Korean Job Discussion Forums

[AbbeFaria]

The first month or so of my job I would spend about an hour prepping for all my classes that day. I'd make notes n'such to keep with me in class so I made sure I hit my bullet points and what not. That was when I thought I was actually supposed to teach.

At this point I'm a glorified tape-recorded. I just say what's in the book and have the kids repeat. I throw in stuff when I can, but it's not often since if my class is too quiet I get a talking to. Now I prep for all 5 or 6 of my classes in 10 minutes. I'll fake it sometimes and just stare blankly at the book on my desk so it seems like I'm doing something, but I'm not. I've gone over the same material so many times now that really all my prep work is is finding what page I stopped on last week.

Doesn't make me feel good, but that's how they want it.

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[Qinella]

In my last position, I'd prepare for anywhere from 2 minutes to an hour, just depending on what I'd be doing with whatever particular class. When they started heaping classes on me 7 a day, though, I drastically cut down my prep time.

At my current position, my job is extremely limited. Each class sees four different teachers when they come (every other day), and each teacher has a specific role. My role is, pronunciation, intonation, listening and speaking, and checking answers. This academy places an extreme emphasis on self-learning, and the teachers are more like mentors who each fill a niche. One explains grammar, one vocab and idioms, one who checks answers and explains difficulties (me), and one who tests. It's a brilliant program, judging by the overall success rate.

Really, it's impossible for me to prep. I just read whatever things they read for homework, which takes me about one minute, and try to think of possible difficulties. The prospect of preparing a lesson from scratch simply doesn't exist.

When I taught privates, with no books, I'd spend anywhere from 30 minutes to over an hour for each class. Tailoring custom lessons from scratch that can both entertain and educate takes time. For better or worse, I don't do that anymore.

Q.

[Ya-ta Boy]

Often 30-60 minutes per lesson for high school. Some of that time is spent searching for peppy activities that fit into that particular lesson. I've collected a file of activities, and a lot of them are re-cyclable, but still...