Job Discussion Forums

[volgaman]

I'm delivering a keynote and a workshop at a conference in a couple of weeks and would really appreciate your answer to the following poll question. I will share my workshop ppt with you after the poll has closed.

Thanks a lot for taking the time to read this. Obviously feel free to add any comments.

[spiral78]

I don't understand. There's nothing to dislike in your poll.

[johnslat]

Well, since it's "like least" and not "dislike," i'll pick lesson planning.

Regards,
John

P.S. Of course, after having been teaching pretty much the same stuff at every possible level for thirty-three years, I have all my lesson plans on my computer - and only a few alterations might be required.

[spiral78]

Ok, I'm a freak. I like it all.

[volgaman]

But what do you like least?

[spiral78]

The holidays?


I usually take marking with me to break up the boredom

[Glenski]

What long holidays?

I'd say there were other items you could have added to the poll (and perhaps even take into account where people are teaching, be it HS, elementary school, uni, business, self-owned school, conversation lounge, etc.) and one's background/experience...

But I tend to critique online polls like this a lot. For a keynote, this is a pretty darned poor poll to present to any audience!

That's why I abstain.

[artemisia]

What I liked the least previously is not a listed category here - constantly changing levels. While that might prove useful for developing flexibility and versatility in teaching, I find it far more satisfying to work with the same level and develop resources and ways of teaching the required material. By having the chance to concentrate on fewer levels and on a specific set of class materials you develop knowledge and skills that could potentially be taken into other levels (I hope). I find the opportunity to be creative and attempt different teaching approaches is diminished by a perpetually changing focus.

That's no longer the case for me now and it makes such a difference. It's also great to have a certain underlying knowledge of the material coming up you can fall back on in terms of time spent on preparation. It does cut down on lesson planning time in that respect, but I find I still sometimes spend much the same time on this as I like experimenting.

[Denizen]

I'm presuming 'course design' includes the assigned textbooks? This has frequently been a pet peeve of mine.

[naturegirl321]

How about admin who has no experience in education or teaching whatsoever, but still insists on giving you suggestions on how to make your classes better?

[the_otter]

Lesson Planning. It always expands to fill the time available. And sometimes even if you spend two days planning one lesson, you still feel guilty for not doing a better job.

Actually teaching can be good or bad depending on the day and the students, while marking is okay when combined with music, chocolate and sometimes a glass of red or at least a coffee.

[Shonai Ben]

[MarkM]

I picked lesson planning, for lack of a better option. What I find quite distressing is the prescriptive and teacher-centred nature of the teaching at the language school. This is a major reason IMO why students after 10+ years of studying English are still barely able to string together a coherent sentence. You don't acquire language by drumming bits of it into memory. Teaching in this way makes me feel part of the problem.

I guess it is partly because Asian education systems are still pretty much stuck in the behaviorist rote-learning mould. It is also because, when your students understand very little of what you say, you can't do much else. Using a student-centred discovery based approach and linking new information to prior learning is almost impossible. I suppose it could be done with the close co-operation of a Chinese teacher, but this just doesn't happen.

Fortunately I only spend half my time teaching children at a language school. For the rest of my time, I teach young adult English majors in a tertiary institute. This kind of teaching is a lot more satisfying.

[volgaman]

[Glenski]