February 29, 2012 at 12:01 am · Filed under Lifestyle, Rant
The Head of the English Department erks me in a way that I want to storm in her office and shout, “You’re not doing a very good job.”
Last semester, I heard from one of the English teachers that we were going to have a meeting to discuss changing our books for the next semester. My initial reaction was “Why? I think we have a good thing going with these books, and they are – compared with other English learning books – good books!” The teacher said that Professor Soh had been hearing that too many cram schools were using these books. Some students were familiar with these books, and the students had used them before. Now, these books were first published around 10 years ago; They have been around the block. But, earlier in the semester, we were tasked to make textbook evaluations and give them to the students. I read my student’s evaluations from my classes, and none of the students had complained about these books. And, I’ve never heard any student complain about the books. The material, the content, and the presentation of these books is perfect for our teaching schedule. I told the teachers that during this meeting, I would let my voice be heard. I was against changing the books.
Nevertheless, during the meeting, Prof Soh didn’t change her mind. Apparently she didn’t care what I, nor the other teachers, had to say about this issue. We were going to change the books, no matter what. She laid out on the table numerous other English learning books that we were able to choose from. Without any regard for the material, content, or whether it was being used in cram schools, she asked us to choose a good book. I was liek, “WTF, Professor Soh, why don’t YOU choose one of the books since you’re the Head of the Department and you dictate what we’re supposed to be teaching.”
Two teachers chose a book, and I was not happy about their decision. Instead, I had a new book in mind. It was recently published and very similar to the format of our old books. I pitched the idea to Professor Soh in an email. She said that the idea was good, but we could only change the book if the other teachers approved of it. I sent them emails. They were like “Whatever.” (They really dont care about the books nor the details of teaching like I do.) So, we are now using a new book that I chose.
It erks me that Professor Soh has not said anything in regard to the content of this books or said anything to me face-to-face. I don’t want a congratulatory medal or anything, but a nice “Hey Mers, thanks for caring about books and choosing a nice new book” ought to be in order. However, she hasn’t said anything to me. Has she even looked at the new book? What does she think of them?
Secondly, Professor Soh has the most disorganised and waste-of-time meetings.
This Monday, we were scheduled to have a meeting at 2:30 on the campus. The purpose of this meeting was to “Meet the New Teachers” – that’s how the email title went. So, the 3 new teachers met the 5 old teachers. They were given their books for this semester and their schedules for the first time. And mind you, starting Friday, they have to teach. They have only 4 days to prepare. I thought that in this meeting that we would have some discussions about the classes and help the new teachers to adapt to the university courses. But NO! The meeting was solely a “Meet and Greet!”
We introduced ourselves, talked for a bit about our histories, and then Professor Soh showed the 3 new teachers to their office. The 5 old teachers remained in the meeting room. One said, “So, I guess we can go.” I retorted, “Nooo…, surely, they’re going to come back and we’ll discuss the classes.” But, when Professor Soh returned she said, “Ok, thank you for coming.” Again, I was liek, “WTF! Why did I have to come to the campus this afternoon just to say hello and not actually do anything.”
We, everyone, did stick around for a little while longer with Professor Soh in the meeting room. The 3 new teachers asked a few questions about the students, the teaching, and the university. One new guy was taking notes. Professor Soh said, “You don’t actually have to take any notes. We will discuss more about teachings in our weekly meetings once the semester begins.” I wanted to say, “But they have to teach this week! This Friday! They haven’t even seen these books, the syllabus, or any of the criteria! Don’t you have anything to say to them about lessons, setting goals for the students, or anything! What objectives do they need to meet in order to get to the end of this semester.”
She left the room. We were all still sitting their, and I was liek, “Damn. What is your job, here, Professor Soh? Take a lap.”
February 14, 2012 at 7:37 am · Filed under Little Things
We were given our teaching schedules for next semester. I’ve been trying to compute how I’m going to run my classes. There used to be 6 hour conversation classes. Now, there are 3 hour conversation and 3 hour writing classes. However, I have the same students for both classes and will give them grades for each class. I’m trying to think about the best way to combine the two classes and differentiate them for separate writing and speaking grades.
A peeve of mine. When I meet a Korean for the first time, I hate when they ask “What’s your favourite food?” This is retarded and annoying. Who asks that? When I met people from Oregon and Oklahoma, no one asks that question. Then, I tell Koreans what Korean food I eat, and they reply, “Ohhhh! You know XYZ! Wow, you eat XYZ!” I’ve been here for 4 years, man. Gimme a break. You sound stupid for being surprised by such a mundane thing. Maybe I’ll just say pizza from now on.
I’m reading the ‘Game of Thrones’, which HBO made a series. The HBO series adhered to the book damn near perfect: scene for scene and word for word. It is as if the book was based on the TV series. Therefore, I’m trying to peel through the book as quick possible to get to the second book in the series. (However, I dont think I will have time before the semester begins)
A couple nights ago, I was helping SK with her English speaking. There was a chance that she may have an English interview to become a flight stewardess. While practising questions with her, I was puzzled by the announcement that she had no role models or aspiring figures. I listed my role models and explained why people would ask this in an interview. However, she still couldn’t come up with anyone. Curious.
I read ‘The Black Swan’. (No relationship to the movie.) This book was about the single instances that shake up the world or consciousness. When you see a swan for the first time, it will probably be white. You may live years only seeing white swans, and because of this it leads you to conclude that all swans are white. However, the presence of a black swan would change your perception of what constitutes as a ‘swan’. Is it still a swan? The book ran with this idea.
Reading the book, the author introduced the concept of a ‘flaneur‘, or ‘someone who strolls the city’. The word and concept of a ‘flaneur’ has stuck with me more than the book. I’d like to be a flaneur.
The price of Tillamook cheese at Costco keeps inflating. It’s now 16,000W for a 2.5 lb brick. It’s outrageous, but still better than buying lesser cheeses. I wish they’d just sell smaller bricks.
Speaking of Costco, I saw a Korean worker wearing the same Abercrombie coat (same coat, but with the red and white checkered pattern) that I purchased back home. Now, in Korea, I’ve yet to see an actual Abercrombie store, and there are many knock-off shirts. Yet, with no bold logos, I eyed his coat in a great interest with respect to the material and style. Sure enough, it was the exact same coat. I thought I’d bring to Korea my own original stylish Abercrombie coat, and in of ALL the places to be, I see a Korean wearing the same coat – working in Costco!
Last week, someone stole my athletic socks at the gym. I put them on the bench, showered for 4-5 minutes, and they were gone when I came back. There must have been no more than 2 people in and out of the locker room, and the trainer’s hadn’t tidied up. I believe the culprit to be this disgruntled old man who I don’t like. He’s a “little man” with a big ego. I don’t like the way he talks to people at the gym, and he doesn’t take exercising very seriously – I’ve watched him.
One day, some time ago, I was meditating in the sauna box with the lights off. He stomped in making all kinds of noise, putting his feet on the walls, and generally being rude. As I minded my own business, he spoke to me in Korean – in a tone that I didn’t care for. I replied “What?” in English, and ignored him. He proceeded to keep talking, and I didn’t say a word. After the sauna and showering, I got dressed. During this time, t felt like he was staring me down. He dressed slowly and faced towards me on the opposite wall. I dressed at a normal pace and he was still naked. Exiting, I walked past him and gave him the stink eye.
For this reason, I think he stole my socks last week. When I came out of the shower, he was sitting directly where they should had been laying. I looked all around and they were ‘gone’. He’s a “little man”.
January 6, 2012 at 9:15 pm · Filed under Lifestyle
I’ve always been impressed by the durability and endurance of my iPod Nano. However, October 5 is a day that I dont think I’ll forget.
That morning, I woke up and went about my regular routine. I made cereal, sat down, and checked the internet: It was a pretty average internet day. As I got ready to go to work, I jacked in Nano and put in my ear buds. On second thought, I thought that I’d leave my Nano behind. I had a lot of things to carry and concern with that day. As I unjacked the Nano, it slipped from my hand and hit the floor. I checked it, and it was giving me a blank white screen. It was still playing music, but I couldn’t get it to display a menu or anything: just a bright screen. It wouldn’t respond to any clicks.
When I arrived at school, no more than 30 minutes later, a coworker came into my office. He said, “Did you see the news? Your friend just died.” I inquired, “Who might that be?” And he said, “Steve Jobs” I declared bullshit, because I had checked the internet just before leaving work. There had been nothing in my RSS reader or the blogosphere about his death. But sure enough, I checked the latest news and it was loud and clear. Steve Jobs had past away.
Was his life somehow intertwined with my iPod Nano? I can only wonder…
January 5, 2012 at 9:06 am · Filed under Lifestyle
At the university, there are 7 English teachers. I’d say that 4 of us are fairly social and “good” teachers. We talk with each other about classes, teaching material, due dates, and about what’s expected from us. The other 3 are just kinda … out there… and they don’t discuss what they’re doing in classes or much of anything.
All the teachers are told to issue grades on a curve. Each class, no matter, if they are high or low level students, should have A to C students. (Ds and Fs are at the teachers discretion.) One of the problems that arises is that if you have a class of high level students, who try hard and speak English well, it’s difficult to give Cs to some of those students. And one teacher, apparently, can’t do it.
The first semester, SK told me that XXX teacher gave As to ALL his students. Every class, every student got an A. WTF? We were told not to do this! What grading scale on tests, quizzes, debates, presentations, etc did XXX use that every student could get an A. XXX teacher was told to go back to his grades and give some Bs. He did, but only a few.
He created grade inflation, and all the students learned about it. Students not in his class complained. They said it was unfair to have a “harsh grading teacher.” Since, students knew that XXX teacher graded lightly, they sought out his classes. This semester, when we changed teachers, YYY teacher had a difficult time giving grades to students, because they said, “Ahh, but XXX gave me an ‘A’ last semester. How can I get a C this semester?” And even in my classes, I had some low students talk about XXX teacher and how they could have got an ‘A’ in his class. It was annoying.
From the beginning of this semester, the Head of the English Department stressed that all of teachers should be grading on a curve. As, Bs, and Cs. She said this numerous times. She talked about how students were talking. In the beginning, because SK had told me, I was the only teacher who knew what XXX teacher had done. I kept my mouth shut, but later, the other teachers slowly asked questions and had to find out from students what XXX had done with grades. In the last meeting of the semester, the Head of the English Department stressed this again. This time, I could see her staring directly at XXX teacher. I wondered, “Holy Cow. Is she calling him out? She’s looking directly at him. How awkward.”
After the final exams, when it was time to figure out grades, the 4 “good” teachers came to school. We got our curves and paper work finished. The other 3 teachers … were … not around. They didn’t have to be around, but where were they? What were they doing? Around the deadline to turn in grades, SK told me that XXX came in and turned in grades. She said it was all As and Bs. There were no Cs. I was just dumbfounded like “WTF?” What is wrong with you that you couldn’t give a single C to any of your students? What were you doing on quizzes and tests? SK notified the Head of the Department, and she said that XXX was going to get a personal email from the Director. Seriously, just WTF?!?
The other 2 teachers, apparently didn’t finish all that was required from them. Therefore, SK said she had to go back and fix their mistakes. If these teachers had been around and got their work done with the rest of us after the final exams, it is hard to imagine that they would have made these mistakes.
