Korean Job Discussion Forums

[tausha12]

I moved to Dongucheon last sunday. I spent the first week running around getting the health check and meeting all teachers at my public school. On Friday I was told that I would start teaching tomorrow. The school has no old lesson plans. All I know is that I'm supposed to make lesson plans and teach two pages out of English 1, 2, and 3 for my classes once a week. Most of the book is in Korean except for key phrases and words. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do. I've already contacted the former native teacher and haven't gotten a reply.

I teach middle school so I was thinking I could spend some of the class going over the phrases, having the students repeat them back, and then having the students practice in groups and present to the class. I know I can't do that for every class so any advice is appreciated.

[thunderbird]

ur worrying way to much, just go with the flow n itll all b fine

[schwa]

I doubt your school expects you to jump into the textbook on day one. First class is an important chance to establish some rapport with your kids.

Your girls will be very curious about you. I suggest you put them in pairs or small groups & give them a few minutes to write down questions they'd like to ask you. Mingle & assist while they do so. Once they've come up with a few, invite them to ask. After you answer, turn each question back on some of them. This activity will also give you a pretty good sense of their ability level.

Speak upvolume & keep your diction simple -- they need to adjust to your voice & speaking manner. Smile a lot & try to keep the lesson a bit fast-paced & fun.

I'm an old hand at teaching in girls middle schools. They'll be pre-inclined to like you. If you can establish yourself as kind & not boring, you're well-started.

Best luck.

[Dodge7]

[creeper1]

[YTMND]

Below is a summary of big class lessons I have dealt with:

Introductions, Questions/Answers, Topic based questions and answers (starter), Listening based lesson, word map, timeline (history), survey (facts, opinions, preferences), ratings (movies, books, restaurants, stores, music), speeches (political, sports, educational, entertainment figures)

The first class is difficult because they don't know you and they are scared. It doesn't matter the age. I bring a deck of cards with me to class. Also a set of colored markers.

With the cards, take out all the 1-6 cards (Ace is 1). Shuffle them up, take one card and count across the first row of students (choose from left or from right, do it the other way the next time). Then, take another card and go down (like picking a cell on a grid). That student is the chosen student. Ask them a question based on that day's lesson. If it is your first day, do introductions.

I try to get them to say their name, the class number they are in, and something they like. This could be something they like to do or something specific they like (like their favorite food, color, or season).

Then, they choose another student and ask the questions. At first it's going to be like controlling a rocky boat. However, the next thing to do is to get the students to choose someone who is 3 or more seats away, not just someone close to them. If they bounce around the classroom, this will get everyone paying attention. The minute you focus on only one section of the class, the other sections will stop paying attention. As they give answers remember who said what.

Go to the board and write out what they say, don't make complete sentences, just key words. Then, ask the class, "Who likes to ____?"

You can use names or use "he" or "she" instead. Likewise, you can have a few people introduce others.

The colored markers are for group activities, but you should probably wait a class or two before using them. I like to break the class up into 6 groups. Each group gets a different colored marker. So, you in effect would be focusing on 6 students in class at a time but they would be spaced out (2 on left, 2 in the center, and 2 on the right), back and front of the class. After they practice speaking they hand the marker to someone else in their group. Do this 5 times, and you have most if not all students interacting. After a few classes, they get the idea and don't need markers to do group activities.

I have been lucky to have access to a computer with either a big screen or projector. So, I use video or pictures. I can't tell you how helpful this is to give students visual examples to illustrate what you want them to learn. If you only have the book, then you need to use it to your advantage. Find pages in the book that you can use to explain other stuff. This way students won't be translating from their language to English.

When you get lessons ready, you will find that you run out of time rather fast. So, make sure to find the important parts of your lesson that students are having trouble with and repeat them in class. Always come back to them a little later in class. This is something I never did as a new teacher. I assumed since I said it once everyone would know the answer.

The truth is, they don't know how to discern what is used more frequently and what is more important. Good teachers can help students with this, a book really can't.

[myenglishisno]

[ontheway]