Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mandrews1985]

As someone who graduated from the UK, I have no real knowledge of SATs. However, I have an interview with a school that want me to teach this, specifically critical reading and writing.

Can someone give me some advice? What is it? How do I teach it? What should I do? I have a demo class and I'm unsure what to do.

If anyone has any links to useful websites that may help me to improve my knowledge of the subject, would be greatly appreciated.


The school knows that I am English, and that I don't have SAT experience.

[newb]

Look up "SAT" in Google. Read and study on it. They must be hiring base on your looks.

Good luck.

[mandrews1985]

Ok, well thanks. I do know what SATs are of course, just unsure of what they consist of. I have researched the reading and writing aspect of it.

I guess the ambiguity of it comes from teaching the class.

I have to do a 15 minute demo and would like some advice on what to do here. I am completely at ease with lesson planning and building my own material, but I have no experience with SATs and prepping for them.

So if anyone can suggest a basic lesson plan that I can build on, or a topic to start with, I would greatly appreciate it.

Parents, students and other teachers will be observing this demo.

[barca2121]

Vocab is important for the reading section so devote some time to that. Then maybe go through a test and explain why a is definitely wrong because of this reason, b is wrong because of this reason, and even if c and d are so close that you don't know which one is right guess one of them because you get a point for a correct answer and only lose a .25 for a wrong one. Then go over the little nuance that made c incorrect. Then it's on you. Writing section is all grammar so have fun.

[newb]

Here you go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs5Hd6jwW94

[Benjamino]

Started using these during winter camp for the 'top' students. The book isn't so bad at all. Fairly easy to work through and you're effectively just a page ahead of the students.

I was given the book first thing Monday and was told to teach it at 11.30 am.

Some of the texts are a bit dated and dull. So you'll have to explain some of the older words and context of the set texts.

I'm from the UK too so the idea of SATS is an alien concept to me but you'll be ok.

[robot]

Honestly, it'll take you at least a couple years of experience before you can be an effective SAT teacher.

If you're following a professionally set curriculum that helps somewhat, but if not you'll likely be fumbling through the first year. If you're engaging, a keen prepper, and an all-around nice guy, the kids (who have much at stake and need expert help) will possibly overlook the fact that you can't fully explain an answer or provide the depth of strategy that the pros can. A warning: the higher-level students will be less forgiving, and won't hesitate to bail at the first sign of teacher weakness.

Being simply one page ahead is half-assing it. I winced when I heard that.

In my books, it's half-assing it even if you have a tons of authentic tests and know them inside and out but simply walk through full tests explaining answers rather than doing focused prep.

The real score boosts come when the Writing and Math sections are deconstructed into question types and sub-types that the teacher can individually target with an arsenal of exercises; when the CR has been similarly gamed, with the teacher able to show the underlying patterns generally governing the composition of passages, answer choices, and vocab; and when the essay is classified into major themes that are pre-planned on and attacked with highly burnished templates & example banks. And that's just for starters.

Now, how to take this post from slightly snobby rant to helpful advice? For absolute basics, get yourself the Blue Book (Official SAT tests, available at any major bookstore) and a good vocab book (Direct Hits I & II are now selling in Korea; try that series first. Word Smart is also okay-ish). For basic CR/W strategy, check out Erica Meltzer's site, thecriticalreader.com (she's also got a couple of decent books... three now, I believe). For M, check out Mike McClenathan's blog.pwnthesat.com.

Personally I like to write my own SAT material as I've never found anything comprehensive and on-point enough out there, but some of my colleagues in Gangnam seem to get by on not much more than these basics (simply repackaging them with their school's logo), so they should serve you well.

[mandrews1985]

[Benjamino]

[robot]

@Benjamino: Alright, clarified. The way you've worded things it seems like you're offering general advice to be just a page ahead of the students, but I get that you're saying that was your experience. And anyone who spends hours prepping for a single class gets my full respect.

@mandrews1985: TOEFL teaching is good prep for SAT instruction. In my estimation, a good iBT teacher could be a great SAT teacher as the former is a far more boring test, so you learn to step up your game by being especially engaging in delivering material. Ideally this happens without resorting to games or conversation based on the content of the passages -- content is not the focus, solving the questions is, and if you can effectively impart the best strategies (eg. for S/W, a universal template for point-by-point structured integrated essays, or highly burnished phrases and response time breakdown for the #4 Gen/Specific Speaking question) the kids should be eyes open, pencils scribbling in rapt attention.