Korean Job Discussion Forums

Jizzo T. Clown · Joined: 27 Mar 2006 Location: at my wit's end

I've discovered that this varies greatly from CT to CT. I work with three coteachers, and one of them explicitly told me he wants only 15% of the classroom workload. Another likes it 50/50, and the other one likes to be in charge most of the time--about 80%--even though he told me we'd ideally split the work load evenly (things tend to change once class begins).

I'm trying to get a feel for how normal this is. I do think it's good having them in class, especially for my subterranean-level students!

xCustomx · Joined: 06 Jan 2006

Like you said it all depends on the teacher. None of the CTs teach more than me, but I really enjoy working with the ones who split the work 50-50 and explain/answer questions from the students in Korean. My goal is for each CT to use less Korean in each class, but the students are at such a low level that they have to explain in Korean or the class will not know what to do.
On the other hand I have one CT who just stands in the back of the class and only speaks when I ask her to. She's completely useless and I would rather have her stay in the teachers' room than come into my class.

Bear256 · Joined: 28 Dec 2006 Location: Anacortes, Washington USA

I have a co-teacher for 6 of my 25 classes a week in a small public elementary school. He told me he expects me to do 80% and half the time he doesn't even show up at all. We are scheduled to do a demo class next month. It will be interesting to see what the split is then!

rockstarsmooth · Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Location: anyang, baybee!

i am 100%, baybee.
i have 5 or 6 coteachers, none of whom actually teach in my classes. most of them stand in the back of the room and occasionally whack someone who is talking or sleeping, one or two will do brief comprehension checks after i give instructions. that's it.
demo should be fun/weird. my senior is planning to be my coteacher for it and she says we actually have to teach together. i've never done that before...
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right now i'm listening to: david byrne - amnesia

hubba bubba · Joined: 24 Oct 2006

safeblad · Joined: 17 Jul 2006

I teach at 2 schools. at one school about its about 80% me; at the other school it varies. today i read a book in class while my no englishee coteacher taught in korean... only a few months left of this contract, i'm done arguing about it and am trying to teach myself not to care

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004

Middle school & vocational high school - less than 5%.
Academic high school - 0% (what co-teacher?).

safeblad · Joined: 17 Jul 2006

Saxiif · Joined: 15 May 2003 Location: Seongnam

Never had a co-teacher, never will.

daz1979 · Joined: 29 Apr 2006 Location: Gangwon-Do

My co-teachers are fantastic. At my school it operates as follows:

1. I teach the whole class; however, the co-teacher translates any words that the children are struggling with.

2. I teach 20minutes and then the co-teacher teaches the rest of the class using my board work and worksheets.

To be honest, I believe the students pick things up far quicker once they understand what the words actually mean, rather than just how to say them.

I wouldn't swap my co-teachers for anything and would be bashing my head against the wall far too often without them being there.

butlerian · Joined: 04 Sep 2006 Location: Korea

And yet we're only considered to be "Assistant Teachers" according to our contracts...

bosintang · Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 7:50 am Post subject:

Like most of us (I believe), I prepare the lesson and teach the class. A couple of times, as well, my co-teachers had to go away on training seminars or whatever, and I had to cover their regular classes for a few days or a week.

Preparing and delivering the lesson is really my only responsibility, so I don't mind that, and it's easier for them to work around me than it is for me to work around them.

I include my co-teachers -- if they bother to show up -- by having them model dialogues with me, and help the students when they are doing pair and group work. In the low-level classes, if I'm introducing a new game or activity, or there's an expression in the book I'm supposed to teach that is wrong or used out of context, I may have the co-teacher explain a little in Korean, but this is rare. I also ask the co-teachers to check the students homework that I assign the next time they see the students, and to make sure students come to class prepared. Not all of them do this, but some do.

Other than that, the co-teachers don't have to prepare anything, or even show up for that matter.