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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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 Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 3:49 pm Post subject: |
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I so wish they would stop pushing for American/Canadian culture classes.
The students find them boring. The material is usually way over the students heads |
Surely that's the fault of the teacher not the subject matter. You can teach virtually any subject to any level if you grade the materials properly |
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balzor
Joined: 14 Feb 2009
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| Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 6:40 pm Post subject: |
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Basically, I kinda F'd up on my lesson. It sounded better in my head. They picked that class and I was told that I could not change it. MY first open class was great and they praised me. this one they nuked me. I admit that I made a few mistakes, but class discipline was perfect and my teaching ability is fine. My problem is I expect more out of my students than to have to be entertained every second of class. I hate the edutainer aspect. I've been in Korea for 2 years, last year was a hagwon, which looking back, I would rather be at. My students, most of the time are uncontrollable,even in Korean teachers classes, they tell me about it all the time. I have taught in the US and am certified, so I actually know what I'm doing.
Anyway, they just didn't like my lesson. Had it been the class after that with my high level students, they would have been bombing me with questions and answering everything. Luck of the draw i suppose. Doesn't matter really, i am looking to get out of Korean PS. I'm probably headed elsewhere anyway. |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 7:07 pm Post subject: |
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| balzor wrote: |
I hate the edutainer aspect...
Doesn't matter really, i am looking to get out of Korean PS. I'm probably headed elsewhere anyway. |
I'm with you on the edutainer aspect. Ridiculous how the foreign teacher's class is expected to be fun. What I do is basically set the tone before I even step into class with the administration/VP/Principal
"I am a teacher. I teach. If you want entertainment I suggest you hire a guy in a clown suit."
And I wouldn't worry too much about the open class...I bombed my first one as well and was still re-signed for the next two years after that. If they don't want you because of one bad class...then it's probably not a school you want to work at anyway. |
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languistic
Joined: 25 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 7:15 pm Post subject: |
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Last edited by languistic on Tue Jan 18, 2011 3:50 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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brento1138
Joined: 17 Nov 2004
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| Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 8:27 pm Post subject: |
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Even the best teacher can prepare what they believe to be a great lesson, and it turns into a fail... has happened to me many times, and still occasionally happens.
Teaching is one of those things that really takes a long time to get 'perfect' at... don't worry if you F'd up a class. Take it as a learning experience. Most schools should understand that if you accept the criticism, and try to improve yourself, they won't get rid of you...
And if you don't get re-signed, there are a million other schools out there. And you'll be a better teacher... so good luck! |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 8:29 pm Post subject: |
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| languistic wrote: |
| balzor wrote: |
| Basically, I kinda F'd up on my lesson.... this one they nuked me. |
Which one is it?
Sorry, but you are a teacher and you should be able to do something of worth with any group of students. |
How about mentally handicapped students who you are supposed to teach as normal?
How about high school tech students who have given up caring about English or anything related to it?
How about inner city schools back in the West where most students are only there because they have to be?
There are some groups that you just can't reach or are forced to teach inappropriate curriculum for.
This "you should be able to do something worth with any group of students" looks great on the Internet but tends to fail miserably in most real life cases.
You've never ever had a class that you didn't connect with? |
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jrwhite82
Joined: 22 May 2010
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| Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 8:54 pm Post subject: |
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How about differentiating insturction and using modifications in your lesson plans and materials to help them? I can tell just by your use of the word "mentally handicapped students" that you have never received any training on how to work with students with special needs. First thing you learn, don't use the word handicapped anymore. It is offensive. Secondly, don't use the disability to label the students. Instead, it is a student WITH autism, or a student WITH an emotional disorder. Not an autistic student or an emotionally distrubed student.
How about trying to connect to students by making your lessons relevant to their interests?
How about not using race/socioeconomic status to label an entire population of students?
This belief that there are groups that you can't reach and the idea that "teaching to the middle" is still the best way to educate are wrong. Yes it is more difficult, A LOT MORE DIFFICULT. I am not saying that you will get through to every student, but to not even try.....that's disgraceful. And just don't stop trying. Why even teach? The three groups of students that you just labeled are the ones that good teachers the most. They surely don't need teachers that go in with the "why bother" attitude. |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 9:40 pm Post subject: |
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| jrwhite82 wrote: |
How about differentiating insturction and using modifications in your lesson plans and materials to help them? I can tell just by your use of the word "mentally handicapped students" that you have never received any training on how to work with students with special needs. First thing you learn, don't use the word handicapped anymore. It is offensive. Secondly, don't use the disability to label the students. Instead, it is a student WITH autism, or a student WITH an emotional disorder. Not an autistic student or an emotionally distrubed student.
| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
| A student with autism is just as much as a label as an autistic student. As far as I am concerned it is this overly PC attitude which gets in the way of effective teaching. And JFYI I have taught students with "special needs" back in the West...but now I am older and wiser and no longer buy into all that PC mumbo-jumbo. |
How about trying to connect to students by making your lessons relevant to their interests?
| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
| Not allowed. As I already pointed out you are "forced" to adhere to the curriculum. |
How about not using race/socioeconomic status to label an entire population of students?
| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
I never used race or socioeconomic status to do such a thing, I never even mentioned them. Not only is that a red herring, it is utterly false and just as offensive to me as the phrase "mentally handicapped" is to you. I strongly suggest you refrain from such baseless, vile accusations in the future.
And just for the record "mentally handicapped" is the KOREAN teachers designation not mine. |
This belief that there are groups that you can't reach and the idea that "teaching to the middle" is still the best way to educate are wrong. Yes it is more difficult, A LOT MORE DIFFICULT. I am not saying that you will get through to every student, but to not even try.....that's disgraceful. And just don't stop trying. Why even teach? The three groups of students that you just labeled are the ones that good teachers the most. They surely don't need teachers that go in with the "why bother" attitude. |
| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
Where did I say I didn't even try? Where did I say I have stopped trying?
This is exactly ]why my sig line says what it does about reading comprehension... although to be fair you're not the only one I've pulled up on that. |
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languistic
Joined: 25 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 10:21 pm Post subject: |
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| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
| languistic wrote: |
| balzor wrote: |
| Basically, I kinda F'd up on my lesson.... this one they nuked me. |
Which one is it?
Sorry, but you are a teacher and you should be able to do something of worth with any group of students. |
How about mentally handicapped students who you are supposed to teach as normal?
How about high school tech students who have given up caring about English or anything related to it?
How about inner city schools back in the West where most students are only there because they have to be?
There are some groups that you just can't reach or are forced to teach inappropriate curriculum for.
This "you should be able to do something worth with any group of students" looks great on the Internet but tends to fail miserably in most real life cases.
You've never ever had a class that you didn't connect with? |
My word. Perhaps I should draw you a map - in crayon. I was speaking of an average EFL class in Korea. Context needs to be spelled out I guess, even on an EFL board in Korea.
As for you assertion that "it tends to fail miserably in real life"...what's to be said? I guess teachers around the world are thus doomed by the broad strokes of TUM.
It is my job to connect to the students, not the students to connect to me. If a class is failing miserably, I generally blame myself. Sure I have had better and worse classes, but I can say that I have never had a washout stinker in my life, at any level of teaching, from kids to adults.
Countdown to more ripping remarks... par for the course here. Rip on those who care until they join the mass in the morass of apathy, anger and hopelessness. A bitter bunch, to be sure. |
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shifter2009
Joined: 03 Sep 2006
Location: wisconsin
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| Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 11:04 pm Post subject: |
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| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
| jrwhite82 wrote: |
How about differentiating insturction and using modifications in your lesson plans and materials to help them? I can tell just by your use of the word "mentally handicapped students" that you have never received any training on how to work with students with special needs. First thing you learn, don't use the word handicapped anymore. It is offensive. Secondly, don't use the disability to label the students. Instead, it is a student WITH autism, or a student WITH an emotional disorder. Not an autistic student or an emotionally distrubed student.
| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
| A student with autism is just as much as a label as an autistic student. As far as I am concerned it is this overly PC attitude which gets in the way of effective teaching. And JFYI I have taught students with "special needs" back in the West...but now I am older and wiser and no longer buy into all that PC mumbo-jumbo. |
How about trying to connect to students by making your lessons relevant to their interests?
| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
| Not allowed. As I already pointed out you are "forced" to adhere to the curriculum. |
How about not using race/socioeconomic status to label an entire population of students?
| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
I never used race or socioeconomic status to do such a thing, I never even mentioned them. Not only is that a red herring, it is utterly false and just as offensive to me as the phrase "mentally handicapped" is to you. I strongly suggest you refrain from such baseless, vile accusations in the future.
And just for the record "mentally handicapped" is the KOREAN teachers designation not mine. |
This belief that there are groups that you can't reach and the idea that "teaching to the middle" is still the best way to educate are wrong. Yes it is more difficult, A LOT MORE DIFFICULT. I am not saying that you will get through to every student, but to not even try.....that's disgraceful. And just don't stop trying. Why even teach? The three groups of students that you just labeled are the ones that good teachers the most. They surely don't need teachers that go in with the "why bother" attitude. |
| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
Where did I say I didn't even try? Where did I say I have stopped trying?
This is exactly ]why my sig line says what it does about reading comprehension... although to be fair you're not the only one I've pulled up on that. |
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TUM, haven't you seen the movie Dangerous Minds? You're supposed to be like that lady! But seriously, I agree with you that you should always try but on occasion your going to be dealt a bad hand. The internet super teachers like to puff their own chests out on occasion and look down their noses at the teachers who are just more self aware of how effective their classes really are. (Not to say your not a effective teacher, sometimes you can have a great lesson lined up and just have it fall of deaf ears.) |
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asylum seeker
Joined: 22 Jul 2007
Location: On your computer screen.
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| Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 12:23 am Post subject: |
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| Xylox wrote: |
| definitely maybe wrote: |
| The guy's already admitted a number of mistakes. Was additional criticism really necessary? |
The best time to kick someone is when they are down, obviously. |
Maybe I was a little harsh but from my own experience as a language learner I really don't like teacher-centered language learning and teachers who just ramble on without giving students much chance to interact and participate. I've had too many Korean language teachers who were like that.
However from what the OP said perhaps the class was so low-level interaction and participation activities might not have worked well either. In that case you probably should do what the Korean English teachers do for open classes- make the students rehearse and memorize some activity until they can do it perfectly and perform that in front of the parents. It's a bit phony but it's what seems to be expected and they all go home happy. |
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jrwhite82
Joined: 22 May 2010
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| Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 2:42 am Post subject: |
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| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
| A student with autism is just as much as a label as an autistic student. As far as I am concerned it is this overly PC attitude which gets in the way of effective teaching. And JFYI I have taught students with "special needs" back in the West...but now I am older and wiser and no longer buy into all that PC mumbo-jumbo. |
There is your first problem with this idea. It is not as far as YOU are concerned because it doesn't concern YOU. It is as far as people with disabilities are concerned. They don't want to be labeled as a "mentally handicapped person". So don't label them that way. To me it is not a matter of being PC or not. It is a matter of compassion. Agree to disagree on that I guess. I just wish you would reconsider it.
| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
| Not allowed. As I already pointed out you are "forced" to adhere to the curriculum. |
This I find hard to swallow. Yes, schools here and in the west have curriculums that must be followed. They are passed down to the schools by a regional or national office. However, most schools do not expect a child with severe mental retardation to learn the same way as students without it. In my experience, if my principals walked in on me teaching and saw that I was teaching geometry to an inclusion classroom and was not differentiating instruction to help students with special needs, I would be in hot water.
I guess you have had poor luck in working at schools that are not experienced in inclusion settings. Have most of the schools you worked at usually stuck the students with learning disabilities in the back of the school in the basement? I know this was the case years ago when I was in school but that is hard to find now.
| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
I never used race or socioeconomic status to do such a thing, I never even mentioned them. Not only is that a red herring, it is utterly false and just as offensive to me as the phrase "mentally handicapped" is to you. I strongly suggest you refrain from such baseless, vile accusations in the future.
And just for the record "mentally handicapped" is the KOREAN teachers designation not mine. |
Oh, and I'm sorry your failure to provide ownership to the KOREAN teachers for your offensive remark was apparently MY fault because I wasn't able to comprehend your lack of writing ability. Riiiight. Maybe under "teaching reading comprehension" you should add a bullet that says "but still working on effective writing...."
| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
Where did I say I didn't even try? Where did I say I have stopped trying?
This is exactly ]why my sig line says what it does about reading comprehension... although to be fair you're not the only one I've pulled up on that. |
According to Bloom's taxonomy "comprehension" is the second lowest level of the tree. Pretty basic stuff. See what I did, was I took what you said about innercity students and I applied what I know about teaching in Baltimore City. See, I related what I read to my personal experience. (Thats application, a step up from comprehension). Then I CREATED (the highest step) an inference about your association with inner city youth (who are predominately lower income minorities). See how I arrived there, or did I lose you?
Ok, enough with the snarky rebuttals from me.
TUM, I usually like reading your posts, but in this original one that I replied to you came off as really jaded and a little out of touch with 3 of the groups of students that I think we need to help the most. So I'm sorry if I offended you.
I was hoping you still had a copy of your original teacher's philosophy that you could reread. I wish that you can regain some of that zeal that you probably started with and was the inspiration for why you started down this career path. Because I hope we all aren't foolish enough to be making careers out of this for the money!
Edit: I fail at writing within quotes on this board too....edit 2...fixed!
Last edited by jrwhite82 on Wed Dec 01, 2010 3:00 am; edited 2 times in total |
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jrwhite82
Joined: 22 May 2010
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| Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 2:49 am Post subject: |
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| shifter2009 wrote: |
TUM, haven't you seen the movie Dangerous Minds? You're supposed to be like that lady! But seriously, I agree with you that you should always try but on occasion your going to be dealt a bad hand. The internet super teachers like to puff their own chests out on occasion and look down their noses at the teachers who are just more self aware of how effective their classes really are. (Not to say your not a effective teacher, sometimes you can have a great lesson lined up and just have it fall of deaf ears.) |
Yes, just come in the classroom, turn your chair around backwards, play Coolio's Gangsta Paradise and you're in! |
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definitely maybe
Joined: 16 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 6:00 am Post subject: |
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| I tried to report jrwhite82 for his offensive reference to Bloom's Taxonomy, but the mods told me it's not a violation and there's nothing they can do! The audacity! For shame, jrwhite82! For shame! |
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jrwhite82
Joined: 22 May 2010
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| Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 6:13 am Post subject: |
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| definitely maybe wrote: |
| I tried to report jrwhite82 for his offensive reference to Bloom's Taxonomy, but the mods told me it's not a violation and there's nothing they can do! The audacity! For shame, jrwhite82! For shame! |
Blooms FTW! |
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