Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rusty1983]

So, Im still a fairly new teacher and seeing as I teach 8 hours a day; 6 of them via a direct method, my brain sometimes switches off and I make a mistake or forget a grammar point (or even get mixed up and teach it wrong). This has occasionally lead to the lesson becoming a total write-off and despite my skills at covering up and recovering from mistakes I still find my confidence is utterly shaken.

I blush, lose my flow, lose my vim and find that under the pressure I cant think whatsoever.

Sometimes I wonder if Ive lost the trust of my students completely. I find I am quite well respected and my classes are very entertaining and engrossing, but until I can master the more complex technical aspects of the English language fear I run the risk of more big mistakes and awkward situations.

I need to know how to bounce back quickly from big mistakes. Or even better how to not make, or how to appear not to be making them, in the first place.

[linky123]

Have you ever seen a Korean college entrance hakwon English teacher teach? If you could understand what they were teaching, I'd swear if you knew English grammar at all.

[Juregen]

That goes for everyone, is my guess.

[Special BK]

sorry but i seriously don't teach at all. I bs my way through most classes basically.
give them the book... make them write lots of stuff.

and yeah i used to feel bad about it, and was a bit worried when i saw the vice principal walking about.. but when i realised that the school didn't care i figured that there's no point for me to stress out too much about things is the school obviously doesn't give a crap.

[Chuvok]

I used to dread days when the photocopier would break down, because I'd actually have to work instead of just having students do drills from Headway.


But now I actually care about my job, and make an effort.

[bobbybigfoot]

OP,

Try not to be too hard on yourself. No one is perfect. Admit when you screw up and learn from it. I've told the kids on many occasions how "crazy" English can be. I''m a pretty good speller but sometimes I trip up and the kids will catch me. I just say "oops! Teacher is getting old! You guys are geniuses!" As long as the mistakes don't happen too often, I wouldn't sweat it. As time goes on, these lessons will sink in and you'll get your confidence back. I've also been straight up with the kids and told them that I've never studied English grammar (not much anyhow). I praise them for what they do know. They know the rules; I know them by instinct. That being said, I don't teach grammar, but if I did, I would certainly study so I'd know the right terms. Sounds like you need to do some studying yourself. No shame in that.

So, in a nutshell: be honest; praise; study; relax. It'll come to you over time.

Good luck with it...

Bobby

[rusty1983]

Yeah, I had a tough day, Ill recover. I actually screwed up this week teaching a certain grammar point, sank completely. But they came up again in a lesson late on Friday afternoon and I was able to teach it very well, and so had a happy ending to the week.

I never cared much when I was teaching kids, as I was told I was there for them to practise on(!), but Im currently teaching adults, and I believe the general consensus is that they know pretty much as much or more about grammar than the teachers.

I guess as long as you square up your mistakes afterwards they cant complain too much.

I guess this is why a lot of the well-paying schools around wont accept anyone with less than 2 years experience!!

[meangradin]

crazy thought here; why not draw up a detailed lesson plan and syllabus, then you can cut down on mistakes caused by not being prepared.

if you want to be an effective teacher, you must put a lot of planning time in to your classes; you get out what you put in, is axiomatic in life. also, keep everything you make, record how your classes went in a diary, so you can go brush up on your weak points, and build on your strong ones, and in no time, you'll be a machine.

you are right about adults, they are harder to BS, especially if they start asking you grammar questions. but hey, you are paid to teach, so you should be diligent, and put the time in. imo, never be afraid to say you don't know the answer to a s's question, but that you'll have the answer asap. then go and find the answer.

the good thing is that you care enough to vent your concern, now just invest yourself

[meangradin]

double post

[yingwenlaoshi]

[rusty1983]

[meangradin]

[wayfarer]

What sort of stuff, specifically, is causing all this anxiety, can I ask?

As a native speaker you know the past participle of "began" is "begun", right? You know the present continuous of any verb is formed by adding "-ing"?

Spelling mistakes? Those are easily swept aside...

Even if all that was challenging, why should your students ever be allowed to catch on to it? Just fake it because they don't know sh!te. Are they high-level adult learners?

Lesson planning is a challenge, but you seem to be saying that it's the "complex technical aspects" of the language that are giving you trouble, so I'm confused. Hardly anyone here teaches at the complex technical level.

You could probably find an online grammar course...

[rusty1983]

[WoBW]