Korean Job Discussion Forums

Smee · Joined: 24 Dec 2004 Location: Jeollanam-do

There are a lot of good tips here so far. I'll be watching this thread with interest.

We'll have a teachers' workshop today where the coteachers and I will lay out what they expect of me, and what I expect of them and the class. There are many diffcult balancing acts involved. Part of me thinks it's not ridiculous to expect students to speak clearly and loud enough for me to hear them, and for them to respond to me when I ask a question. But there is also the fear of losing face. I am / We are charged with leading fun, active, communicative classes, but that idea goes against everything else they experience in school. What I find difficult, too (and this has held true in all the teaching jobs I've had here) is that their abilities are somewhat inflated and overestimated by what they are doing in the textbook and in the Korean English teachers' classes. Sure, they are reading paragraphs and essays, and writing letters and memorizing lists, etc . . . but they're doing all of these things with the benefit of side-by-side translations, and without having to do much speaking or spontaneous work (and also under the threat of the bamboo stick).

Anyway . . . damn, these kids are noisy.

Oreovictim · Joined: 23 Aug 2006

thu_tinh · Joined: 27 Sep 2006

i really need someone to hold my hand to get me out of the next 5 months.

Alyallen · Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 1:15 am Post subject:

I teach a conversation class but there are only 14 elementary school students in the class.

I actually do have a conversation with them or at least make the attempt. I try to pick a subject before hand, get them to talk within their own groups about what they know. I then do a whole class discussion/conversation about the topic but I make sure that I am not in the center of it (I only start lecturing if the students know very little about the subject , if what they know is erroneous, or if they specifically ask me to explain certain things further). I direct traffic more often than not. The students understood beforehand that I would not be in control of the class and that it was up to THEM to make it meaningful.

We have a pretty good time but somehow the topic almost always end up turning into talk about the siblings of the students. For example, we talked about our summer vacations and the kids had a very hilarious conversation about what their little brothers and sisters got up to during that time. I learned that my students have demons for little brothers and sisters Smile

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

Substitution drills are the way to go for large classes. E.g. Josh, 30: Josh is 30 years old. Mr. Ko, 47 etc... Well, those and pair dictations. I find that my students need to be spoonfed everything, and that they don't have the ability to even try to converse outside of the structures they are learning. Thank god for PowerPoint.

karoly · Joined: 01 Jun 2003

I teach prosody, or how to sound like a foreigner (in my mind). I teach up to 43 freshman (who must take the course and pass) at a college using a basic level text.

I believe this to increase confidence and therefore willingness to speak. At the least, it will help with the listening part of the TOEIC test, and that helps (so I am told) with job status.

The actual method is to use the conversations in the book, or ones used to help explain the theory of what is being taught with substitutions of commonalities (keep it real) or silliness (keep them on edge).

I also use a few Korean words to help with the understanding that, as a beginner (or false-beginner) the most important thing is to say something that will get the point across.

I am also attempting to be as patient as possible (beautiful gardens do not grow over night).

ddeubel · Joined: 20 Jul 2005

karoly,

A very "sane" post and you must be doing well and I wouldn't mind being in your class at all. Keep up the good work!

DD

Been There, Taught That · Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2007 10:27 pm Post subject:

LuckyNomad · Joined: 28 May 2007

karoly · Joined: 01 Jun 2003

Thanks DD: positive reinforcement is a big part of classroom management.

BT,TT: that is why I also include the nuances of body language (I am fairly animated at most times, regardless). It is easier to teach meaning, and conveyance thereof, when you utilize an extra learning style. I have found this to be extremely effective (at all ages), especially considering the love of physical humour in Korea.

mrgiles · Joined: 09 Jul 2007 Location: Seoul

guys!!! what's going on??? this is a fantastic thread!!! good ideas, respect for other posters, and hardly any negativity at all. how very unlike the usual fora here!!

this is my second week teaching at a middle school, and i've found a lot of the tips given here helpful. it is really different to teaching at hagwons, and although i'm still not confident in my classes, it seems that it is very helpful to have what somebody here has already called "scaffolding." i've started working through the beginning of a dialogue loosely inspired by the text book on the board with help from the students. after that, the kids break up into groups and work out their own dialogues using the one on the board as a guide. the kids not "lucky" enough to go to hagwons, or of lower fluency levels, struggle to get further than the simple stuff i've written on the board, but even practicing this (structure, pronunciation, intonation etc) is helping them. the more fluent kids enjoy being able to help make the dialogue on the board, and then can have fun making up crazy situations in their groups.

i have so much free time that even if i spend an hour or two working on the important vocabulary and structures i'm going to cover in the lessons, i find i have enough back-up to face the classes fearlessly.

also, i have co-teachers. they are valuable resources! even if their english is poor (but most of mine have quite good skills) they can help explain in korean (i hated hearing korean when i was in a hagwon class, but i think a little's necessary in public schools), help stop the kids from getting too rowdy, and also just provide moral support. this is, of course, if u work a little to have a good working relationship with them. maybe a shot of soju with them once or twice??

ajuma · Joined: 18 Feb 2003 Location: Anywere but Seoul!!

I've been doing the "make your own dialogue from the options" plan for a LOOOONNNGGG time and it works great!! You can painlessly work in the grammar if you plan the lessons well.

For example, if you're teaching "Where are you going?" you can put 3 categories on the board one with a blank, one with "to" and one with "to the". Student A says "I'm going to library." You say "Good...I'm going to THE library." and write it under "to the". They'll come up with a lot of different ones and you put them in the right categories. After you see poor loney "home" in the first category (with nothing), you say "What else can go here?" Mostly you get blank looks. Start writing things like shopping, swimmING, bowlING, making the "ing" bigger each time. Then say "What is the same?" AH!! ING!! "Home" is the only one that is different.

Then they write their own dialogue "Where are you going?" "I'm going ... How about you?"