i started punishing kids today. i need to set an example and i need to do it early. they are so often out of control. i thought that my revised sticker program would be a good incentive, but it's only doing so much.
the program: every class has five stickers at the start of each period. if they are not ready in their groups when i arrive, they lose a sticker. they continue to lose stickers throughout class for not obeying the rules, of which there is really only one: when i count down from three to zero it's time to be quiet. if they are not quiet at zero, they lose a sticker. i repeat the countdown until everyone is quiet... i've had a couple of classes actually lose three stickers in one countdown. (i counted three times before they were quiet on the fourth.) every month, the class with the most stickers wins prizes. at the end of the semester the class with the overall most stickers wins a party of some kind - pizza, cake, cookies, whatever we decide when the time comes.
i think it's pretty generous. i guess they have no sense of money yet and don't understand that it's all coming out of my pocket. anyway, the stickers can only go so far. for kids that just won't stop horsing around (god! did I just say that?!?!!? how old AM i?) i started punishing them. how? you might ask. i put them at the front of the room on their knees with their hands in the air over their heads. they stay like that for varying amounts of time depending on what they did wrong. i had two kids that wouldn't stop talking today so they were up there for a good twenty minutes (the rest of class). that's a long time to hold your hands above your head. if you don't believe me, try it sometime!
anyway, i had one kid today that kept sitting on his ass and continued to fool around - even while being punished in the above manner - so i pinched his ear. really hard. i've never been violent with a kid before, and i don't know if that is considered 'really violent' but i was surprised that i had it in me. i was just so frustrated and at my wits ends i didn't know what else to do. it shut him up and put him in his place.
compared to the korean teachers that's nothing, they'll smack them around with their "love sticks" - i can't bring myself to do anything nearly as harsh as that. but they need to learn that just because i'm a waegook, doesn't mean i deserve less respect in the class than the korean teachers. i hoped they learned their lessons and that the rest of the class did by example.
the program: every class has five stickers at the start of each period. if they are not ready in their groups when i arrive, they lose a sticker. they continue to lose stickers throughout class for not obeying the rules, of which there is really only one: when i count down from three to zero it's time to be quiet. if they are not quiet at zero, they lose a sticker. i repeat the countdown until everyone is quiet... i've had a couple of classes actually lose three stickers in one countdown. (i counted three times before they were quiet on the fourth.) every month, the class with the most stickers wins prizes. at the end of the semester the class with the overall most stickers wins a party of some kind - pizza, cake, cookies, whatever we decide when the time comes.
i think it's pretty generous. i guess they have no sense of money yet and don't understand that it's all coming out of my pocket. anyway, the stickers can only go so far. for kids that just won't stop horsing around (god! did I just say that?!?!!? how old AM i?) i started punishing them. how? you might ask. i put them at the front of the room on their knees with their hands in the air over their heads. they stay like that for varying amounts of time depending on what they did wrong. i had two kids that wouldn't stop talking today so they were up there for a good twenty minutes (the rest of class). that's a long time to hold your hands above your head. if you don't believe me, try it sometime!
anyway, i had one kid today that kept sitting on his ass and continued to fool around - even while being punished in the above manner - so i pinched his ear. really hard. i've never been violent with a kid before, and i don't know if that is considered 'really violent' but i was surprised that i had it in me. i was just so frustrated and at my wits ends i didn't know what else to do. it shut him up and put him in his place.
compared to the korean teachers that's nothing, they'll smack them around with their "love sticks" - i can't bring myself to do anything nearly as harsh as that. but they need to learn that just because i'm a waegook, doesn't mean i deserve less respect in the class than the korean teachers. i hoped they learned their lessons and that the rest of the class did by example.
1 Comment:
Hey Liz,
Carol here. I got your comment on my blog re: WW. I'm in Jeolla province in Suncheon. Where are you? So cool to know another waygook in Korea doing WW....
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