Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ninjamonkey]

expand as you like, lets hear about how to be a good teacher

[Zark]

Establishing with my students that I care about their performance and well being. That I care about them as people - and students.

That I want their lives to be successful. And, that I will do everything I can to make that happen.

You'd be surprised - it works wonders.

[Dan The Chainsawman]

Making fart noises with my armpits.

[dbee]

I look at http://www.englishteachingkorea.com/askgari/gari_form.html
quite a lot. I have found that the root of all problems in a classroom is usually bored kids. So I like my kids to move around alot and do a lot of activities, so if that's your style then it might help you out.

It's a bit clunky and takes a bit of getting used to but then I hear that the guy that wrote it is one cool mutha, so that helps

Apart from that, I think establishing a rapport with your kids is essential. Be enthusiasitic and willing to go that little bit further to make your classes more exciting than the next teacher's are.

[inkoreaforgood]

I guess for me it's having a sense of humour and making the students laugh. That enables me to put them at ease, make them comfortable. Personal connection to the students is important. Once they are comfortable with me, they can start to become comfortable with speaking English, and expressing themselves. When I've reached that point, they generally teach themselves after that, I just stand there and talk.



At least, that's the plan.

[Nowhere Man]

To go with the previous post,

Do you know who "Bee" is?

Boa?

What movie made Jeon Ji-Hyon a star?

What Korean plays for the Texas Rangers?

Always good to know your territory.

Easy to distinguish yourselves from those who don't.

To be honest, the best "one-off" activities remain hidden. They only work if one person does them. Many doing the same kills the novelty.

Didn't use it here, but when I was teaching TOEFL in Thailand, getting students to ask questions was key. Problem was no one wanted to stand out by asking the first question. If only one person did, then others would typically follow suit.

On the first day with our first problem set, I'd ask for questions/repeats. If no one answered, I'd stare at "someone" on the back wall and say, "OK, number 5." No one was actually asking for number 5, but it would encourage those among "the herd" to follow suit and ask questions. It was a way out of a dead end.

That's my tip.

My philosophy? "Students don't learn the subject. They learn the teacher." -John Dewey

As another anecdote, I had a private student who wanted to learn conditionals. This is one of those things that natives can command but not ever learn the rules for. I was like, "There are 3 conditionals. One if you're sure. One if you're pretty sure. One if you're not so sure."

It became clear quite soon that I didn't know my ass from a conditional.

Since then, I've ceased to try to explain things that I can't. Just admit that you don't know, then learn. Do both and you will far outpace your hagwon competitors. Do the work and you just might find a job above "Hagwondom".

Hagwons are not an end. They are a weed process.

[JacktheCat]

Letting my students know I care about them and their feelings, but at the same time letting them know I am their teacher, not their friend.

It's a fine balancing act at the best of times.

[ajuma]

I agree with Zark and inkoreaforgood (although I spell humor WITHOUT the "u"! )

My students know that I care and that I WANT to help them. I DON'T want them to fail and will do everything I can to help them pass.

Knowing enough Korean to tease them a little helps a LOT....and doing virtually ALL group work (including oral exams) increases everyone's knowledge of English.

Koreans are a "group" society. What's good for the group is good for all. I use this philosphy in class and ALWAYS have them work in pairs(rotating pairs so the better students can teach the weaker ones).

Every semester, I explain the X+Y principle: You know X. Your partner knows "Y". If you work together, you BOTH know X AND Y! Teach each OTHER! There is no "conning" in my conversation classes. I WANT them to help each other! Surgeons have a saying: "Watch one, do one, teach one." Works for teaching English, too! The student doing the "teaching" is also learning!

[khyber]

1)
points for games SUCK.
Get a coin for each team. Make a "track" around the tables (or a table or whatever) by placing, for example, books down the middle to make an oval.
Anyways, instead of giving a team points, have the winning student of each head to head pair, flick the coin around the track.
NEVER have i seen kids go so bananas over such a small little hting. They even end up forgetting about wanting a prize (so long as you make a big deal about them winning...but not too big :wink: )

2)
i found out that if there is something that students do that REALLY bothers you (i had a couple students ddong chimi me...), DON'T chase them around and pretend to be a monster saying "i'm gonna get you".
It sound stupid, but i didn't realize that right away.
The very next kid who did it got a stern "HEY! DOn't do that again" with a pointed finger and a serious face.
Not a finger in the bum still

3) humour is important but MORE than humour (since language CAN be a bit of a problem) is creating the right atmosphere. DON'T be too overbearing on the kids BUT be attentive to their misbehaviours.
To make things not such a drudgery, do things like being goofy, making strange faces, exagerating your inflections, stuff like that, kids like it. All of my classes have now abandoned, "teachu, pinishi". It started to drive me crazy. Now I make sure a students says "teacher ding dong". And only says it once.
In all honesty, you'll find that once you strike the right balance of light but intent on learning, your work days improve DRAMATICALLY.


4) if you ACTUALLY see a student doing something bad, you must say something to them. Sounds silly, but the whole, "I'm just gonna ignore them this time" never helps you in the end. You don't have to make a big thing of it, and sometimes, even a glance, or standing beside them and putting your hand on their shoulder or desk, can be enough.

best for the last: my best management tool:
5) ok...i've got a wicked combination of behavioural things that i've been working on and adapting.
It all starts with "korean talking" or "good student" cards (or...two cards per student for individual OR 1.5-2 for the group method).
Every, and i mean EVERY time a student speaks korean, you must take a card away.
That's the basic method. Now, for each class, you can adapt it slightly.
GROUP:
Some classes work better as a group to accomplish things. For those classes, you lay out about 1.5 cards per each student in the class. Tell them they have x days (a week maybe?). And briefly explain the method.
I can't say this with enough emphasis, EVERY TIME a kid speaks korean, you take a card from the groups pile (making SURE that the number of cards is prominently placed where all the students can see them).

Individual:
if student's are a little more shy and prefer to do things by themselves, give each student two cards. ANYTIME they speak korean (as before) you take a card away from them. With this particular method, you'd have to keep a running total of the number of cards students manage to save over the week. If every student manages to keep, say 6 cards in total, a game, or some sort of prize (make it as long as a month and convince the kids to try for a pizza party...) should be given


A couple of general things, makes SURE that when you take a card (even MORESO when you use the group system) you make the student very aware of what they did. BUT, don't be serious about it...be, like comically regretful "ooooooo duuuuude!!!! Noooo....don't speak korean Ju Won! You know to speak english". It WILL get to a point that the other students end up saying something (if only "aeeish")


I don't mean to toot my own horn here, but i have had 6 of my 9 classes have DRAMATIC changes in the overall behaviour of the class since i've implemented these methods.

There are some classes it just won't work for. Classes that have NO interest in a game or a snack or whatever simply won't do it. But most elementary students can get suckered into it for at LEAST a snack (and 500W to keep a kid quiet for a week is a price i am willing to pay! :) )

Sorry this is so long.
And also sorry about the use of commas.... I have a thing...

sorry, i just thought of one more thing to be careful of. There is a woman at my school who does these things. And together, they're ruining her classes:
1) speak in language that is far too difficult for them
and
2) expect them be incredibly well behaved.
Simply put, when the students don't understand you they can easily be distracted by something else that they do understand...like, anything at all.
Expecting them to be perfectly behaved if they don't understand you is going to KILL any possibility of creating a relationship with them cause they will seriously start to ..what's the word...? HATE you.
that's not quite right but....i can't think of the word...

[ajuma]

khyber said: