Korean Job Discussion Forums

[sqrlnutz123]

I'm only teaching about 17 hours a week out of a possible 22 and the rest of the time I'm sitting in my office doing nothing. I've only been here a week, they just took a copy of my contract yesterday. I'm pretty sure someone's going to think of something for me to do so they are sure they're getting their money's worth, but how long do I have before that happens?

[scotty12347]

Are you glad of the free time? A lot of posters on here suggest that they would rather be teaching than "deskwarming" wouldnt the free time be a blessing? Couldnt you use it to learn the language or something?

[andrewchon]

Since it is inevitable. Let's think about what they can task you with.
What level do you teach? If it is elementary, does it have a kindergarten?
How many classes per grade?

[nathanrutledge]

With GEPIK, the contract says that at MOST you have 22 hours of teaching a week. Last year, I only had 10 hours a week because our school was new. So I did my 10 hours, then sat around doing other stuff for 30 hours for my total of 40 at school. This year I have 19 classes. They don't ask me to do anything else, and if they did, I'd say no anyway. 19 classes a week, plus another 8 hours after school means I have to prepare lessons for 6 different groups each week (1st, 2nd, 3rd, after school, after school advanced 1, advanced 2) which means that if I spend only 1 hour on each class preparing, I am using up 33 of my 40 hours. Considering that lunch takes another 5, that leaves a grand total of 2 hours free during the week.

Long story short, if you have 17 hours a week, you should be busy writing lesson plans, preparing, and doing other things. There should be zero reason not to fill the day productively.

[Bloopity Bloop]

Lucky. My school thinks it's a violation of the contract if I work less than 22, so they give me 25 (w/ $20 per hour overtime :/ ). Everytime I tell them working under 22 is NOT a violation of the SMOE contract, they just say, "Yeah, yeah. Okay." Of course, being that I am not Korean, my words simply float through their heads and nothing changes.

[dc'79]

You should always have a 'prop' ready. Most days I barely have enough work to cover 80% of my time in the office. Some days I have absolutely nothing to do and just surf the web. However, the instant a coworker comes within 10 ft of me...I'm working on some ppt slides, replying to work emails, whatever. As long as you are producing something every once in a while, they should leave you alone.

Unless of course you want them to find you additonal work.

[poeticjustice]

[sqrlnutz123]

I'm elementary Gepik. We teach from a book that goes with a CD and there is no lesson planning. Also the past few days have been for testing so I have done absolutely NOTHING for the whole eight hours. I don't mind the free time, I'm just dreading the moment when they realize and start piling on the work.

[pjmancktelow]

welcome to public school. its the main reason i swirched over from the hogwan. i have no problem desk warming. i just keep myself busy, study, read a book, make great lessons, whatever i feel like really. i watch a lot of tv too on my own laptop. as long as im prepared and proffessional they dont mind. my co workers all do the same in the afternoon when they are not busy. enjoy it my friend, the worst that can happen is they give you some more classes. i have 6 like that. with 15 or less kids after they go home. i teach alone but its really easy and i just play games with them and review their class work.

[runthegauntlet]

[poeticjustice]

I heard the same tripe at the GEPIK orientation.

"If you teach 16-20 hours a week, it doesn't matter. You have a 40 hour per week job and you should be working through all 40 hours. 40 hours is barely enough for all the work and preparation you have to do!"

This is a load of crap. If you're teaching in a middle/high school, chances are you will be using the same lesson plan more than a dozen times each week. The only prep that is required, in this case, is the singular lesson plan which will carry you through the week!

Making one great lesson plan shouldn't even take you a few hours.

[DrugstoreCowgirl]

Your school will probably make you start teaching English to the teachers after school to maximize your hours. I have to do it twice a week and it's the worst thing about the job.

[nathanrutledge]

OP - if they don't ask you to do any lesson planning, consider it a gift and don't worry about it. Every school is different and every principal, vice principal, co teacher, parent, and student can have a different effect on what you will or will not have to do.

Of course, every other native teacher that has it worse than you will complain that it's not fair and THAT is when you will get more work. The best thing you can do is not talk about it to anyone. If asked, your day is chock full and you have no free time and your principal beats you. Don't ruin it for yourself or those that have it better.

I'm glad I made you smile, runthegauntlet, but with 6 different lessons spread over 27 hours, filling 40 hours a week for me is no problem at all. Also, we didn't know the OP's situation. I stand by what I say for anyone who has to write lesson plans and has an average class load. If you aren't spending at least an hour per lesson plan, there is something wrong.

Think about it, if you teach an hour, doesn't it stand to reason that it would take an hour to get your plan in place? Getting the idea, writing a schedule, coming up with vocabulary, grammar points, models, putting a power point together, making a worksheet, checking the word level to make sure they will understand, proofreading what you wrote, etc, etc, etc...

[bassexpander]

[runthegauntlet]