Korea Life Blog - Student Types



I did this post awhile back on one of the discussion forums but I thought I'd bring it here for my readers.






There are these types of students in a hagwon.

1. The Window Watcher - this student has arrived early and hangs out in the hallway staring into your classroom window and distracting your students. This student is always there and will not go away.


2. Late Jake - this student arrives late everyday and pops in just after you've painstakingly explained the days lesson/activity using konglish and all kinds of outrageous body language.


3. The Fastest Student in Korea - this student finishes everything you give him in record time no matter what it is, anywhere from 5-20 minutes before the other kids have finished. He has no idea what he's just done, his sole purpose was to finish and shout "da haeseyo!" (finished everything) Then he's bored and roams around the room causing trouble.


4. "I don't know" Joe - no matter how hard you try, this student nevers knows what you're saying, what you mean, how to do anything, how to breathe on his own...


5. The Perfect Attendant - this student comes to school no matter how sick he/she is. He/she also shows up when no other students do, i.e, public school picnic days, day before a major holiday, etc.


Some other people contributed with these types:


The questioner. Can't just sit quietly and wait for all to be revealed in good time--has to ask about everything imaginable. As soon as you hand him a paper, he asks, "What's this? What are we supposed to do? Do I start now? I don't understand how to do this. Do I start at the top? Do I have to write my name? In Korean, or in English? Teacher, I don't know how to write my name in English! *has a panic attack* Does anyone else know how to write their name in English? Can I start now? Should I use my pencil or a pen? Is it time to start yet?" ...usually all these questions are asked before you've even finished passing out the paper. Sometimes he asks some of them twice or three times for good measure.


The gamer - brings a game or toy to every class and will cry to the director if you try to take it away, refuses to do anything but play with his game.


Today I had each of these student types and is what reminded me of the topic. I'll post a few more later.