Korean Job Discussion Forums

[br_owen]

I teach an Elite class on Mondays and Wednesdays. I can communicate with them, and i can teach them properly; we have a curriculum, and it all goes well.
However, Tuesdays and Thursdays i have babysitting. It is class of completely mixed ability - some of my elite students, and some who don't know a word. This makes it extremely difficult to teach.

Because of this problem. Do you think i can turn it into a movie class. We would watch a movie (in English obviously) on the Tuesday, and then i would make questions, quizzes, and they can write reviews on Thursday. i want to keep it simple for myself and the students - some of them (the elite students) are being forced in to the class, so i don't want to push them.

Thoughts? Would this be frowned upon? How can i make it legitimate?

Thanks

[Colorado]

Sure. Why not?
Give it a try and let us know how it works out.

[lostintranslation100]

I think it's an awesome idea. However, it might not go over wonderfully with your boss (but maybe it would?). I show movies once in a while, and I feel it's very beneficial to the students. It really grabs their attention and they are intrigued. Usually they pick up several new English words too.

Please keep us posted on whether or not you can pull this off, because I'd love to do it too.

[thoreau]

Not a movie.

Pick a serial TV show so the students can follow the characters over time. A half-hour show is only 20 minutes without the commercials. This leaves about 25 minutes to discuss the content and new vocabulary.

Use a cloze sheet so the students have something to listen for during the show. Include a few comprehension questions at the bottom of the sheet.

Pick a TV that is appropriate and not too dialog heavy. ESL learners could explode if you have them watch a 20 minute episode of some court room drama.

Depending on the age of students Friends might be a good show. The Bernie Mac show might be good.

Avoid shows like Scrubs that will have too much new vocabulary.

[br_owen]

thanks for the input so far guys. I am going ahead with it, and i'm not even sure if my boss (the principle) will find out to be honest.

Just a bit more info. I work at a public school, and this is just an after school, extra class program, that is optional for the kids to sign up for. It's an elementary school, so things like 'Friends' will probably go over their heads.

I think i'm just going to do a Pixar love fest and see how it goes. There's a few of the newer ones i haven't seen myself

Cheers

[lostintranslation100]

Does anyone have any tv show recommendations for 5th-6th grade Elementary Public School students?

[roadwork]

[lostintranslation100]

[roadwork]

[D.D.]

Just show short clips on youtube to stimulate conversation. Today I used only one frame of a bugs bunny video. Showing long videos is just being lazy, the students lose interest and little conversation happens.

[AgDragon01]

I did it with the kids show anime Avatar: The Last Airbender - it has a lot of Asian themes, the dialogue is appropriate and simple, and the vocabulary builds on itself. I made worksheets where the students start by defining vocabulary words that are used a lot, then I have a section of basic, detailed questions, and more advanced thematic questions for the advanced students.

After a few such worksheets I throw in more general questions, like character analysis sheets, where they focus on the personality of the characters. I don't use Korean subtitles because I figure, what's the point - I want them to actually work on their English comprehension.

[jinks]

English sub-titles can help. Korean subs will stop the students from even trying to listen.

[English Matt]

Or you could just go with Mr Bean. Very little dialogue, so no need for subtitles (English or Korean). The physical humour appeals to young kids, particularly Korean kids, and should maintain their attention levels. There were a number of episodes produced for British TV as well as the movies.

You have a wealth of material to choose from and it's pretty easy to create questions about the show.

Additionally, the Wallace and Gromit series and films are also good for young kids and once again the dialogue is kept scarce.

[PRagic]

Just so you know, a 'successful' Korean 'movie class' consists of 50-100 students packed into a room with a large screen projector or several large screen TVs. The instructor places a bit of the movie a couple of times, then plays it, translates it, replays it, translates it again, and so on.

No reason to take notes, because the swarthy instructor has all of the lines to be covered from the movie, the vocab and the translations crammed double-sided onto a piece of A4 paper in 10 pt. font. When I was at a hakwon, these hacks would be running around before class asking any foreigner who would bite the meanings of vocab words, phrases, and expessions, only to then proudly march into the classroom and play the part of the bilingual fluent god of contemporary English.

The owners loved these 'teachers' because they tended to be cash cows, and the students could and would keep coming back as the movie changed every month. Ironically, though, the really successful 'movie teachers' weren't foreigners, Kyopos, or even Koreans who had spent a substantial amount of time in a foreign country. The big players were those with MAs in translation or English Lit from such-and-such Korean university, and their spoken English was for shite. Turns out the Koreans favoured these teachers because they didn't expect any effort from the students, they naturally didn't make the students feel too personally inferior, and everything was spoon fed.

So give it a try, OP, but don't say we didn't warn you! Let us know how it goes.

[Fishead soup]

Don't let Steve Shirtzer find out.