Korean Job Discussion Forums

[abedefduf]

how many of you had no teaching experience before taking off? how did you find the transition into teaching to be? this is the one thing im really nervous about, since i have not taught a class before and have no idea how it will be or how ill do. did you guys find it to be an easy thing to pick up or was it a real wake up call?

[Mi Yum mi]

Everyone here had no clue at one point. Even if someone was a teacher back in their native country, at one time they had no experience teaching in Korea. You just have to relax, come on over and get your feet wet. You'll either do well, do alright or suck. If you suck you can learn to do better.

Here's my first teaching experience.

Arrived on a Wed. Went to school on Thurs (to see if I'd get lost walking there). Went to school Fri afternoon, was given 4 books and the boss said "here's what you're teaching today".

I was WTF? I've never taught a moment in my life. I did an alright job and I got better.

There is nothing you can do about it where you are. your school may or may not be prepared for you. Your kids and your boss are going to be as/more excited/scare of you as you are of them.

[schwa]

Mi Yum mi's post is on the mark.

Its natural to feel nervous committing to something you havent tried before but if you're open, willing to learn, & can think on your feet you'll likely catch the swing of it pretty quick.

You might even find your calling. I did.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

An inexperienced teacher with great aptitude will do better than an experienced teacher without. You'll find out whether you've got it or not, but remember that even a teacher with great potential can be a flop with the wrong age group or type of institution / management.

[cruisemonkey]

I understand your apprehension, but don't worry - you'll be fine.

I arrived at 23:30 on a Monday night after travelling for 24 hrs. The boss lead me to believe we would go to Immigration to apply for my ARC the following morning. He picked me up a 08:40 and we went to the school. At 08:56 he said "Ok, you teachee at 09:00, you do a good job."

I had a few questions:
Where's my classroom?
Is there a book?

It's all just a blur... but somehow everthing worked out.

[binjibadgy]

My experience was pretty much like cruisemonkey's.

Traveled for over 24hours, arrive at my apartment @ ~12am,
was up at 7am, teaching by 9am after formal meeting with principle and introductions to teaching staff.

"do you have any exercise books you're following?"
"huh? no."

I felt sooo fake when i arrived then i realised everyone was faking it, event Koreans to some extent ;>

From what I experienced hagwons seem to be better structured than public school.

Just remain enthusiastic and get some books for the have none!

And like Cruisemonkey said... it'll come together... somehow ;>

[abedefduf]

hey thanks alot for the replies. i guess it will turn out alright

[Ya-ta Boy]

an for anyone:

While you're sitting at home waiting for the visa to arrive, cruise this site and any other one you can find for opening day activities. Look under 'ice breakers'. Download a few and stuff 'em in your pocket. Then if you get thrown to the lions while you're still jet lagged, you have something ready to go.

The easiest no-prep first day activity I know is 'Ask the Teacher'. Put students in small groups (3 or 4) and have them write Yes/No Questions: [Do you...? Can you...? Will you...? Have you...?] Give 'em 15 minutes to write 4 or 5 questions. While they're writing, go around and help them with grammar and meet them one on one. Much less stressful.

Then have the groups take turns asking you questions. Award 3 points for a Yes answer, 1 point for a No answer. After a couple of rounds, switch the points. Tell a little story with each answer, play with them. Students get to practice asking questions, writing, speaking and listening...and satisfy their curiosity about you. YOU get through the class with little stress and a better idea of the level of ability of your students.

There are hundreds of other ideas out there.

[bassexpander]

I sucked for the first 8 months.

After the first few days, the boss suddenly realized that he had better let me sit and watch him teach a lesson.

I'm glad he did that at least, because I was putting those poor 9 year-olds through a 10 page chapter in about 30 minutes. All the time I was thinking, "Man, this stuff is too easy!"

I was the first foreigner many had seen, and their eyes were like silver dollars.

[BS.Dos.]

The only classroom experience I'd had was the teaching practicals I had to do for my TESOL. Had I not had some classroom time, I'm sure that I'd have crashed and burned at some point, but (touch wood) everythings gone okay so far.

I'd say that if you are nervous about your first lesson/week, try and animate yourself as much as possible. Speak loudly, clearly and confidently, give the students plenty of direct eye contact and move amongst them (basically, strut about as if you own the place and let them think that you've done all this before). Hiding behind your desk, whimpering, expecting the students to 'like you' wont get you anywhere.

For your very first lesson, try and bring in some personal crap from back home. I think that for the most part, you'll get very little help and you'll be expected to teach from day one, so it's important to hit the ground running.