Korean Job Discussion Forums

[BackRow]

I was under the impression that pretty much every hagwon provided not only the curriculum, but also the lesson plans and were typically very specific as to what their expectations were in terms of progress homework, etc.

I just started at one, and why the books are provided, that's it. More than a bit daunting for a beginner, and I was wondering how others in similar situations past or present dealt with it.

[Rutherford]

[Zackback]

This is Standard Operating Procedure.

No problem.

Just follow the book.

[ttompatz]

S.N.A.F.U.

Situation Normal - All F. Up.

.

[BackRow]

[BackRow]

[Zackback]

Ask the administration for new books seeing that the ones that were once used have been completed.

[mandrews1985]

Welcome to the place all newbies with no prior teaching experience find themselves once arriving.

Most teachers I've spoke to experienced the same, like myself. Lesson planning is your job, and atleast with my hagwan the manager actively wants us to show our personality and ability so standardised doesnt cut it.

Each book should have around 10 chapters. There is usually 10-12 weeks in a semester. Go through 1 chapter a week. For lesson plans, always incorporate supplemental work/handouts/acitivites.

This 25 a week teaching lark is more like 50 hours + with office time and prep time. I teach a lot of advanced students who need to do 2 essays a week for homework that must be reviewed nd graded. I spend atleast 1 full Sunday a month marking essays at a cofee shop, for literally 16 hours.

Even though I'm nearing the end of my contract I still find myself with a pile of textbooks next to my bed, especially TOEFL and NEAT based to improve my knowledge of criteria, and to improve the students classroom experience.

Korea for the most part is not a year long spring break. Put the time in now to be prepared and be proactive about it, if the books are completed get the next set of text books. If there isnt, it's improv time. Handouts and activities based on the books they have already done.

PS Don't worry about being sacked, all the problems you have listed are very common with most hagwans.

[Juregen]

[alwaysgood]

I was in a similar situation my first year. 30 class hrs. a week + about 5 hrs. "phone teaching". There was almost no time for lesson planning, just enough to print out a couple of word searches or something. Fortunately, not much was expected of me.

So I spent a year just making it up as I went along. Eventually I got pretty good at that, but it sucks compared to having material. I changed to a better school at the end of the contract. There was still no set curriculum at the new school, but there were more teaching materials and no phone teaching, so I had 10 hrs. a week for planning/progress reports/grading.

Just do your best, learn to plan lessons, and you'll figure it out eventually.

[Vix]

[shifty]

OP, To solve the issue of the books going fast you're gonna have to come up with more activities.

For example, do spelling tests based on the books. Do oral tests where they must repeat the contents verbatim. Do this in small groups at first and maybe award a prize.

Twice a week do diary. Introduce diary by writing all the conjunctions on the side of the board in a block. Teach them until they're blue in the face past tense words eg, go-went.

Then have the best student describe his/her day. "I woke up and had breakfast. Then I played a computer game. Then I had lunch and after lunch I played a computer game." When the student is stuck, point at the relevant conjunction. After each minute, have the whole class read out loud what's done so far.

Get them to do a diary once a week and mark yourself, it only takes a moment.

Have the odd day when they listen to music. They like 'My Love' eg. Download and burn a cd and bring to class.

[Ya-ta Boy]

Koreans generally have a very peculiar idea about teaching--'anyone' can do it. That isn't true, but it is a very common attitude here. As a result, you have to come up with lesson plans that 'prove them right'.

Think about...
a) spelling vocabulary activities
b) pronunciation activities
c) reading activities
d) writing activities
e) listening activities
f) speaking activities using the current grammar and vocabulary

All is not hopeless. The internet is your friend. Just type in 'ESL...grammar point in the lesson' and you will get loads of activities that you can arrange into useful lessons appropriate for the level you are teaching.

Keep in mind that the money they are paying you per hour is not really money per hour--teachers traditionally spend several more hours in planning a lesson than they do in actually teaching the lesson. Even if the students have 'done' a book, there are loads of activities they have not done that give them the opportunity to further master that particular grammar point.

It can be daunting, but that is what they are paying you for.

[whatisinmyhead]

just go to waygook.org

[some waygug-in]

come up with activities that you can use for multiple classes, things you can tweak depending on the levels.


When I was in that situation I went to the local EFL bookstore and bought a pile of my own books to use as suppliments.

I wasn't that great at producing stuff from scratch, although I got better after a while.

I used workbooks from various series and made photocopies for the classes.

It wasn't the best approach as it was a bit un-focused (which is not good),


but it was better than nothing and it did give me ideas for designing my own stuff later on.


I used the workbooks from these series:

American English Today

English Time

Let's Go

Finding Out

Parade

and some others that I can't remember right now.

I also got a lot of puzzle books and things and games that helped keep the students' from being bored to tears.


Anyway, hope this helps.