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First day of teaching
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tausha12



Joined: 12 Jan 2012

PostPosted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 1:43 am    Post subject: First day of teaching Reply with quote

I moved to Dongucheon last sunday. I spent the first week running around getting the health check and meeting all teachers at my public school. On Friday I was told that I would start teaching tomorrow. The school has no old lesson plans. All I know is that I'm supposed to make lesson plans and teach two pages out of English 1, 2, and 3 for my classes once a week. Most of the book is in Korean except for key phrases and words. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do. I've already contacted the former native teacher and haven't gotten a reply.

I teach middle school so I was thinking I could spend some of the class going over the phrases, having the students repeat them back, and then having the students practice in groups and present to the class. I know I can't do that for every class so any advice is appreciated.
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thunderbird



Joined: 18 Aug 2009

PostPosted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 3:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

ur worrying way to much, just go with the flow n itll all b fine
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schwa



Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Yap

PostPosted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 3:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I doubt your school expects you to jump into the textbook on day one. First class is an important chance to establish some rapport with your kids.

Your girls will be very curious about you. I suggest you put them in pairs or small groups & give them a few minutes to write down questions they'd like to ask you. Mingle & assist while they do so. Once they've come up with a few, invite them to ask. After you answer, turn each question back on some of them. This activity will also give you a pretty good sense of their ability level.

Speak upvolume & keep your diction simple -- they need to adjust to your voice & speaking manner. Smile a lot & try to keep the lesson a bit fast-paced & fun.

I'm an old hand at teaching in girls middle schools. They'll be pre-inclined to like you. If you can establish yourself as kind & not boring, you're well-started.

Best luck.
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Dodge7



Joined: 21 Oct 2011

PostPosted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 3:58 am    Post subject: Re: First day of teaching Reply with quote

tausha12 wrote:
I moved to Dongucheon last sunday. I spent the first week running around getting the health check and meeting all teachers at my public school. On Friday I was told that I would start teaching tomorrow. The school has no old lesson plans. All I know is that I'm supposed to make lesson plans and teach two pages out of English 1, 2, and 3 for my classes once a week. Most of the book is in Korean except for key phrases and words. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do. I've already contacted the former native teacher and haven't gotten a reply.

I teach middle school so I was thinking I could spend some of the class going over the phrases, having the students repeat them back, and then having the students practice in groups and present to the class. I know I can't do that for every class so any advice is appreciated.


This is why Korea should hire qualified teachers instead of basket weavers. New "teachers" have no idea what they're doing.
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creeper1



Joined: 30 Jan 2007

PostPosted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 4:34 am    Post subject: Re: First day of teaching Reply with quote

Dodge7 wrote:
tausha12 wrote:
I moved to Dongucheon last sunday. I spent the first week running around getting the health check and meeting all teachers at my public school. On Friday I was told that I would start teaching tomorrow. The school has no old lesson plans. All I know is that I'm supposed to make lesson plans and teach two pages out of English 1, 2, and 3 for my classes once a week. Most of the book is in Korean except for key phrases and words. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do. I've already contacted the former native teacher and haven't gotten a reply.

I teach middle school so I was thinking I could spend some of the class going over the phrases, having the students repeat them back, and then having the students practice in groups and present to the class. I know I can't do that for every class so any advice is appreciated.


This is why Korea should hire qualified teachers instead of basket weavers. New "teachers" have no idea what they're doing.


That is not much of a helpful reply.

OP, you are going to have to lesson plan. A TEFL should give you a feel for what to do.

You need to start getting ways of establishing context for the phrases you use, you need to start designing activities be they listening or speaking, using powerpoint and what not.

I recommend you check out waygook.org or bogglesworld websites.

The Korean books provided to me were horrible. I actually went to Kyobo bookstore in Seoul, bought a book and photocopied a whole bunch of pages from an all English textbook so I had something to work with.
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YTMND



Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Location: You're the man now dog!!

PostPosted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 5:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Below is a summary of big class lessons I have dealt with:

Introductions, Questions/Answers, Topic based questions and answers (starter), Listening based lesson, word map, timeline (history), survey (facts, opinions, preferences), ratings (movies, books, restaurants, stores, music), speeches (political, sports, educational, entertainment figures)

The first class is difficult because they don't know you and they are scared. It doesn't matter the age. I bring a deck of cards with me to class. Also a set of colored markers.

With the cards, take out all the 1-6 cards (Ace is 1). Shuffle them up, take one card and count across the first row of students (choose from left or from right, do it the other way the next time). Then, take another card and go down (like picking a cell on a grid). That student is the chosen student. Ask them a question based on that day's lesson. If it is your first day, do introductions.

I try to get them to say their name, the class number they are in, and something they like. This could be something they like to do or something specific they like (like their favorite food, color, or season).

Then, they choose another student and ask the questions. At first it's going to be like controlling a rocky boat. However, the next thing to do is to get the students to choose someone who is 3 or more seats away, not just someone close to them. If they bounce around the classroom, this will get everyone paying attention. The minute you focus on only one section of the class, the other sections will stop paying attention. As they give answers remember who said what.

Go to the board and write out what they say, don't make complete sentences, just key words. Then, ask the class, "Who likes to ____?"

You can use names or use "he" or "she" instead. Likewise, you can have a few people introduce others.

The colored markers are for group activities, but you should probably wait a class or two before using them. I like to break the class up into 6 groups. Each group gets a different colored marker. So, you in effect would be focusing on 6 students in class at a time but they would be spaced out (2 on left, 2 in the center, and 2 on the right), back and front of the class. After they practice speaking they hand the marker to someone else in their group. Do this 5 times, and you have most if not all students interacting. After a few classes, they get the idea and don't need markers to do group activities.

I have been lucky to have access to a computer with either a big screen or projector. So, I use video or pictures. I can't tell you how helpful this is to give students visual examples to illustrate what you want them to learn. If you only have the book, then you need to use it to your advantage. Find pages in the book that you can use to explain other stuff. This way students won't be translating from their language to English.

When you get lessons ready, you will find that you run out of time rather fast. So, make sure to find the important parts of your lesson that students are having trouble with and repeat them in class. Always come back to them a little later in class. This is something I never did as a new teacher. I assumed since I said it once everyone would know the answer.

The truth is, they don't know how to discern what is used more frequently and what is more important. Good teachers can help students with this, a book really can't.
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myenglishisno



Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Location: Geumchon

PostPosted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 8:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

thunderbird wrote:
ur worrying way to much, just go with the flow n itll all b fine


Is "text message" your first language?
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ontheway



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...

PostPosted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 8:38 am    Post subject: Re: First day of teaching Reply with quote

Dodge7 wrote:
This is why Korea should hire qualified teachers instead of basket weavers. New "teachers" have no idea what they're doing


Of the 6 all time worst teachers that I've ever seen in Korea, all had either an Education Degree, a TEFL cert or both.

Of the 6 all time best teachers that I've seen in Korea, none had a TEFL or CELTA, but one did have an Education Degree and 10 years of experience.




OP. You should start out with introductory classes and get to know your students. Spend a lot of time your first week finding out just what your school and coteachers expect you to cover in class. Then you can begin to plan accordingly.

If you care about your students, work hard, don't panic and don't listen to the trolls, look for on-line resources and seek out the help of your coteachers you should be fine.
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Modernist



Joined: 23 Mar 2011
Location: The 90s

PostPosted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 6:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey, I can sympathize. When I got to my school, I was expected to teach a class within 1 hour of arriving [this was about 15 hours after I got off the plane at Incheon, too--before I'd unpacked or even had a real meal, actually]. So it could be worse.

Listen, schwa is right. The kids will be predisposed to like you, unless your school is truly awful. It's going to be a bit chaotic at first but that's all right. They will want to know all about you, so I would use the first classes to do the famous 'ask me about myself' act--that's what I did. Then turn it around on them and ask about them. You'll have a few smarties, suck-ups and loudmouths who will help you out by being outgoing and more talkative than the others. Like schwa says, let them work in pairs or groups. Korean schools are EXTREMELY pair-oriented and if you expect them to do things alone it will not work well. Take advantage of their competitive nature--Koreans LOVE to win and will compete surprisingly fiercely over just about anything. Put them in about 6 different groups and let them play against each other.
Quote:
I was thinking I could spend some of the class going over the phrases, having the students repeat them back, and then having the students practice in groups and present to the class.

Here's a piece of advice I REALLY hope you will take. These kids are drilled through listen and repeat constantly. That's almost all they do in every class with their Korean teachers. You have a chance to be in a great postion--to be a rare example of a 'fun' teacher. By using fun PPTs and games, by giving them stickers or small candies for a job well done, by smiling and being outgoing and talking to them in the halls sometimes, by being energetic and friendly, you can get a rapport going that will help you a lot through the bumpy road that is PS in Korea.

If you can figure out which textbook they are using, there's a lot of good material ideas over at waygook.org. There are templates you can use to build games and lessons around the basic key phrases the students are supposed to focus on, so they DO practice but not in such a grinding way and it's more fun for them. Better for them, better for you.

I would also suggest taking one of the online TEFL certs. They're not the be-all end-all, but they will give you some structure for understanding what you're supposed to be doing. And get a sense of what your co-teachers expect from you and your classes. Will they help, just translate, offer discipline, or do nothing at all? Will they even be in the classroom with you? This will affect your preparations considerably.

The first couple of weeks are going to be rough. Some classes will seem like total disasters. It's OK. It happens to all of us. You'll make it.
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tausha12



Joined: 12 Jan 2012

PostPosted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 7:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks all.

I do plan on taking a TEFL course. The school is actually going to pay for it.

I survived my first two classes this morning. Mainly we just reviewed what the students knew and did some group activities. I know it'll get better so for now just taking it one class at a time.
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myenglishisno



Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Location: Geumchon

PostPosted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 10:19 pm    Post subject: Re: First day of teaching Reply with quote

ontheway wrote:
Dodge7 wrote:
This is why Korea should hire qualified teachers instead of basket weavers. New "teachers" have no idea what they're doing


Of the 6 all time worst teachers that I've ever seen in Korea, all had either an Education Degree, a TEFL cert or both.

Of the 6 all time best teachers that I've seen in Korea, none had a TEFL or CELTA, but one did have an Education Degree and 10 years of experience.


This. Credentials do not a teacher make.

I'm pretty sick and tired of hearing this old fashioned "you're not a teacher without a BEd" stuff echoed everywhere on these forums. You lot should know better, especially considering how many horrid teachers we've all suffered under in our public school days.
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Dodge7



Joined: 21 Oct 2011

PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 3:45 am    Post subject: Re: First day of teaching Reply with quote

myenglishisno wrote:
ontheway wrote:
Dodge7 wrote:
This is why Korea should hire qualified teachers instead of basket weavers. New "teachers" have no idea what they're doing


Of the 6 all time worst teachers that I've ever seen in Korea, all had either an Education Degree, a TEFL cert or both.

Of the 6 all time best teachers that I've seen in Korea, none had a TEFL or CELTA, but one did have an Education Degree and 10 years of experience.


This. Credentials do not a teacher make.

I'm pretty sick and tired of hearing this old fashioned "you're not a teacher without a BEd" stuff echoed everywhere on these forums. You lot should know better, especially considering how many horrid teachers we've all suffered under in our public school days.

Yeah, but the only thing is you'll never be considered a teacher in your home country WITHOUT an Education degree and you will ALWAYS be considered less of a teacher in this country when being compared to a person with a Education degree--whether or not they can teach. They will always be better than you and more desirable in the eyes of hagwon owners and schools because of the title of a licensed teacher.
Also, all of the little ESL certs you can muster would be second to a Education degree. Education degree trumps anything you can get through a 100 hour class and rightfully so--Education degree holders planned their lives early on in this profession and dedicated themselves to it, so they should be the preferred person for the job anything related to ESL.
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ontheway



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...

PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dodge7 wrote:
myenglishisno wrote:
ontheway wrote:
Dodge7 wrote:
This is why Korea should hire qualified teachers instead of basket weavers. New "teachers" have no idea what they're doing


Of the 6 all time worst teachers that I've ever seen in Korea, all had either an Education Degree, a TEFL cert or both.

Of the 6 all time best teachers that I've seen in Korea, none had a TEFL or CELTA, but one did have an Education Degree and 10 years of experience.


This. Credentials do not a teacher make.

I'm pretty sick and tired of hearing this old fashioned "you're not a teacher without a BEd" stuff echoed everywhere on these forums.

You lot should know better, especially considering how many horrid teachers we've all suffered under in our public school days.


Yeah, but the only thing is you'll never be considered a teacher in your home country WITHOUT an Education degree and you will ALWAYS be considered less of a teacher in this country when being compared to a person with a Education degree--whether or not they can teach. They will always be better than you and more desirable in the eyes of hagwon owners and schools because of the title of a licensed teacher.
Also, all of the little ESL certs you can muster would be second to a Education degree. Education degree trumps anything you can get through a 100 hour class and rightfully so--Education degree holders planned their lives early on in this profession and dedicated themselves to it, so they should be the preferred person for the job anything related to ESL.



In Universities most teachers do not have degrees in Education. They have degrees in the subject areas they teach. So, they are not considered teachers?

When it comes to ESL and EFL the subject matter is much more important than the Education degree. In most subjects in K-12 schools the same is true. That is one reason why teachers with Education Degrees get fired so often, at home and here in Korea. Many more deserve to be fired but are protected by powerful unions.

Another bigger problem is that many individuals who have no ability in any area whatsover decide to major in Education. They expect to have a cushy lifelong job protected by a powerful union.

Those worst 6 teachers I've seen in Korea, all with credentials, (mentioned above) were all fired. One was fired 5 times times from five different schools during an 18 month period, getting a job because of credentials and fired because of incompetence - credentials did not grant the ability to be a teacher.

In fact, the best results are obtained in ESL using methods quite contrary to what the Education teachers (and many with useless TEFL program certifications) have been mislead into using. It's no surprise they fail so often.

Of course the bulk of them could succeed by adapting and learning what really works and using it. This is what all those others "without credentials" have to do as well. However, since those without credentials usually get started learning the correct way to teach from the outset, they end up becoming better teachers. The newbies with Education degrees and TEFL certs, convinced of their own superior knowledge, waste time resting on their credentials using nonsense that doesn't work, can't teach, can't understand why, and get fired.

Korean parents and hogwan owners respect those individuals who are actually able to teach English to their kids. When their kids can leave your hogwan class and go back to their regular school and be a top student in English, they will respect you. And when every kid in your hogwan classes becomes a top student in English in their regular school, you will be considered the best teacher. Credentials don't matter. Ability matters.
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Dodge7



Joined: 21 Oct 2011

PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You're right, I'm not saying ability doesn't matter, it does. But just having the title of "Licensed Teacher" will automatically earn you more respect off the bat and hagwon owners would select a person with a degree in Education over someone else with a easily acquired cert in esl.
I have seemed to hurt some egos with this widely known fact.
An Education degree trumps all. That's just all there is to it. I mean who would parents want teaching their kid in a hagwon or anywhere else for that matter: a professional, licensed teacher, or Joe who has a degree in Horticulture but has an cert. in ESL. It's not hard to make that decision for me if I was a parent.
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Pinehurst



Joined: 14 Aug 2011

PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 2:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Teach them how to weave a basket. Use one rule: The students and teacher can only use English. Wink
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