Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rapier]

Some waygug-in: such a system requires real love of education, motivation and courage. Few directors possess this instinct, although they have the ability to sniff out money down to a fine art.

The Korean "definition of good teaching" is rarely what it says on the box.

[justagirl]

Our school runs on semesters. If a child doesn't pass the test at the end of the semester, they repeat the same book again. Of course, if the mom insists on it, we'll move little Johnny up to the next level, but most parents tend to say that the teachers know best, so even if they're angry at first, they usually end up saying if it's best for Johnny to repeat, then so be it.

It's not a fail-proof system, though. No kid can repeat the same book more than once, so if 6 months of Let's Go 2 didn't cut it, they get to move on to Let's Go 3 anyway. After all, it is a business!

justagirl

[some waygug-in]

Justagirl, what you've described sounds reasonable. I love to work in a school like that. So much better than 2 months in Let's Go 2 followed by a leap to let's go 4 and in with some classmates who are suited to that level along with a few who don't know their ABC's.

Or worse 2 months in Finding Out 2 and Jumping to Let's Go 4. If you are familiar with these 2 series, you will note that Finding Out is a much lower level course (easier) than Let's Go, so just following the book numbers doesn't mean much.

Anyway, thanks.
Merry Christmas

[mithridates]

That reminds me of a reading class I did before. I was taking over for a teacher I knew for the day and I had copied something on Mars. As soon as I pulled it out, the kids all went, "Hesso yo!" So I did some quick thinking and wrote 1997 (one of the dates) on the board, pointed to the best speaker in the class and said, "What's this?"
"Umm...One, thousend andeu, nainti sebun."
"Nope, it's nineteen ninety-seven, all right, we're reading this again."

What's the point of this? Use shame in proper amounts to keep them grounded. Another thing you can do is take them on a field trip of the staff room if they're being too arrogant. I used to do that with kids that thought they were pros at English when really they just knew their way around the homework book. I'd take them into the staff room where some of the staff would be on a break and bring them into the conversation.
"Wongi, Mark teacher here thinks that the leader of North Korea is cruel and needs to step down before we can have North and South Korea together again. What do you think of that?"

The reason why I used to do that from time to time is because of a vivid memory I have in grade three of my French class. I knew all the subject matter and thought French was easy until another teacher came in and they started chatting away; that's when I realized that it was a real language and not just a subject.

[Juggertha]

one hint.. and its either hard or too late for most, is to find out the teaching philosophy of the school before you sign. I know that it can get misrepresented but at least that might be a hint towards where they want to go.