Korean Job Discussion Forums

jonno · Joined: 30 Nov 2005 Location: Ansan

Hey all,

I am a first time poster but a longtime browser. I may sound like an asskisser but i want to thank many of you for your help over the six months i have been here. Many of your ideas have proved invaluable!

So my story is this. I am a native speaker at a high school in Gyeonggi-do. I absolutely love my job, all the kids, my coworkers, everything. I am also learing Korean as best i can and taking TaeKwondo. In short i have adapted well to life here in Korea.

About the only thing that frustrates me is when my lesson plan bombs. Usually my lessons are well recieved, but today it tanked. Last semester i had the priveledge of working with an amazing co teacher who spoke fluent English. This year i am working with many coteachers whose English ranges from almost none to pretty damn good. Most are in the middle. So i am always running into problems explaining my activities.

So i have some questions. Anybody who is working in the high school system, how do you deal when a lesson plan bombs? Where do you go for things that are fresh and funky (and easy for the kids)? I love to keep the kids interested but i also want them to learn. And also....has anyone noticed a GAPING CHASM between the stuff that the Korean teachers are teaching them (one time i saw a whole story about global warming..it was not an ESL activity) and their ability in your classroom? How do you deal with it? This has been puzzling me since i got here. I have been able to deal with this so far but i am scared of running out of ideas.

anyways this is novelish and there are gamers breathing down my neck so thanks a million!

Angelus · Joined: 10 Feb 2006

Everybody bombs a lesson plan once in awhile. Don't worry about. Move on. You'll get better and be more consistent at it with more time and patience.

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004

Hangman and bingo?

Having a folder of song lyric sheets and a link to a download that works is another potential life-raft in your teaching arsenal.

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

Yu Bum Suk is on the right track. You need to keep a folder of activities that require little to no preparation, so you can pull them out to fill time when a lesson bombs, or you have 10 minutes to fill at the end of a lesson. Things like spelling or math games. Vocab review games.

ilovebdt · Joined: 03 Jun 2005 Location: Nr Seoul

BigBlackEquus · Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2006 6:44 pm Post subject:

crazylemongirl · Joined: 23 Mar 2003 Location: almost there...

Make sure that you go back to the way you are planning lessons. In my lesson plans I keep an evulation of all my lessons and how they went. Also keep a track of your classes from week to week. If you see your classes have been getting out of control some weeks more than others go and take a look at what you are doing.

Also are you teaching from the textbook or not? If you aren't chances are your students don't view your classes as being relvant so they just switch off.

Do you get any 'real assesment' from your class. I adminster the speaking tests and write 6/30 of the test questions. That means if you act up in my classes there will be consquences. however with this comes the responsbilty to make sure your learning outcomes are very specific. I think a lot of teachers overload their students with learning goals and don't leave enough time for practice and informal assessmet in class.

deessell · Joined: 08 Jun 2005

CLG is right. You need to analyse the lesson plan and think about the lesson. What went wrong? What was the problem? Sometimes the idea is good but the execution is wrong. That's what lesson planning is about. Low level students need more planning. Also, without a competent KT with you the problems increase.

Don't beat yourself up about it though, use it as an opportunity to improve your teaching skills.

Hater Depot · Joined: 29 Mar 2005

Sometimes lesson plan just go boom. It might be a crappy lesson plan or it might just be no good for that particular class. One of the things I liked about teaching in a middle school was using the same plan 3 or 4 times a day and honing it as I went. But always, without fail, once or twice a month some class would just totally fail to respond to a lesson that every other class loved.

jonno · Joined: 30 Nov 2005 Location: Ansan

Wow. Thanks for all your responses guys and gals. Today the lesson plan worked after some tinkering. I guess roll with the punches is the name of the game.