Hands Down You're Gonna Suck.

The semester is almost over. And a new batch of native teachers will be on their way soon. So, I think it's about time to sum up what I've learned during my first half of my yearlong contract.

1) You're gonna suck at teaching. If this is your first time as an ESL teacher, you're gonna suck for the first few weeks or months. But you'll get the hang of it. You're goal: GET YOUR STUDENTS TO SPEAK TWICE AS MUCH AS YOU DO DURING CLASS. 2 to 1 is a good ratio. 3 to 1 is far better.

2) God bless all girls schools. I'm still on my honeymoon! Even though most of the kids still love me I know I am not the world's greatest teacher. One of the biggest goals, if not THE biggest, is to motivate your kids about learning English. I am a high energy teacher with a small face and big eyes (they like those facial characteristics here). That's why they like me. If that's what motivates them to learn, so be it.

3) If you're at an all boys school, you need to realize boys are going to mess around. They are going to talk, hit each other, maybe grope each other. There's gonna be some corporal punishment going on. If you show them clips from youtube or movies they will be easier to handle. Try to amuse them. Get them to play games in English. Or bring a video camera and tell them you are recording them. Both work. :P

4) If you know Korean, don't use it right away with your students. If you can help it, don't ever use it with your students. Why? Because your goal is to create an immersed English environment similar to your experience in Korea. The best way to learn a language is to immerse yourself completely in it. When you come to Korea you will be fully immersed in Korean. You will be forced to pick up words consciously and unconsciously. The constant use of contextual English around your kids will be an immense help to them. If they know you speak Korean, you are making it too easy for them. However, throwing out a 'I know what you are saying' every now and again isn't so bad for crowd control.
4a. Don't overestimate the ability of your students. Keep low expectations then you'll be pleasantly surprised. And they will understand you better.

5) Your job, like any job, will have its ups and downs. We've all had bad jobs. You won't be able to control who you work with or who you teach. Nor who is your vice principal. Try to remember everyone has problems at their school. You have friends to confide in and vent to. But remember they are having or will have problems just like you. Keep your chin up.

Here's the point: You're gonna suck. No reason to worry you'll get better. Just be fun and don't be a douche. Please.


Here's a list of websites to help you find lesson plans fitting to what you need:

USINGENGLISH.COM
ESLGOLD.COM

These are the two sites that I use the most.

For all the native teachers who read my blog, please, post your useful links to the comment box.



Notes:

I have been thinking about useful things to know about Korea for incoming native teachers and my other readers back home. One of the things I have been considering is relaying simple Korean words you should know. Unfortunately, I am greatly deterred by my atrocious pronunciation. Let me repeat that ATROCIOUS. I'll always have Latin...wait....ugh.....