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Fishead soup
Joined: 24 Jun 2007 Location: Korea
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 8:13 pm Post subject: What your co-teacher doesn't want you too know. |
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Most of these students have a large bulk of memorized vocabulary that can easily be accessed by using effective task based activities. Lots of times I bring in these worksheets from "Tell Me More" by Andrew Finch
I've noticed that some co-teachers have been criticising these worksheets saying they are too difficult and boring and why don't you play more games. I do play lots of EFL games from Waygook but my class is not nonstop games which I know is a really bad idea. I also know that the Finchpark worksheets are really good and the K-teachers who criticize them are dingbats.
Lots of co-teachers don't want to work with us. They have websites where they collectivly figure out how to get their waygook sungsengnim fired. They tell us to play more games when they would never kill time with the latest youtube video of some idiot dancing in a foreign country. They all know that when the government eventially puts an axe to GEPIK they will get a nice working holiday in an English speaking country. So SNIP while you still can. |
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ESL Milk "Everyday
Joined: 12 Sep 2007
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 8:36 pm Post subject: |
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In elementary, you do really need to play a lot games... less as they get older, but still pretty often.
In middle and high school, you should play games every so often.
In university, you shouldn't have to play games-- but I have, and they liked it. |
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tanklor1
Joined: 13 Jun 2006
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 8:40 pm Post subject: Re: What your co-teacher doesn't want you too know. |
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Fishead soup wrote: |
Most of these students have a large bulk of memorized vocabulary that can easily be accessed by using effective task based activities. Lots of times I bring in these worksheets from "Tell Me More" by Andrew Finch
I've noticed that some co-teachers have been criticising these worksheets saying they are too difficult and boring and why don't you play more games. I do play lots of EFL games from Waygook but my class is not nonstop games which I know is a really bad idea. I also know that the Finchpark worksheets are really good and the K-teachers who criticize them are dingbats.
Lots of co-teachers don't want to work with us. They have websites where they collectivly figure out how to get their waygook sungsengnim fired. They tell us to play more games when they would never kill time with the latest youtube video of some idiot dancing in a foreign country. They all know that when the government eventially puts an axe to GEPIK they will get a nice working holiday in an English speaking country. So SNIP while you still can. |
I'm not going to argue against your logic because it's more or less true. I've had to dumb down my lessons considerably during my public school tenure.
But if I may put up one defense for all of those ding-bat teachers: the majority of English speakers in publics schools have never taught before. Meaning that the expectations of us are lower then they are of Korean teachers.
Look at this scenario: you're a grade five teacher in Australia. For some reason Australia decided to make sure that everyone in the country must learn French. They start hiring Native French speakers to work in their schools. They hire people of all levels. People just out of university right up to people with proper Education degrees. In this scenario the Australian government has to make materials that are both elementary for the Native speaker and the students. Now, you're still a proper Grade five teacher in Australia but now you have to work with a French person who knows very little English. How would you handle the situation? Me? I'd take command of the class and use them sparingly because odds are they don't have the proper training to deal with an Australian school. |
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thegadfly

Joined: 01 Feb 2003
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 8:42 pm Post subject: Re: What your co-teacher doesn't want you too know. |
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tanklor1 wrote: |
Fishead soup wrote: |
Most of these students have a large bulk of memorized vocabulary that can easily be accessed by using effective task based activities. Lots of times I bring in these worksheets from "Tell Me More" by Andrew Finch
I've noticed that some co-teachers have been criticising these worksheets saying they are too difficult and boring and why don't you play more games. I do play lots of EFL games from Waygook but my class is not nonstop games which I know is a really bad idea. I also know that the Finchpark worksheets are really good and the K-teachers who criticize them are dingbats.
Lots of co-teachers don't want to work with us. They have websites where they collectivly figure out how to get their waygook sungsengnim fired. They tell us to play more games when they would never kill time with the latest youtube video of some idiot dancing in a foreign country. They all know that when the government eventially puts an axe to GEPIK they will get a nice working holiday in an English speaking country. So SNIP while you still can. |
I'm not going to argue against your logic because it's more or less true. I've had to dumb down my lessons considerably during my public school tenure.
But if I may put up one defense for all of those ding-bat teachers: the majority of English speakers in publics schools have never taught before. Meaning that the expectations of us are lower then they are of Korean teachers.
Look at this scenario: you're a grade five teacher in Australia. For some reason Australia decided to make sure that everyone in the country must learn French. They start hiring Native French speakers to work in their schools. They hire people of all levels. People just out of university right up to people with proper Education degrees. In this scenario the Australian government has to make materials that are both elementary for the Native speaker and the students. Now, you're still a proper Grade five teacher in Australia but now you have to work with a French person who knows very little English. How would you handle the situation? Me? I'd take command of the class and use them sparingly because odds are they don't have the proper training to deal with an Australian school. |
Shhh...yer talkin' sense! |
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oldtactics

Joined: 18 Oct 2008
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 11:12 pm Post subject: |
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Resentful coworkers exist in every job, in every country. |
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Bibbitybop

Joined: 22 Feb 2006 Location: Seoul
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Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 12:11 am Post subject: |
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oldtactics wrote: |
Resentful coworkers exist in every job, in every country. |
And if they stop progress in the company, like a co-teacher stifling the progress of students in a school, they should be fired. |
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southernman
Joined: 15 Jan 2010 Location: On the mainland again
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Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 12:51 am Post subject: |
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Bibbitybop wrote: |
oldtactics wrote: |
Resentful coworkers exist in every job, in every country. |
And if they stop progress in the company, like a co-teacher stifling the progress of students in a school, they should be fired. |
Yeah I have a couple of oldschool co-teachers who have been teaching since the mid 90's. I also have three newer to teaching co-teachers.
The last two NET's were terrorised by the older co-teachers, one left after 5 months, he's now doing his Masters of Education back home in the States. The other NET was a Canadian, she stayed for the year but was treated really really badly, both of them posted their experiences on the internet.
I've actually been teaching for a while, love it and have sound Internationally recognised qualifications. In the past week I have had two major disputes with one teacher , while the other one tried to undermine me in class. Neither of these people should be co-teaching, they constantly refer to the classroom as their classroom and our classes as their classes. I've taught with about 24 co-teachers overall. I have only had any serious issues with these two
They have a very dicatorial teaching style. Yet one of them expects me to have majic solutions to drill work It must be done over and over she says, yet she then said today that some of the students found it boring, go figure . I tried to break things up with split board, real time, group work and boys and girls work.
Basically, if things stay the same my next step is to bring in the POE, then EPIK, finally if need be I'm out of here. From what I understand EPIK perfers NET's to work with younger co-teachers. The younger co-teachers are more comfortable with NET's and are not as rigid in their approach. I think NET's have few more years left here before we are no longer needed.
Damn, I needed that vent, cheers... I feel much better now. |
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Draz

Joined: 27 Jun 2007 Location: Land of Morning Clam
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Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 1:25 am Post subject: |
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Your Korean coworkers might deliberately sabotage you out of resentment and spite?? Well I never. |
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some waygug-in
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
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Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 5:54 am Post subject: |
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There's something to that all right.
The last co-teacher I worked with asked me to gather together all the internet resources I could and bring them to her.
This I gladly did, I thought finally we are going to be able to do something interesting that will catch the students' attention.
What did she do? She looked through what I had brought and started using things for her own private study, to help improve her English.
That in itself is not a bad thing, but she wouldn't use 1 thing I brought in the classroom, nor would she let me use anything but the textbook.
I brought my guitar to school and offered to sing some songs with the kids,
she refused to allow it, told me the rhythm is too difficult?? *_*
Everything I brought or tried was rejected and she forced me to just stand to the side and be an English monkey most of the time.
I can't say that she was purposefully trying to make me look bad, but it sure seemed that way to me.
At the end of the year she accused me of being lazy and of not bringing anything useful to the classes. *_*
She may be a "real teacher" but it was only her second year of conducting English classes. She really had no idea and refused to believe that I could have anything to offer.
If there's a problem with the English program in the elementary PS system, I have to say it is largely the attitudes of some of the co-teachers that are causing it. |
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PatrickGHBusan
Joined: 24 Jun 2008 Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -
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Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 8:25 am Post subject: Re: What your co-teacher doesn't want you too know. |
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[quote="tanklor1"]
Fishead soup wrote: |
Most of these students have a large bulk of memorized vocabulary that can easily be accessed by using effective task based activities. Lots of times I bring in these worksheets from "Tell Me More" by Andrew Finch
I've noticed that some co-teachers have been criticising these worksheets saying they are too difficult and boring and why don't you play more games. I do play lots of EFL games from Waygook but my class is not nonstop games which I know is a really bad idea. I also know that the Finchpark worksheets are really good and the K-teachers who criticize them are dingbats.
Lots of co-teachers don't want to work with us. They have websites where they collectivly figure out how to get their waygook sungsengnim fired. They tell us to play more games when they would never kill time with the latest youtube video of some idiot dancing in a foreign country. They all know that when the government eventially puts an axe to GEPIK they will get a nice working holiday in an English speaking country. So SNIP while you still can. |
I'm not going to argue against your logic because it's more or less true. I've had to dumb down my lessons considerably during my public school tenure.
But if I may put up one defense for all of those ding-bat teachers: the majority of English speakers in publics schools have never taught before. Meaning that the expectations of us are lower then they are of Korean teachers.
Look at this scenario: you're a grade five teacher in Australia. For some reason Australia decided to make sure that everyone in the country must learn French. They start hiring Native French speakers to work in their schools. They hire people of all levels. People just out of university right up to people with proper Education degrees. In this scenario the Australian government has to make materials that are both elementary for the Native speaker and the students. Now, you're still a proper Grade five teacher in Australia but now you have to work with a French person who knows very little English. How would you handle the situation? Me? I'd take command of the class and use them sparingly because odds are they don't have the proper training to deal with an Australian school.[/quote]
Great response! Sadly it is far too reasonable and realistic for this board.  |
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winterfall
Joined: 21 May 2009
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Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 3:55 pm Post subject: |
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Draz wrote: |
Your Korean coworkers might deliberately sabotage you out of resentment and spite?? Well I never. |
You forget. Incompetent egomaniacs  |
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West Coast Tatterdemalion
Joined: 31 Aug 2010
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Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 6:27 pm Post subject: |
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Yet another reason that I am thankful that I will never work at a public school in Korea. |
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bobbybigfoot
Joined: 05 May 2007 Location: Seoul
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Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 7:35 pm Post subject: |
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West Coast Tatterdemalion wrote: |
Yet another reason that I am thankful that I will never work at a public school in Korea. |
A few years back, I considered making the leap over to PS. But after all I've read, it sounds to me that it's no better than hagwon life, as a whole. |
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NohopeSeriously
Joined: 17 Jan 2011 Location: The Christian Right-Wing Educational Republic of Korea
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Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 8:50 pm Post subject: |
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Draz wrote: |
Your Korean coworkers might deliberately sabotage you out of resentment and spite?? Well I never. |
Korean public education workers have this ridiculous "us vs. them" attitude. They hate everybody except for themselves. For that, I used to be a gyopo working in that cluster of hell. I had to quit prematurely for that reason.
It's a good news that many public school authorities are having bad repulations towards themselves. |
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