Discipline

Disciplining is probably one of the most important part of the teacher's job. It is by far the most rewarding, but the least fun. I learned early on that discipline at the VERY beginning is crucial to the sanity and effectiveness of the classroom. I am getting better at this, especially having a year of experience last year(not very much, I know). Its definitely hard. Last week, for example, I bribed on of my classes with stickers if they all did well and didn't get in trouble. If they did get in trouble, I told them, they would not receive a cool American sticker at the end of class. Sure enough, two of the boys in my class started acting out, and I had to deny them a sticker at the end of class. It was so hard. I wanted nothing more than to make them happy and give them a sticker. But then they would know for the rest of the year that I might not mean what I say when I make a threat. The looks on their faces were heartbreaking too. I didn't like it. You would have thought I had killed their pet fish.

In another class I have, I have 5 quiet students. We had a great time yesterday for about 5 minutes when they attempted to teach me to count to 10 in Korean. We were all laughing at my pronunciation and they promised me a test on Friday. It was the first time I had really seen them excited and come out of their shells. They had been really well-behaved and done their work well. It was a great 10 minutes, but then I had lost them for the rest of the class period. Oops. I guess fun like that is best saved for the end of the week.

It's definitely weird to realize that I have influence over these children and that I can punish them. For such a long period in my life, I was in their position, doing my best and staying out of trouble, of course ;) Now, I feel as though I'm not old enough to be giving children instruction on the English language and reprimanding them for playing during class time. I don't know if I'll ever get used to this.