Korean Job Discussion Forums

[K-in-C]

Middle and High School Positions and Visa Versa?

[ttompatz]

[ChuckECheese]

And it seems that they are like a box of chocolate. You never know what you're gonna get until you bite into it.

[schwa]

[ttompatz]

[tomato]

Hello, K-in-C!

Here are some advantages in teaching younger kids:

■ There are oodlums of good picture books, written in both languages, which can be used to supplement the textbook. These books can be used to illustrate numbers, colors, opposites, parts of speech, verb tenses, or almost anything else.

Since the books are written for younger kids who are reading these books in their native language, middle school kids turn up their noses.

■ Younger kids enjoy musical activities. Ask for a volunteersto play musical instruments, and they throw their hands in the air and yell, "저요! 저요!"

Here again, middle school students turn up their noses.

■ You can make bingo games and card games to supplement the textbook lesson, also.

Yet middle school student students once again turn up theri noses. This leaves you no alternative but to spend the whole hour on the textook. Then they go to the director and complain that your class is boring.

■ For that matter, it is impossible to get middle school students to do ANYTHING. No matter how hard you try to coax them, they sit there and say nothing. Then they go to the director and complain because you talked the whole hour.

The director hates your guts anyway, so the director is delighted to win all these middle school students as allies.

Hello, ttompatz!

I understand you to say that different age groups are good for different teachers.
So I was surprised to see your signature.
Are you sure you don't want to change it?
I would be deliriously happy in a "crappy, kiddy, kindy, hakwon."

[dogshed]

For me there is more difference between individual classes than between the different grade levels.

[ttompatz]

[Chris2007]

Is it harder to find public elementary jobs than middle/high school??

[VirginIslander]

When I taught at a private school, I saw a two year trend.

4th and 5th graders: fun and enthusiastic. Sometimes they fight about petty things but they are great at that age.

6th and 7th graders: there are usually a few happy kids but most are little immature devils. A combination of puberty and wanting to be liked by their older middle school classmates.

8th and 9th graders: if movitated and frequently reminded of the importance of doing well in high school, they can be a real pleasure to teach. Make sure the Alpha males are on your side or the tides will change fast.

10th graders: didnt care much for them. They were like sixth graders in many ways. Always wanting attention, especially from older high school students. Other things are on their minds.

11 and 12 graders: Similiar to 8th and 9th graders. Focus on the importance of the next step in their lives. Motivation and a dedicated teacher is what they need.

Lastly, and this is very important: when you teach elementary and middle school students, you are teaching students. When you are teaching high school students, you are a teaching a subject.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

None. You have to work with little Korean kids. I've never met a society whose teenagers are so awesome (with the odd correctable exception) and whose little children are so demonic.

[ardis]

This topic is interesting...I would rather teach middle/high school students, but my friends that are also coming to Korea would prefer young elementary. My thing is that I've worked with young children (was a teacher for 2 summers) and I tend to get really frustrated after two months. I don't have an inexhaustible amount of patience, and I hate lashing out at little kids.

Also, as an English major, I love writing and creative writing exercises. With middle/high school kids, I'd have more opportunities to help them develop a more complex vocabulary so that they have more flexibility with English. But...I just graduated college and I pretty much still LOOK like a high schooler, so I'm worried that I wouldn't get any job offers.

Any advice?

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[tomato]

I don't think you have anything to worry about.
Some schools discriminate in favor of younger teachers because they think younger teachers are groovier.

[pest2]

Currently, I much prefer teaching middle school. I teach both -- elementary and middle school. There are a few things that are better about elementary school -- the students are more energetic and enthusiastic, the classes are shorter, and in my situation, I can leave the school as soon as my last class is over.

However, the teaching conditions in my elementary schools are terrible. There's either no coteacher whatsoever, or there is a coteacher who tampers with my lessons by speaking over me using Korean, or there is some hostile coteacher who thinks I should be using the Korean-English text book to teach as if I were a tape recorder. In my middle school classes, my coteachers and I work together like a clock.

I think there are 2 main causes for the problems in the elementary schools. 1) The coteachers in them are not English teachers. Thier grasp of English is limited. They dont want to appear not to know what they are teaching to the students, so they try to make it look like they are competent when they are really not in anyway they can (this explains them wanting you to use the textbook or talking over you in Korean).
2) In my province, whereas the administrators have clearly and concisely defined the duties of FT and KT together in the class and sent formal messages about those duties to administrators in each school, no such support has been provided at the elementary school level. We FTs are just thrown into the elementary school like oil on a hot fire without any foresight or plan and expected to function and fit in perfectly.

In my province, the administrators need to step up re elementary schools.

I think elementary school classes could actually be better than middle school classes with proper guidance from above.