Korean Job Discussion Forums

[tideout]

I hope I'm not the only one out there with this situation but I guess this is one way to find out and see what other's experience has been.

I got info pretty late on Winter camp and still don't know my numbers for either of two classes. Anywhere between 7-20. I've prepared the room for activities and I have some activities and ideas for the first 2-3 days but I'm a bit baffled as to the levels etc.. I prefer being better prepared but on some level it seems that some good activities to get the kiddies started and taking it from there is as good as pre-planning activiities that are off the mark or don't go well together. I guess it goes with out saying that that there's no curriculum or even real guideline for teaching anything at my high school.

Just curious if anyone else feels the same? Is it really any better pre-planning it than building it as you go to make sense? How serious does your school take the camp?

I've heard that in Gyeongi they require the whole camp's worth of lessons up front? Is this true? I've also heard that people just grab lessons from around w/o any thought into what the lesson's are about?

On a final related note - I was recently given a number of lessons in a zip file by a NET. I won't go into details as I appreciated the generosity but it looked like these lessons have been passed around the net a lot. Frankly, I thought they were terrible - not much thought into what's actually being taught or how active the kids would even be in the lesson.

Just curious what people's thoughts are on the whole planning for camp issue.

[iRock]

i had camp last week and my co teacher still doesn't know how many students.

[tideout]

[jrwhite82]

I wouldn't stress anymore over winter camp than regular classes. Except for winter camp you don't really have any "objectives" that you are supposed to be teaching to, or a text book to use.

Just because you haven't been given specific objectives, doesn't mean you shouldn't be using them. If you're teaching without an objective, you're doing it wrong. Start from the end of each lesson. What do you want the kids to know or be able to do at the end of the lesson. Then make a plan to introduce the topic, teach it to them, let them practice it, then assess them to make sure they know it.

Don't just "fill-up" the time playing hangman or watching youtube videos with no point. The kids will realize this and you are going to have more behavior problems because there is no structure and no point to being there. Parents are going to be unhappy when their kids get home and they hear this. Then your coteacher and principal or going to hear it. Then you are going to hear it.

[tideout]

[jrwhite82]

What I'm doing with my 5th and 6th grade students is running a "Let's Make a Movie Camp" based around Aesop's Fables. The first two days we are going to read fables and watch short videos of the same fables on youtube. I'd like the kids to get a chance to learn the fable through both reading it and watching and listening to it. During these lessons, I have a few games we will play based around what they learned and what happened in the story. We will also hit on a few sample sentences so they can learn a pattern or two and commit it to memory. Then they are going to start a project based task each period for the rest of the week. They are going to be split into teams and create story boards, scripts, masks, movie posters. Then I will edit their scripts and then they will do a dress rehearsal and then we will film the final take in the VR studio. The final day they will do relay races, watch their movies, make peanut butter snowballs and then watch "Despicable Me". They suggested doing a little less lessons at my school, so I went with the fun day against my better judgement. We shall see how it goes, but I'm pretty excited to see how their movies turn out.

I'd like to post them on youtube and then message all their homeroom teachers the link and give them something to show their parents. But I'm worried posting their fable videos on youtube without their parent's consent is a no-no. I'll have to ask my coteacher about it. I know back in the US it would be a big no no, but here I dont know.

[Troglodyte]

Whether you have 5 students or 25 students, it's no big deal. Just play games with them or other fun stuff. Don't bother with a textbook as it will just bore them and then you'll have a group of rebelling children on your hands. When asked to justify playing games, just say that you're doing it so that you can get them casually talking.

[lowpo]

[gillod]

Ha! I never know how many kids until they walk in the room. I'm always told "30" and then I get maybe 15. And then like 7 come the next day. And 12 the day after. And 18 the day after.

Shrug.

[chellovek]

I was simply handed a sheet and told "This is what we will be doing." "How many students?" I asked. "20, but it will change each day."

[NYC_Gal 2.0]

I planned my camp lessons around interactive powerpoints. I made some nifty games that usually get the kids jumping and shouting English. My coteacher has forgotten for the 3rd time to reset the password to her computer so we're using another classroom.

[tideout]

Hey folks,
Well, quite a range of experiences out there I must say. My starting class today is a much higher level than I expected and they're enthusiastic as well. Honestly better I didn't do a ton of pre-planning as the level would probably have been too low.....

Yeah, class sizes seem to vary greatly from discussion to discussion......

Hang in there!

[nathanrutledge]

I asked in October to do winter camp the first week of February. I wanted to take January off to do a CELTA course, but was told that we'd have to do winter camp the first week of January; it was already scheduled.

I asked the second week of December what the plan was for the winter camp - how many students, high/low level, boys/girls, which major were they, etc... The response? "Oh, we haven't even asked the kids if they want to do a winter camp."

Third week of December, the 20th. "By the way, we need your winter camp plan by Wednesday (22nd)." I literally laughed out loud at my coworker. She asked what was so funny. I said "well, can you tell me how many students I'll have and what level they are?"

"Oh, we don't know yet."

By that Friday, they said I'd have 10 students, all from the TOEFL class.

By last Wednesday, it was down to five students.

Today, my co teacher told me that winter camp may be cut short because there were only 2 students.

*****

I have five days, three hours a day. I decided on four topics (power shortage in Korea, computer games, punishment in schools, North Korea) and found 4-6 newspaper articles for each topic from Korean newspapers. We're going to spend the first hour talking about these topics, debating about them.

The second hour, we're going to talk about different parts of newspapers (stories, advertisements, opinions, comics, general layout) and the third hour we're going to make our own, the culmination being putting together a newspaper. We have a school English paper, but this will be a bit different. Write whatever they want, draw comics, make up fake ads, etc. The TOEFL students tend to be a bit cynical/wry, so hopefully we'll end up with some real amusing stuff. Of course, if it's only 2 students.....

[jrwhite82]

I like your idea Nathan. Good luck with your dynamic duo!

[Kurtz]

I'm on my second week out of 3. My co-worker didn't tell me anything about the camp until I actually asked. The planning she did do was neatly typing out their names and formally asking for some money from the school to purchase some books. She didn't ask for any input from me, and while I'm printing out pictures, cutting up sentences and trying to develop some interesting classes, she's off having lunch with "oppa". She uses the "you're a good teacher" routine to get out of her duties by delegating me all of the actual teaching work. She has 8 years of teaching experience, 6 months being a TA in the USA and all she can think up as an activity is a word test.

These K-teachers get away with murder.