Korean Job Discussion Forums

[anjucat]

howdy,

just found out that i'll be working in a high school this semester. I've never done that gig before -- been here 5 years and taught elementary, middle, and a smattering of uni, but never high school. I'm sure i'll figure it out in a week or two, but i was wondering if any seasoned vets of the high school scene could drop a word or two in on what to expect or prepare for.

thanks in advance

[teachergirltoo]

I love teaching high school. You will probably have a classroom fitted with audio and an overhead projector - which makes using music and visual presentation in the classroom very easy, and great learning tools for the studnets. I have a friend who has been teaching high school here for a long time. She has prepared detailed lesson plans, powerpoint presentations, and corresponding handouts, according to the curriculum for the entire year. If you PM me I will give you her email address. I think she sells the entire year of material package for $100 to other teachers. So if you want a easy year you may want to consider it. I don't mean to be advertising for her but I heard from another teacher that got it, and he is loving not having to prep, so if you think it will help you out too I can give you the info.

[ddeubel]

I really get angry hearing about teachers "selling" their material, resources.

It isn't rocket science and there are lots of materials available from which a teacher, even an inexperienced but "thinking" teacher can make some great curriculum from and / or support existing curriculum.

Education is not about this money grubbing stuff. We all make a good wage and unless you have something sterling and very unique, you shouldn't be making resources into a commodity. (ppts, handouts, lesson plans do not qualify at all). So I'll kindly boo your friend off the stage.

To the OP. Please take a look at the resources I and others have collected at EFL Classroom 2.0 . Thousands of ppts, handouts, a/v material etc.... click and download. Further, set up a program for those students who want to learn and send them there to use the resources for self-study.

I also recommend highly Andrew Finch's Activities to support the High School Text (I believe that is the title). PM me for more info. / availability.

DD
http://eflclassroom.ning.com

[Easter Clark]

[sargx]

You might have some problems with your students. For instance, probably 1/4th of them will sleep during class. Since conversation isn't really graded, a lot of them won't take it seriously. Remember, there's a reason why every teacher carries a stick with them, it's to wake their asses up.

[bassexpander]

Keeping them awake can be difficult (some of them).

I miss teaching high school. It was a wonderful 2 years. The staff at my school was great, and I had more former high school students who I hadn't seen in years come to my wedding than I had uni students.

[teachergirltoo]

I don�t see anything wrong with other teachers selling their materials. I have a vast library of teaching books that I have collected, and paid for, through the years. I appreciate the hard work and of those teacher/authors in compiling their thoughts and ideas. I believe that if I use someone else�s material then compensating for them is totally proper. If someone were to go to a store and buy the materials off the shelf that she has produced then it would cost a much higher sum of money, so to give her a modest amount money for her hundreds of hours of hard work does not seem like a bad thing. I have attended several demo lessons in the public schools and observed that there is a vast range of what is considered interesting and beneficial teaching for the students. Some teachers just do not have the training or experience yet � not that it won�t be gained over time, but in the meanwhile working from another teacher�s materials completely, or as a framework, can be of benefit for the students and a form of training for the teacher, so he/she can see what has worked already in a large class setting of older students. However, I appreciate that there are other opinions regarding this matter and respect those that share their lesson materials for free also.

[roknroll]

[Mi Yum mi]

I never hit a sleeping student with a stick. I did carry around a big watergun. That'll wake them up.

Nobody can give you much help until you find out what kind/lvl of your students. I worked at horrible place that was pretty much hell. I had to become a harda$$ and make them study/make things more fun.

You can get great students, the regular ones or you can get a school full of kids that'll pass cause their teachers can't give a D or F.

Try to make things more fun. These kids study from 9 to 9 some days.

Get back to me when you find out what lvl your kids are and if you want some ideas for low lvl evil minions from hell.

[ddeubel]

[marlow]

[Mark7]

Teaching high school is fun. They are starting to become adults and they are really starting to hunker down for that dreaded exam.

The only downside of teaching high school is that sometimes, depending if your class is graded or not, the amount of participation you might get.

But working at the HS level means you generally get higher level kids, the tricky part is how to sort and categorize them and not alienate them from the rest of the class.

Like one poster mentioned above, doing the same lesson over and over again gives you an opportunity to refine your lessons until they are perfect.

[Easter Clark]

With regard to the "evil minions from hell," if you want them to be interested in your class, you have to show that you're interested in them. Of course there are times when disciplinary action is unavoidable, but remember how you were in high school--did you care anything about learning a foreign language? If you had no plans to ever use it, what reason was there to try at all? And what if your teacher couldn't even speak your language to begin with--or even showed an interest in learning it?

Maybe if your teacher really took an interest in you as a person, and got away from "You must learn this" and moved toward "Let's accomplish something you didn't think you could accomplish 20 minutes ago," you would have learned something in spite of yourself! Kids are human, and accomplishment (coupled with genuine praise) feels good, I don't care who you are. After awhile it can become a drug, and once they start looking forward to your class, your problems with them will be few and far between.

[anjucat]

hey, thanks all who've responded. You've provided some sound advice and good resources.

For those who asked, this will be a tech school out in the sticks of ChungNam-do, so i'm expecting very low levels of English from the students. Any further tips on motivating slackers?

[ddeubel]