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wendysue
Joined: 17 Apr 2003 Location: Seoul
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Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2003 4:13 am Post subject: |
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I teach 180 minutes of kindy a day and either three or four elementary classes a day and I really, really like my kindy classes, for many of the reasons stated by other posters. I have a pretty good amount of freedom in my lesson planning, so I mix it up between academic stuff (spelling, subtraction, reading) and fun (coloring, songs, PE time twice a week). I have one class of 7 and one class of ten and I could not imagine having more than 10-- make sure your contract specifies class size!
A question for other kindy teachers--are you expected to give them homework? I was just told this week that I should be doing homework and I just can't stand the thought of giving homework to such little ones knowing that they have a whole life of crazy Korean academic pressure ahead of them. |
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waterbaby
Joined: 01 Feb 2003 Location: Baking Gord a Cheescake pie
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Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2003 4:39 am Post subject: |
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wendysue wrote: |
A question for other kindy teachers--are you expected to give them homework? I was just told this week that I should be doing homework and I just can't stand the thought of giving homework to such little ones knowing that they have a whole life of crazy Korean academic pressure ahead of them. |
I am expected to give them homework too (though is the Kindy kids I teach in the hagwon, not the actual Kindergarten) but I make sure it's really easy &/or fun stuff (colour in the page, trace the words)
Personally, I like to set "read to mum and dad" homework activities - print out a bunch of words they should know how to read. You can make little check boxes next to each of the words (like what they do on the "I can read" pages of Scholastic Phonics books) and I'm always suprised by the amount of kids that hand me their checked homework the following day/lesson. |
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maxxx_power
Joined: 17 Mar 2003 Location: BWAHAHAHAHA! I'M FREE!!!!!!!
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Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2003 4:59 am Post subject: |
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I have a class of 14 kindergarteners for 3 1/2 hours each day for 5 days a week. Mind you, I have no aptitude for dealing with the little hellspawn so I resort to breaking their spirits and forcing them to submit. You could cut the tension in the room with a knife at times.
The korean staff prefer to physically punish the more wild demon children but I find that psychological trauma is much more effective at controlling them. Inflict the wounds that leave no physical scars, only mental ones.
I swear that sometimes I've turned the little ones into miniature adults, sitting quietly in their seats until I utter the magic words "play time". I could have an army of child soldiers in another 3 months of hogwan teaching.
It's not that kindergarten is bad, you just have to REALLY like kids.
Now that I think about it, I really should stop teaching kids. Now if only my @#!$#@@ director would release me from my contract! |
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tomato
Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Location: I get so little foreign language experience, I must be in Koreatown, Los Angeles.
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Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2003 6:10 pm Post subject: |
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Hello, Haxah!
For a new teacher, the kids could be difficult to control.
In fact, for even an experienced teacher, a class newly arriving at the English school or Korean kindergarten could be difficult to control.
It requires a special skill which is somewhat different from the skill required for teaching other classes.
Kindergarten teaching involves providing a wide variety of activities.
That's good news in the sense that it is generous in providing creative outlets.
That's bad news in the sense that it requires a lot of energy.
If you accept a job that involves teaching kindergarten, come with a suitcase-load of books, pictures, and other materials. You cannot trust your director to provide the necessary materials.
Take a look at my Website.
I've listed the activities which I have found most effective in teaching kindergarten. |
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jacob7207
Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Location: Seoul
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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 4:57 pm Post subject: I hate Kindergarden |
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Every time I see a kindergartener I want to kick him/her like you do in football. Seriously, Kindergaten sucks. |
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chaiplz
Joined: 21 Mar 2011
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Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 7:06 pm Post subject: |
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Anyone have a good salary idea for the average kindie teacher? I'm one of those TESL newbies with a lot of energy, but I've also worked with young children for years... I'm not so much the 'motherly' type, as the 'patient auntie that knows eventually I can give the kiddy back to mom'. Either way, I love singing stupid songs and doing little dances with kids and think it would be a fun job.
But seriously.. are the 35 student classes the norm? That, would in fact, be awful.. especially for the kids. |
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tomato
Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Location: I get so little foreign language experience, I must be in Koreatown, Los Angeles.
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 12:47 am Post subject: |
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35-student classes?
We have 22 children and 5 teachers! |
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chaiplz
Joined: 21 Mar 2011
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 8:52 am Post subject: |
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^ phew... I must have misread |
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Marzipoo
Joined: 10 Feb 2011
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 9:51 pm Post subject: Re: What's so bad about kindergarten? |
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haxah wrote: |
I am planning to go to Korea this summer to begin teaching... after reading all these postings, I don't know how to tell whom I can trust.
Many ads say, "No Kindergarten." What's so bad about teaching English to kindergarteners?
Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks. |
They are very young, very needy, and have short attention spans so they are naturally more difficult to deal with than older children who are more independent.
The thing that sometimes makes teaching kindergarteners difficult for me personally is that they all require so much attention that I end up neglecting the needs of some of them.
Kindergarten is great for those that enjoy teaching very young children and pure hell for those who don't.
So you just have to ask yourself if you have the right personality to handle them or not. Nobody else can tell you if it is good or bad. |
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