Why are the bad students always boys? 

I had some classes today that the other teachers warned me were the worst in the school. Three in a row. All fifth grade.

The first class was only a little loud. The second class would quiet down long enough to listen to me but it was really hard keeping them quiet and on track, although I felt like most of them were trying. They gave me a massive headache. The third class… they wouldn’t be quiet for anything. Especially the boys in the class. Me telling them to be quiet, the Korean teacher telling them to be quiet, other students telling them to be quiet, the promise of winning points and stamps… nothing worked. Calling the troublemakers to the front of the room and writing their names on the board didn’t work, either. Eventually my co-teacher kicked them all out of the room- not the best punishment because they miss class time and no one is in the hall supervising them, but there was no other way to shut them up. Later on their homeroom teacher sent them into our office and my co-teacher reamed them out for at least 15 minutes. I hope they don’t act like zoo animals next time. It was easily the worst class I’ve ever had in my life. 

On the upside, the elementary school kids are so enthusiastic about learning and participating and it is really a pleasure to teach most of them. (So far, anyway.) Have you ever tried to get middle school kids to read out loud or answer questions in sentence form? Even my co-teachers at my old school would really have to nag them to get them to do anything. 

The good news is that all of my co-teachers at my new school are good. We teach together, they help manage the classroom. When I talk, they patrol the class, and vice versa. Most of them made the lesson plans and/or the games for me, and I just had to show up and participate. Elementary is a lot easier than middle school. The only problem is those loud crazy preteen boys. :/

The other teachers in my office seem to like me and talk with me a lot, but apparently they used to say bad things about the previous foreign teachers who worked there. They were both Korean-American and pretended they didn’t understand Korean nearly as well as they did. Another foreign English teacher comes into my school after lunch to do after school classes- he told me this. 

I guess I don’t care if they say crap about me because I complain about them to my friends, too. It’s only fair. I get to work early (I was the first person here today,) I make all my plans, I come to class on time, I teach, I dress nicely, I brought in donuts one time- the only thing they have a reason to complain about is that I waste too much time online and on my phone.^^