Korean Job Discussion Forums

[grandpa]

The public school I started at wants me to teach English to a total of 20 students in this afterschool daycare program. The program is designed for the poorest of the poorest at my school. The class will be a mix from Grade 1 and Grade 2.

I am supposed to teach them for 80 minutes without assistance from a teacher who speaks/understands Korean and English.

Advice on successfully teaching them for that duration would be appreciated.

[Clockout]

Seems like they are really hanging you out to dry.

If you are not supervised or provided with any resources then I would not stress about it.

Just get them doing anything in English. Puzzles, games, movies, coloring etc. I hope there is a copy machine.

[Fishead soup]

http://eflclassroom.com


Use lots of Powerpoint games.

[kiwiinkorea]

Teach them some phonics. If you can, get hold of a phonics book (we use Sounds fun with my 2nd graders). Do 3 letters, listen and repeat and a worksheet and then play a game where they have to say words they just learnt (my students like the bomb game best) or recognise the letters. That takes up 40 minutes in my class. I do have a coteacher but I have done it by myself occasionally.

For the other 40 minutes do fun stuff like some songs or get them to make something like an animal mask or a name badge or some colouring.

I would tell your school that 80 minutes is too long for kids that age but if you can't get them to shorten it make sure you take a break in the middle of the lesson and let them run around for 5 minutes or so.

[Whitey Otez]

Yes, you are deep in the mooky. Your school wants you to ruin your liver in a hurry. My condolences.

Here's what happens when no Korean adults supervise your class: total liability. The kids will be going bonkers with shenanigans, and the Korean adults will occasionally peer in and think you suck as a teacher because you don't have them under control. You'll plead your case, and get shut down by the boss. Kids will tell their parents anything they want about your class, and they will have more credibility than you. Expect to be treated like dirt in and out of that class.

Assuming you want to tough it out, you're going to have to have an arsenal with you at all times. If you've got media, use it. I killed several hours trying to teach English vocabulary using Shawn the Sheep, making them speak the words they know when they see them on screen. Over time, you can teach them several games, each with their own drawbacks:

-There's a game where you make them run writing relays, using a board marker and a stopwatch. Just give them a word, a starting position, and a finishing position. It helps if you don't keep score. You can get this to work once every ten days or so, sometimes for a stretch of several classes. The drawback is that it's noisy and a Korean teacher will come in and bust heads. Also, some might consider the fights that break out to be a problem.

-You can make a 5x5 grid and use letters, numbers, or words to make bingo. They will know what to do right away. You can use this maybe once every three weeks. The drawback is when half your class really wants to play and the other half really does not.

-You can use scraps of paper and write the various vocabulary words they ought to know on each scrap. Wad them all up into their own little balls and put them in a box or something. Then call out a word and dump the box on the floor. You can do this quite often if you use prizes, especially since the kids will be out of their seats going nuts anyway. The drawback is that it looks like chaos and there's rampant cheating.

-There's also the chair game, which is sort of like musical chairs, only you tell them commands like, "If you are wearing something blue, change chairs." Or "If you have a sister, change chairs." Again, expect a fight or two to break out.

-Coloring contests buy you valuable time, but maybe only a few times before they have coloring mastered.

-Every Korean kid knows "Sam, yuk, ku." Make them play it in English. A great way to kill five to ten minutes.

-There's always "the memory game" where the kids have to build a list of words. You say, "fruits," and the first kid says "apple." The next kid says, "apple, watermelon." The list builds and it gets harder and harder. Maybe once per week.

-Spelling Bee, maybe try it once and see if they bite.

I found that the key to the younger kids was to have any of it at your disposal but make no definite plan. You could come in and say, "Kids, we're going to drink cola and watch Tom and Jerry," and half of your class will rebel simply because you suggest it. Think of yourself as more like a DJ playing requests, as without support, you can't be the MC.

Good luck