They just don't care

My third grade classes don't care anymore.

The third grade of middle school in South Korea is roughly equivalent to ninth grade back in North America. They are the seniors of middle school. A few weeks ago, they finished their final exams, leaving me over a month to teach them... whatever. And because they already finished their exams, anything that is taught from now until the end of the year isn't being tested on, and is basically meaningless.

So as a result, they don't really care if they do well now. And as a teacher, it's hard to teach a class where the lack of enthusiasm is that big of a problem. Sure, you are still obligated to cover the rest of the textbook, but no matter how interesting you try to make the material, it's probably not going to fly. It's frustrating.

(The reason why their exams are so early is because they have to have the grades determined before they apply for their high schools, which can get quite competitive.)

For the next week and a half, I was told to pretty much do anything. I think it's obvious, but when you don't have any new material to teach and the students don't really give a damn anymore, 45 minutes of class time can feel like 45 hours.

I can fill the class up with games (as most other native English teachers are doing, from what I've gathered), but my co-teacher is often saying that the games may not be age-appropriate and often ends the game much earlier than anticipated, catching me off-guard.

One and a half weeks of pure torment. Fun.