Am I getting too much work???

[sweet_potato]

Hey! So basically I'm an EPIK teacher, I work my 22h per week. I was also pretty much forced to enter this online essay editing thing that my school is running. The education office pays me some money to do this so I guess I can't complain.

Now, on top of that, my new VP has decided that all students in grades 4-6 need to write diaries.... and he decided that I need to be the one who not just marks them - but corrects them, and leaves comments on them. My school is pretty big. To give you an idea, I need to mark about 90 of these diaries a day. My coteacher had an argument with him over this, telling him that this is far too much work for one person to do, but he basically told her to shove it. She's pretty mad at him too, and is considering retiring at the end of this year just because he has too many demands for teachers, etc. Overall, he's proven himself to be a douche and every teacher I talk to has recently had work dumped on him/her.

As it stands, I plan and teach 100% of every class, and I think it's because of my hard work that my co is willing to stand up for me. She has tried to help me with these diaries, but honestly I'm just a lot faster at getting them done on my own.

Another thing I have a problem with is that I don't even teach grade 6, so I don't feel like I should be marking their diaries (they don't have a foreign teacher, so his argument is that I should be doing something with them). Today was my first marking day, and this took me a lot of time. I'm yet to figure out what I'm doing for my classes tomorrow, because this took so long (doesn't help that I'm on here typing this up either! lol) They even made me a schedule for these diaries, and there aren't any days off from now until the next school year. (I already pity the person who will replace in me in August.)

So... if this gets to be so ridiculous that I can't keep up with it... which it easily may become so... what should I do?

And on that same note, does anyone else have a work load like mine?

[sweet_potato]

I've been here for over a year and a half, and I'm definitely peacing out in August. I'm sticking around to get my bonuses, and because I sincerely like my students.  It just seems like everything has been flipped upside down at my school since this guy started.

[Yu_Bumsuk]

If it's too much just skim through them, correct a couple of common errors, and write 'good job'. I get to mark 190 MS essays next week and I'll be at school until 8 or 9PM. If I had to do that every other day I can tell you I'd be spending a lot less time on each one.

[brentdws]

Be diplomatic about it.  It seriously sounds like too much work.  With your co-teacher, approach your VP and/or Principal and let them know that you don't have enough time to complete your regular duties of planning lessons (even if you do).  It's always good to agree that diaries are a good idea, but explain that is should be just for practice and no formal corrections are necessary unless a student specifically asks you for help.   

If you are not let off the hook, then try to minimize the amount of checking time to once per week or once every two weeks. 

I have never heard of any other school doing this.  My school doesn't.  It sounds absurd.  Maybe you could send around a petition written by your co-teacher, getting signatures of other foreign teachers say that no where else is done and it distracts from your main responsibilities.

Maybe you can think of sly way to convince the VP that the diaries are hurting your students' progress. LOL.

Im just glad I'm not in your position.  Good luck.  Hang in there. 

[sweet_potato]

Yea that's what I was doing, just skimming and making the obvious corrections. But get this, I was given stamps that say Good/Great/Excellent - so my comments can't be anything along those lines. I've taken to just asking a question about their activities, or agreeing with whatever they write. lol. Until 8-9 pm? Gah. That sucks pretty bad too!

[sweet_potato]

Be diplomatic about it.  It seriously sounds like too much work.  With your co-teacher, approach your VP and/or Principal and let them know that you don't have enough time to complete your regular duties of planning lessons (even if you do).  It's always good to agree that diaries are a good idea, but explain that is should be just for practice and no formal corrections are necessary unless a student specifically asks you for help.   

If you are not let off the hook, then try to minimize the amount of checking time to once per week or once every two weeks. 

I have never heard of any other school doing this.  My school doesn't.  It sounds absurd.  Maybe you could send around a petition written by your co-teacher, getting signatures of other foreign teachers say that no where else is done and it distracts from your main responsibilities.

Maybe you can think of sly way to convince the VP that the diaries are hurting your students' progress. LOL.

Im just glad I'm not in your position.  Good luck.  Hang in there.

The kids write every weekend, but I collect their diaries every 2 weeks (I get 2-4 entries in each one). My school is that big! My coteacher has been trying to convince this guy to cut down, and apparently it has been cut down significantly before they even told me about it.

I really don't think I can get my coteacher to help me with this any further. The VP wants these to be done well, so that when HIS inspection comes, there will be a giant pile of marked diaries that his inspectors will see, which in turn will make him a good VP (and thus get him promoted to a P). My co has fought him on this, and he isn't budging any further. I'm going to do what I can, and if I can't figure out a short way to get them done, I will consider calling the education office (although I have a feeling that they will be unwilling to help me, since I'm leaving in August anyway).

[WorkingTitle3484]

Like what was mentioned, read the first sentence, correct the blaring mistakes, and move on.

In my experience, often times these decisions aren't the most well-thought out and are more spur of the moment type of deals. 

During one of my classes, I was "suggested" to give a random spelling test so a filming crew could videotape one student's work.  I just said, "F it, why not" and got on with it.

Best you can say is "OK", roll with the punches and go with it.  They don't need to have too many insightful remarks, just a personal inksplash should suffice.


Do what keeps you sane, and remember you don't have to tell the Korean higher-ups your secret!  A simple 'OK' is fine!

[eggplant_tyrant]

If it's too much just skim through them, correct a couple of common errors, and write 'good job'. I get to mark 190 MS essays next week and I'll be at school until 8 or 9PM. If I had to do that every other day I can tell you I'd be spending a lot less time on each one.

This. If you're going to stick it out, each week, pick a grammar point, and mark them based on that grammar point. One week, correct all of the capitalization mistakes. One week, fix end marks. One week, past tense. One week, general punctuation. Then you can re-use the same comments for 95% of the diaries, too -- "Good work! Remember to start every sentence with a  capital (big) letter!" For the kids who write perfect but boring entries, "That sounds like fun." Only put special effort into the comments if the kid put special effort into the writing.

If anyone challenges you on it, tell them that leading educational theorists believe that by correcting every single mistake a student makes, you're actually discouraging them. They get overwhelmed and don't know how to improve, because you haven't given them anything specific to focus on; you've just told them that they're all wrong and they should fix everything. As such, you're giving them a set, achievable goal to work toward every week.

Also, see if you can set up a two-week rotating schedule. The first week, you circle the places where students have made mistakes. (Don't indicate how to fix those mistakes, other than maybe leaving a general hint in the comments.) They get the work back, look at what you've circled, and rewrite the piece with the mistakes corrected. The second week, you correct the revised work.

The administration probably won't let you do that, but in my experience, that's the only way to force kids to actually think critically about their errors and maybe even learn from their mistakes, rather than simply checking how many red marks they see so that they can gloat to their friends if they've done well.

[teacher_del]

If you're leaving in August and the marking methods suggested above aren't approved, refuse to work late.  Point out that your contract states you work X number of hours per week.  Refuse to take work home.  Work right up to the moment you're supposed to leave, and then get out of the school within ten minutes of your go-home time.  I'm happy to do some extra work at my school, like most teachers, but within reason.  Don't stay at work correcting essays until 7 PM every other night!

[sweet_potato]

OK... thanks for all your suggestions, folks. I feel a lot better about the situation now.

If I thought that this diary writing thing would actually benefit the kids, I would make a bigger effort. When my coteacher first told me about this, I thought we could actually use the diaries in the classroom, so I can help the kids with common errors etc (a minor rant - diaries are supposed to be written in past-tense, and the kids don't learn that until grade 5 or 6! gah!) - but no, this is done on the kids' own time, and is therefore gonna get marked by me 2 weeks after they write it; they'll just look at my comments (which they can't understand), and make the same errors in the next entry. Oh Korea...

So since no one (apart from the VP) benefits from this, I'm just gonna splash some red ink on the pages and get on with it. I'm hoping I can rip through 90 journals in about 2h (which is an alternative to desk-warming; possibly a good thing). I leave at 5 everyday, and if there comes a time that I don't finish some, I will do them the next day.

I guess I now understand why Korean teachers are always so busy......
Thanks again!

[partheania81]

I guess it's 50/50 in Korea... My KT tries their best not to burden me with any work other than teach the lesson that I need to.

[SuprD3vil]

My VP is also insane and has decided to make a name for herself at my and my co-teachers cost. She is demanding much the same as your VP but with some added extras including speech contest/play contest/writing contest and monthly open classes and I teach 24 classes a week on top of it all.
I gave my notice last week due to all of this craziness but have not been allowed to explain to my VP (who speaks no English) that I'm leaving because of her. There are a few other F. teachers at my school in a similar boat and she has added that they now have to come and have "conversation time" with her and the P.
At least your VP knows your not happy with the situation and maybe won't add any extras on because of this. My co-teacher is new and thought that all of this was common and acceptable and didn't even try to stand up for me until I threatened to quit (and then when she did, things just got worse).

[SpaceRook]

If it's too much just skim through them, correct a couple of common errors, and write 'good job'.

This.  I recently got the "Hey, let's have spacerook grade 100+ diaries a week" treatment.  Basically, I correctly 2 or 3 of the biggest errors on a page, write a short sentence of encouragement, and then sign my name.  If the student clearly put in a lot of effort, I'll also go the extra mile and do more.  But in general, I try to spend 1 minute tops per diary. 

[Andyroo]

Yea that's what I was doing, just skimming and making the obvious corrections. But get this, I was given stamps that say Good/Great/Excellent - so my comments can't be anything along those lines. I've taken to just asking a question about their activities, or agreeing with whatever they write. lol. Until 8-9 pm? Gah. That sucks pretty bad too!

Just draw a smily face. Roate between the Korean version ^^ and English version :)

If you see one where the entry is sparse and the student hasn't put much effort into it give them a :(

THen next time give them a lot of praise when they write more.

[donuts81]

It does seem like your VP is a little out of touch with what how much work they have actually given you. As the diary marking is a regularly scheduled non-teaching activity is there any chance of you bringing up the w7000 overtime pay? Not so much as to get any extra money but more to dampen their enthusiasm for giving you any more work.

[hueysport]

If you're feeling overloaded with work, it probably means that you have too much work on your plate.

[sweet_potato]

Thanks for all your support.

I'm getting a lot quicker at going through their diaries. To be honest, it's making my afternoons fly by. I think I may have brought this upon myself... they are all convinced that I'm capable (they know I'm a teacher back home) so I guess they're treating me like one of them. If I get the chance to meet the person who is replacing me, I'm going to tell them to act totally lost and confused and overwhelmed with everything so that they don't have to do it...
 

[Dweebs1]

Thanks for all your support.

I'm getting a lot quicker at going through their diaries. To be honest, it's making my afternoons fly by. I think I may have brought this upon myself... they are all convinced that I'm capable (they know I'm a teacher back home) so I guess they're treating me like one of them. If I get the chance to meet the person who is replacing me, I'm going to tell them to act totally lost and confused and overwhelmed with everything so that they don't have to do it...

I have to check about 150 diaries a week and one news paper a month. Afrer we have our middle school exams next week, we will have a speech contest.