stating that we did not have any symptoms of Swine Flu and that we had not had any direct contact with someone who did have the symptoms.

4. This was the most annoying precaution. While in the training building, we had to wear a surgical mask. They really would have preferred that we always wore the masks but, they couldn't actually require that.

Here are some pictures of Luiz and I in our lovely masks. The masks made me feel like an extra on Grey's Anatomy.

Seoul Pics - Part 1

Hi Everyone,

I'm really sorry that it had taken me so long to post pictures. Our training was intense! We had 8 hours a day of training plus, 3-4 hours a night of prep work for the next day's training.

We're done with training now and we have left Seoul. We are now living in Taejeon. I've taken some pictures of Daejeon but, I will start with the beginning of our trip and post chronologically.

In case you are curious, here is a map of South Korea. I have highlighted Seoul and Taejeon (which is also spelled Daejeon).





The view from the hotel room



Our hotel bathroom (I was worried that it would be weird.)



Our hotel room



Our hotel room



Here is a picture of Luiz in front of the hotel we stayed at.



Here is a large road by our hotel. We were in the financial district which is called Samsung-dong.



Typical Side Street In Seoul
They are small, winding, and cramped. Also, they don't appear to have street signs on these small streets. So, it's really hard to get around.

We made it!

We are now in Seoul!

It took three flights, a bus ride, and a taxi but, we made it :)

Stuck in Atlanta

I should be somewhere over the Pacific. Instead, I am in a hotel in Atlanta. I have lovely American Airlines to thank for this.

Originally, we were on a flight from Miami to San Francisco. From there, we were to get on a Singapore Airlines flight to Seoul. American Airlines canceled the flight to San Francisco with less than 24 hrs notice. They ended up putting us on a flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Dallas with a connection on Korean Air to Seoul. When we got to the airport and checked in, we were told that there was no way that we would make the connecting flight; they were too close together.

This is when the nightmare started. American Airlines (which has a few very nasty and lazy ticket agents and Sky Caps) put us on a Delta flight to Atlanta where we were to connect with a Korean Air flight to Seoul. We were stuck on the Delta flight for over two hours on the tarmac. The Air Traffic Control computer system crashed and no flights were able to leave.

Needless to say, when we arrived in Atlanta, the flight to Seoul was long gone. Trying to get rebooked took forever. Delta said it Korean Air's responsibility and Korean Air said it was Delta's responsibility. It turned out to be Delta's. It took the Delta ticket agent over an hour to be able to rearrange our flights. He said our reservation was a weird mess because of all of the rebookings and the change in airlines.

So, now I am in a hotel near the Atlanta airport. We have a flight in the morning to Los Angeles. From there, we are to take a Korean Air flight to Seoul. Hopefully, it goes much smoother tomorrow.

We fly out on Thursday, Nov. 19.