It looks like Seoul National University is cancelling their mandatory freshmen English program, claiming that their students are proficient at English and don't require it. It will be interesting to see if other unis follow suit, even those whose students are far from proficient (like my current uni, as well as my old one). If they do, time to start looking for new jobs in other countries :( Or, develop some sort of specialization.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Monday, November 26, 2012
Listening Lesson Plan: Thomas Edison
I used this listening exercise as a warm-up for part 2 of my "used to/didn't use to" lesson plan. The rest of the lesson consisted of talking about inventions and what life was life before and after the invention.
I put the students in groups of 4 or 5 and gave them the questions beforehand and gave them a couple minutes to read them. Then, I showed the Thomas Edison video one time and gave them 2 minutes to talk with their group and try to fill in the answers. Then, I showed the video a second time and gave them 3-4 minutes to again talk with their group. Then, I checked the answers and the group with the most questions right got a little prize.
I put the students in groups of 4 or 5 and gave them the questions beforehand and gave them a couple minutes to read them. Then, I showed the Thomas Edison video one time and gave them 2 minutes to talk with their group and try to fill in the answers. Then, I showed the video a second time and gave them 3-4 minutes to again talk with their group. Then, I checked the answers and the group with the most questions right got a little prize.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Help with Teaching Presentations
I wish I had found this before my presentation class was almost finished!
Presentation Expressions
Lots of good stuff here...I still need to explore!
And of course, check out my favorite book on Teaching Public Speaking and Presentations:
Presentation Expressions
Lots of good stuff here...I still need to explore!
And of course, check out my favorite book on Teaching Public Speaking and Presentations:
Monday, November 19, 2012
You're worth more than that...a small rant
So, not that I would ever do private teaching. First of all, it's illegal unless you have a certain visa, such as if you're married to a Korean. Second of all, I kind of loathe the 1-1 teaching and would rather just have a big class. Thirdly, I hate cruising 'round the city after my normal working hours and would rather just go home and relax and be done for the day.
But, if you're doing to do it, then for the love of all things, don't even consider doing it for free or for a ridiculous pittance! Like, a co-teacher or a co-worker asking you to hang out with their friends' kids on the weekend is actually private teaching in disguise. You should be getting paid for this. And at least 50 000 an hour to give up your weekend to hang out with kids that are not even yours. Or, at the very least your movie paid for and a nice dinner at Outback thrown in on top. You're worth more than free.
And one time, my old uni asked me to teach kids on weekends and the pay was 30 000 Won for 2 HOURS! Not 20 minutes. Yes, 2 hours. I'm worth more than 15 000 an hour, so I said no, of course not.
Or, teaching English at a Church or something. If the students are orphans, or abused women, or refugees from North Korea, or kids that come from single parents homes, then yes, of course you shouldn't ask for pay. But, if they are just regular old people who are business professionals, or teachers, or something? Or kids, whose parents are doctors are lawyers? Then, yes, you are worth more than free, even if you're doing it at Church.
Rant is over :)
But, if you're doing to do it, then for the love of all things, don't even consider doing it for free or for a ridiculous pittance! Like, a co-teacher or a co-worker asking you to hang out with their friends' kids on the weekend is actually private teaching in disguise. You should be getting paid for this. And at least 50 000 an hour to give up your weekend to hang out with kids that are not even yours. Or, at the very least your movie paid for and a nice dinner at Outback thrown in on top. You're worth more than free.
And one time, my old uni asked me to teach kids on weekends and the pay was 30 000 Won for 2 HOURS! Not 20 minutes. Yes, 2 hours. I'm worth more than 15 000 an hour, so I said no, of course not.
Or, teaching English at a Church or something. If the students are orphans, or abused women, or refugees from North Korea, or kids that come from single parents homes, then yes, of course you shouldn't ask for pay. But, if they are just regular old people who are business professionals, or teachers, or something? Or kids, whose parents are doctors are lawyers? Then, yes, you are worth more than free, even if you're doing it at Church.
Rant is over :)
Friday, November 16, 2012
The Second Conditional...If I had a Million Dollars Lesson Plan
As kind of a fun review of the second conditional, I'm going to use the song, "If I had a Million Dollars" by The Barenaked Ladies
. Here is my lesson plan and powerpoint:
If I had a Million Dollars Lesson Plan
For even more fabulous lesson plan ideas, including more than 40 ESL games and activities delivered straight to your inbox, sign-up for my email list.
. Here is my lesson plan and powerpoint: If I had a Million Dollars Lesson Plan
For even more fabulous lesson plan ideas, including more than 40 ESL games and activities delivered straight to your inbox, sign-up for my email list.
The Cell-Phone Addiction Unit
It seems like every single ESL Textbook for adults/uni students seems to have a unit on increasing cell-phone usage/addiction. A fun way to introduce this is by having students use their smartphones to take a quiz.
It was really easy for me to give students the link via Twitter. I use Twitter instead of giving handouts for things like the syllabus or midterm exam review papers in my classes, so it motivates all the students to sign up for it. Anyway, I asked the students to open up their Twitter app and look for the Tweet that I'd already posted that morning before class. They clicked on that tweet and were shown a link for the cell-phone quiz. It took them about 5 minutes to do it and they could then get their result in a percentage for how addicted they are to their cell-phone.
for adults/uni students seems to have a unit on increasing cell-phone usage/addiction. A fun way to introduce this is by having students use their smartphones to take a quiz. It was really easy for me to give students the link via Twitter. I use Twitter instead of giving handouts for things like the syllabus or midterm exam review papers in my classes, so it motivates all the students to sign up for it. Anyway, I asked the students to open up their Twitter app and look for the Tweet that I'd already posted that morning before class. They clicked on that tweet and were shown a link for the cell-phone quiz. It took them about 5 minutes to do it and they could then get their result in a percentage for how addicted they are to their cell-phone.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Homework for the Second Conditional
My most recent homework assignment. And, because I hate the following:
1. fighting with the copy machine
2. dealing with paperwork,
3. killing the environment
4. not letting students use tech when they love it
...I only put this assignment up on Twitter and then they have to send it to me electronically.
Homework #4 (4%) “If I had a million dollars”
Finish time: Monday, November 12, 10pm.
***if 2 are the same, 2 people= “0/4” ***
In the USA or Canada, if you have $1 000 000, you are considered to be rich. In Korea, that’s 1,091,300,000 Won. That’s a lot of money! For a Christmas present, your mother or father bought you a lotto ticket. You checked the numbers and you won! $1 000 000. What would you do with it?
Write 5-6 sentences explaining what you will do with the money.
“If I had a million dollars, I would.....”
Send it to me on Twitter, or email, or Kakao Talk.
1. fighting with the copy machine
2. dealing with paperwork,
3. killing the environment
4. not letting students use tech when they love it
...I only put this assignment up on Twitter and then they have to send it to me electronically.
Homework #4 (4%) “If I had a million dollars”
Finish time: Monday, November 12, 10pm.
***if 2 are the same, 2 people= “0/4” ***
In the USA or Canada, if you have $1 000 000, you are considered to be rich. In Korea, that’s 1,091,300,000 Won. That’s a lot of money! For a Christmas present, your mother or father bought you a lotto ticket. You checked the numbers and you won! $1 000 000. What would you do with it?
Write 5-6 sentences explaining what you will do with the money.
“If I had a million dollars, I would.....”
Send it to me on Twitter, or email, or Kakao Talk.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Reader Question...Can students choose their classes?
This one from Chanel:
"I was wondering how the students' everyday schedules looks like. Can they choose classes as they please like
in the American college system?"
My answer:
It depends on the university. But, it's quite common for students, especially in the first and second year to have block schedules. That is, everyone in the same major in the same year has the exact same schedules and has no choice about it. The students may have one free option they are able to choose. In the third and fourth year, it seems like students have a lot more freedom in choosing their schedules.
But, take all this with a grain of salt. Each uni is different!
"I was wondering how the students' everyday schedules looks like. Can they choose classes as they please like
in the American college system?"
My answer:
It depends on the university. But, it's quite common for students, especially in the first and second year to have block schedules. That is, everyone in the same major in the same year has the exact same schedules and has no choice about it. The students may have one free option they are able to choose. In the third and fourth year, it seems like students have a lot more freedom in choosing their schedules.
But, take all this with a grain of salt. Each uni is different!
Monday, November 5, 2012
Second Conditional Game
To practice the second conditional, I use will use this powerpoint game in my class. Second conditional Game. I'll put the students in groups of 4 or 5 and then they'll have to choose a captain who will come to the front of the class and face away from their classmates. For each slide, the group and the captain will have to write down their answers. Then, we'll compare answers and see who got the most points correct. And of course the winning team will get a small prize!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Reader Question: Qualified Teacher
Another reader question:
"I'm a college student working on my teaching degree and I was curious if you needed teaching credentials, in addition to your degrees, to teach in a university?
Also, is it possible to get a teaching position in a university without experience? From what I've seen, most universities want at least 2-4 years teaching experience at the university level. "
No, you don't need teaching credentials. Korean unis don't really care, unless you have a Masters degree in education. A Masters in anything actually is kind of a basic requirement. As for getting a uni job without any experience, refer to the previous post.
"I'm a college student working on my teaching degree and I was curious if you needed teaching credentials, in addition to your degrees, to teach in a university?
Also, is it possible to get a teaching position in a university without experience? From what I've seen, most universities want at least 2-4 years teaching experience at the university level. "
No, you don't need teaching credentials. Korean unis don't really care, unless you have a Masters degree in education. A Masters in anything actually is kind of a basic requirement. As for getting a uni job without any experience, refer to the previous post.
Reader Question...Qualifications necessary to get a Uni Job in Korea
These ones from Chantelle:
"I would really like to teach at university level next year. But I only have an honours degree. I also don't have a TEFL qualification yet. Do you think it is possible to get a position to teach at university level and how can I go about? Or do you maybe have any advice etc. I'm still in the beginning phase of my research so I don't have much information on the topic yet."
Hi, these days your chances of getting a uni job with your qualifications are pretty slim. From what I understand, an honors degree is a basically a pumped-up BA. If you peruse the Korean job ads over on ESL Cafe, you'll see that most unis are asking for people with Masters + 2 years Uni experience, or a BA with 4 years Uni experience. And, I think they'll be able to fill their positions with people who match the qualifications. Koreans don't generally care about TEFL qualifications so don't waste your time with that.
So, you may randomly luck out, but I'd say that there is a 99.99% chance you won't get a uni job. However, you can still come to Korea and work at a public school or hagwon and try to work your way up in the world through making contacts, professional development, etc.
"I would really like to teach at university level next year. But I only have an honours degree. I also don't have a TEFL qualification yet. Do you think it is possible to get a position to teach at university level and how can I go about? Or do you maybe have any advice etc. I'm still in the beginning phase of my research so I don't have much information on the topic yet."
Hi, these days your chances of getting a uni job with your qualifications are pretty slim. From what I understand, an honors degree is a basically a pumped-up BA. If you peruse the Korean job ads over on ESL Cafe, you'll see that most unis are asking for people with Masters + 2 years Uni experience, or a BA with 4 years Uni experience. And, I think they'll be able to fill their positions with people who match the qualifications. Koreans don't generally care about TEFL qualifications so don't waste your time with that.
So, you may randomly luck out, but I'd say that there is a 99.99% chance you won't get a uni job. However, you can still come to Korea and work at a public school or hagwon and try to work your way up in the world through making contacts, professional development, etc.
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