Korean Job Discussion Forums

[endofthewor1d]

hi all.
after three years of working in hakwons, i've finally made the leap to college level english teaching here in korea. tomorrow is my first day of class, and i'm feeling a little panicky.
while i wrap up writing my first syllabus, i'll check on here periodically to see if any of you can offer me any advice, encouragement, or abuse.

posts are especially welcome from those of you who are working at colleges or universities despite not having anything higher than a BA and some hakwon experience under your belt, which is the case for me.
thanks!

[the eye]

hah! i was nervous my first day, too. what a waste of energy.
in my opinion it takes a special breed to teach uni in this country, unless you are amongst the top tier schools.
the students i had were less motivated and more brain dead than the hogwan bunch. i learned to stop expecting anything from them after my first month.

'teacher why i exam F?"
well, because you didn't write it. where were you?
"i'm sleep."

well, at least he was honest.

good luck, endoftheworld...glad you made it out of that PCroom in fukuoka.

[the_beaver]

I love the first couple of weeks and I especially love those weeks with freshmen because they're all scairt and have no idea what's going to happen and they look like a bunch of lost puppy dogs huddling in fear. . .

Encouragement? Well, As far as I'm concerned university can be the perfect place for teaching. Be strict as *beep* at the beginning (in my class 1 minute late is marked late) and lighten up as the semester goes. Use half of your best lessons at the beginning of the semester and half at the end. If it start well they'll be on your side early and if it finishes well they'll remember the class fondly.

[ohfamous]