Korean Job Discussion Forums

[NYC_Gal]

[le-paul]

[tiddles]

You might want to clear everything with a labor attorney before you do anything, just to be safe. Be sure you're prepared for the worst case scenario, you know?

[Wishmaster]

Well, that's the thing, isn't it...they don't value your work experience and by making you work like a dog for 7 straight hours, they don't value you as a person either. They want you to work like a Korean drone and to accept all the crap. There is no way that a job like yours would be worth it to me. I couldn't...wouldn't...put up with it. There is no job that would be worth it to sacrifice my self-respect on that level. 15 years of teaching experience and being treated like you are a newbie.. . I definitely would tell them to stick it. The question is: do you really need the job? If you do, I would tell them flat out that I need some breaks in my schedule. If they don't solve the problem, then bye-bye...I would be out of there tonight. Good luck with your situation, but you do need to take a stand and lay down the law. No job is worth that...

[thegadfly]

[NYC_Gal]

[thegadfly]

NYC_Gal,

Right -- even though you have a basic idea of the lesson, tweaks and improvements still get made, and that takes time...and you are taking time to try to shore up weaknesses in other lessons, or to hone a fine edge on a "finished" lesson. You don't spend any less time doing that as you become more experienced, unless you have grown complacent...you just have a better idea of what works or doesn't work, and the minor flaws look bigger in your eyes...and it grows harder to find new ideas, as you have seen most of what is readily available, so your searches for new material take longer....

I've never met an above-average teacher who claimed prep took nearly no time, but I have met many barely-adequate teachers who thought their minimal prep was more than sufficient -- that whole chestnut of "time management" is the most frequent excuse, like somehow they can read faster or make a photocopier or printer work faster because they are so well scheduled.

[NYC_Gal]

Agreed.

Still, with 15 years on the job, he probably doesn't NEED many new materials. A video here and there, but if his lessons and materials are solid, there really may not be a need for it.

[le-paul]

thanks for that NYgal - youre right actually. All my lesson plans are made up prior with lesson plan and worksheets. When its test time, I have sometimes 3 lessons a day for 2 weeks and so I have almost 2 weeks to prepare my lessons. By the time the new term starts - I have 3 months worth of lessons in a file - ready TO GO.
I dont have a PC in my room - so everything (apart from 4 lesson a week) is done with my own lesson plans.

So gadfly - please stop trying to contribute to this thread becasue its quite, erm annoying having to defend myself to you (who are you? - are you an expert teacher?).
Like I said, I didnt start this thread to defend my teaching ability to you or anyone else - without writing hours of monologue (which i didnt start this thread for) so that you can understand the specifics of how much time im planning/going over books or whatever - youre just making (wrong) assumptions.

I have worked in jobs where I would spend 40 MINUTES per lesson preparing to use certain books and I have worked in hogwans were I need 2 minutes to set up a computer programme.
Jungchul books dont need much prep. Thats why I took a jungchul position.

Incidently - Im here in korea because relativley, I get paid more money than I would at home because of the cost of living. I can save up the same here in 2 years. as I could in 6 at home .
I work in a hogwan because I didnt have enough money to cover my flight out here (i had just finished a college course which used all my money - hence coming back out here) so it was simpler/more practical to take a hogwan position. PLus I dont as a rule mind working in hogwans becasue of the class sixe.

I hope that justifies my experience and reason for being in korea?

[PatrickGHBusan]

[thegadfly]

le-paul,

I answered some of your questions, made some valid suggestions, asked some questions of my own, and made a few comments -- all in all, pretty much the definition of contribution -- if you do not LIKE my particular contributions, then certainly that is your right to have that opinion....

A question in a void is meaningless -- context can change the answer. Given the context of your questions (re: that you have 15 years experience teaching), my mind boggled at the fact that you seemed not to know what to do or how it would be received...in fact, the response to your query that you met most favorably was from a fellow who suggested you do what he did (tiddles), and who is, in another thread, bemoaning the fact that this course of action resulted in his having a bad reference, which is preventing him from getting a job....

Hrm...yeah, I guess it is probably best that you do what he did -- there is NO CHANCE WHATSOEVER that YOUR boss will respond the same way that HIS boss did....

[NYC_Gal]

[shifty]

thegadfly and paddy should be put on a raft and given a firm heave out to sea.

[PatrickGHBusan]

[some waygug-in]

15 years experience and still posts what sounds like a newbie question?

Hmm.