Korean Job Discussion Forums

bejarano-korea · Joined: 13 Dec 2006

I'm at a PS in Yongin - the school is massive! and everyone has been very kind up till now.

I don't have any lessons to teach until July the 7th! Laughing

So my first impressions are good! Laughing

Yongin looks to have more about it than Changwon! Thats a personal prefence though.

And even then, most days are 4/45 minute lessons a day!

I'm sat here doing nothing at the moment - I would do lesson plans but seeing as I have yet to meet the kids in a classroom - it would seem pointless to do a lesson plan for a class whose English abilities I know nothing about, what do you do during these times?

cruisemonkey · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 7:15 pm Post subject:

I guarantee in every class their abilities will range from: 'zero English', to 'almost fluent'.

bejarano-korea · Joined: 13 Dec 2006

Scouse Mouse · Joined: 07 Jan 2007 Location: Cloud #9

Hey mate - are you in MS?

If so, they have exams next week so you may get a few early darts! After that, they will be watching movies all day in regular classes, so you can get away with an intro lesson and maybe a follow-up fun lesson. You can expect to start proper lessons after the summer break.

You should ask your co-teacher about any summer-camp plans they have. Often, you will be told about the camp and then be expected to submit lesson plans the next day. It really pissed me off when I had just spent 2 weeks seat warming, only to then be told that it is "urgent" that I submit 20 lesson plans in less than 48 hours.

Have fun, and if you need any advice in future, be sure to PM me.

Scouse Mouse · Joined: 07 Jan 2007 Location: Cloud #9

Oh.. you should also ask them about orientation, or you may get a bollocking on Monday for not going to something that nobody told you about Wink

PS teachers always assume that you know. If you don't know, they still hold you responsible for making them look bad.

sojourner1 · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 10:08 pm Post subject:

I too just arrived yesterday and was told my first teaching is on July 7th which is fine with me. Yes, there is unofficial orientation and workshops, but they said I have until sometime next week to rest. I'm just having problems getting set up on the business side of things such as getting the settlement allowance, apartment, and such, but got people working on it. I don't know where I'm going with this as time will only tell what happens and how it will work out though I'm a bit nervous. It appears to be a much better place to work than the hagwon I taught in last year, but communication and understanding what's going on is the real challenge. They don't appear to have tensions in their office and they do have many more resources such as classroom video projection systems than a hagwon, but no English curriculum to my understanding so I will have to invent the wheel some and get material off the internet.

Elementary materials and curriculum anyone? Ideas? This is the first time my elementary school had a foreign teacher and my first time in one, but they have been getting a foreign teacher visiting for 2 classes a week for a while and the kids I met today do have a basic level of English. They seem to be much better behaved in a small town vs. a larger town such as Changwon where I was last year. Maybe they are not so rich and spoiled like I seen in the cities and are more discilplined. This is a very cute small school with traditional styling, but the school and the whole area is in the process of modernizing as constructino is going on everywhere. New roads are going up like crazy in Gangwon, the rural lowly populated province. It is the most beautiful and cleanest part of Korea and I'm betting, the most friendliest. Still does not have any good qualities of the other Asian countries I've enjoyed. Maybe someday Korea will be a 1st rate destination when it's developed culturally like Thailand. It shows all the typical charactistics of Korea, but not to extremes like in the cities which is stressful crap to contend with everyday so I went small town. There are most things you need such as a post office and Family Mart, but not all that fancy neon and blinging strobe light stuff and much fewer stop lights. No Emart or Homeplus is the real downer part of it though basic foods can be bought in the city center.