Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Wishmaster]

Yeah, I agree that the inept nature of the haggie business here is pretty unbelievable. You can be creative but most of your students don't give a rat's ass about learning English and are only there because they are forced to be. It doesn't matter what you design, it ain't gonna work. It might work for a class or two, change of pace, but over the long-term...over those 25 or so classes, week after week, it won't hold up and you'll end up spending more time on preparing lessons that in actually teaching them and then you are wasting YOUR time. I go with the flow here...I have no expectations from day to day....this isn't professional...it's merely a paycheck. Not the way I want it but that's the way they've set things up.

[jajdude]

Agreed. If you're in the classroom 25+ hours per week, how can you find the time and energy to prepare good activities for every class? That's why a good book helps and a crappy one makes it harder.

[Southern Drawl]

One thing not mentioned here is the fact that Koreans love to hold onto a book when they go to class. They also feel a sense of accomplishment if they finish the book. (My adults do anyways.) Although, I've had classes before where the book was just for show and I brought in all of the activities myself. But yes, it takes too much time. Find a book that you like and save yourself some time. Improve on the book yourself by bringing in supp. activities. And BunnyMonster is right. You can have the best book in the world, the best supp. activites, and be the best teacher but if your students are uncooperative or unmotivated then you can just forget about making any progress.

[schwa]

I've been teaching text-free for years & I wouldnt have it any other way.

I borrow & adapt freely from lots of sources & I like to customize my lessons. Text series (I'm familiar with a good many of them) all cover the same common ground but I've yet to find one that is consistently fresh & engaging enough to hold interest over the long haul -- my students' or mine!

Yes, students seem to like the material feel of a book in their hands, but how many actually review on their own or read ahead? I'm gratified to see a good percentage of my students (elementary, teens, & adults) putting together organized folders of my handouts that they do in fact refer back to.

Because, I think, I do my best to come up with relevant english -- stuff they want to know & express. Many of my classes are free & voluntary to the students & attendance is good.

No claim to being any kind of genius teacher. I just try to keep it fun & useful. What are we going to do next week -- no idea! But my students trust me to come up with something. Not so much extra prep but it requires just a bit of forethought about what will build nicely on what we're already doing.

The simplest of activities often work best.

[bosintang]

I think it depends on how often you see the students. If I see the students infrequently (say once a week or less), then I actually prefer to make my own materials.

[matthews_world]

I'm interested in knowing other teachers teaching methods. For example, I'm teaching a unit on daily activities. What are some ideas you use to teach these? I should say that my students are mostly college students.

Questions I'll use:

What do you usually do every day? Morning, afternoon, night.
What does your mother usually do everyday?
If you were poor, what is one thing you would do everyday?
If you were rich, what is one thing that you would do everyday?
What is one thing you dream you could do?

Besides the prerequisite Bingo, I've yet to find a game or activity that would make teaching daily activities fun.

[EFLtrainer]

[babtangee]