Korean Job Discussion Forums

[BS.Dos.]

I haven't been giving it a lot of thought to be honest, but given that it's getting closer and judging by the amount of other related winter camp threads there have been lately, I thought I'd post just to clarify what I do and don't know.

I've been told that my boys HS will run 3-classes per day for 2-weeks starting on the 2nd Jan. I will be teaching 1 class of new 1st graders, while the other 2 classes will be a mixture of my existing 1st and 2nd graders. Does this sound right, or can I expect to see a load of new faces whose parents are simply sending them to my school for extra tuition?

I was also under the impression (rightly or wrongly) that these camps will be run pretty much like my existing fortnightly club-activity classes, inasmuch that the emphasis should be placed on 'fun'. I've read a lot of other post which seem to stress the need to prep up different types of activities etc. Am I right in thinking that those posters are referring to winter camps that will be held away from their usual places of work and where they wont necessarily know the students ?

Any help appreciated.

[Bibbitybop]

As each school is different, so are the winter camps. If your school doesn't give you specific guidelines, anything goes, but of course the kids should learn and have fun. Remember, they will retain more day after day of constantly going, so now is your chance to do bigger activities with them as opposed to 45 start and stop activities.

[yingwenlaoshi]

You'll need to buy some snowshoes and bring plenty of warm clothes.

[nomad-ish]

so you won't be teaching the same kids for the 3 classes/day? i know many people will say that makes things difficult, but i personally like that idea. as for the 1st and 2nd graders grouped together, are those kids mostly similar in abilities? if not, it'll make conducting lessons and activities a bit harder.

and yeah, the camps are run much like the extra classes u do at school. during my camps i don't notice that there are new kids from other schools there (i teach so many students, i can't keep track), but i think it depends on your school and where u teach (maybe out in the country with 1 FT in the area, other schools will send kids to u)(?)

[cruisemonkey]

My school district asked me to do a winter camp for two weeks (Mon.-Fri.)... one week of elementary, one week of middle school. Approximately 12-hour days and I could go home at night (or sleep over ). The extra pay offered was 1.6 million.

I politely declined. When they asked "Why"?, I replied "Because of the elementary kids, the days are too long, I don't want to eat cafeteria food and I don't need the money."

[cornie_man]

Yes, most of the discussed camps on Eslcafe are camps at other schools or in areas where there aren't any native-speakers.

Now in Changnyeong, the situation is a bit different. A couple of years ago, I worked at your school and it was the same deal. Think of it like this, in that first grade class, you'll get to see most of the new faces you'll see in March. They may have some funny ideas as to what foreigners are and how to treat them, so get onto that, but you'll love them as they are pretty innocent and energetic. I remember this one student who was a real thorn in my side in that class, and he became one of the better students during the rest of the year.

The mixed class will be composed of around 20 students. Most of these students signed up for this class on a voluntary basis, so they will be a nice combination of smart and well behaved students. There will also be those whose parents signed them up, so be prepared to find some warm bodies without voices.

And yes, I believe they still serve school lunches

I hope this helps. Good luck.