Job Discussion Forums

[ESL104]

OK in quite a few job adverts I've seen stuff like

'18 hours a week with no office hours. A teaching hour is 50 minutes'.

What the heck does this mean? What are we expected to do for the other 10 minutes of the 'hour'? Why don't they just say 15 hours a week, and all classes are 50 minutes long?

[roadwalker]

Actually, they are trying to reassure you that they aren't trying to trick you. A teaching hour is counted as an 'hour' even though it is less than 60 minutes. Beware of adverts that promise only 24 hours teaching where you later find out means 30 classes.

So this school is saying 50 minute classes times 18 classes = 900 minutes = 15 total hours teaching (by the clock, not by the class). Most of the jobs in China seem to advertise by teaching hours, not clock hours. Some try to sneak in extra classes by going by clock hours. Be sure to check contracts for clarity on this issue and don't hesitate to have it cleared up before signing.

[PittsburghSound]

roadwalker beat me to the punch, but also consider this:

In your case there would be 10 minutes between teaching periods. So let's say for your 18 total hours a week, you teach 4 hours per day Monday-Thursday and 2 hours on Friday. Your M-T schedule is such:

10-10:50
11-11:50
lunch
2-2:250
3-3:50

This is just an example. So during those 10 minutes, your students are leaving your class to go to other classes or arriving at your class from other classes. Did you ever to go university in your home country? Same kind of deal.

[3701 W.119th]

I teach 50 minute lessons, usually 4 a day, sometimes 5. It's just a scheduling thing. The 10 minutes allows students to get to their next class, and for me to set up my next lesson (if I'm teaching 2 back-to-back).

[Non Sequitur]

You may get 2x50 mins with the same class in the same room.
Gives everyone a time to decompress, go to the loo or whatever.
I generally leave the room in that middle 10 mins and talk to other FTs in adjoining classrooms.
I also try to have a change of pace in the 2nd 50. A game or something similar works.
If you live off campus, think where you are going to hang out if you have a split timetable ie 8-10 and then 2-4.

[BleedingBlue]

[Non Sequitur]

OP if you have to walk across campus in a blizzard between classes you'll know what the 10 mins is for.
At my last school they did not take the 10 min interval in the last class before lunch. This was in the classroom building closest to the dining hall.
The classes in that building finished 10 mins before the others to manage the demand on the dining hall.
Of course no one tells you that before you teach in that building!

[kungfuman]

A teaching hour in my school is 40 minutes for my program. KA CHING

[GreatApe]

+ 1 to roadwalker's information above.

I'm in the same boat as kungfuman ... a 40 minute "teaching hour." I'm currently teaching 40 minute classes back-to-back with a 10 minute break between.

--GA

[Non Sequitur]

[Voyeur]

Ask to see some typical schedules for other teachers in your position. How your classes are scheduled can be almost as important as how many.

[Non Sequitur]

[Voyeur]

Everyone has different scheduling priorities (weekends off, consecutive days off, etc.), but for me efficiency is key. I like my classes as tightly scheduled as they can be, with only one trip into work on any given day. Especially when you are really up and running, and the prep has been minimized, any forced downtime at the school, while you wait for your next class, is effectively unpaid work. Of course, if I'm doing work that does require more out-of-class paperwork, then a little office time isn't so bad.

[Listerine]

[GreatApe]

Non Sequitur wrote: