Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ds_fan]

Im working in a kindy hagwon, currently really pissed off and on the verge of giving up trying.

They have me doing the full monty, Teaching parents, teaching teachers, the works.

I have to provide a written lesson plan for every lesson, bit of a pian in the ass all this paperwork, but i suppose a plan does make for a decent lesson.

That said, they dont have a fucking curriculum, and no one here speaks english, i dont have a clue what im doing, in order to plan any lesson I need to be told what to teach, im a teacher not here to create a curriculum and decide what to teach and when. For certain topics, like phonics its ok, as its just 1 letter per week, but for other classes like ones where i need to plan games for the brats its crazy.

Its in my contract that they must provide a curriculum so im going to ask for one and insist on being given at least a scheme of work in hand.

Just looking for some opinions, do many hagwons not have a curriculum? Do your kindy hagwons ask for plans on paper?

A private school with no curriculum is almost as funny as an english language school with no one including the owner who speaks english.

[Fishead soup]

Welcome to Korea

Native Speaker+ Students+Room= English class.

[ds_fan]

lol, so i see, fucking twats, would turn you racist this place. Thats fair enough, but why in the blue hell do they want me to write lesson plans on a proforma which i had to make? Its not fair if they cant pull their weight.

[Ramen]

Some people charge money for writing curriculums for hakwons.

[some waygug-in]

If I were in your place here's what I would do....


Lesson plans;

Day 1 - I teach English.

Day 2 - I teach English.

Day 3 - I get shyte for lousy lesson plans and I teach English.

Day 4 - I make even lousier lesson plans and I teach English.

Day 5 - I get shyte again, but I ask why they have no curriculum when it

is supposed to be provided.


As for materials, get yourself a copy of "Wee Sing" with the tape or CD.

That should give you something to start with.

Then get something like a coloring book that you can make

copies of and lots of crayons.


Teaching parents and teachers:

Start off by asking them how much English they know.

Ask them what they would like to study and what methods they would like to use. They will probably say "free talking" but don't let them get away with just that. If they have enough English skills to do some reading, get yourself a copy of "Jazz English" and use that for starters.
It has translations for new and difficult vocabulary, so it will help a bit.

And if they still insist on lesson plans, tell them to get stuffed.

[DongtanTony]

Your school should have something in place...that much I agree with.

It shouldn't be up to you to choose materials...but some of us prefer going into a classroom with as little "curriculum" as possible.

My advice...get visual. If you have any way of displaying power points...or pictures...some of your best kindergarten lessons will come from visual learning lessons.

genkienglish.com---great resource for kindy level classes...created by teachers in Japan...but they have some great resources. Maybe your school would even pay for a membership?? It might be worth a shot...check out some of the free songs like "Genki Disco Warm Up" and the "Left and Right" song.

Cheesy games---going over, going under, going around the table......one table...."teacher, I'm going under the table" and so on...with a little prompting and setting of expectations from you...it's not a bad game to pull out if you're running out of material.

Like I said....get visual-----shapes and colors can go a long way with a little music...have students draw blue circles, red triangles...so on and so forth...once you have a load of pictures...put them on the floor...let them run around the room...stop the music...and make them identify the color and shape...."teacher, it's a yellow square." Again...it takes prompting...teaching...and setting expectations...it could even take two or three lessons...depending on their level.

Get out on the internet...and away from Dave's I mean....there are a ton of great resources out on the net...and even a lot of simple kindergarten lessons for "western" classrooms can apply to your hagwon kindy program.

Clothes...food...animals...family...sizes...the body...hobbies...colors...shapes...numbers...stories...your home...likes/dislikes...can and can't...the market...weather...daily routines...on and on and on.

Think thematic learning...a lot of great stuff can come from having a good theme to work with for a couple of weeks.

I hope that helps.

[Otherside]

DTony, thanks for the great post,
I'll be definitly trying out a few of your ideas in my weekly kindie class

[ddeubel]

Unfortunate that they expect so much for "so little" and also of a teacher who is also learning on the job.....

One good source for EFL ideas and kindy is Supersimplesongs. I forget the address but it is on my youtube channel. Just scroll down and check my subscriptions. You can view his videos and get ideas to use directly in class....

http://ca.youtube.com/profile?user=ddeubel

Also see my own hundreds of karaoke and songs and teaching aids on the Teach and Learn tabs.....Practice and Games especially (for phonics).

DD
http://eflclassroom.ning.com

[Lekker]

[LiquidSunshine]

if you're just starting out the easiest thing to do is to follow a book. get a book that fits each class, photocopy it if your hagwon doesn't want to supply the book to everyone, and just teach what it says. don't worry too much about how to teach if you're just starting out. that will come with time. worry more about having something to do for every class.
as for the lesson plans, keep it simple. look at the table of contents and write what it says. write the page numbers. and that should be enough to keep them off your back for a bit.

[dmbfan]

O.P.


Yeah, many have been in your situation.

However, try not to get too discouraged. It may be a blessing in disguise. You have the opportunity to mix and match, seeing what works for you (and the students) in the most pro-active way.

Here is my advice...you can take it or leave it.


1. Gather all the resources you have, especially visual aids (flashcards, worksheets, coloring tools, etc). If you have a laptop, use it for the class. If not...well....then suggest to the director that a purchasing a computer for your classroom for educational purposes would be a great step in the right direction. Also, spend some time MAKING visual aids. You can print off many useful tools from the internet.

2. You may have to spend some of your own money.....if that is the case, then just keep every transaction slip and hand them to your director. You can do many things with certain games.
A. Jenga (you can get creative and make it into a speaking game).
B. Coloring pencils, glue, makers, etc.
C. Basic coloring books for each student.
D. Stickers.....lots and lots of cool stickers.
E. Playdough (for down time).
F. Story or nursery rhyme books to help build rythm and meter
which will add to fluency and memory development.

3. Establish a foundation/routine that the students will do just about
everyday. Routine is very important for kids that age. Start
with a warm up (it can be doing a roll call, asking a simple question
to each student...change it over time as they progress)

4. The internet..........your best tool at this point. Look for ideas on
every website you come across.
A. Dave's ESL Cafe
B. ESLteachersboard.com
C. Tesall.com
D. starfall.com
E. bogglesworldesl.com
F. eslkidstuff.com
G. esl-images.com

5. Start with the basics...............the alphabet, PHONICS (you have the
opportunity to teach them correctly and help them develop good
habits early on), writing (be patient with this one), days of the week,
months of the year, numbers, "I", "you", "me"...etc. As time goes
on you WILL see progress. Then you can divide the class into
reading groups.........be patient with this, but it will happen if you
but the time in.

6. Try to see the positive in this. You are setting the standad by
developing what YOU want for the kids. Whatever you do, do your
best with it......and try to have as much fun with the kids as possible.
But, make them work as well. If your school director is smart, he/she
will support you. If not, then phuck em. They probably don't have
clue anyway and what they THINK may not really matter in what is
important for learning. Seeing as how they don't have anything set
up for you to begin with, I'm willing to bet that they really don't know.


Good luck, O.P.

dmbfan

[agoodmouse]

KEI-TEFL had, at the time I was taking the course, a website database for English teaching resources to which enrolled students had to contribute relevant receptive and productive skills links and descriptions. It's a proprietary database system built into the course itself, so I figure you'd have to enroll to access it. Publishing it on the web for public use would be a great help to teachers in Korea and elsewhere. This TEFL course itself is another topic. // You can google for age appropriate teaching aids, as any beginning teacher would, and search on this message board for different materials.

[Juregen]

Creating a lesson plan is not creating a curriculum.

It like saying that baking a piece of bread is the same as starting a bread factory.

silly.

[sargx]

Don't worry about your lesson plan, they don't read it anyway.

[Draz]