Fossilized conversation partners

In Korea (and in most other places too), a thing that happens is that partners in language courses tend to get fossilized, which means that the same people tend to sit together for all classes during the course.  I hate this for a lot of reasons including:

1. That poor person who gets stuck with the worst student in the class.  The burden should be spread among everyone.

2. It gets boring to talk to the same person everyday.

3. It doesn't train students for life.  I want my students to be able to converse with almost anyone, in English.

4. Mistakes get fossilized among partners.  Maybe someone makes a mistake that impedes meaning.  Their partner asks for clarification once and the person gives it and then continues to make that same mistake over and over and never gets any more feedback that that mistake is impeding meaning.

5. There's no chance for many students to encounter a partner at a slightly higher level of language development (the zone of proximal development), which can be extremely helpful.

It's really easy to mix it up and make the students change partners.  I usually do it randomly by just assigning numbers or letters or whatever, but there are plenty more scientific ways to do it too.  I teach the same class twice a week, so I'll generally let them sit with their friend for one class and then assign a random partner for the next one.

Good days and high-level students

Some days are fabulous at work, and other, well not so much.  Although I really can't complain this semester as I'm mostly teaching 3rd and 4th year English majors who are reasonably good at English and usually do their homework, etc.  Today was one of those really fabulous days.  Even though Friday is my day off, I got asked to do some overtime preparing students for an overseas internship in the USA.  Motivated students/fluent-ish in English/small groups/ high pay/ interview preparation/ business English.  Yes, I will most definitely work on my day off. 

And then after 3 hours doing that, I have a little "News Club" in my school's Global Zone, which basically means that I choose a current events topic or article and discuss it with 4-8 students for 1.5 hours.  An interesting topic of my choice (I use Breaking News English), mostly International Trade/Economics/ law/accounting majors who actually have opinions about things and are good at English?  Yes, I will most certainly do that one too!  I'm thankful to have such good students, especially since I spent a lot of years talking weather and hobbies and family at a very basic level.

Enthusiasm....it might be worth a try?

In most of my classes, I'm pretty "enthusiastic."  When you're talking to students who don't really understand English that well necessarily, things like gestures and voice inflection are really important, so I try to do a fabulous job of that.  And, I also try to make funny, simple jokes.  And, it's a good thing I do, according to this article!

Avoiding the end of the semester crunch

Although I am in the "crunch" this semester, due to being very busy for 12 weeks with the Celta (and  somewhat neglecting my uni classes), I usually try to avoid it.  Here's how:

1. Make your spreadsheets at the beginning of the semester (I assume everyone does this?!).  Although it does take a bit of time (for me, about 1 hour for 8 or 9 classes), I think it saves considerable time at the end. 

2. Input your attendance/grades as you go along.  Not only does this make sense if you might happen to lose your folder with all that stuff on it (never happened to me thankfully, but you never know), you'll be way ahead of the game come end of the semester.  I'd rather do 15-20 minutes a week instead of a marathon at the end.

3. Don't assign homework that is due for the last 2 or 3 weeks.  Not only are the students horrendously busy with other things for other classes, it can be quite stressful for you to get everything graded in time.  I made the last assignment for Internet homework due 2 weeks before the semester ended, so I had plenty of time to check their grades, and put them in the spreadsheets.  

4. I give students a study paper with potential exam questions on it.  I make an effort to input a question or two each week, based on the unit that we've just studied.  That way, I just have to quickly review it for any errors and then print it off towards the end of the semester.

Rewarding your Top Students

I try to do this every semester, but sometimes I forget and then I kick myself later!

Anyway, you can reward your top students for a long semester of hard work by excusing them from the final exam and giving them an "A+" (which they would have gotten on the final exam anyway).  I usually choose 1 or 2 students for the classes under 20 and maybe 2 or 3 in the classes bigger than 20.

I base it on the following criteria:

1. Grades (must be the highest in the class).
2. Attendance (must be perfect).
3. Homework (must have done all of it).
4. Attitude (must be cooperative and enthusiastic in class).

I don't tell my classes of this possibility during the semester, they only find out on the last day of class when I tell the one or two students. I do this as a way to reward the students who are just good students without any obvious motivation. And it's also easier on me, as I have about 15 less students (9 classes x 1 or 2) that I need to administer tests to and these students would get an A+ anyway. Works for me, works for them!

Camp time!

I'm on my way home from a quick visit to Canada for Christmas. 2 week Kids camp starts tomorrow. Although I am no kids teaching superstar, I will admit that they are pretty cute, and usually eager to participate in class, which is a welcome change from my uni students. More updates soon, I promise.

Ten Tips for Newbies to the Korean University Teaching Experience

Teaching in a Korean University

Semester 9 of my time teaching ESL at a Korean University is coming to a close, with only 5 more classes of speaking tests to administer and some spreadsheet grading magic to make happen.  And when I compare my first shaky semester as a naive newbie to now, it's almost astounding the differences in my teaching and management style.  Anyway, here are my tips for Newbies to Teaching in a Korean University.  I hope they're helpful to you.  I wish someone had told them to me when I first started.

1. Your students will not be as high of level as you think.  While they may have an impressive range of vocabulary, they're often extremely weak in actually using it.  And basic grammar points will need to be reviewed.  I have plenty of other posts about handling low level students in Korean Universities.

2. University is a party-time for Korean students, between Sooneung Hell and selling their souls to Samsung or Hyundai or Kia.  Adjust your classes accordingly.  If you make them too hard with too much homework, the students will be unhappy.  Give a little bit or homework and a few tests so you can have some self-respect but don't stress too much about making it like a university class is "back home."

3. Don't trust the students to "check" the box for their own attendance.  They will lie and cheat for their friends.  You need to personally do it.  And carefully.  It's the only fair way.

4. Don't accept Kyeol-gung-wons (absence excuse papers) for minor things like colds.  Reserve it for the serious such as a car accident/brain trauma/close family member's death. 

5. Chill out.  Korea is a Bali-Bali (fast-fast) last minute kind of culture.  Lots of decisions will happen just in time with regard to classes and schedules and housing.  Don't worry about it and just go with the flow.  If you stress out about it, something terrible might happen to you by the end of your year, like all your hair falling out.  I guarantee it.

6. Cheating (cunning) is not such a serious offense in Korea as it is in the Western World.  Most students think nothing of plagiarizing something off the Internet for a written assignment.  Or copying off their friend in the few minutes before class starts.  Or bringing a cheating paper to the test.  So give assignments and tests that minimize this and you won't have to deal with it.  I do exclusively speaking tests, with groups of 2-4 students in my office.  There is no possible way for them to cheat.  And I simply don't assign the "workbook" as homework.  Check out Culture Shock Korea for some more insight into Korean Culture.

7. Class sizes really do matter.  Before accepting a job, perhaps the most important question to ask would be, "What are the class sizes?"  I'm not sure I would ever take a job with very large, multi-level classes.  This was the reality in my first semester and it was extremely difficult.  Now, some of my classes are down to 10 students and the difference is astounding.  I can actually get to know my students as individuals and see them actually improve their English skills.  It's far more rewarding.

8. Simple is better.  Syllabi, tests, activities, grammar points.  Everything really.

9. Keep on top of the paperwork.  Input attendance into the computer each week.  Enter grades into your spreadsheets as you get them.  Have at least a couple of weeks lessons planned ahead of time.

10. Your teaching impact does not equal your self-worth.  You'll have some bad classes and students that don't like you.  It doesn't mean that you're a bad person, or a terrible teacher.  Get some hobbies and friends and learn to leave your teaching behind you at the end of the day.

For the best tips on how to get one of these prime university jobs in South Korea, check out this fabulous book (by me!): How to Get a University Job in South Korea: The English Teaching Job of Your Dreams.

My Upcoming Presentation at the Kotesol International Conference 2011

As you might have read already, I'll be presenting on the topic of Motivation on Oct. 16th at the Kotesol Conference in Seoul. 

Here is a preview of my Powerpoint presentation and a copy of the handout I plan on giving out.  But, perhaps you should just come check out the presentation?  I promise fun interaction and no Death by Powerpoint.  I hope that everyone will walk away with some new ideas for the classroom.  And, I'd love to meet some of the people that read this blog.



Kotesol Presentation Handout

Robo-Teacher

On Tuesdays, in addition to the regular credit class that I teach, I also teach 5 OT classes.  These are smaller classes of about 10 students who sign-up for extra English.  The classes are 45-50 minutes long and I have to cover 2-3 pages of the "Smart Choice" Textbook.

My style of teaching is totally interactive.  I will NEVER stand up at the front of the class and lecture with the exceptions of the first day syllabus explanation and when I talk about the tests or homework assignments.  Even with the grammar lessons, I will always leave lots of gaps on the board and work together with their students to get them to help me fill it in. And I will ALWAYS do an example of what I expect for when I set up a conversation activity.  In this instance, the students usually have to ask me 3-4 who/what/when/why/where/how questions beyond the initial question (such as, "What's your favorite movie?")

The first 4 classes on Tuesday seem to love this style.  They are all participating, giving me some answers and feedback.  And the class just works, with everyone seeming to be happy and not sleeping and learning something.  However, the last class is a nightmare.  Dead silence.  It's a perfect storm of quiet, low-level, unmotivated students with not a single bright light mixed in.  I soldiered on with my normal style for a couple classes but yesterday, I switched it up.  I went into Robo-Teacher mode.  No interaction, just lecture, kind of like the standard Korean style.  I would ask my normal questions but then just answer them myself.  Leave the blanks on the board but just fill them in myself.  Then I handed out worksheets based on the lecture.  And they seemed to love it.  Like all smiles and thank-you's at the end of class.  Back into their comfort zone of what they've had their whole lives. 

Anyway, what I'm saying is this: do whatever it takes.  If you have a "dead-class" don't stress yourself out trying to force interaction.  It's just not worth it.  Just lecture, as per the standard Korean way.  I know it's not ideal for actually learning, but it's only the second time I've had to do it in over 4 years at my uni, so my track record for interactive is still intact.

Kotesol International Conference 2011 Presentation

It's official...I'll be presenting during the terrible most coveted 9am on Sunday morning slot at the upcoming Kotesol International Conference in Seoul Oct. 15/16.  I guess my blogging fame has not spread to the masses yet.

Anyway, I'm presenting on Motivation.  Book your rooms and set those alarms early!

Back to work!

Hello my readers...I hope you're still lingering around, after my extended absence.  Jeju got quite busy with diving, and friends, and going away dinners and other good stuff like that. 

It was back to reality yesterday with the orientation meeting my uni has every year before the semester starts.  It's essentially the only mandatory meeting we have, and it's only twice a year, so it's another reason why I appreciate my uni.

Anyway, the meetings usually feature the top 3 teachers (based on student's evaluations) out of the 26 of us doing a short presentation.  And yes, for the first time, I was in the top 3.  I presented on my reward/motivation system.  It was essentially what I did for my previous Kotesol presentation and what I will do for the Kotesol International Conference 2011 in Seoul Oct. 15/16.

Now, time to get that syllabus in order and organize my online homework thing, and print off attendance sheets and perhaps do a lesson plan or two, or three, or five.  It's my style to plan at least a few weeks ahead to avoid the mid-semester crunch.

Kotesol International Conference 2011

I've just received notice that I'll be one of the presenters at the Kotesol International Conference 2011 in Seoul on October 15/16.  It will be along the lines of motivation/reward systems.  If you saw the last presentation I did, some things will be changed so come again!  Anyway, mark your calendars.  I'd be happy to meet some of my readers.

Motivation, at Kotesol 2011

Hi everyone, an oldie that somehow stayed in draft form but never got published.  Anyway, here it is:

I attended a presentation on Motivation by Ralph Cousins at the recent Kotesol Conference.  I had to see who my competition was.  Haha!  Joking.  It's actually just an area that I've really interested in I guess.

He had a few good things to say that I already incorporate into my lessons.

1. Get everyone organized before class starts.  Make sure everyone is on the same page (literally!).

2. Less is better.  I usually pick a single grammar point or vocab set and I'll build a whole lesson on it.

3. Make contact with all the students.  Those who aren't engaged are the ones who act up.

4. Don't assume students know even the simplest things.  You'd be surprised at how many Korean Uni students don't even know the most basic, simple grammar (ex: she walkS/ He is goING).  I think mastering the basics is better than kind of knowing the more difficult.

5. Make a short list of what you're going to do in class and write it on the board.  This helps people stay focused.

6. Always model things first.  I will never turn students loose without them seeing me do it first.  NEVER!  It just doesn't work that well.

And some things that I'm going to try to do:

1. Focus more on my body language.  Point your ear towards someone to show that you're listening.  Hold your hands above your waist and facing up to show that you're open to what the person has to say.

2. Give students a one or two minute break every 20 minutes.  It will help them learn.

3. Don't look down on the poor students.  They are good at something else and are maybe late-bloomers that will succeed later in life.  Who knows.

Kotesol Conference Presentation

My first Kotesol presentation is finished and done.  I was somewhat worried about being able to fill the whole 50 minutes, but as it turns out, Motivation and Reward Systems are topics that everyone seems to have an opinion about, so the 20 or so people added in lots of good thoughts and comments to make for an interactive (and hopefully interesting/helpful) presentation.  There was even a wee bit of drama, with an attender that was somewhat hostile and confrontational.  It all happened right before my time was up so it fizzled out before it even really got started.  Anyway, who knew reward systems could be so controversial?

Here is the power point link that you can check out.  Leave a comment with questions or thoughts (particularly if you were at the presentation). 

The super-handout

...of 10 fun ESL games and 10 exciting ESL activities that can be used within your reward system to help increase student motivation.  I've made it in preparation for my upcoming KOTESOL presentation. 

How to make a bad unit in the book into a whole lesson

Sometimes there are those units in the book that just seem irrelevant, bordering on ridiculous but you have to make it work.  This week, in Top Notch 2, there was a unit about being at a hotel and all the problems that you could encounter.  I just didn't think it was helpful for my students.  When in the next few years are they going to go overseas and stay at a 5-star hotel that comes to turn down your bed and provides you with skirt hangers?  If I was teaching adults, or even students besides freshman, it would have been more helpful to them. Anyway, my students are straight out of high-school so this was not what they needed.

So what I usually do when I encounter this is to take the grammar focus of the unit and build a whole lesson around that.  In this unit it was, "You'd better/You'd better not."  This is the lesson plan I made:

1. Review Game using materials from the past 2 weeks.  I made some mixed up sentences and they had to make correct sentences with their partner. 

2. Short grammar lesson/examples.  Then, they did 2 little sections in the book.  The first was a conversation speaking with their partner and the second was writing some sentences. 

3. Then, I made a board game.  I made a 5x5 chart on my computer and put problems in each square.  For example, "I'm so fat!" or "I have no friends."  Then, when the students landed on that square, they had to give some advice using the grammar point.  I also throw in a few random things like go back 3, move ahead 2, go back to the start, and switch spots with the person on your left/right.  I make it more fun by telling them that they're the teachers and have to listen for any crazy answers, and that person has to go back the number of squares that they went forward.  I give the winner in each group a stamp (which equals 2% of their final grade).

4. In the same groups of 4 or 5, they had to think of a small problem.  Each person in the group gave them some advice using the grammar point.

Overall, it was a solid lesson that got the students talking and listening, thinking, laughing and learning.  If I had just stuck with the book, it would have been an exercise in tedium I think.  Don't be afraid to use your own discretion to make whatever you have work.  My caution is that you really should at least make an attempt to use a page or two of the book everyday, or the students will get annoyed and wonder why they actually had to buy it.

2011 Kotesol National Conference

I've officially been accepted as a presenter at the Kotesol National Conference in Daejeon on May 14.  I'll be talking about, "Motivation: Effective Reward Systems."

It's not an academic presentation, but a teacher training one, which is where you come in.  I'm looking for some qualitative kind of input from you about what you do in your classes to motivate your students.  What rewards do you use?  Grades, candy, other things?  How do you administer it?  Do you punish negative behavior or just reward positive?  Does it actually work?  What have you done that hasn't worked.  I'm looking most specifically for your experience in Korea, with both kids and uni students/adults.

Please, please, please respond either to my email: jlbolen@gmail.com or leave a comment. 

Thanks in advance for your help my readers.  And be sure to check out my presentation!  I look forward to meeting you.

Back to Basics

This past Saturday, I attended the Daejeon/Chungnam Kotesol conference, conveniently hosted at my own uni.  I will talk about some of the presentations in a couple posts.  But to start things off:

My first presentation was someone talking about motivation uncovered using surveys and blind variables and why students study English and how their motivations correlate with grades and high level and low level students and what differences there are in time studied outside class and if the teacher is handsome matters.  Wow...is that a most confusing sentence?  Yes?  That's what the presentation was like. 

Anyway, not much to take away from it, but since I make it my goal to extrapolate something from every single presentation I go to, I've kicked my brain into overdrive and come up with the following: people that do presentations like this seem to have way too much time on their hands.  Teaching ESL/EFL is a pretty simple thing.  A book (or not).  A blackboard to write on.  Notebooks and pencil.  Some handouts (or not).  To me, doing all these surveys and extrapolating all this data just wouldn't seem that helpful to me. 

And going along with this, I attended a session from Joshua Davies about Powerpoint's good and bad.  There was a lot of bad.  And you know, actually I never use PPT in my classes.  I could (and have in the past) but it just doesn't seem that helpful.  Like, I don't want to be competing with what's written on the screen.  And, I generally write very little text during a class anyway, so can write it on the board very easily.  Josh pointed out though that for some things, a visual can say it like words never could.  So, perhaps I will start to integrate more video or pictures into my classes next year.  We'll see.  But for now, no more nagging guilt feelings that I'm being a bad teacher by not using PPT.  I have a feeling that the students are doing fine without out.  Sticking to the basics works for me, due to my sparkling personality and beautiful-ness. Hahaha.  It's probably just the little stamp I give them in their books.

Frustration

In a recent blog post, I mentioned how frustrating it can be to teach highly unmotivated uni students here in Korea.  And that this is one thing that would make me consider leaving this otherwise sweet job for another country or career.  But, in class this week I'm preparing the students for their midterm exams and another frustration that I have came to forefront: the lack of academic standards.

When you compare Korean uni to those in Western countries, it's actually kind of a joke.  Classes here are ridiculously easy and students actually get 20% of their final grade just based on "attendance."  Plagiarism is rampant.  Seniors with jobs are excused from their last year of classes.  Graduation is expected as long as tuition is paid. 

In my class, I make it outrageously easy.  No homework, 2 tests, 2 homework assignments and a little group project over a 17 week semester.  And yet, many of the students don't even bother to do the homework assignments (that would take them about 5 minutes). 

And for the exams, I actually give them the questions beforehand.  The EXACT questions I'm going to ask them for the speaking test.  And I do little examples in class about what I expect.  And yet, some students actually come to the exam, and when I ask a question that is right off the study sheet that I gave them, act surprised, like they've never heard or seen it before.  And then they give some crazy answer that doesn't make any sense.  So I give them an "F."  And they will come to my office the next week and say their mom and dad are angry at them and they want to get an "A."  And sometimes, I have to hold onto my desk just to prevent myself from falling off my chair in disbelief.

Anyway, I read all these books, listen to podcasts, and cruise internet sites about teaching ESL and see all these cool ideas that I'd want to do in my class but I've given up trying them for the most part because the most of the students just won't do it, if it requires more than the minimum effort.  And if you make your classes too hard, and with too much homework the students will give you bad evaluations and you might not get your contract renewed for the next year. 

So, what I'm saying is this: if academic standards were higher at unis in Korea, my life would be much happier.  Like, if the bad students were weeded out in the first month, or semester of their studies, my job would be so much easier.  And, if the Korean teachers made their classes much harder, then, I could expect much more of the students and still get my contract renewed.  But, I don't have so much faith in Korean unis changing anytime in the near-term, so perhaps Korea is no longer the place for me.  It's starting to get to me. 

Reader Question: Student Motivation

This one from Maisha: 

"My question is, are the students motivated at all at University level?  I deal with middle schoolers who are burnt out on school, so I wonder if the students are more burnt out by college or if they suddenly become interested critical thinking proactive learners!"

I can only speak from my experience at my uni, which is a middle of the road kind of one.  There are unis that are a lot lower in terms of academic standards and admission criteria so they probably have much less motivated students.  There are also the top unis (like SKY) that have the best students in Korea, so I'm sure you'd find very motivated students there.  

The students that I teach are for the most part, unmotivated unless they have some sort of reason for studying English.  For example, nursing students want to go to North America to get jobs so they are excellent students to teach.  And fashion students want to keep up with the fashion industry outside of Korea so realize the value of my class for them.  Same with fashion and robotics students.  Some of the sports students want to go pro and know they need to speak English if they have any hope of making it outside of Korea.  And there are some students who are quite ambitious and want to work at one of the big Chaebols (Samsung, Kia, Hyundai, etc) or a global company and realize that they NEED to know English in order to get these jobs so they are quite motivated as well.


However, the vast majority of my students just want to get an average job in Korea at an average kind of company so don't really care.  And they never want to leave Korea.  And if they do, they'll probably go on some package vacation tour with a Korean tour guide.  And they are not that interested in foreign culture or having foreign friends.  So, motivation is quite low, understandably so.  


Most first year students at uni in Korea are completely burnt out from their 3 year nightmare of studying for the big high school test.  And all the boys, after their first year will have to deal with the 2 year nightmare that is army conscription so they view their first year of uni as kind of a break time.  Critical thinking is in short supply and expectations are low.  It's quite frustrating as a teacher and as the years pass is actually the only thing that would make me want to leave my job for another country or another industry altogether.