Korean Job Discussion Forums

[fromtheuk]

Dear Readers,

This is my first ever teaching job, it's a public school job and I have no CELTA.

Today my co-teacher gave me feedback on my special class lesson saying it was too hard and there wasn't enough games/ activities in it.

I agree with her up to a point. I am new to this and I am quite mediocre.

The plus points are the students like me and they actually behaved during the lesson, about 3 or 4 students did the tasks I gave, successfully.

I dislike playing games, todays reading tests showed how little some of the students know. I want them to learn something, rather than play enjoyable games and learn nothing at all.

If anybody knows the answer to these questions, please respond:

1) does the co-teacher have any right to ask me how to do my lessons or am I entitled to say this is the way I want to do things.

2) if I stick to my boring lessons is there anyway the co-teacher can get me into trouble?

3) i know Korea is desperate for teachers, so if my co-teacher begins to think my lessons are total crap, do you see any threat to my completing the year contract? (I've only done 4 weeks so far).

I think I will play the game and include more games next time and make the level easier for the students.

4) my co-teacher has mentioned she is under stress because of all the paperwork she has to do, she has also mentioned native teachers get paid more than Korean teachers before.

She said I ought to think more about motivating/rewarding the students because if the work I give is too hard they will get bored. I agree with that, but the main issue for me is do I have to do as she suggests or can I do it my way, without putting my job under threat in any way?

Many thanks, in advance, as usual!

[Yu_Bum_suk]

Well, she may well be right. There's nothing wrong with spending a bit of time on games and songs if they help motivate the students to learn; however, twenty minutes of hangman followed by twenty minutes of bingo followed by ten minutes of music videos would be grossley irresponsible, even for vocational / technical students.

As for who can say / do what, presumably she has more experience than you, so you have to take that into consideration. The biggest factor, though, in who's boss is who's older. If you're siginificantly older than her it's very bad form for her to try to boss you around just because you're a foreigner. If you're younger than her, it would be very bad form for you to ignore her suggestions, unless you had an English teacher older and with more status than the both of you backing you up.

At any rate, if you follow her suggestions for now, at least she can't blame you for how things go. You can always make changes to your routine in time as you learn more.

Good luck with things.

[xtchr]

[quote="fromtheuk"] she has also mentioned native teachers get paid more than Korean teachers before.
quote]


That is not true at a public school. (Hogwans are usually a different story).
And it is none of her business what your salary is anyway. Do you know how much she earns? Next time she mentions it ask her directly how much she makes, just to see her response.

[hubba bubba]

exactly. maybe if your teacher is just out of college, you MIGHT make a bit more than her. My coteacher last year made almost five mil a month. Yes, she just had to show me the text on her phone that notified her of her direct deposit.

[ttompatz]

[hubba bubba]

really? coteachers are our supervisors?

I've always been confused about the nature of the coteacher relationship. All I know is that it's best to get along and have them on your side. I assumed that the "co" implied equality. No idea really.

[ED209]

If you feel paranoid, demoralized and in fear, welcome to Korean Business School.

You shouldn't ignore what she says. Throw in some games YBS gave you some good advice.

I doubt you'd be fired for being boring. If you're feeling a bit insecure then you also need to look at your relationship with your co-teacher. Do you see them outside of school? Do you talk to them about non-school related stuff?
What do your other co-teachers think of you?

[ttompatz]

[fromtheuk]

Thank you for the advice.

She is younger than me, but knows her teaching, I admit I'm new to this so I can't say I know anything.

I think I will do as she advises and she can't then blame me for not heeding her advice.

I have quick chats about what she did at the weekend at the beginning of the week. Each day I offer to get her a glass of water when I go to get a drink.

I always greet any teacher I meet. I greet the principal and vice principal every morning, apparently they like it, so that's why I do it.

My co-teacher is ok and we get on fine, she was giving fair criticism of my lesson. I don't socialize with her and she is my only co-teacher.

My co-teacher has given lots of positive feedback, this was the first negative feedback.

My view is this is a job. I will be civil and polite, but I don't believe I am employed to immerse myself in Korean culture.

I don't intend to socialize with my co-workers, the simple reason being I don't want to.

We have had no cross words or anything. After she gave the feedback she said she hoped I wasn't upset and we ended the day as normal.

What I'm saying is, deep down I think playing all of these games, even when they are educational doesn't seem to be working with some students.

Today they demonstrated in a test, how some can barely read a word. I don't think it would hurt them if they sat down for a while and simply learned some English.

I think it's bad enough we have to sing that nauseating 'She's tall' type song in most regular lessons, I hoped in my class I could make lessons 'dull' enough so the students can actually learn something.

I suppose I'm not 'groovey' enough yet as a teacher. I am improving but it takes time.

I also thought co-teacher meant we are equal, so are co-teacher's supervisors?!!!

[ttompatz]

So quit making this personal and treat it like a job. Get the tools you need to do a good job. Hell, it's like you were a carpenter and she told you to go get a hammer and you asked why? That is not meant to be a flame but simply a rhetorical comment that does NOT require an answer or rebuttal.

Now more to the point (sorry for repeating myself).
What age/grade level are you teaching at (elementary, middle, high)? There are lots of ideas and good teachers here that could help you make the learning interesting as well educational AND keep your boss happy. Learning and fun are NOT mutually exclusive ideas, especially not at the elementary level. You can do both at the same time.

Just because something is fun does not mean it can't be educational as well. Hangman and bingo are NOT the answer but there are lots of fun, educational activities you can do depending on the age level.

[ddeubel]

ttompatz,

You said it all. I'll differ to you and appreciate your forthright comments to new teachers.

I really wish many teachers would take it to heart to really prioritize a great relationship with their coteachers. You don't have to bend over backwards but you can meet in the middle, see things from the other side, compromise, be human in your endeavour and at the end of the day, always go by the motto that you are both working for the student's greater good. I know it is an art I'm talking about but a necessary art - these social skills.

DD

[fromtheuk]

elementary kids, grade 3,4,5 and 6

[ttompatz]

[ttompatz]

[fromtheuk]

it starts at 3, i think its called after school

I have 2 classes, 1 on tuesday for grades 3 and 4, and 1 for grades 5 and 6 which starts at 3 on thursday. they call them special class.

it's not curriculum based, i can choose the topics.