Korean Job Discussion Forums

[UnJef]

I just finished my second week of teaching here, and I can't shake this overwhelming feeling that I have no idea what I'm doing. I'd never really taught before coming to Korea -- I did a bit of volunteer tutoring, but that hardly compares. I shadowed the previous teacher at my school here for one day before I started working, although it was his last day so it was hardly a "normal" teaching day. I'm the only native speaker at my school, and there's no real curriculum to follow at all -- there's books, but they discourage the teachers from using them. I spent much of the last two weeks playing games, which is fine and easy, but at some point (see: Monday) I'm going to have to actually start teaching.

Anyway, you get the idea. I'm guessing that this is a fairly common thing, but I'm wondering how long it lasts. Any advice for an overwhelmed newbie?

I thank you in advance.

[posco's trumpet]

[Squid]

You're in at the deep end!
Don't fret, most teachers here for the first time experience a sense of isolation... and there's really no way to ease that. On top of that you have strange people buzzing around speaking gibberish, and you can't understand even enough to get a decent cup of coffee.
Even though I worked at the outset with 6 other foreign teachers I'd still feel like "what the hell have I done?" occasionally. It's ok, really, don't stress about work, you'll soon have it downpat. Maybe you just pick up a book and take it in and give them a lesson- hell they're only kids... and they're not going to offer you a ten-page critique when you're done.

I hope these scant words offer you some encouragement to stick it out, but I do feel some sympathy for you, as you're the only foreigner at the school. Keep posting here, and do some retail therapy when you get paid. Try to learn up a few basic phrases in Korean and look at taking a beginners course somewhere close to you... bonus!... they're usually free! The (mixed) blessing is you'll meet other foreigners... usually people you wouldn't give the time of day to "back home" though- so take them with a large grain of salt.

Chin up.

Squid

[Clutch Cargo]

If you have kinder you could you could work yourself out a pretty simple program covering themes, such feelings, weather, the body, the sea, animals, transport, community helpers, buildings, food etc.

Just kick off each lesson with some daily conversation ("How are you today?" "I'm fine thankyou" "How's the weather?" "It's sunny" "What day is it?" "It's Tuesday"). Knock out some flashcards with relevant pictures and words, days of the week, shapes and numbers, get youself a big calendar and start each lesson with at least 10 mins of talking about these things using simple questions and answers.

You could also make flashcards with individual words that comprise a sentence and play around with arranging them back into sentences. It helps if some of the words are represented by picture flashcards before going into full word sentences.

Get a few songs happening, such as The Wheels on the Bus, Open Shut Them, the ABC song, Walking Hopping Running Stopping, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes. Try doing these during the the first part of the lesson, or wherever they fit in. Can be downloaded from kazza etc.

It's worth going through the alphabet in an organised way, rather than haphazardly. Try introducing 5 letters per week (more or less depending on how they lap it up) and make flashcards to show things beginning with that letter. Go through these every day in different ways. Try the normal rote learning method, then try placing them on the table and asking them to find the apple etc. Or stick them on the walls around the room before they come in and ask them to help you find the 'B'.

Ordinal and cardinal numbers can be taught in a similar way, and the calendar makes it more relevant to them, Try having some sort of race and giving them a place afterwards (1st, 4th etc).

Stick decent sized lables on things around the room such as the windows, doors, walls, whiteboard, light, etc.

Read a new story a few times each week if possible. These can be found on the net if the school lacks them. Don't worry too much if it seems too complicated, but simpler is probably better.

Teach prepositions using simple diagrams and getting them to mimic them ("Stand on/next to/behind/in front of your chair").

Most of this I also apply to my elementary students, but they have a curriculum to adhere to, so it's a matter of squeezing it in when time permits.

Good luck and PM me if you want more details of any of this stuff.

[Harpeau]

Congratulations for getting over the JET-LAG!! Pat yourself on the back and get thee to a sauna and celebrate!
Play Hard!
Harpeau

P.S. Great advice!

[some waygug-in]

Not that I'm any expert, but I recommend that you buy the book,"Teaching English to Children in Asia" by David Paul. I wish I had bought it and studied it a bit before I started, but it has been a great help to me since I got it.

Other than that, relax and don't get too stressed about things. Once you do start teaching, you will probably have a lot more stress to deal with, as you will realize that the students have their own agenda, the boss has his/her own and the parents have their own.

Don't let the kids get to you. This was really hard for me at first, but you will have to be able to control your emotions. Don't let them see you get angry. If you want them to do something and they refuse, just keep on them, be firm and persistant, but not angry.
EX: You may have to tell them to take out their books 10 times or more before they get the message that you are not going to just let them do whatever they want.
Don't expect much, if any help from the boss with classroom control problems. Do expect to be blamed if the kids are consistantly out of control. It's up to you to figure out what works and what doesn't.

If the school has plenty of resources, then you are fine for a while. You should be able to find things to keep the kids busy and at least learning a few bits of vocabulary. If not, you will have to head to your nearest English Plus or Kim and Johnson's store to find what you need. I must have spent half a months wages on buying games, extra books and teaching materials when I first arrived, but that's up to you.

TEACHER CARDS ARE IMPORTANT! If you don't have some, get some, make some or whatever. Use them as a kind of teaching game: divide the class into teams, hold up a card and ask, "what's this?" The first team to answer correctly gets a point, if they answer together, Rock-scissors-paper. Do the same for the spelling. The kids will get bored with this if you do it too often, so you will have to keep a good variety of games and different cards on hand.

Check the idea cookbook for other game ideas as well as teaching tips.
Good Luck

[Mr. Pink]

IMO it takes about two + years before you start teaching really well.

Reading books only takes you so far, getting a feel for the chemistry in the classes and how to get the most out of that is what takes time.

I'd say don't be afraid to ask questions of your co-workers and don't expect to be the best right away.

Lastly, learn from your mistakes. You will make a lot of them, I know I did, and the good thing was I only made the mistake once.

[gomurr]

You got thrown to the wolves

Oh does that bring back memories when that first happened to me. What school are you teaching at that doesn't allow you to use a textbook. Sounds more like a babysitting job.

[UnJef]

It's a small school in Incheon, and beyond being thrown into the classroom with no real training or curriculum, I can't complain about much. The director is a nice guy, if a bit strange, and my classes are all short and small. I've just never taught before, and am unsure as to what's expected of me.

Thanks for all the advice -- I'm spending tonight trying to plan my week.

[Mr. Pink]

Ouch I missed the part about no books or cirriculm.

What grades are you teaching?

What do the other teachers do?

I once taught part time at a hawgwon that had nothing set up, so I basically tested the kids out on ability and picked out some books from Kyobo that were their level.

Good luck! It will take you a bit of time to get the hang of it, but keep asking here about books/levels etc.

[UnJef]

There are books -- we kinda use the American Start series -- but I've been told that we shouldn't be teaching much from them. As for a curriculum, no... none to speak of.

There aren't any other native English speakers at my school, and most of the other teachers don't speak English very well themselves. Some of them actually teach, and one of them always seems to be playing games like darts & balloon volleyball (with no educational value). Most of my classes have a Korean teacher in them to assist, but sometimes I feel like that's more of a hinderance. The Korean teacher is always speaking Korean to the kids when I'm in there, which is nice to a point, but a problem to another point.

I'm teaching kindergartners to middle schoolers, but it's the primary school students (that I have every day) who are the hardest to plan for. The director likes to keep things fun, but all I've really been doing so far is play games... I feel like I should start teaching them something at some point, write on the board and all that. I just don't know where to start.

[Mr. Pink]

Hmm that is a very large age group to satisfy.

How big are the class sizes? How do the levels of the student's English differentiate?

Example, can they read? write? speak low beginner/intermediate beginner etc?

Find out these things, and they work something out. Seriously if I were in your shoes I would probably have gone along with the games thing, and rode my year out.

Your hawgwon situation sounds pretty horrible, is there any clause in your contract that you can give 2mths notice and quit? Can I ask why you picked that job over a hawgwon suck as ECC or Pagoda Kids or YES English etc that have established names, cirriculum and lots of other teachers to aid you?

[UnJef]

Honestly, I don't know whether to consider my hagwon situation horrible or great. I've heard/read so many horror stories about crappy hagwons, bad directors, bad schedules, etc... that I don't really think I'm in that bad of a position. There are many good things about my position -- the schedule is pretty good, my director is very nice & pays me on time, I get a single apartment 10 minutes (walk) from the school, and many of my 30 teaching hours a week are conversation classes with adults.

But then there's the issue of being the only native English speaker and having no curriculum to work from.

I have nothing to compare it to but what I've seen on the web -- I don't want to end up in a school teaching tons of kids by myself every day and not getting paid on time, but if there's a position out there like mine but that has a curriculum to work from... I dunno.

My point is -- yes, I can get out of the contract if I want to but I'm not sure I want to (or know if I want to) yet. I had a hell of a time finding this job, to be honest.

[just because]

[schwa]

From what youve posted about your job, it sounds like a nice set-up to learn as you go. Maybe a bit tough being on your own there but as others have pointed out you will likely get lots of helpful responses here to any inquiries as they arise. Ultimately its between you & your classes. You will experience frustrations but approach each class with a smile & endeavor to stay relaxed & if youve got any innate ability as a teacher you'll catch the swing of it. Way to early to think about bolting. You may have landed one of the nicer jobs out there.

Good advice above also -- find some fun nonschool activities.