Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Robot_Teacher]

I'm a new elementary public school teacher who doesn't have a curriculum, teaching materials, nor books. I'm OK with producing it since I know and understand leveled curriculum in several subjects, but am finding the production part of it to be a rather large printing press job. And I'm only starting with 85 copies of a phonics level 1 book. At 16 double sided pages, this took 2 photo copiers 2 hours to do a total of 1360 pages and then the hole punching and binding comes next to complete the books for grade 1 through 4 students who've never had phonics since they're small town kids who haven't ever had a foreign English teacher. I not only want and need this book, but I'm going to want the level 2 and 3 books to this phonics course as well as producing math, science, and computer courses. Luckily, free material can be found online such as on www.bogglesworldesl.com and www.mes-English.com, but I could do much better with purchasing programs with materials though.

I did inquire about an English program budget and possibly going outside for printing and binding services, but no budget is available other than given permission to do black and white copying myself. I did make it clear, I'd be using about 15,000 sheets of paper for 180 students in the course of 4.5 months. This is quite an excessive amount of use on photocopiers not designed to be a printing press that do only 8 pages per minute. I had hoped my school would have about $10,000 to acquire a curriculum every 5 years, but no budget is available to purchase a curriculum of books and materials nor do they acknowledge the need for an English curriculum. The Korean teachers do have a whole room full of Korean curriculum they work off of as well as classrooms too full of these materials stacked up. Not one English book of any type is present nor the support to purchase.

I read on this site that some of you have 5 or 10 million won to set up an English classroom with materials, but those I spoke with knows of such a budget being available. Too bad there isn't a classroom with computers at each desk or I'd just hold the English classes there like they do in many American schools today. I was hoping to get my own homeroom classroom where students come to me and I have it organized and set up appropriately, but I can't get that either so I'll have to use all the other teachers homerooms that are disorganized and too fully stacked up with Korean books and materials to the point of it being cramped. Allocating a room and a program curriculum would be a small investment for the 2nd most important aspect of a program in any school; the facilities and materials. I suggested that I teach subjects such as math, science, English, computers, and PE since I have multiple hours with the same students each week and it would relate learning English to real activities and knowledge, but they don't care about curriculum or what is taught. They only care about face time on a schedule. No other standards or supports appear to be present whatsoever for an English program.

How would you go about this?

[D.D.]

I teach Bugs Bunny 101 and the kids love it. This year maybe the Flintstones.

[Robot_Teacher]

LOL! I've already been notified not to show too many videos, tv shows, and movies as they want 100% interactive face time! I too had the idea of filling time with these sorts of things since I already know these country kids are not seeing Western programming as there are none on the local cable system except the OCN showing older movies kids wouldn't be interested in. I too feel including some Western childrens programming would be beneficial to better understand the cultural aspects of speaking English, but the Korean teachers want academics without providing academic materials.

[Jammer113]

I'm confused. I thought Korea had standardized textbooks for elementary education. Your school has no money for textbooks? How did they teach English before you got there?

[Xuanzang]

There's a national curriculum with textbooks.

[D.D.]

Bugs Bunny might make me sound like some lazy teacher just showing videos to kill time.

It actually ends up making the class popular and I get the kids talking a lot. We make up mind maps about what happened and the better kids make some sentences.

I stop the video a lot (every minute or so) and the kids make comments on what they see. Just because people are having fun doesnt mean they are not learning.

I think that boring teachers ruin that subject for the students. The korean lecture material and books that I witnessed are a joke.

It is clear that the steps they have been using don't work so being a sane person why would I continue down those same paths.


I find the kids to be quite smart and I make sure that they talk to me in sentences.

[Robot_Teacher]