Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Maka]

I teach in an after school program and have been informed that i need to teach an open class next wednesday for 3 of my classes. My students ages are 7-8 and they are just beginning to understand phonics. this is my first time to do this so i am unsure how to plan the best lesson to 'impress' the parents. Any helpful info or advice would be appreciated.

[Kiarell]

Responsibly handle students who goof off or fall asleep. If you can get them to pay attention without making physical contact it can look impressive. Keep it simple, practice vocab and be sure to use some A/V supplements. Kids here are used to a barrage of stimuli and straight up lectures can put some kids to sleep. If you want to impress the parents, finding some way to keep the kids interested is paramount. You also want to avoid singling out students too too much in this class. If the parents think their kids are making trouble for the teacher that could make family life more stressful.

Try something simple and something you could have pictures of....like animals or household objects. Cliche, yes. Practice introductions like "Hello, my name is ..... I like the color......"

Also try to incorporate some humor if you can. Sorry I cant help much more, but I don't teach children that young.

[Underwaterbob]

Be prepared for your students to be on their absolute best behaviour. It always throws me when a normally rowdy class are all of a sudden the most diligent students ever because of the presence of a Korean authority figure. Be sure you have enough material prepared to do about 10% more teaching per class that would normally be spent on getting them to focus and pay attention. Your percentage may vary.

[Underwaterbob]

Oops, didn't notice the age. On second thought if they're that young even Korean authority may not make them behave. Phonics lessons should generally try to be fun, especially for students that young. Keep them busy with lots of different activities. The 7-8 crowd are not known for their attention span, though some of them put my middle-schoolers to shame.

[Yesterday]

[Faunaki]

Smile a lot, be sweet, dress well, tell your class you will buy them ice cream if they do a good job.

[whatever]

^Couldn't agree more.

[Beej]

[mrsquirrel]

[RyanInKorea]

I was a little nervous the first time I had to have an open class. Honestly, my adive is to prep them insanely the class before. I told them their parents were coming tomorrow and that if they acted badly I would kick the sheite out of them the following day. We then practiced all the questions and answers we would be going over. I ended by promising them candy the following day if things went smoothly. The class had seven seven-year old.

At the open class make sure the kids are smiling, you are smiling and the parents are smiling. Be a chipper teacher. Never yell or single anyone out above a "*****!!!!!! Look this way please."

I was lucky because the lesson just happened to be 'Thank You' letters. We wrote some to the parents and they read them at the open class. The parents seemed to like it.

Good luck!
Ryan