Korean Job Discussion Forums

[waterbaby]

What do you think is the optimal number of students to have a really good class? Personally, I love having just 6~8 students. I'm able to give each individual attention and there's enough of them to really enjoy games, dialogue practices etc. I hate really large classes and I hate having just 1 or 2 students.

At the moment, I'm teaching 15 minute, 20 minute, 25 minute and 30 minute classes. Last year I taught 50 minute classes. I like 30 minutes, but I think 40 or 45 minutes would be ideal. 25 minutes is great for the younger students (they're about 5~7).

Does anyone have any links to studies or books that argue the pros and cons of class size and length?

[the_beaver]

12 students. 50 minutes.
Then I can break the class into pairs, groups of 3, groups of 4, and 12 itself is not too big for full class activities.

[mokpochica]

I once taught a high school class of 5. I thought that was too small, but it may have been because 2 of the kids were not big talkers. We didn't get to fully discuss some topics and get lots of perspectives in that class like I could with my others. I like even numbers and I think 8 would be about perfect. Small classes are the best environment for people learning foreign languages because then everyone really gets a chance to speak. That's one big advantage to working in a private language school (Hagwon); that classes tend to be a lot smaller than they are in regular middle and high schools. I hope I never have to teach 35 students at a time again!

For both high school and middle school I think that 45 minutes is a good length of time. For younger kids, a language class of 30 minutes would be good. I don't really like the 'block scheduling' thing that is happening in American schools where they schedule kids as if they were college kids (meeting Mon., Wed., Fri. for 1.5 or 2 hours). Some teachers say they like it because they can do more involved activities, but I prefer having kids meet every day when you are teaching them a foreign language.

[GirlFromMars]

Between 9 and 12 because there are better group dynamics but you can still give each student enough attention. One of my classes has 3 and another 5 and it's not fun, it just drags.

[OiGirl]

6 students
45 minutes

[ulsanchris]

I find around 6 to be a good class size.
i think 35 mins to be the best time. its easy to keep the kids attention.

[captain kirk]

almost all our classes are fifty minutes, which feels about right, maybe a bit too long. but switching to some other activities changes gears enough to make it the last stretch. ulsanchris' 35 minutes sounds better, but then for the teacher there's a lot more work. to make up a day of 35 minute classes there would be more starting and stopping, resets. what feels like the most work is setting a get-go atmosphere, at the start. re; class size i prefer a student number of 6-8 students. ONE class is eighty minutes, that's two times forty with a ten minute break in between. they may be better students, and i'm able to keep it rolling somewhat with their cheerful help, but to kids who are doing a lot of hagwon-hopping already it must be a test of patience. the other extreme, a 35 minute class, could be almost a joke. by the time everyone's collected into the mode, and it's the fourth of the day, it could be a third done already. besides, with more time there is 'fun activity' time, like drawing english-labelled pictures, etc. some of the 'class proper' activities take awhile to get rolling like survey activities, paired dialogue exchange practise. with fifty minutes if teacher shows up a little late it's no inexcusable event for the kids to tell their moms, either, so i like that slack.

[kimcheeking]

12 students 45-50 minutes for all the same reasons beaver said.

If I have to teach kids the perfect class size is 0 and length is 0.

[crazylemongirl]

I've got 20, 30, 40 classes. Kindy is defintly 30min. Elementary I acutally like 40min, with about 6-8 students.

The only good thing I have to say about 20min classes is that if you hate the kids then you get a quick exit.

As for the dynamics, I think it depends on a lot of things. The set up of a room (I teach in a combination of classes where I can't see all my students at once and nice big ones) and the personalities of the kids involved.

CLG

[yodanole]

Much depends on your purpose at your institute/institution. If I'm really going to teach, 12 students/50 minutes is good for all the above mentioned reasons. If I am going to process cattle through a Korean Uni, 30 students/50 minutes (Take attendance, open your book to page #, write some stuff on the board, pair them up, do the dialogue and "class dismissed". If at the Hogpen, 12-14 students/30 minutes is very good. Greet the students. pry the ddong chips out, take attendance, tell the students to take out their books (repeat as necessary, but don't get bogged down in it). Tell the students to open their books (repeat as necessary, but again, don't get bogged down in it). Tell the students to close their books and line up. Hand them over to the Korean teacher and process the next batch. Get through the class, then the day, then the week and finally the month. Pass Go, collect $200 and a get some free soju card. I'm not really in this for the money. But my boss isn't exactly in it for the education. You know what kind of place you work at, for better or worse. As always, try to give a little better than you get. But don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out of it alive (I don't remember who said that).

Kimcheeking: I feel the same way about adults as you feel about kids. But then again, kids don't buy sashimi and soju.

[SeoulShaun]

8 students 40 minutes - under 6 10 students 40 minutes 7 and older. I teach both kinder and elementary and I feel the younger kids need more attention while having more older students make it more interesting.

As for time, I have taugh 40, 50 and 75, and I tell you attention span is key. 40 is just about right for both child and teacher.

[camel96]

The hagwon I'm at now has a limit of 5 kids in about 70% of the classes.
The parents pay extra for smaller classes.
Having worked under this system I couldn't ever go back to classes of 15-20 screaming turds.
The smaller classes are so so much easier I think. Discipline is less of an issue and you actually feel like the kids are learning more.
Length wise I like 45-50 minutes. I think there's been a whole bunch of tests done on this that even adults only have an attention span of 50 minutes or something so where do 5 year old kids figure????
That having been said I have some classes that go for 90 minutes and both the students and me start to get bored out of our brains and ratty after an hour.

[peppermint]

For adults, a 50 minute class is usually about right, and class size between 5 and 10. For free talking students a smaller class is usually best, but for lower levels I like to have enough to do group work since they're still a little intimidated by my fishbelly white skin

I currently teach some 80 minute classes and for advanced students it's usually okay. I sympathize with the dazed looks on the lower level students faces though. When you're new to a language, trying to understand a native speaker for an hour and a half is a LOT of work.
I took Korean lessons when I first arrived and our classes were 2 hours. After the first hour my brain stopped working in English or Korean

[schwa]

I've got a couple 3-hr classes in my week, Korean english teachers, attendance varies from 5 to 12 each week. I've come to enjoy the longer period -- a chance to stretch out & really get into some topic. The attention span factor really does come into play though -- I stick quite religiously to the "academic hour" (50 mins) & go out of the room for a coffee somewhere. The teachers need that chance to unwind & yack in Korean.

I try to have different types of activity prepared for each hour, whether we get to them all or not. Vocab work, the odd bit of grammar review, small-group activities, games to lighten things up (& which are maybe useful in their classrooms), some timely or controversial topic for full-group discussion. Its a productive work-out for everyone involved & the time goes quickly enough.

[kylehawkins2000]

I'd say it really depends on the age and ability of the students. In general, for young learners, say 10 years of age and under, I'd go for 6 students for about 30-35 minutes.

For older students say 10 to 14 I'd go with the same numbers but a slightly longer class of 40 minutes.