No, this is not a post about marital problems. Ha!
For the most part, I love living in Korea! It truly is an easy life. Yes, there is the language barrier that can be frustrating at times, but it's not always an issue. I don't have much work to do even while I'm at work. My housing is paid for. I get to save a lot of money. I get to travel to other countries (soon!). However, there is one specific thing about Korean life that I cannot stand. It's the education system. When I was working in middle school, my eyes weren't open to the way the system works. I never saw my co-teachers in action. I taught the whole class by myself. I tried my best at all times to teach them as much English as possible. It's way different in elementary school - at least in my school.
Here's how a typical class runs (3rd-6th grade):
1. I greet the class and ask them how they are, what is the date, and how is the weather.
2. My co-teacher "teaches" for 20-25 minutes.
3. I "teach" for 15 minutes.
The way my co-teacher teaches is he has everyone get out their dialogue sheets. These sheets have English, Korean cheats for the English words (phonetics of the word written in Korean), and the Korean meaning. He says a word or phrase and the students repeat after him. Why is that not my job? The kids are repeating bad English when they repeat after him. He then has them self-study the words and phrases. Then, he says the Korean word/phrase and they say the English equivalent. If they get it wrong, he bops them over the head with a toy hammer that makes a squeak sound. That's all he does for 20-25 minutes.
Then it's my turn. My job is to play the CD that goes along with the book. We spend about five classes on one lesson. If I am able to finish the book before those five classes, I am able to create my own material and games to do in the class. I think this is fairly typical in most classes with a bit of variation depending on the teacher.
Corporal punishment is technically not allowed in the classrooms anymore, but my co-teacher definitely still uses it. He hits kids on the head with a small stick, hits them with the toy hammer, etc. He also has them stand in the back of class with their arms straight out in front of them. The kids that get this type of punishment are usually the ones who don't do their homework. However, not all kids have homework. If a student answers a question in class, they are exempt from homework. The kids that don't answer questions are usually the ones who are struggling in the class or have learning disabilities, etc. So, the kids who struggle are required to do homework that they don't understand. When they don't do it, they have to stand in the back of class and suffer while class continues. While they are in the back of class, they don't have their books in front of them, they can't answer or ask questions, etc. It's such a vicious circle!
I've even been told to ignore students. The students that I'm supposed to ignore are the ones with learning disabilities or the students who act out or don't try. I definitely do some ignoring - ignoring my co-teacher, that is. Instead of ignoring students, I think we need to give them attention. I agree that I shouldn't focus all of my time and energy on one or two students, but I am definitely not going to ignore them! I had an "I told you so moment" with my co-teacher this week. One of the students he told me to ignore, I definitely didn't. I helped him find the right page to be on and even gave him a pencil when he couldn't find his. The next time I had him in class, he volunteered to answer two questions and when I pointed at him to answer, he got them correct! I am just finishing my 6th week here and not once has he raised his hand to answer before. I just wanted to stick out my tongue to my co-teacher and say I TOLD YOU SO!
I know that not all schools and/or co-teachers are the same as mine, but there are some basic similarities. I know there's not much I can do about it except be the best teacher I can be for 15 minutes every class. I just feel sorry for the students who are lagging behind because they are probably not going to have a chance to ever catch up. It just makes me sad how we are failing these students.
Other than these issues at school, all is well!
Showing posts with label co-teacher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label co-teacher. Show all posts
Friday, October 4, 2013
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Elementary School Is SO Different From Middle School
It's been a while since my last post. Sorry about that! Well, I have officially moved from middle school to elementary school. I was terrified about the move. In hagwon I taught elementary kids, but that was almost 3 years ago and it's completely different than public school. I had heard some horror stories from friends who taught elementary school and was pretty nervous about going. But, I am starting my 3rd week and can honestly say that I love it! Below, I will give you an idea of what my week is like. Please remember that this is MY experience in elementary school. Each school is different; therefore, each elementary school experience is different.
3rd & 4th Grade
I have two 3rd grade classes and two 4th grade classes and I only see them once each week for 40 minutes. At the beginning of each class, I greet the kids and ask them about what day it is and how the weather is. My co-teacher and I check any homework they may have. I then stand in the back of the classroom for 20-30 minutes while they practice key words and dialogue from the chapter with my co-teacher. I am supposed to correct any speaking mistakes and make sure they are on the correct page in the book. I get the last 10-15 minutes to do activities from the book or activities that I come up with. My 3rd graders are still pretty excited about learning English and usually participate really well. Getting my 4th graders to participate, or god forbid raise their hands, is like pulling teeth! But, I think they are warming up to me.
5th & 6th Grade
I have two 5th grade classes and three 6th grade classes. I see them twice each week for 40 minutes each. [At the beginning of each class, I greet the kids and ask them about what day it is and how the weather is. My co-teacher and I check any homework they may have. I then stand in the back of the classroom for 20-30 minutes while they practice key words and dialogue from the chapter with my co-teacher. I am supposed to correct any speaking mistakes and make sure they are on the correct page in the book. I get the last 10-15 minutes to do activities from the book or activities that I come up with.] Sound familiar?? Haha! My 5th graders aren't too bad about participating. My co-teacher gives me candy to bribe them to answer. It works pretty well. One of my 6th grade classes is full of trouble makers and students who don't want to study. The other two 6th grade classes are really great about participating which is a little unusual from what I hear from my friends.
5th Grade & 6th Grade After School Classes
On Mondays, I have two 5th grade after school classes and on Tuesday I have two 6th grade after school classes. They are called after school classes but they run from about 2:30 pm-4:00 pm. During the first period, we learn a new idiom and draw a picture of it and write the definition in our idiom books. Then, we spend about 10-15 minutes in the BEPA book. The best thing I can relate it to is an I-STEP prep. Whatever time is left over in that period and the next, we do a lesson. These lessons are supplementary to their classroom lessons but I have a lot more flexibility and can go beyond the book.
2nd Grade
I have one 2nd grade class once per week for 40 minutes. This class is totally up to me. It was suggested that I go over some key vocabulary, read a story and ask questions about the story, do worksheet or coloring sheets, and then review the ABCs. My idea has been to have the theme be around the book that I'm reading that day. I've had one class and that seemed to go over really well!
Kindergarten
I have two kindergarten classes. I see each of them once per week for 30 minutes. I have one class of 5 and 6 year-olds and one class of 7 year-olds. I was absolutely terrified to teach these classes. I had no idea what I was going to do with them. However, I was told to just play with them. I was also told that the kids in my school were mostly lower-level students. So, in kindergarten, some of them can't even understand when the teachers speak to them in Korean. This past week, I taught them for the first time. I taught them 'stop' and 'go'. Then, we went outside and played Red Light, Green Light. They absolutely wore me out! But, I am no longer scared of the class. They are a ton of fun and playing with them will be easy!
Adult Classes
I have one adult class at 3:00 pm every Friday and it lasts for 40 minutes. The adults who attend are teachers and staff from my school. As with the kindergarten classes, I was terrified to teach this class. This past Friday was the first class and it wasn't too bad. Forty minutes actually goes by fairly fast. I had eight students show up last Friday (this number will constantly fluctuate according to how busy they are). The four women want to discuss practical English and the four men want to discuss news and things that are happening around the world. I hope I can find a nice balance.
In total, I have 22 teaching hours per week. Each 40 minute or 30 minute class counts as 1 hour. The rest of the 18 "hours" is mine to plan for the classes. I only have one co-teacher in elementary school compared to the five I had in middle school.
Once I feel a little more comfortable in school, I will have to take some pictures. These kids are so cute!
3rd & 4th Grade
I have two 3rd grade classes and two 4th grade classes and I only see them once each week for 40 minutes. At the beginning of each class, I greet the kids and ask them about what day it is and how the weather is. My co-teacher and I check any homework they may have. I then stand in the back of the classroom for 20-30 minutes while they practice key words and dialogue from the chapter with my co-teacher. I am supposed to correct any speaking mistakes and make sure they are on the correct page in the book. I get the last 10-15 minutes to do activities from the book or activities that I come up with. My 3rd graders are still pretty excited about learning English and usually participate really well. Getting my 4th graders to participate, or god forbid raise their hands, is like pulling teeth! But, I think they are warming up to me.
5th & 6th Grade
I have two 5th grade classes and three 6th grade classes. I see them twice each week for 40 minutes each. [At the beginning of each class, I greet the kids and ask them about what day it is and how the weather is. My co-teacher and I check any homework they may have. I then stand in the back of the classroom for 20-30 minutes while they practice key words and dialogue from the chapter with my co-teacher. I am supposed to correct any speaking mistakes and make sure they are on the correct page in the book. I get the last 10-15 minutes to do activities from the book or activities that I come up with.] Sound familiar?? Haha! My 5th graders aren't too bad about participating. My co-teacher gives me candy to bribe them to answer. It works pretty well. One of my 6th grade classes is full of trouble makers and students who don't want to study. The other two 6th grade classes are really great about participating which is a little unusual from what I hear from my friends.
5th Grade & 6th Grade After School Classes
On Mondays, I have two 5th grade after school classes and on Tuesday I have two 6th grade after school classes. They are called after school classes but they run from about 2:30 pm-4:00 pm. During the first period, we learn a new idiom and draw a picture of it and write the definition in our idiom books. Then, we spend about 10-15 minutes in the BEPA book. The best thing I can relate it to is an I-STEP prep. Whatever time is left over in that period and the next, we do a lesson. These lessons are supplementary to their classroom lessons but I have a lot more flexibility and can go beyond the book.
2nd Grade
I have one 2nd grade class once per week for 40 minutes. This class is totally up to me. It was suggested that I go over some key vocabulary, read a story and ask questions about the story, do worksheet or coloring sheets, and then review the ABCs. My idea has been to have the theme be around the book that I'm reading that day. I've had one class and that seemed to go over really well!
Kindergarten
I have two kindergarten classes. I see each of them once per week for 30 minutes. I have one class of 5 and 6 year-olds and one class of 7 year-olds. I was absolutely terrified to teach these classes. I had no idea what I was going to do with them. However, I was told to just play with them. I was also told that the kids in my school were mostly lower-level students. So, in kindergarten, some of them can't even understand when the teachers speak to them in Korean. This past week, I taught them for the first time. I taught them 'stop' and 'go'. Then, we went outside and played Red Light, Green Light. They absolutely wore me out! But, I am no longer scared of the class. They are a ton of fun and playing with them will be easy!
Adult Classes
I have one adult class at 3:00 pm every Friday and it lasts for 40 minutes. The adults who attend are teachers and staff from my school. As with the kindergarten classes, I was terrified to teach this class. This past Friday was the first class and it wasn't too bad. Forty minutes actually goes by fairly fast. I had eight students show up last Friday (this number will constantly fluctuate according to how busy they are). The four women want to discuss practical English and the four men want to discuss news and things that are happening around the world. I hope I can find a nice balance.
In total, I have 22 teaching hours per week. Each 40 minute or 30 minute class counts as 1 hour. The rest of the 18 "hours" is mine to plan for the classes. I only have one co-teacher in elementary school compared to the five I had in middle school.
Once I feel a little more comfortable in school, I will have to take some pictures. These kids are so cute!
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