Job Discussion Forums

[Slim Pickens]

X

[chegs]

Sounds like you're between the devil and the deep blue sea there Slim.

Weigh up;

1) Could you cope with the tedium of repeating the same lesson time after time. Using the same tired lines by the end of the week?

2) After you have taught a course once at a training school, you can retain your lesson plans and tweak/refine them for the next time you teach that level, so lesson planning does reduce as you go along.

3) Would you rather face 40-50 kids at a time, who are there like it or not, and struggle to give them all any decent amount of speaking time (let alone remember their names), or 12-20 people who are there because they want to be and have paid for it?

4) How do you feel about giving something to less privileged members of society rather than pampering to the needs of the fat cats?

I'm sure you'll find in your heart the right way to go. It is a tricky weighing up of the pros and cons of each. I do both and can see the value of each. Best of luck in deciding!

[struelle]

[woza17]

Slim I teach the same lesson plan 28 times a week to junior middle school grade one. Last week, showed the film My Fair Lady. The song, all I want 28 times. Question What are the 5 things she wants. I never get tired of that song. By the end of the week the lesson plan is down pat. Plus it improves my teaching as I have the time to go around to the students joke with them. Study their responses, for me it's good.
Cheers Carol

[latefordinner]

Sorry, no pat answer. I doubt if there is one.
I do know that I have saved myself a lot of prep time by recycling lessons and lesson fragments. You know, the parts of lessons that crop up in any curriculum, no matter how badly written. I also know that I felt much more engaged when I was planning a different lesson for each hour of the day, as I was a year and a half ago when I first started in China. That was when each hour was a new experience, each lesson was something new for myself as well as the students. I miss that sometimes. I do however place great store in knowing what I'm doing, especially as many of my colleagues put some store in my advice and experience. This adds a layer of resposibility. Hey, if one of my classes goes wrong, I can adapt; but if someone else tries one of my suggestions and it backfires, I can't be there to bail her out. Short, cop-out answer? Everything you learn is useful sooner or later, but keeping track of it all so that you know it when you need it is one of life's mysteries. Sorry if I'm no help at all.

Regards, Latefordinner

[latefordinner]

Sorry, no pat answer. I doubt if there is one.
I do know that I have saved myself a lot of prep time by recycling lessons and lesson fragments. You know, the parts of lessons that crop up in any curriculum, no matter how badly written. I also know that I felt much more engaged when I was planning a different lesson for each hour of the day, as I was a year and a half ago when I first started in China. That was when each hour was a new experience, each lesson was something new for myself as well as the students. I miss that sometimes. I do however place great store in knowing what I'm doing, especially as many of my colleagues put some store in my advice and experience. This adds a layer of resposibility. Hey, if one of my classes goes wrong, I can adapt; but if someone else tries one of my suggestions and it backfires, I can't be there to bail her out. Short, cop-out answer? Everything you learn is useful sooner or later, but keeping track of it all so that you know it when you need it is one of life's mysteries. Sorry if I'm no help at all.

Regards, Latefordinner

[carken]

Teach the same lesson 20 times? Run as fast as you can, and don't stop!

I taught at a senior middle school, having each class only once per week, and I taught the same lesson 16 times! Yuck! Finally, I decided it was kinda like being on Broadway - - those people do the same thing over and over, and they must get really tired of it, too. So, I just imagined myself a performer (which, face it, we all are), waltzed into the classroom, and put myself on "automatic".

I still didn't like it, though. As a public school teacher in the U.S., I'm used to preparing as many as 30 or more lessons per week, so lesson planning doesn't get me down. Repetition does.

If you take the job, just make sure the lesson is basically fun and interesting, or YOU will be the most bored person in the classroom.

Carole

[taschenrechner]

I teach the same lesson 15 times a week. It's not that great, but i use the time saved in extra preparation making the lessons better. Some of the classes can barely speak or understand English (so let's give them the foreigner so they'll learn quickly! ) and so I have to teach the same stuff, but not in the same manner. It's not too bad, really, because of the differing levels.