Korean Job Discussion Forums

Kimchieluver · Joined: 02 Mar 2005

Not to get too off topic here, but I just saw today a middle school grade 2 boy get 4% on his English midterm. My co-teacher says that he has never gotten above 35% (in any subject excluding PE) since grade 5. Now, tell me how pathetic that is. It may sound like BS, but it is the honest truth.

thu_tinh · Joined: 27 Sep 2006

majority of the students at my school have to stay late to relearn materials if they got a score under 30%. and I saw a lot of kids that stayed behind not just for English but everything!
kind of confuses me because I came to Korea with the assumption that kids here are very smart in everything (maybe not another language but everything else) because you know education is so valued?? or am i wrong?

bosintang · Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2006 4:15 am Post subject:

stvwrd · Joined: 31 Mar 2005

Bogglesworld is a great resource that I used extensively last term. I will re-visit it and see what else I can adapt from there.

I can totally relate to the comments about teacher-centerd versus student-centered. Last semester I did a lot more student-centered things (relying on bogglesword a lot), but towards the end class control was more and more of a problem.

So, I've been doing more teacher-centered classes. At first it held their attention better, but then things started to unravel....

thu_tinh · Joined: 27 Sep 2006

my biggest problem if of course the lower level class. i know some of them know English because outside of class they would try to use a lot of English when they see me. Sometimes makes me wonder because they know they are in the low class they don't try.
But I don't know what to do with them. Everything is boring to them and they don't try. playing games they don't even want to try. they don't want to do anything but watch movie clips. drawing is okay too but I don't teach an art class. plus its in the low class that the behaviours are the worse.

ddeubel · Joined: 20 Jul 2005

bosintang,

Hamburglar · Joined: 23 Jun 2006

How frequently do you guys here see your kids in public middle school?

Personally I only see each class once over a two week period so its not like I can really form coherent lesson chains with them. My school is big on all sorts of weird assemblies festivals and other such BS that I end up having classes cancelled or changed around so I'm not even sure who's had what lesson yet or what (I have about 38 different classes that I see once every 2 weeks)

Now I've only been here a month (so, 2 lessons basically) and I'm wondering if I should just keep doing what I am doing. Since they see me so little I figure I should best use my 45min to get them talking. Not necessarily focus on any lesson but just try and get as much language practice out of the kids as possible - I try and introduce new vocab here and there but mostly I focus on building their confidence to talk and their ability to understand English.

The first day was an intro where I had them ask me questions about myself and the second lesson we play the Robot Game (I pretend to be a Robot and students have to direct me to go to certain places in the room by being very exact - Go Forward, Stop, Turn left, Slow down etc. If they say Go Forward I will go forward and walk straight into the wall until they tell me to stop so its good for laughs).

Anyway does anyone think this is a good idea or should I really be trying to jump more into whats relevant? Its hard because I have so many classes (2 grades, and divided by levels and taught by about 8 different teachers) that I have no idea what any one class is actually learning.

Ehh. I do have a textbook but it looks pretty crappy and is mostly in Korean actually.

xox · Joined: 11 Jun 2006 Location: Bundang

thats exactly the same thing that has been happening with me Hamburglar! I have no idea what's going on most of the time and its really hard to lesson plan because they might have already passed that lesson.
And I find it really hard to cater to the lower level. They just aren't interested. true sluggish teenagers I have.
when i get them to brainstorm as a way of getting them to talk -- forget that. doesn't happen.

passport220 · Joined: 14 Jun 2006 Location: Gyeongsangbuk-do province

I am in the same boat. However, I see my students even less. Once every three weeks in theory but due to Holidays, exams and school special events it will average less than once per month. In fact, I started at my schools at the beginning of September and I have yet to meet some classes for the first time (my final first meeting will take place on October 26th).

With this type of schedule I consider myself more as a guest speaker. I have never had an administrator or staff member talk to me about what they expect from me in class. I have assigned my own expectations to practice pronunciation through drills, engage in monologues to have the students get used to listening to a native speaker, to inspire the students to take an interest in English and to encourage them to practice English outside of class. That�s it! No real language production. In each class I make a point to give students an opportunity to speak in class but I don�t force it. Few take me up on it with most it is like pulling teeth. No real language production.

bosintang · Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 3:49 am Post subject:

Once every two weeks? Once every three weeks???

I really don't know what to tell you. 'Guest-speaker' is the best I can say with a schedule like that. If I could read minds, I would say that your schools are deliberately trying to make as little as use as possible of you.

bosintang · Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 3:54 am Post subject:

passport220 · Joined: 14 Jun 2006 Location: Gyeongsangbuk-do province

bosintang · Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 4:47 am Post subject:

Lao Wai · Joined: 01 Aug 2005 Location: East Coast Canada

Hey,

I'm teaching in a Hong Kong primary school. I can relate to what some of you are saying about your classes. I've taught in Canadian public schools before and hogwans in Korea, but I can tell you, having 40 kids in one small classroom is a whole different ball game. Oh, and my school is basically a 'ghetto' school in Hong Kong. The students are from low SES families. So, there are definitely behaviour issues.

I've been teaching at this school for nine months now. I co-teach with local teachers as many of you do. After the first six months I seriously thought about quitting. I normally have pretty good classroom management skills. I would use my personality more than anything to win the kids over. Works great in Canada. Not so much when the kids have no idea what you are saying.

Most of my students here in Hong Kong would not listen to me my first five months here. I came mid-year, so I didn't have a chance to go over my classroom rules at the beginning of the year. It made me furious at how little respect I was getting. My co-teachers were pretty useless too. I decided enough was enough when I saw how well the kids could behave when they were with the local teachers.

So....this year, starting in September I decided I wasn't taking any shit from the kids. I went over the rules repeatedly. If they were talking I talked/screamed loudly over them. I.e. "I ....AM.... TRYING ....TO ....TALK...WHY.... ARE ....YOU... TALKING......". Anyway, they eventually went quiet. With another class, they would never keep quiet enough for me to explain things. So, I talked to their homeroom teacher and told her that if they don't finish their classwork with me, they will complete it with me during their second recess period. I did this once, and it has worked like a charm. All I do now is write 1:15 p.m on the board and they get it.

You really have to summon up that inner hardass. I don't like yelling or glaring at kids, but it has really helped this year. My worst class last year is now my favourite. They were always bright, but had a major attitude problem. If I said I was playing a game, they whined. If I gave them a worksheet they whined. Show a movie? Whine. My first day with them in September, they whined...you know, that chorus of "uhhh.....". I fucking flipped. I just ripped into them. I got my co-teacher to translate when necessary. I told them I NEVER wanted to hear them whine EVER again. Now they're quite good. I really enjoy teaching them. Are things perfect? No. But, they are much better. My advice is to basically get your routines and management in order before you even try to teach anything. This might sound like common sense, but some teachers feel like they're wasting teaching time by doing this. You're not. Oh, and don't rely too much on your Korean co-teachers. The kids will start to identify them as the 'real' teacher and you the clown teacher. That's what was happening with me. I think I've reversed that process. There's a new co-teacher who I work with this year. She tells me I have such good control over the class and that she doesn't when she's teaching them by herself. HA! Things have definitely changed.

Sorry for the long post. I hope it's somewhat helpful.

thu_tinh · Joined: 27 Sep 2006

okay so my 1st graders are doing lesson 10 in the text book the one about saving Earth.
So I decided maybe I should go more indept by introducing the 3R's reuse, recycle, and reduce. Explain to them the meanings and show examples of what you can recycle and what you cannot. For activities I have a worksheet made that has match the left side with the right side (on the 3r's) a comic strip on one of the 3r's and they have to do m/c, and than an unscrambling of the words.
On the back side i have a big recycling box and I want them to draw things that can be recycled in it and lable them. After that get them to talk about what they drew in the recycle box.
But looking at this lesson plan, there isn't much talking time so I was wondering what would be a good dialogue to make for them?
please help me with the lesson plan. what do you think of it?