Mid-Contract Blues

Right now, some of my friends and I are in a "Mid-Contract Funk." Being an ESL teacher is sometimes a roller coaster ride, and with each teacher having a different personality, the reactions are varied. With each teacher being at a different school, we face different circumstances and situations that can present new joys or challenges as the semester wears on. Usually, a new ESL teacher experiences the "honeymoon" phase for three months, where everything in their new environment is exciting, the school seems great and everyone is friendly, and the classes are a blast. By month six, most teachers are settled into a routine and are seeking to find new ways to make their jobs more efficient and fun. Sometimes, that's where the new challenge begins.

Some teachers I know who are in the same teaching program as me, are facing problems in the classroom at this point. By month six, alot of times its the fact that the kids know who you are, know what kind of stuff you will put up with them, and how you teach, this is where the new fun begins, and I mean that sarcastically. Some classes will get used to it, or some will not and try to test your patience. Whether its because the students are just burnt out (I think they are always burnt out), or some just don't like English, the mid-contract malaise can test an ESL teacher's strength.

One teacher from Australia is experiencing logistical problems, where he cannot get the funds or the equipment such as a DVD player or projector screen to help support his classes. Some, including myself, are experiencing discipline problems, to find ways to properly being stern without going beserk. I have never let my patience wore thin yet, yet I have gotten upset and stern with the class when they are out of line. One of my friends almost walked out on her class because the kids were that bad.

Now, let's not say that the kids are evil and their sole purpose is to make a foreigner's life miserable. However, a variety of reasons rise to see why kids will push the limits:

1. They don't understand the ESL teacher. That's the prime reason most kids act up.
2. They don't like English. The way they teach English here in Korea, like it is another math subject, doesn't add up to the interest factor. I bet kids see this language as just a skill set rather than a form of expression and communication, no wonder English gets old.
3. They're kids. I was once a kid.

So, I'm compassionate on these kids that they have to study all day, to come into my class to hear me blah blah like I was Charlie Brown's teacher in the cartoon. However, that does not mean I will let them off easy.

I am praying to God to give me wisdom on how to become a better teacher. One area of my teaching skill set I drastically need to improve on is discipline and motivation, and I pray that He provides me the wisdom, like He gave to Solomon, to rule with an iron hand but to give much with it.

I'm not like other teachers who come here just to party. Yet no one at my school has given me a mission statement, so I have to give my own. I don't answer to the Vice-principle or his boss, but I answer to God. If He knows I am doing my best for Him, despite hard times and the good, then I can take away satisfaction.

As for my ESL comrades, we have to encourage each other to swap lesson plans and to keep our ideas fresh to maintain a fun classroom. Yet I promised myself never to sacrifice challenge for easiness, because I did not travel half-way across the world to teach boring stuff, but good, practical English.

Its make or break time.