Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kimcheeking]

Pretty good so far, 28 out of 36 consider themselves real teachers. of those 28, 17 are qualified teachers. Impressive.

or is it, probably the backpackers don't read this forum - or if they do dont' care or post.

[The Lemon]

Or the backpackers think their Bangkok-bought Khaosan Rd degrees make them eligible for the "real teacher with qualifications" category. Hey, 100 baht is 100 baht.

[PootyTang]

A real teacher arrived in Korea on a bright sunny and warm teachers day in May of 1996. He was ready to teach his adults in Chamshil at the company he worked for....then reality set in....

A battered, worn out old man left in 1999 and never looked back....

[bucheon bum]

well i don't know if i could claim to be a "real" teacher but I try. I definitly was an awful teacher at my first hogwon when I started, but think i've greatly improved. All i was given as curriculum at my 2nd hogwon was a storybook- the rest has been up to me. Whoever replaces me next fall will be fortunate to have a bunch of worksheets I created to use.

I'd say i'd pass as decent in the hogwon industry; i put effort into my work but little energy into the couple classes where no one cares to learn.

[Blue Flower]

To aid in my "real" teacherness, or perhaps geekyness, i've started a log book of each class i teach - with lesson plan/synopsis, and then an evaluation afterwards. Will help me keep on track, and also prove I am doing something in class. It's also good practice for when i start teaching back home, as i have to do that anyway. One good thing about this year here, is that i'll soon be able to write somewhat legibly on the white board.

[Butterfly]

[kimcheeking]

Good point butterfly. It's been awhile since I worked in a hogwan, so my memory is faint. Luckily at my university all the teachers are top-notch... I may even go so far as to say the best in Korea.

Unfortuneately the pay is crap!... in the meeting today we were told about a pay raise, but it's not until next March- honestly what's the point. Don't tease us...

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

[kimcheeking]

[rudyflyer]

[kimcheeking]

[mokpochica]

I'm certified to teach Spanish in the US, but I find teaching here to be a different experience than at home because of both the students and the situation I teach in (a junior high where I see the majority of my kids only once a week).

The director of the teaching program I came to Korean on told us, "those of you who are teachers are going to have a tougher time adjusting to the Korean school system than those who have no qualifications." I see what he meant by this statement, although I don't totally agree with him. I have adopted some 'Korean teacher' characteristic in my lesson planning(which was hard at first), but I still use ideas that I picked up from my teaching programs too.

Regardless I think that most learning about teaching happens on the job. I had a pretty useless student teaching experience and what seemed like a bunch of theory and no practice during my undergrad teaching instuction. I've felt like I learned the most when I taught Spanish at a school with great foreign language teachers, here in Korea managing large classes and finding ways to use only English with students who are pretty low level. Additionally, I have learned a lot from my Master's program in Teaching (Spanish) a foreign language. Although I've never had any formal ESL training, I find that the methods for teaching any foreign language are basically the same--especially now that the ideal is to teach foreign languages only in the target language.

[rudyflyer]

[mongrel]

Real teachers? Not really relevant. I'm currently 'teaching' a computer class. We have an activity day on friday, videos and computers. Btw., eamo, did you realise your avatar is Alan Patridge?

[Butterfly]