Job Discussion Forums

ratdog · Joined: 17 May 2008 Posts: 4

So demos are illegal, but interviewers typically require you to do one? Are some with kids, and others role played with adults? How long do they generally go for? Would anyone like to share their ideas for, or experiences of, good demos? Or just offer some advice on coming up with a good demo, especially for someone with no experience teaching english to kids (I did a supervised practicum teaching ESL to adults in a TAFE, and have tutored kids one on one in mathematics, but never classes of kids, or ESL to kids). It would be much appreciated.

surrealia · Joined: 11 Jan 2003 Posts: 241 Location: Taiwan

I would suggest that you always be prepared to do a demo. Sometimes you will be asked to do one without warning.

Get a few teaching ideas from websites such as Genki English and ESL Kid Stuff. You can find links to many such sites here:

http://www.geocities.com/allhou/lessgames.htm

JZer · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh

You will almost always be asked to do a demo. I don't think that there is any job in Taiwan without a demo. Funny since one cannot really show their skills in five minutes or what they know about teaching an entire lesson.

pest2 · Joined: 28 Oct 2006 Posts: 170

add this topic to the long list of sh#tty things about the schools in Taiwan.

There's nothing wrong with doing a demo class. It's a great way for the school to see if you are a worthy teacher, and its a great way for the teacher to interact with the school to see how well he/she fits in...

BUT, the schools in Taiwan are too friggin cheap-arse to pay you to do a demo SO.. either you do one of these inadequate, 10 minute demos, or they ask you do teach an entire class for free. This has happened to me about 10x now.. the school I finally did work at paid me to just teach a class as a sub and that was like my demo...

Taiwan schools are C H E A PPPPP

NEP · Joined: 28 Jun 2005 Posts: 21 Location: It varies.

Yes, expect to do a demo. Though, Kojen didn't want one. Typically, the manager meets you and chats a little bit, then gives you a couple books from which you will demo, and you have 10 minutes to plan something before they put you in front of the kids. Maybe a grammar bit, or just reading a story. The demo lasts about 10 minutes. Yes, sometimes they'll want, like, 2 20-minutes sessions, which is annoying but maybe worth the job.

Broadly, I think they just want to see if you are friendly, fun, and appear to like kids. Try to include everyone, and be a little wacky.

ratdog · Joined: 17 May 2008 Posts: 4

Thanks for your replies. It's good to have some idea what to expect in an interview, which I will start to arrange soon. I'll try to do some demo preparation; role play by myself or with others - something I found really helped me when I did my prac at uni.

And thanks for another great link surrealia - very much appreciated!

I Rub Ruchi · Joined: 23 Jun 2008 Posts: 45 Location: USA

I suggest that you agree to do a demo only in the morning and that the students wear name tags.

I once had to do a demo at a private school where the students are kept there from 8:30 to 6:00.

My demo was at 4:00 and the children (grade 3) were taken out of their PE class for my math and ESL lesson. The boys kept asking when they would go back to play soccer and the girls were distracted by one another. All this, while the homeroom teacher and PE teacher had an argument in Chinese at the back of the classroom.

After the the demo, they claimed that I could not manage the student attention, I don't think anyone could have performed well in that situation.

Had I not been intimidated by the situation, I wold have demanded to return the next morning and do the demo in the proper atmosphere with kids who were not angry about being taken out of their favorite class.

This was at a large private bilingual school near the Lakeshore Hotel in Hsinchu.

JZer · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh

Well, if you have lived in Taiwan and Korea you probably have seen it all. Many things that are done are crazy. I have been not hired for a job in which the only questions were.

1)What is your expected salary? I said 650.

2)Do you like teaching? I said that I plan to return to the United States in two years to get a teacher's license.

Humm, why was I not hired. They hired a young girl instead.

JZer · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh

Even better is the managers I could kill for telling me over the phone that the hours I was looking for were ok then after arriving at the school to find that they needed someone for different hours. I have even skipped Mandarin class and other things just to show up to meet someone and be told that they were not hiring for the hours I was looking for.

parrothead · Joined: 02 Nov 2003 Posts: 342 Location: Japan

I start every kids lesson with 2 or 3 minutes of TPR, or Total Physical Response. It gets them out of their chairs, moving, pointing, touching, and actively participating. Especially if it is just after lunch time, TPR helps to wake the kids up and gets them engaged in the lesson. If you are doing a demo, the manager won't be able to say that you couldn't manage the students' attention.