Far and Away

One of my boys has promised that when he fulfills his dream of being an idol he will give me a signed CD.

We pinky swore and everything, so it’s pretty much guaranteed.

This week we’re practicing future tense, which means my kids are making predictions about the future.

As I was helping a low-level boy (kind of a punk, never really pays attention in class) I asked him what he wants to do in the future.

The lightbulb went on.

“패션왕!” (Fashion King)

I laughed, and said slowly, so he could write it out, “I will be the king of fashion.”

But, thanks to the fact that Korean has no “f” and pronounces “f” sounds like “p,” he wrote:

“I will be the king of passion.”

And slammed his pen down on his desk triumphantly.

Luckily I could control my laughter enough to correct the slight error.

On Wednesday I went with the third graders on their field trip for the semester. This time, we went to 현충사, a memorial shrine to Admiral Yi Sun-sin, a famous commander of Korea’s navy in the 16th century.

We spent a little time looking around, but most of the day was dedicated to taking yearbook pictures for all the homeroom classes around the shrine grounds.

Pictures to come!

And I mean that literally. Starting yesterday, my cold started working its way into my throat and by the end of my club class yesterday afternoon my voice was starting to get scratchy. Woke up this morning completely unable to speak above a whisper.

I have to teach six classes today.

I was able to switch around and use a lesson that doesn’t involve too much talking on my part, and my coteachers have tried to step in and keep the kids quiet so they can hear my rough man-voice.

For my club class after school I’m just going to show them a movie, since I have no coteacher and they’re hard enough to control when I’m feeling 100 percent.

Even though I don’t feel too sick (not really tired or sore), dealing with this makes me even more exhausted than usual for a Tuesday. I just want to crawl into my bed and never (attempt to) speak again ㅠㅠ

“Jenna…do you have a third period class? There is a speaking test today so you don’t need to go there during third period.”

I’m ashamed to admit that I rejoiced at these words from my coteacher this morning.

Because third period I was supposed to teach my rough class. The one that every third grade teacher braces themselves for. And I had a get out of jail free card, at least for one week.

Overall, I have very few discipline problems at my school. I’m lucky, really - I’ve heard some pretty crazy stories from friends. And I know middle schoolers are capable of a lot worse than they give me.

But this particular homeroom is an anomaly. For whatever reason, there are multiple groups of problem students concentrated into one classroom, feeding off of each others’ apathy and disrespect.

A few of the kids I can deal with, since I’ve taught them in club classes before. There are girls who have a major talking problem, but they’ll usually stop chatting if I give them a strong look, go and stand next to their seats or move them to a different desk.

There are four boys, though, who are a bit more difficult. Actually, scratch that, two of the boys are actually quite good, with relatively high English when they’re in leveled classes. But the other two boys suck them into this little knot of insubordination that I’ve found incredibly difficult to untangle.

A few weeks ago, I went up to confront these boys while everyone was doing a worksheet. “What is going on,” I asked, “why are you talking so much?”

In a mix of Korean and English, their answer was clear:

“We aren’t going to live outside of Korea in the future. We don’t like foreigners. We don’t need English, so we’ve given up. Don’t bother trying to teach us.”

I can (and have) moved their seats. I can punish them in multiple ways all day. I can interrupt my teaching, making it difficult for all the other students in their class. I can make them be quiet (kind of). But can I make them listen? With that kind of attitude?

I feel like in order to counter this apparently deeply ingrained view of English as a waste of their time, I feel like I’d have to spend a lot more time with these boys. See them more than just once a week in a huge class that’s in no way catered to their low level of English. And I’d really have to be able to communicate with them in Korean to have any kind of actual conversation with them.

I’m so frustrated because I don’t want to just let it go and not address this problem, but at the same time I have so little facetime with all my students that I don’t want to waste any of it pushing against a wall that I’m not equipped to climb.

During a class this morning there was a loud boom outside (probably from one of the many construction projects near our school).

Some of the girls jumped, asking what the sound was.

The boys in the back, biting back smiles, immediately yelled, “Missile! Missile noise! North Korea is coming!”

And the entirety of the class burst into laughter at the absurdity of that statement.

Four in a row Thursday mornings will be the death of me. Especially when one of them is literally the worst behaved class I’ve ever taught.

One more to go before the weekend (Jeju conference starts Friday so I’ll be heading up to Seoul tonight!)

From what I can gather through the yelling, six boys were either caught smoking or just carrying cigarettes with them in school. Needless to say, they’re in trouble.

Two homeroom teachers are currently tag teaming the boys one on one trying to pry out of them where they got the cigarettes from, while another just lets out a few choice words whenever the boys get too snotty.

There have been tears.

And I’m awkwardly sitting here at my desk staring intently at my screen to avoid making eye contact with anyone. If my temporary computer had a working headphone jack I would be listening to music right now to make it a tiny bit less awkward.