Absentmindedness

I don't know if it's worth posting through this venue, but man I sure have been getting into a lot of trouble at school recently.

Though tardiness has been a problem at previous jobs, I'm happy to say it hasn't been at this one. I've only been late one time (by 5 minutes). Though paperwork deadlines have been an issue in previous jobs, they aren't now -- I've been good about getting paperwork in on time. But when I talk to the other foreign teachers about how things are going, everyone (myself included) gets the impression I'm being ridden harder that the other foreign teachers.

And it's not that I don't understand what my director wants -- I cognitively understand the Korean penchant for timely, accurate paperwork. I just can't seem to remember all the details all the time. Here are a "few" examples of my job responsibilities:

• When checking homework, make sure you make a mark (such as a star) to show you checked it.
• When you are checking the home work, give the students a worksheet to work on so that no classtime is wasted.
• When you do a workbook page in class, make sure to check all the students work to make sure they are correcting their mistakes.
• If you have extra time in class, do a worksheet. Don't play Bingo. Don't let Kindergarten students color on blank paper.
• When writing the lesson plans for each class, make sure you fill up the entire box with writing. It doesn't matter what the writing says ("institute spontaneous group activity"), as long as all four lines have something written on them and the box looks full.
• Check the schedule board in the other room for special events.
• Kindergarten lesson plans are due on Wednesday by noon.
• Page update forms are due every other Friday.
• New Student forms should be filled out one week after a new student comes into your class. When transferring a class to another teacher, fill out a Class Transfer Form.
• When gaining a new class from another teacher, fill out the New Teacher Form.
• When you are about to finish a textbook, fill out the New Book Form one week before you need the new book.
• Give a spelling test to all afternoon classes (except "Phonics" classes) every Friday.
• On weeks where there is an event on Friday, give the test on Thursday.
• Pass out weekly Homework Sheets every Monday.
• Put a copy of each class's Homework Sheets in your Homework Binder.
• Keep track of attendence and check homework only during the first ten minutes of class.
• Have the classes write varying amounts of sentences (using the vocabulary words) based on the skill level they're at, from five for lower level to ten for upper level.
• Written tests ("Big Tests") and Oral Tests are given alternatingly bimonthly. Oral Test preparation packets must be passed out to each class on the Tuesday before the Friday test.
• Evaluations are due on the Thursday after the Friday written test.
• Evaluations must be optomistic, may not include any language that could be construed as negative, nor can it contain the word "game."
• When a book is completed, a pizza party is permitted, but it must have been a book that was scheduled to take over three months to complete.
• Books may be completed up to one week less than scheduled, but not earlier than that.
• For the pizza party, the teacher has to fill out the Activity Form.
• Lesson planning time is from 1:10 to 2:00. Even if you've finished, you can't do anything personal or use the computer for personal reasons. Looking contemplative at your desk is OK, though.
• Old lesson plans should be moved from the teacher's binder on their desk to a different binder, located on the bookshelf by the coordinator.
• Lesson plans should be done every day.
• Lesson plans should be neat.
• A Korean teacher will teach "Phonics," "English Time 1," and "Language Arts" classes one of the five class sessions per week. The day will vary, and lesson plans should reflect this.
• Teachers must develop their own reward system (an eraser for every 25 completed homworks, for example) and decorate their room.

Recently, I was talked to privately because I had forgotten to give my 4:00 class the oral test preparation packets on the designated day. Evidently, a number of students' parents called to ask why their kid didn't get one. Up to that point, I hadn't thought it was that big a deal; when I found out about the calls, though, I felt pretty bad.

In addition, the school's owner and president/principal (원장님) was looking through my lesson plans (as is his wont) and saw that I hadn't filled out the boxes for one week of a particular class. Why do the boxes need to be filled out completely? I don't know, but if they're not, he "talks" to my coordinator (교수부장님), and she "talks" to me.

Also, I was told that one of my coworkers complained that I was using the computer for personal stuff during the lesson planning time. Without details, I couldn't confirm or deny it, so I just said "OK. I won't do that during lesson prep time." I felt bad about that, too. I don't want to piss them off -- they're my emotional release valve. At the same time, I was reminded again that I need to make stars on the students' workbooks and homework to show that I had indeed checked them.

Although I try to follow the rules, I don't understand why most are such a priority, other than because psycho parents are obsessing about pointless junk that doesn't seem to make a difference. "What's the big deal?" is the question that flows through my mind most often, but that's a difficult question to work in while you're getting yelled at.

While in the West I could be seen as a principled non-conformist who's interested in purpose and reason more than form, in Korea this is seen as obstinate and undisciplined. And by pressing my point or asking, "Why?" during private "talks," I'm most likely to get myself branded a careless slacker with a poor work ethic who doesn't fit in with the group. "Thinking outside the box" can be a good trait in some places; it isn't here. Unfortunately, at most of the jobs I've had it's been a fight for me to even get in the box -- following directions for the sake of following directions is really hard for me to do.

Am I complaining? Well, yes, but I'm trying hard not to. I understand the duties, I want to be able to work in a Korean environment, and I don't mean to flaunt the rules, but there are an awful lot of procedures to follow. I don't deliberately ignore them, but without explanation about why they are such priorities (such as the Oral test prep packets), I can easily overlook them.