Korean Job Discussion Forums

[prodiGy]

Hi
I'm fairly new to the forum.
I'm from the US and I just signed a contract to teach for a year.
Kids are between Kindergarten and Elementary.
Any advice to teaching in Korea?
Working with kindergarten and elementary kids?
Working at a private school?
How or where to meet other teachers/foreigners?
Also I didn't go through a recruiting agency or government program so no orientation where I get to meet others in the same boat.
Kinda just jumped into this thing on my own so any tips would be helpful.

Thanks~!

[naturegirl321]

Any advice to teaching in Korea?
Patience, acceptance that things will be different

Working with kindergarten and elementary kids?
Lots of activities, change them often.

Working at a private school?
Nope, sorry, accept maybe expect to bow to parents's or the management's whims.

How or where to meet other teachers/foreigners?
THis board is a good place. Also, there might be some other NET teachers at your school.

[Ya-ta Boy]

[The Gipkik]

Yes, get some teacher training. Read books on young learners and EFL. Observe lessons at other schools. Keep a journal of your day to day teaching and learn from it.

[hockeyguy109]

Advice on teaching in Korea? Forget everything you ever learned about teaching in America.

[Fishead soup]

Teaching is secondary to getting along with others and playing games.

[Captain Obvious]

[some waygug-in]

I suggest you watch a few of these, and then decide if you really want to do this to yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=teaching+in+Korea&suggested_categories=27%2C19%2C26&page=2

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=esl+games&search_type=&aq=f

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=scary+teacher+in+korea&search_type=&aq=f

[Perceptioncheck]

Kids are like animals. They can smell the fear on you and will act accordingly. Be prepared and never, never let them see you're afraid, uncertain or disorganized (even if you are).

[andrewchon]

My Survival Tip:
Bribe Them with Candies!
Control Them with Candies!
Show 'em who is the Candy Nazi: NO CANDY FOR YOU!

[prodiGy]

Thanks for all the tips, links and helpful advice. I'll make sure to start prepping and buying lots of candy.

[curiousaboutkorea]

Where's tomato to post his list?

[ddeubel]

HERE's My Help and this one is a bit academic but hits home. Teaching from the Trenches

Lots more everywhere on EFL Classroom . Please see the TEFL Training page and reading/presentations labeled for each module with video. You'll find it HERE

I also urge you to look at my presentation "Personalizing Teaching" . It is in the videos.

DD
http://eflclassroom.com

[JesussaviorofmySeoul]

My advice is to be kind to Koreans whom you work with, yet stand up for yourself when you need to. Play lots of helpful games and make things fun.

[hoopslam]

Like Andrew mentioned, the key to any child's heart is candy.

Here's a fun ice breaker that I sorta developed (modified from a toilet paper ice breaker). Buy a big bag (50-100 count) of mini chocolate bars. On your first day of class, spend about 3-5 minutes introducing yourself. Where you're from, what you like, ect...the last thing about yourself should be "and I LOVE chocolate. Who here likes chocolate?" If all goes well, students should be all raising their hands. At this point, unleash your super bag of chocolate goodness and have the children collect as many as they want. Greed should be encouraged.

Next, have the students count how many pieces of chocolate they have. Now, tell them that for each piece of chocolate they have, they have to tell you one thing about him/herself. Since most first days of classes are mostly about introductions and such, time consuming intro shouldn't throw off your schedule that much.

It's important to make a good first impression and I find that this activity quickly wins your kids over. After this, you can make all the mistakes you want but you'll still be remembered as the fun chocolate giving teacher.