I was wrong. I thought using stickers as an incentive is a good idea. The director sitting in on all your classes (or almost all) is much better.
I was grateful in a way for this artifical control mechanism, but aware of his scribblings and impending judgements. They came just as I was about to leave school:
- make the classes more fun
- teach with a smile
- don't tell the other teachers if you don't get paid, but I will pay you
Today I coughed like a maniac, and made a few desperate forays for toilet paper. Today was also extremely sticky, and someone also brought boiled eggs to school which ponged horribly for several hours.
I'm feeling a bit miserable because the director's directions to create Sesame Street in the classroom is a tall order when the level of English comprehension is close to zero, and some classes are 17 students strong. On top of that, there are no explicit rules, no school bells to start and finish the class. One of my pet peeves is that the kids run out of the class the second I step in, then return in dribs and drabs. This is a recipe for disorder. I guess the director expects me to maintain a stand up comedy, do a roll call, and have the students totally happy and entertained while somehow, not losing my stride and magically, having English materialise in their brains without any effort from me or them.
I guess the bottom line is where I work my job is not to teach English, but to pretend I am, and get a lot of baby-sitting done as a main course, with a lot of English waffle to make it look good.
I was repeatedly assured about pay but by 9pm tonight my account didn't register a ripple.
None of this should come as a surprise to someone who has been in Korea for as long as I have. I think the protracted length of this coughing malaise is really dampening my spirits. How long is it still going to carry on?
I've just had dinner and need to mellow out...
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