Korean Job Discussion Forums

[iggyb]

Now that my primary co-teacher in elementary school has switched to the idea that our primary job is to make students love English, my job has moved from OK to one I can't wait to end...

The primary annoying thing today is how I'm supposed to create my own material but meet their expectations --- when they stick to the book - or occasionally bring in other material someone else created which they also don't develop much or utilize for significant benefit to the students.

Since they are not used to creating their own material --- they don't really realize what it takes to do it right.

They don't understand that a good activity that gets the students involved and using the language in a meaningful way ----- takes development. It takes 1 or more activities that prep the students for the final, communicative one.

But, since I only have control of the class for a short period of time, and I am expected to make it fun, fun, fun, I don't have the chance to develop a series of activities leading up to the more open, communicative one. And if I try a communicative activity without that preparation, it doesn't work too well.

That is why things end up being bomb games to memorize vocabulary or set sentence patterns.

I hate having to entertain the students now and make them love English.

I have a rule in classes: if the students say "Game! Game!" we won't play a game for 1 week.

Now, that is all I'm supposed to do with the students, but I'm to go beyond the basic bomb games. I'm supposed to have the students moving around and using the language. But, I'm not supposed to use my class time to build them up to where they can accomplish that without too much confusion or simply chat in Korean with each other.

Again, since most Korean teachers don't create their own activities and most don't beyond the textbooks, they really don't know what it takes.

I watched a lot of Korean teachers do TEEs and micro-teaching in my last job here. I know they do not do the kind of activities I am now supposed to come up with and make work....

3 more months......

(And that is part of the annoyance now: We only have 3 months left in the school year. The kind of activities they want now are the kind the students need to get used to before they start working well. We should have been doing them first semester instead of now that the end of school is not too far away....)

[koreatimes]

[iggyb]

Your second paragraph has been my experience in hakwons and now public school, and my patience for it is running out this second time around. If I didn't need the return airfare and bonus money, I'd turn in my 30 day notice.

Like most teachers back home, I am used to creating my own material, because it is expected and the material in the textbooks is inadequate. So, I don't mind the Koreans telling me to create my own material for classes while they use the textbook. It is mildly irritating that they (most) don't create their own material to suit the classes but only mildly so.

But, with both co-teachers now boxing me in with what I can (should) do, it is quickly making the job not worth it. I probably should have gone with middle or high school instead of elementary...

It also hurts much that what they are asking me to do now goes against my teaching instincts/philosophy. I believe in preparing students for what comes next, and that was exactly what my primary co-teacher said she wanted at the start of last semester. Now, she says that was a mistake, and we have to make students "love" English.

So, I'm supposed to make everything fun.

That's a tall order in a language class, because language learning taxes the brain.

And now that she says she doesn't want it to be too many PPT games, I'll have to go back to the drawing board, and frankly, I'm not invested in the job enough to do that, especially because I haven't seen Korean teachers investing themselves in the class material like that.

Going back to the drawing board will also require trial and error and modifying things as you go. Which should be done at the start of the school year - not a stone's throw from the distance.

I thought we were doing a pretty good job last semester, but I guess it was too much like real learning....

[Malislamusrex]

what I do for 5-10 mins after the serious part of the class is hangman.

There are enough hang man games to cover pretty much all the vocabulary, and if my co teacher doesn't know the word in Korean I just use naver to translate. This usually whips the students into enough of a frenzy to review the class.

[iggyb]

Hangman wouldn't suit the new rule -- which is to make them move around the room.

The students like the bomb games and they are good enough in drilling vocabulary and set sentence patters, which is what I thought I'd switch to once I was told this semester our job is to make them love English, but those aren't good enough any more. The need to be moving around...

[iggyb]

I am happy about 1 thing - well - 2 things really:

I'm happy I went ahead and took a week of vacation time during the summer. I was going to save all my vacation time for the winter when I will loathe sitting in a freezing classroom days on end with nothing to do knowing I will be going home before the new school year begins. But, I was so tired after camp, I went ahead and took a week off.

2 - I'm glad I did not prepare for this semester like I had planned during the desk warming days.

Last semester, we got into a routine where I would have half the class to myself. And, I introduced outside reading that fit their level and general interest. I also used very short clips from a movie loosely based on the reading. We took vocabulary and phrases from it and built activities based on them.

It took a fair amount of work on my part, but I was happy because it was useful for the students and let me be creative.

During the break, I was going to use the desk warming to prepare the rest of that material for the next semester, but, I decided to hold off. In part because I knew I was in Korea and things change here frequently and I did not have overall authority on what the class does. The class schedule also leaves plenty of planning time each week to get things done, and I'd have been just as bored then as I was desk warming. So, I decided to take it easy those remaning days after camp and vacation.

And that turned out to be a good thing, because now I can't use any of that old material, and we are just going to stop the book and movie clips where we left off...

No more outside reading.

Finish the story on your own.

It was too much like regular teaching.

It was not fun, fun, fun....

[jeremysums]

Saw a lot of homeless people today, a lot, just glad to have a job.

[iggyb]

I doubt I'll be homeless in the US. With certification in ELA and ESOL, and years of experience in ESOL, I am more marketable than many in terms of public school teaching jobs in the US. I can substitute as well. There is always crack and meth distribution....

[Tallgesse]

[oldtrafford]

He's merely pointing out he's qualified unlike most people who are here. Are you?!!!

[iggyb]

I didn't take offense at the last comment, but I was just point out facts.

I'm no super-teacher and definately not an over-achiever. But I am certified in ELA and ESOL which gives me an advantage over people only certified in one area. With the economy putting pressure on school budgets back home, many of the jobs I've seen advertised over the last year were for people with dual certification. That is especially true for ESOL job openings in public schools back home.

Experience also counts when applying for jobs. I'm older. I've been around awhile. I have some years in the field. I don't know how much that experience adds up beyond the first 3 or so years, but those first few years meant a whole lot in terms of development. They should count. Beyond that? I think maybe counting experience beyond 3 or 5 years shows a committment to the field as a career.

I don't know what things are like in other countries besides Korea and the US, but a big difference between public school teachers here and back home is that many teachers, some of them pretty good teachers, burn out before the 5 year mark.

Lastly, having experience teaching ESOL outside of the US also gives me an advantage on paper in applying for jobs back home, because most ESOL teachers have none. The fact I know what it is like to be a language minority in a very different culture is a selling point in interviews.

I might not be able to find an ESOL job in my home state when I go back. But, I'm willing to risk it at the moment. I can always come back to Korea or try another country this time...