Korean Job Discussion Forums

[sheba]

I have accepted a job at a middle school camp teaching extra classes. (My boss knows about it).

Heres what I know.....

30,000 won a lesson
5 lessons a day
4 Days total (Saturdays)
45 min lessons with 10 min breaks
7-8 students per class
Only 2 classes - Each class will have 5 lessons a day over 2 days.
Casual lessons, just have fun
English level of students is low
Korean teacher is in the class
No books (lesson content completely up to me)

Question - how do you have fun for 4 hours with middle schoolers who dont know much english? And what do you think about the pay etc? Any links or ideas on what to do? Any advice?

Id quite like to take the job, but Im worried about what the hell to do all day with the same students thats supposed to be fun? Im not a big hit with the middle schoolers at my hagwon... they dont hate me but they certainly dont have fun!

Cheers

[otopo]

I teach middle school and high school and comparatively the middle schoolers are a breeze. At a camp situation with such a small group there is tons of fun stuff to do. My middle school kids are pretty low level, but capitalize on their immaturity to do really cheesy stuff with them.

I use Side by Side, so it is easy enough for them to feel really confident (as most of them probably know at least a lot of words, just not how to string them together in a low level situation). So start with some basic language forms then move into games and role-playing that practice the forms. Forty-five minutes will be gone in no time if you start with your language forms then move into some sort of game or activity to practice it.

For instance, try doing a few series of role-plays--you could do practical stuff like "at a dinner party" and give them all cards for the character they are supposed to act like. Or set up the room as a dinner table and they have to pretend to be a family and talk to each other as such. Bring props and create some sort of atmosphere that feels like camp and is fun.

If they are more low level than that working on basic vocabulary or listening is fun�for instance a drawing listening exercise. Have them draw something you describe using relevant vocabulary. I would imagine its probably the similar to your Hagwon kids�only it sounds like you will have way more freedom, so use it!

Of course...this assumes a lot of creativity on their part! Give them a break (they are Korean) and make sure to bring a few back ups or extra stuff for your activities to fill in the blanks so they don't stare at you for answers the whole time.

[venus]

Also do lots of quizzes on stuff they've learned, plenty of games (do a net search) and they seem to love artistic stuff. On one of my camps we did 'My 2020 Summer Vacation.' They could imagine how their lives would be in the yr 2020 and design a poster. And it teaches the future tense.

A sheet of a3 paper divided into six boxes for pics (like a comic book) with smaller text boxes beneath.

On the board write

I will go to __________
I will go with my _____________ (eg - familly /husband/friend/b'friend etc)
We will travel by________________(eg airplane, rocket/boat/train etc)
We will stay in a _________________

The two sentences saying what activites they will do

We will go to the __________ (eg - museum, beach, mountains etc)
We will (ski, swim, play games, watcha movie etc)

So they write the sentences and draw pictures in each box. then they present them to the rest of the class whilst saying the sentences and showing the pics.

Can be done in past tnese (Last years summer vacation)

Good fun and takes up a good 40 mins for the artwork and same again for the presentation.....

The six boxes on an A3 page thing is fab. Can be use for so many ideas - stories, anything using tenses, drawing the rooms in your home, family members etc....

[crazylemongirl]

Here's a couple of ideas.

1. Superlatives and comparatives.
Introduce computer parts, and adjectives. Give the kids a worksheet where they compare the differences between various computers price, processer speed, monitor size etc.. Then get them to make an advertisement. Give them a spec sheet with the computers processes in comparision to the competition.

2. Wonderful world.
Words that go together. Get them to look outside and write all the things they see. Then get them to add some adjectives: eg. blue sky, green trees, big school. Listen to the song and fill in blank words. Match some pictures to the lyrics. Ask them what they love about their world.

3. Movie English.
I use the Princess Bride or some obsecure 80s movie they haven't seen. Make a worksheet to watch with the movie with. Stop it at points to talk about what's happened, what they think will happen. Make quiz to give at the end of the movie. Get them to make a DVD cover about the movie (give them some starters).

4. Cooking.
Learn the cooking terms and then make some instant pudding. Jazz it up by making it a pie or adding in some crushed oreos + worms for a mud pie. While the pie is setting, they can either make a recipe card or complete a worksheet about cooking terms.

5. Scavenger hunt.
If you are going to be at school, hide some stuff for them to find. They really love this game.

[sheba]

Cool thanks for your replies and the ideas.

Anyone else have any ideas or links? I need all the help I can get!

[ajuma]

OP: Just a warning: Even though your hagwon director "knows" about it, be SURE that it's on your ARC card!! Takes but a few minutes at immi, (minus the waiting in line of course!! ) but well worth it!! You PROBABLY won't get busted if you don't, but do you REALLY want to take the chance?

As for things to do, find out what pop songs they like. There's a really great website http://www.musicalenglishlessons.org/music-index.htm that has lots of activites related to listening and grammar.

[SPINOZA]

Kill much time productively with BINGO!

Actually, Bingo be great, because kids could play all day and there be a huge choice of bingos available:

+ big numbers bingo

+ verbs bingo (you say Korean verbs and they find the English)

+ past tense bingo (you say the infinitive and they find the past tense)

+ adjectives bingo (you say the Korean and they find the English equivalents)

+ synonyms bingo (you say 'start' and they find 'begin' etc)

+ opposites bingo (you say 'delicious' and they find 'disgusting' etc)

+ past simple bingo (write "Did you __________ at weekend?" at the top and fill the bingo squares with actions like "go to Itaewon", "eat a hamburger" and the kids ask the questions requiring a yes or no answer from the teacher - they write X for no and 0 for yes and achieve bingo lines accordingly)

+ present-perfect bingo (same as past simple bingo with "have you?/have you ever ____________ ?")

+ wanna/gonna bingo (write "do you want to ______________ ?" and "are you going to ____________?" at the top with actions like "get married and have kids", "go to England at Xmas". Kids must ask the appropriate questions - thus "are you going to get married?" is probably unknown to you - so get them to use the appropriate question).

Bingo is almost inexhaustible!

Also, use good old-fashioned translation techniques. This is why being a Korean learner is advantageous, because much of my own material comes from my own study. Write a stupid story in Korean about marrying Angelina Joley, destroying the Earth and moving to Mars and making small talk with a Martian about the weather on Mars and where one can try local cuisine. Get them to put it all into English. It's fun! Give them a list of Korean verbs and have a Verb Race. Goes down well.

And of course, use candy for prizes. In bingo, have one line = 1 candy, 2 lines = 2 candy and so on. Or use seasonal fruit if you don't mind spending a few bucks and wanna keep it healthy.

[sheba]

Met with the teacher and she basically told me to do what ever I want with the kids. Same as in my classes at my hagwon if I want, or games or whatever! Im going to incorporate some vocab and grammar with games I think.

Thanks for your help. Again if anyone has anything else theyd like to add, Id still appreciate all the help I can get!

[ddeubel]