Korean Job Discussion Forums

jurassic82 · Joined: 21 Jun 2006 Location: Somewhere!!!!

It seems as if this thread has attracted a diverse group of economists and sociologists that seem to have a pretty solid idea about Korean culture and the future of Korea's educational system. When it comes to the material being worthless I agree to some extents but at the same time I can see it from the other said. Classes are big (32 to 40 students) and contain students with different levels of English. No book is going to be perfect and meet the needs of all the students. It is pretty easy to sit back and criticize the textbook.

A good teacher would do more than just come on here and complain about how bad the textbook is. Instead you should focus on how you can work with the book. Come up with power points, songs and games that you can use to make the class more interesting. My classes are 40 minutes and I only use the textbook for like 10 or 15 minutes. The rest of the time I am focusing on expanding on the key phrases, vocabulary and grammar that we learned from the lesson through activities that get most of the class involved. This way I am reinforcing what they have learned. Sometimes the activities are a success and other times a complete failure and that is the life of a teacher. Do the best with what you have and try and do more than the bare minimum of what is expected.

For the life of me I can't figure out why people come on here and insist that they know everything about what is going to happen to Korea in the future. NET being laid off from public schools because they heard from someone who heard from someone else. I take everything I read on this board with a grain of salt. Things change so quickly here that it is hard to take anything too seriously. Anyways, to the OP don't get to bent out of shape. I know everything seems rediculous and to a certain agree it is. Try and have fun with the students and do the best with what you got. There are plenty of ways to make a good lesson with the hideous textbooks that we have. Hopefully next year they will change. Confused

randall020105 · Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 5:43 am Post subject: How...

How dare you call me a good teacher... I resent that!

Well.. I've actually tried to put myself in their shoes for a while now... the result??

I think these kids need less educational/instructional hammering and more play-time... since they lack ground which spills over into an apartment culture, one can deduce that there may be other avenues for kids to explore other than the 4 walls at home and mindless p.c. games - which btw is a predisposing factor of future Diabetes Mellitus 1/2, ergo increased medical expenses for said individual - then we look at the plethora of academies.
Said Hogwans in turn also seem to deliver a catch 22 economically.... Logic suggests that kids need activities to keep them busy 'till Mommy and Daddy (or Granny and Grandpa)comes home from their energy-taxing jobs. I've seen kids aged 2 - 5 being at a Kindy-academy 'till around 9 - 10 pm... SHAME!!

This could drag on and on and latch onto a number of other discussions other than airy drivel in classrooms... trying to stay on track and also not to change the direction of the Nile with a wooden spoon/chopstick...

chickenpie · Joined: 24 Dec 2008

chickenpie · Joined: 24 Dec 2008

WadRUG'naDoo · Joined: 15 Jun 2010 Location: Shanghai

chickenpie · Joined: 24 Dec 2008

TheUrbanMyth · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Location: Retired

WadRUG'naDoo · Joined: 15 Jun 2010 Location: Shanghai

Yeah. Good times. Carry on.

some waygug-in · Joined: 25 Jan 2003

That's because a lot of the teachers here are teaching conversation.

Most of the students I taught could barely string together 3 words to make

a sentence. Just trying to get them saying 5 word sentences was

challenging enough.

Writing and spelling, well yes those are important, but first things first.

I guess that's what all the crosswords and word searches are for.