Korean Job Discussion Forums

[sluggle]

(Sorry if this gets long winded, but please reply if you have any thoughts or want to tell about how your school works)

CLIFF NOTES: How long do you work a week? Do you have a lot of preparation time? Do you think preparation time leads to better quality teaching?


I'm curious in comparing the amount of classes each hagwon teaches per week and how much prep time you have.

I teach at a school with 49 classes a week totaling 30 hours of class time.

Prep time consists of 5-10 minute breaks between bells, which is usually just correcting papers or getting worksheets ready. We do get a full hour lunch break.

We had a lot of students drop last year. I'm sure it was mostly the bad economy, but the principal is really piling on extra work on us now. We already are required to do detailed progress reports, flash cards, lesson plans, etc that can take a few extra hours a week. The thing is that even with the extra work, I feel like I should have a lot more prepared for my classes, but it would require a lot more hours that I'm not being compensated for.

This isn't a sob story, though I'm interested in hearing yours-- whether you think it's good or bad. I'm mostly interested in 'prep time' -- whether you have an hour during the day to just sit at your desk and prepare material for classes.

My hypothesis is that a lengthy prep time would lead to better quality teaching.

[edwardcatflap]

It makes me smile when people (not you) come on here and say they 'only' have to work 30 hours a week at their hagwan as if it is some kind of good deal and better than the normal 9-5 workload. You need a bare minumum of half an hour prep time per hour of teaching and, if you're teaching little kids, probably more.

Your hypothesis is, if you don't mind me saying so, pretty obvious. Of course the teaching quality will improve with more prep and any school that claims prep time is not needed is failing in its duties. Even if every stage of the lesson has already been planned and laid out on paper, a teacher still has to familiarise himself with the stages of the lesson, transfer the written instructions into practicalities in his head and decide whether the level and materials are suitable for the particular kids he has at the time.

Lessons for little kids have to be planned meticulously to keep them interested and engaged and avoid any lulls in the smooth running of the class when they can start messing around. It takes a lot of skill and know how and, most importantly planning, to carry out effectively.

[ttompatz]

Your kindy sucks. Please allow me to elucidate:

A PS teacher teaches 22 classes (before extra pay kicks in).
Depending on the grade level they will be 40, 45 or 50 minutes long. (elementary, middle school, high school).
Your work day is from 8:30-4:30, M-F. 40 hours INCLUDING lunch break.
Prep time is what you make it to be and can be any or all of your desk time.

The last kindy I worked at had 30 classes of 40 minutes per day (kindy in the morning and elementary in the afternoon).
The day started at 9:30 and ended at 6:30. We had a 2 hour lunch break.
The K-teachers did the prep - we just did the classroom.

A PS afterschool program works 22-30 classes of 40 minutes between 1:00-6:00pm (subcontracted to the school - not direct hire). Prep is what it is before/in-between classes.

Most after school hakwons work 2-9/3-10pm and teach 30 classes of 50 minutes each. There is minimal prep and no required desk time.

The pay and benefits for 1st year teachers with no qualification other than their BA/BS is similar in ALL cases.

.

[thunderbird]

that sounds terrible, my weekly schedual's half that.

[seonsengnimble]

Prep time really depends on what the structure of your school is. If the syllabus, worksheets and activities are already set, then you shouldn't need more than five or ten minutes to prep. If, however you are setting up your own classes, I would say about thirty to forty five minutes per class is pretty regular.

Your class load sounds insane, so I wouldn't be putting in that much prep time.

For my last hagwon, I was teaching on average about 20 classes a week and putting in between twenty to thirty minutes per class.

I generally didn't have any set prep time. I would be teaching from something like 2-6 with ten minutes between classes. I did all of my prep before my first class started. So, if I started at 2, I'd show up at around 12 or 12:30 to give myself adequate prep time and time to have coffee and get ready for teaching. Personally I prefer coming in early to staying late. I'd much rather show up three hours before my first class than stay thirty minutes after my last class.

[DavidVance]

Sluggle,
Let me help you.
Multifactor ESL English website has a lot of material on many different subjects, including accompanying (integrated) Korean vocabulary and translations, that have been made very easy for you to print and hand out or bring up onto the screen:
http://sites.google.com/site/multifactoreslenglish
Best wishes,
David Vance.

[LikeFrostOnRoads]

At my hakwon (kindy) I teach 30 30-minute classes in the morning and 8 40-minute classes in the afternoon each week. I work from 10:30-5:30, including a 50-minute lunch break. Between the morning and afternoon classes I have a break and do most/all of my planning then. Because there are several classes on the exact same level here (it's an immersion style program), I save time by planning the same lesson for different classes. All in all my day is usually 10-6, with about an hour to two hours of planning. The requisite perfection in my hakwon can be stressful, but as I learn to deal with it, the more I like it, actually.

Ultimately I take a little pride in my work and don't mind that I may have to put in a bit more effort than the typical ex-pat here in Korea.

[wallythewhale]

Your job sounds terrible (no pun intended). I'm at a PS so it's different but I don't really do any 'lesson planning' except for my afterschool program. All my KTs do the lesson plans because they have to teach an additional English class besides teaching with me so they plan accordingly and just let me know ahead of time what they want me to do. Along with that, I don't do much prepping since I don't really plan the lessons. Saves me a lot of hassle. I teach 21 hours a week (40 mins = 1 hour) and an hour lunch break. I also have a class that allows me to do whatever I want with my students for 1 period out of the week. It's PE all day.

[winterfall]

[English Matt]

[TheUrbanMyth]

[sheba]

My ele-middle hagwon. about 25 classes a week, 45-50mins each. One hour mandatory desk warming befor classes, but prep time took at least an hour each day when i first started... once I got into a routine, prep time was almost non-existent. Just the occasional 20 mins to make a worksheet or activity.

My adult hagwon. 20 50min classes per week, prep time minimal. I only had to arrive 10 mins before class and could leave as soon as I finished, so some prep at home on the comp. Downloaded articles, worksheets etc. mostly conversation class anyway.

Ele PS. 21 40min classes per week. Lots of desk warming as my coteachers are happy to prepare everything, just asking me to add something if I have any ideas. Theyre pretty organised so theres not a lot more I can offer... but i spend a good hour or 2 each day checking esl websites and making picture cards for the term...

[southernman]

I was at a Hogwan for two years

For the last while 39 classes a week 35-40 minutes
5 minutes between classes, I got there 5 minutes before class left 30 seconds after my last class, 2.25 -9 pm
Give and grade homework for each class
No lesson plans

But
I had to give monthly tests to all of my students so make, give and grade then write reports for 160 students
Weekly diary marking for students that participated
I usually only had to meet the director/owner once every couple of months, either he or I were too busy. One time 4 months between our meetings

You use the same book so much lesson plans weren't necessary and frankly there wasn't the time.

We didn't actually lose any students when the recession hit, just the usual turnover, some going new ones arriving, but that was downtown Ulsan and some of the parent's were seriously loaded