Classroom Tip #7 Encourage a Winning Classroom

Goal: Think of creative ways for your students to contribute or practice during class.

Solutions for a large class:

Larger classes pose one problem: you can't pay as much individual attention to your students. However, the good thing about these types of classes is that your semesters are usually longer, which means you can track their growth and troubleshoot them better.

EPIK Teacher Resource Links

This is a list that a fellow 2010 EPIKer put together from our 2010 Teachers Handbook & Orientation.  It's super helpful and he was kind enough to laborously put it together for us. I wish I got his name so that I could credit him but seeing as I don't, let's just all wish him good things!

2010 EPIK Teachers Handbook & Orientation

Section 1- Korean Culture, Life and Society.

•Chapter 2: A Brief Introduction to the Korean History and Culture.

http://www.HyunwooSun.com
Remember Hyunwoo Sun? He boasted his twitter account and youtube fame… This is his personal website. You can follow him, as well as find a few language resources, here…

http://www.TalkToMeInKorean.com
Yup, this is the site for those who want to learn Korean.

http://www.Lang-8.com
A website for those interested in learning a new language.

This is a video of my first day at my Korean Elementary School in Daegu.

This is a video of my first day at my Korean Elementary School in Daegu.

It's a lot of first impressions, look at the classroom and the initial welcome program that they have with teachers.

Video: English Musical Camp in Korea

So as I promised, here's the video of our performance. Apologies for the bad quality of this video.  I had a friend take it for me cause I had to be in front for my students.  Also, there's a photographer who's always in the way. Wish I could've gotten a better recording.

Directing your students from the front line

In Korea, when students perform, it's common for teachers to sit up front by the stage and motion to their kids the dance, etc... Some teachers even hold up cue boards for the songs or dialogue.  Me, I trust the students to remember. But I enjoy motioning the dance moves to them.  I think it gives them support and extra confidence to know they have a safety net.

I am sitting up front by the stage.

Why study abroad in India?: at a Yoga Ashram (pt. I)

 

Many of you might be wondering what's happening to me and why I've not updated my posts in the last few months. Before looking for another teaching contract, I decided to take the next half of the year off for travel (you can follow my travels here) and to continue my personal studies.

Just because I've momentarily taken a hiatus from teaching English doesn't mean the teaching and learning has to end. Traveling through Asia and SEA is a learner's goldmine! There are many schools

Differences between Personal Information & Forms in U.S. vs Korea

Somewhere in mid September I posted some lesson plans on Introductions. This lesson is for Personal Profiles/Information but it's also relative to Introductions.

Personal Profile:

Name:   ____________________________________

Nickname: ___________________________________

Address: ____________________________________

______________________________________________

Country:  ___________________________________

Email Address: _______________________________

Phone Number: _______________________________

Birthdate:   __________________________________

I never realized the importance of learning how to fill out forms or mailing addresses until I got to Korea and had to fill out applications for various things-- opening a bank, point cards and discount

Why should you get a Gmail Account?

Earlier, I wrote about how Google Docs makes it easy for travelers and ESL teachers with workplace PC problems to be productive, despite the environment.

If you don't have a gmail account by now, I'd recommend signing up for a free account .  This

Classroom Tip #5: Using Supplementary materials & games

   

Got a Textbook? 

Well don't be fooled, you'll still probably need supplementary materials & games to beef up your classroom learning if you want your students to get better. While I like the textbook I've chosen to teach from, it doesn't have nearly as much vocabulary as I think my students should be learning; thus, I often need to extend the lesson with additional materials.

- extra worksheets or vocabulary words
- bringing in some videos/media
- a short Powerpoint presentation (*visuals are never a bad idea, if they have purpose & meaning)

2 Fun Games for Teaching Adults

Yay! My teaching whiteboard is looking neater and neater.

In honor of it being my last class, I'm posting two more activities I've used with my adult students!

Korean Teacher Farewell Party at my School

If the YouTube video (above) does not show, click on the link to see the full page.

The Korean public school system regulates that it's teachers and principals change schools every five years. This year, six of our teachers were leaving (as well as my principal, whom I really love). This past Wednesday, my school had a going away dinner for the teachers in our school.

We had a dinner at a banquet hall and a buffet with tons of foods I could eat. Then it came time for the

Happy Valentine's Day! ~ Love, Korea

They say it seldom snows in Daegu, but it's been snowing all day.

Only a few cars were out on the road this morning, driving real slow. Many teachers reverted to the subway to get to work, parents accompanied their children to school on foot and it's surmounted in a bit

The oddity of a 1.5 week of school

Sometimes, the Korean school system doesn't make sense. Not at all. Got back from winter vacation last Sunday to start school on Monday...

All 1.5 weeks of it. 

My poor students.

From MTV Producer to English Teacher in Korea

These days I find, readers have been curious about the life of an English teacher — What’s my story? Why did I take a gap year break from my life?... Well, my story can be shot from many angles- this is one aspect of it…
 

My Story:


Reality teens to real life tots
I teach in the public school elementary school system through the EPIK program. When I left my career as a TV producer/shooter in New York City to embark on a gap year(s), I was beginning to feel a little burnt out from producing MTV teen reality shows.  I didn’t have a 9-5 cubicle job, but being a freelancer in NYC is a 24/7 gig. Sustaining a career in a competitive city, I was shackled to the pressure-cooking megalopolis of a work-obsessed regimen and obviously, the economy wasn’t getting better... [click here to read the original story on GRRRLTRAVELER]

How can you improve your students' learning (and hopefully, boost test scores)? Maybe you shouldn't ask me...

Our sixth graders have scored the lowest of their region. This test was something like the SATs and our school stood out as the worse ranked. This came as a shock to our school. All the sixth grade teachers were nervous and the VP and principal were humiliated. The English department grades 3-6 had to start upping their game and employ new practices to ensure higher test rankings in the future.

The witch cackles and my warm desk-warming days end

This winter, I'm definitely chained to my school prison.  Even my mother, who was visiting, desk-warmed with me just to spend time together.. and she caught a cold from it!  Sad, right?

We can only thank EPIK and the public school system for this insanity. I will only teach one "token" week of school in February; unfortunately, my desk-warming won't change those kids' test scores, improve the teaching level for next year or make my students regain their "smart" abilities.

Our students bad test scores-- not a grand surprise to me.

I could read a list of things the 6th grade curriculum at my school needs to improve--

5 Things Working at MTV taught me about teaching ESL