Growing Pains of Co-teaching: Why doesn't my co-teacher listen to my ideas? (Part 3)

Continued from (1:Co-teaching: A Ticking Time Bomb & Top 4 rants of NETs...).

Why doesn't my co-teacher listen to my ideas?

In my experience, this was a common rant amongst NET's in my group.

 So you're the new NET in a school which doesn't yet know how to implement you into their structure.... While Korean teachers may initially, ask you to lead certain activities or offer ideas on lesson plans,  they still want the "controlling hand". Wouldn't you if you'd been teaching your own class for years?

You may come out with very good ideas, brilliant even and wonder why they're continually getting

Top 4 rants of Native English Teachers in the Classroom (Part 2)

You just moved to Korea and you already feel like you're on shaky ground. A new work environment, new life, foreign language, culture and foods... your entire world is turned upside down and being a foreigner will feel like your largest wound! When Korean Teachers dole out punishment, your being an outsider and not knowing the Korean language will surface your vulnerability-- you feel helpless, as if you have no control. What are some Korean war tactics used against the NET's in the classroom?...

Top 4 Popular rants of New Native English Teachers:

The cold shoulder (aka Ice out)
Icing out is a manipulative tactic many of us learned to use in high school, when we

Growing Pains of Co-teaching Relationships: A Ticking Time Bomb? (Part 1)

I've been going back to some of my old posts in an effort clean up and revise information I posted earlier. Reading old posts, got me thinking-- things look a lot different after you've safely crossed the initial growing pains of working out your co-teaching role in the classroom. My relationship with my co-teachers, the school system,...; things begin to make sense and become more manageable. But initially, when my  Korean co-teachers and I were both, new to the co-teaching relationship the growing pains weren't simple.

One of my very first Crazy Kimchi blogrants back in April:

I felt like my co-teacher was doing a last-minute lesson plan ditch today; she had grand and creative schemes for lesson plans, but is now just concerned with following the

A Sigh of Relief & Clarifications for NETs on Korea's new Visa Extensions

Furious. Frustrated. Jaded. Piss-poor negative and ready to risk unauthorized visa extensions. This is how many NETs were feeling at the recent email that went out from DOE's notifying them of the new Visa Extensions regulations.  Produce apostilled diplomas and now, a FBI criminal background report from abroad?! Messages on Facebook circulated around in various forums from interpretations of regulation wording, fears that we weren't given enough time to meet deadlines, rumors of how other district NETs were going about it, to "My co-teacher said..."  Though the regulations were written in English, reading it was only leading to more confusion. Personally, my head hurt. We were feeling all too helpless and our DMOE wasn't responding to our many questions.


If you're wondering good news ahead and we finally received word from our DMOE as to the actions whether we're renewing a contract, changing schools or leaving after contract is up.  Maybe the Korean Department of Ministry and the Korean God of visa extensions aren't evil. Maybe....



The following is the letter we've received. While I am still digesting it, I thought I'd post it ASAP as I know many NETs outside of our district are feeling a similar frustration. Click here to go to the article on GRRRL TRAVELER.

The DMOE's Letter of New Visa Extension Requirements for NETs

Oct 8, 2010

Dear NETs,

Korea Immigration Service has new requirements for obtaining E-2 Visas. When time comes for you to extend your E-2 Visa or change the status of sojourn, these new requirements will be applied to you. We talked to Korea Immigration Service and below is the information we obtained from them. Please read it very carefully since the verification method is different between diploma and the Criminal Record Check.

More information can be found on this link:
http://www.hikorea.go.kr/pt/NtcCotnDetailR_en.pt?bbsGbCd=BS10&bbsSeq=2&langCd=EN&ntccttSeq=32

Diploma
All native teachers extending their E-2 Visa after September 1, 2010 must submit an apostilled or verified diploma to the immigration office.
Teachers from US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, or South Africa have 3 options:
a.) The diploma can be apostillized by the government in your home country.
b.) The diploma can be verified at a Korean consulate in your home country.
c.) The diploma can be verified through the diploma verification service offered by the Korean Council for University Education.

Teachers from Canada have 2 options:
a.) The diploma can be verified at a Korean consulate in your home country.
b.) The diploma can be verified through the diploma verification service offered by the Korean Council for University Education.

*Canada does not have an Apostillization treaty with Korea.
*** KCUE only accepts applications from organizations or schools. Whether DMOE will submit the request or ask your schools to do it is not yet determined. We will let you know soon. Due to increased number of applications, KCUE is currently not accepting new applications. Once an application is submitted, the verification process takes 4 to 6 weeks. There is a fee for KCUE diploma verification service which is to be borne by native teachers.

More information about the service can be found at this link:
http://english.kcue.or.kr/sub_new_03_1.html

Criminal Record Check
All native teachers extending their E-2 Visa or change the status of sojourn starting January 1, 2011 must submit a central government level Criminal Record Check issued within 6 months before the time of submission. (Important for Americans; make sure the criminal record check is a FBI-level check, state-level CRC’s are no good.)  The CRC also needs to be apostilled or verified before submission.

Teachers from US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, or South Africa have 2 options:
a.) The CRC can be apostilled by your government in your home country.
b.) The CRC can be verified by your government embassy or consulate in Korea.

Teachers from Canada have 2 options:
a.) The CRC can be verified at a Korean consulate in Canada.
b.) The CRC can be verified by your government embassy or consulate in Korea.

*** Issuance of CRC may take up to 12 weeks. If you are planning to extend your E-2 Visa, to renew with DMOE or to continue working in Korea, please consider CRC issuance process, shipping, and verification/apostillization period and plan accordingly.

DMOE does not have information such as which office of your home government provides apostillization service, which consulate/embassy provides apostillization/verification service, and where you should apply for the criminal record check, etc. It is all different from country to country. We are in the process of collecting as much information as possible to assist you with the process of obtaining the required documents. Since timeline is tight for many of you, please start gathering information on how to obtain the documents. It would be a good idea to share the information you find out with fellow teachers from your home country through an online community such as Facebook wall.
I am aware that some of you have handed in apostilled diploma and CRC to EPIK when you first applied as a NET. The documents are with us at DMOE but unfortunately our office is not allowed to return those documents to you to bring it to the immigration office. The immigration office does not check and return the documents but take them away upon submission, and all POEs and MOEs with EPIK are required to store all of NETs’ application documents.

Hope this clarifies the new visa extension process for you. For further confirmation or clarification we ask you to
1) refer to the hikorea website at www.hikorea.go.kr,
Information >> Immigration Guide >> Foreigner sojourn >> Extension of Stay >> Status of stay(35), and select “Foreign language teaching(E-2)” under “Employment Visa”
2) refer to the hikorea website at www.hikorea.go.kr,
Information >> Immigration Guide >> Visa >> Visa >> Visa issuance guide – status of stay, and select “Foreign Language Instructor(E-2)” under “Employment Visa”
3) or call the immigration contact center at 1345 and press 3* for service in English.
*** If you hold a non-working visa such as an F-4, F-2, or F-5 visa, please confirm with the Immigration Service that you are not required to submit the newly required documents to extend your visa.

As we find out more information and guidelines regarding the changed E-2 document policy, I will let you know. Also, as I find out more information or plan about KCUE application, I will notify you through e-mail. Have a great weekend.

Best wishes,
Ji Won Shin
--
Program Coordinator
Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education
Namgu Daemyeong 2 Dong 1819-37
Daegu, South Korea

Just Show Me Pictures: An Expat's Frustrations in Learning a New Language & Culture

So when I first arrived in Korea, I started an expat series on my GRRRLTRAVELER blogsite called, Just Show Me Pictures, dealing with the frustrations a newly arrived expat has with learning a new language in a foreign culture.

I actually derived the series from this ppt presentation I did for my Teacher & Adult English classes. There's no sound-- it's really a powerpoint presentation which I walk through and
elaborate on with personal stories, such as the fact I washed my hair with Korean conditioner for 2 weeks thinking it was shampoo!~ This is a very short presentation but it's definitely one of my favorites.

Here's a pdf version download (roughly 40MB) of my ppt  in the case anyone wants to use it.

Just Show Me Pictures! When your Expat Honeymoon Fades (Pt I: hitting the 6-month mark)

Just hit the 6-month period! Man, things are a struggle. This article has some tips on how to get through it. Click on the title link to be re-directed to my main blog for this.

5 Tips for New NETs in Korea

This article is on survival tips for NEW NETs teaching in Korea

5 Reasons to Join your Expat Community when Living Abroad

Misery loves company or you feel alone, helpless and want help, this article has some great survival tips on making it while living abroad!