Korean Job Discussion Forums

JiH · Joined: 01 Sep 2007

So I finished my demo class today and feel pretty bad for my co-teacher.

I took a risk and did a "mime"-esque activity breaking the class into groups. Each group got a card with a central theme and 5 actions which they had to mime. The non-presenting groups had to guess the actions.

Of course all the GEPIK evaluator saw was that English wasn't 100% in my room. That I *gasp* had my co-teacher translate all the rules of the game to ensure that the students knew what they were doing.

Of course, the students had a blast.

And during the evaluation after the GEPIK evaluator complained about the lack of English, the Vice Principle apologized for my horrible lesson, that she would never let such a poor lesson get through again, etc, etc. Except...she's never been involved in any of classes nor expressed interest.

The fact that the lesson wasn't well received, I can deal with. But my school's vice principle....

I held my tongue barely because I already knew my co-teacher was going to take flak. And the last thing she needed was for me to embarrass the vice principle in front of company. But it was a very close thing.

Moral of the story is that GEPIK is a one trick pony. They demand "English immersion" but are at a loss on how to provide a successful model of how to institute it.

And that even if the students stare at you with glassy eyes, they believe if you would only speak "slower" and more "simple" that the students will understand. That infuriates me the most.

I want the students to develop comprehension. Not regurgitation.

Very soured on public education system.

nomad-ish · Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 9:02 pm Post subject: Re: DEMO Class...DONE

icicle · Joined: 09 Feb 2007 Location: Gyeonggi do Korea

I do sympathise with you ... It is not easy ... And it is also not right that you are the one who ends up feeling at fault in this ...

One question for you ... Did anyone other than you and your CT review the lesson plan before you taught it? ... Mine is coming up in a couple of weeks time and I have been told that we need to submit it a few days before ... Had you had a chance to see many other open classes before you needed to teach yours? I know that seeing other classes has shown me some of the what to do ... and not to do ... in what I think is a good open class ... but it isn't easy ... If neither of these things has happened then the task that you and your CT had in teaching the lesson was made all the harder ... And as you already know was not fair on you (But I think still does happen far to often)

I think that one of the biggest things to aim for in an open class (and in our English classes in general) is to maximise the English which is spoken by the students ... If that is an overriding objective ... It does influence the activities that you will choose to use ... And I know that since that has been a significant aim in any lesson I have prepared ... it has both made for better lessons and reduced significantly the amount of Korean which is essential to the lesson running smoothly ... students able to do activities.

It is also true I think that if an activity is going to need a lot of Korean to be spoken for the students to understand what to do ... it is probably not a good activity to use ... (The only time I would use an activity like this would be if it was a type of activity that I was going to use often ... so using Korean to explain it the first time ... would have benefits later)

I would be interested in hearing from other people about what to them makes for a good open class lesson ... Most of us in public schools have to do them ... And attend them ...

Icicle

icicle · Joined: 09 Feb 2007 Location: Gyeonggi do Korea

nomad-ish · Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 9:48 pm Post subject: Re: DEMO Class...DONE

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

patongpanda · Joined: 06 Feb 2007

Was the person who criticized really a GEPIK official or just some bod from another school?

We just had people come from other schools so there was no outright criticism (quid pro quo).

Of course my lesson was perfect. I have it on video I will post it when I have done editing down to downloadable chunks (you will see how false it was).

icicle · Joined: 09 Feb 2007 Location: Gyeonggi do Korea

[quote="patongpanda"]Was the person who criticized really a GEPIK official or just some bod from another school?

We just had people come from other schools so there was no outright criticism (quid pro quo).

quote]

It could have been a GEPIK official .... They do come to some of the open classes in my area .... but not all ... My school is "lucky" enough to be one of those schools in this current set of open classes in our city ... I think that of the 5 or 6 I have been to this year (the last 7 months) they were at 1 of them ....

We are not going to practice the lesson with the class we are doing the open class with ... but we are using approaches/techniques that we use normally in our lessons and which seem to normally work in encouraging our students to talk ... and I will be teaching the lesson with some other classes before the open class not always with the CT I I am doing the open class with... which I know from experience will help with timing ... The open class lesson will become one of my normal lessons ... I think that the extra effort that we are putting into our lesson so that we do end up looking good will primarily come from the planning before hand stage .. so in preparing the lesson plan and aids we will use ... rather than in preparing the students in the actual class we will be using in the open class. I think that the students in the class are more likely to be engaged with the lesson when they are experiencing it for the first time ...

Icicle

hari seldon · Joined: 05 Dec 2004 Location: Incheon

Weren't you aware that there's no such thing as an actual demo class in front of parents or officials in this country? Shocked

Everything is choreographed and rehearsed in advance. Rolling Eyes

xCustomx · Joined: 06 Jan 2006

Chalk it up as a learning experience, but if you had done some research about demo classes I think you could have avoided some of the mistakes you made. Sure, the kids may have had fun, but your goal in the demo class is to focus on some clear objectives while getting the students to participate and speak in English as much as possible. Out of curiosity, what objectives did you have in your lesson?

It also doesn't sound very well organized if kids are just shouting out answers, guessing what actions the mime is doing. As others have mentioned you'll learn more as you attend more and more of the demos. The lesson should also be rehearsed, but with classes other than the one you're giving the demo with. This will help with timing and allow you to pinpoint some of the mistakes you may come across in the real class. Good luck with it next time~

Binch Lover · Joined: 25 Jul 2005

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

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

I've only seen 2 demo classes in 2+ years. One was in elementary school and done entirely by a Korean teacher. One was "team taught" by a foreigner and a Korean. I don't think either were scripted ahead of time, but . . . in the case of the Korean teacher's class, the kids knew exactly what they were supposed to do, when they were supposed to do it. That's not necessarily scripting, that's training kids to understand classroom English, basic commands, and the ideal flow of class. I was really impressed by how well-trained they were. These are things that need to be done from the beginning of the year, so that when you say "open your books," they do it and are listening for the page number. When you say "Now it's time to _____," they will understand, from practice, what it's time to do. Not every class will have the same layout (well, maybe if you're in elementary school it will), but it's important to use a basic repitoire (sp?) of commands.

I saw a team teaching demo a couple of weeks ago that was just awful. It was almost entirely in English, to the detriment of the class. I guess the objective is "Teach English in English (TEE)," but when there's a native speaker in the room, there's no reason for the Korean teacher to be leading all the activities and to be giving all the directions in English. It killed me when the Korean guy busted out the CD-Rom and did listen and repeat with it, when there's a native speaker right there.

Anyway, I'm not in GEPIK, but do all foreign teachers give a demo class at some point? Just curious about that.

JiH · Joined: 01 Sep 2007

I've always been sour on the nature of demo lessons. I know exactly what they are, a dog and pony show. It's just that I refuse to put o the dog and pony show. I'd rather have something that's real and of possible use to other teachers rather then a rehearsed piece of "fantasy land" English where the students understand and speak in perfect English.

It's not so much that the Korean admin folk didn't like it. I can live with that. Not every risk you take is a success. Chalk it up to a learning experience. It's the way my VP pretty much abandoned us and crapped on us.

Ah well, it was all just kind of a vent.

With the year winding down, I've found the experience as a whole very educating teaching. And sure I've made my share of mistakes and poor decisions but overall I just find myself disappointed that the public education system is just as broken and morally bankrupt as the hogwon industry.

At least hogwons don't really make any bones about it. They're in it for the money. It's a business.

Julius · Joined: 27 Jul 2006