::A Geek in Korea::

I have a young student that really doesn’t have a very good attention span. Considering his age, it’s probably a very good attention span, but compared to his peers in class, he’s scatterbrained. I told him that he had a test the very next day. He had to go home write the words in his book into his notebook several times to memorize them, and come back to class able to spell them all. I told him this multiple times. He wrote this down in his homework notebook. He said he understood.

The next day, I saw him in the hallway. I asked him if he was ready for his test. He said he was. I asked him a word on his test, and he got it right. I asked him a second word, and he didn’t know it. I told him to go to class now, five minutes before the class started and look over the words again to refresh his memory. I then went to grab my books and get ready for class.

When I walked back into class, I saw that he, along with the rest of the students, were playing pogs (ttok-ji).  I broke up the game, then passed out the paper for the spelling test. The same boy said, "We are having a test! I didn’t know! I didn’t have time to study at home or before class started! Oh no!"

I slapped myself on the forehead, and almost wanted to scream. Had no time? Didn’t know?

Anyway, I gave the test to the students, and the boy failed the test. He got the lowest score in class and held it up proudly for the rest of students to see. He said he was happy. Then I grabbed the glue and affixed the test directly to his book. Now when his mother opens his book to see if he did his homework or not, which is a requirement for him to get rewarded at the school, she will see his test scores.

The boy went from defiant and happy to sullen and depressed immediately. I asked him what was wrong, and he told me, "I don’t want to go home now."