Korean Job Discussion Forums

[hellofaniceguy]

I would have pointed out to the director(s)..if I know them and work for them.....
I have worked at a few hakwons and a few directos have complained about the same things.....well...it's their shortcomings and easy to blame the teacher...anyway...
I pointed out to these directors...."how about you and YOUR English! You can't even speak in sentences! And yet you studied English in school for years!"
The reason you can't speak is because the focus was on reading and writing....you hired me to teach them to speak English and just as you learned to speak korean...you did not go to a hakwon....you learned by interacting with your parents and friends!!
These students have a pretty decent understanding of grammar...they just need to learn how to use what they learn into speaking...and these "games" we teachers use...help them. By interacting! Practicing.
So lighten up on me and let me do what you hired me to do or find someone else.
Learning should be fun! Teach them so they don't know that they are learning! Making the students laugh in class is my goal.....laughing students will remember more and enjoy the class more.
Same with university students I teach. We actually cook/bake in some of my classes....students are learning more terms, how to combine words for sentences, etc...and having fun eating!
Anyway....it's not your fault that you work for someone who is...is....not open minded. They only care about the bottom line....money.

[shifty]

[northway]

I don't think it's productive to blame everything on the boss in this case. While the OP's manager certainly sounds like a piece of work, there also seem to be some in-class issues that actually need to be resolved. This is perfectly fine for a newbie teacher, but flaming the manager doesn't help the OP become a stronger teacher.

For one thing, the kids shouldn't be packing up before they're supposed to, as I said earlier. Classroom management is a difficult skill to learn, but also an extremely important one. If the kids start packing up with fifteen minutes left in the class, that's a serious problem. Tell them to stop, sit down, and pay attention.

Secondly, games have their place, but they can definitely be overused, particularly if you don't have a wide range of games that you're using (which is more than likely the case, as you sound like you're new to teaching). Simon Says and Hangman outlive their usefulness pretty quickly, and really shouldn't be your go-tos.

Some time killing strategies I employ:

1) Doing the date and greetings at the beginning of class. This is infinitely more productive than Hangman (and typically less unruly).

2) Ask the students what they did the day previously, and force them to respond using past tense. Considering this is one of the areas where students struggle the most, any practice is worthwhile.

3) Review vocabulary from the given class. Once you get your feet under you as a teacher, you can make this engaging.

4) Employ a rewards system whereby students get something in return for participating. This will allow you to use review as a way for students to accumulate points/stickers/etc., and will generally make them significantly more engaged while you're going over material they're already familiar with.

5) A quick google search can find you worksheets on pretty much anything. Have a stash available for kids who finish way before their classmates.

6) If you're teaching vocabulary, focus on using the vocabulary in sentences and make all the students repeat it. Ask your students questions about the vocabulary. This is probably more productive with young learners, but I find that it's an effective method regardless.

[Illysook]

Sounds like my first school. It was awful and I don't think that it was all my fault, but I think that I could do better now that I have some more experience and a nice CELTA under my belt. Your students are capable of doing more than worksheets, spelling tests and vocabulary crap that you typically have to spend all kinds of time making. Make a bunch of flashcards and play matching games. Use the same flashcards over and over again for all sorts of exercises. Have them make up their own stories and/or talk together in pairs. Have them do art projects and describe what they have done. You will be amazed at how many great lessons you can come up with at he last minute.

[Gorf]

I like the date and greetings thing as well. That's a nice way to eat up time. Today my bosses watched all of my classes on CCTV. I basically filled up time by going over the homework meticulously instead of just singing off to see that they did it and going on random tangents and asking the kids questions. I also made sure that we didn't play any games or pack up early. That stuff wasn't that hard to fix. It's the intangibles that I'm not sure about still. The "tired" thing, the favoritism, the lack of material, whatever. I can stretch it but it won't be easy. Then again, no one ever said it would be. The poster on the last page was right, it's their business and they can run it the way they see fit. The problem is trying to keep the classes from falling apart at the seams with the little time I'm given to prepare a ton of different work.

Ironically enough, we have a new teacher these past two days, and today the materials the teachers were using were wrong or different than students' in every single one of the classes she watched, mine included. No one can doubt that this place is amazingly disorganized. I wish some of you could see the place. The directors have no previous hagwon experience and have only been there one year. Hilarity ensues.

[some waygug-in]

Sounds pretty much like every hagwon I've ever worked for (except for 1).

Haggies are generally not noted for their organizational skills.