Teaching, anything

So after a few years of teaching ESL, and honing my patience, I'm convinced that I can teach almost anything to anyone.  For example, these past couple days I've been in training to be an emergency first aid instructor, along with 4 other people.  The other 4 people are not teachers and I could see them struggling with public speaking and demonstrating something, and how to keep things are organized and simple.  Me, on the other hand, was a bit of a star!  Haha!  Not really at the actual skills, but I had the confidence and that's the most important thing I think. 

Anyway, it's cool to see my ESL teaching skills transfer into other areas. 

And, in case anyone is wondering.  My time on a little tropical island in the Philippines has been going very well.  I live in a little shack and go diving.  And study too of course.  And drink a San Miguel a day in celebration of escaping the land of Hite and Cass. 

Thailand vs. Korea for a newbie ESL teacher

Some more good stuff from Ted.  What's the winner?  Korea.  Check out his post for why.

How much can you earn from teaching abroad?

Another excellent post from Ted.  He lists all the factors to consider like cost of living, medical insurance and taxes.  I've only recently discovered this blog, but have been impressed by the quality of his posts.  Consider adding him to your Google Reader.

It's that time of year again: Evaluations!

Yesterday, my evaluations from the students were up online.  The grand total was 88%.  For the past couple years, I've been stuck in the 87-89% range and can't quite seem to get out of it.  My first couple years teaching at a uni, I made some big mistakes and got scored appropriately.  I learned from the comments the students made, made changes and my scores improved steadily. 

But now?  What to do.  The students really leave no helpful feedback anymore except, "everything was perfect" "fun games" "I love you."  I know that I shouldn't really care, but my uni seems to be obsessed with our evaluations and this seems to be almost the sole way that we get evaluated on our job performance. 

When I go class by class, I see that the top level ones loved me.  Like close to 100% scores.  It's the very low-level ones that are the bane of my existence.  They give me closer to 80%.  Perhaps it's because I try to teach the same material to all my freshman English classes and it's too difficult for the poor classes?  Maybe it's something in my attitude towards them, like I often can't quite believe that they've studied English for 7 years but can't tell me their name or where they're from.  Maybe it shows in my (probably) negative body language towards them?

What are your tips for me readers? 

Searching for ESL Jobs

And another helpful site so that you can search lots of sites at once for ESL jobs in a certain country.  Thanks to Brian for the tip.

Little things help you land the big TEFL Job

Some excellent tips from Ted for those who are applying for ESL teaching jobs abroad.  I agree wholeheartedly!

If you follow his tips, you've already beat out 1/2 your competition!  It really is that easy.

Different level students

I've ended up teaching a 2 week intensive class for those students who failed their freshman English class the first time 'round and need it in order to graduate.  The desperate of the desperate essentially.  And most of them are truly terrible at English. 

In my regular class during the semester, I'll have one or two of these students in each class, mixed in with some average ones and then a few ringers who are little English geniuses.  This makes it very hard to teach at a level that makes everyone happy.  But this class I'm teaching now, they're all at the same level: very low.  And I'm actually finding it much more enjoyable.  Like I know what I'm dealing with so I can adapt my class and take everything really, really slow.  And nobody is bored I think and they actually appreciate how simple I'm making it. 

Anyway, my point is this.  If I had to choose between a mixed level class with a few stars in it, or a completely low-level class, I'd take the low-level one any day.  Of course, a class with all high-level students would be better!  Haha!

Should foreigners be tested for Aids?

An accurate article from a top North America magazine "Time" about foreigners having mandatory HIV tests here in Korea.  But, let's be clear about the situation.  Prostitutes, entertainers and migrant workers are exempt, it's only the ESL teachers.  Unbelievably. 

Brian's commentary here.

Hmm...so maybe don't make teaching at a Korean uni your long-term plan

From the Korea Times.  Not the main focus of the article, but in 10 years time, the number of college freshman is expected to be 1/2 of what it is now because of falling birthrates.  My uni is already pushing to recruit Chinese students to bolster their ranks.

On getting extra work

I was talking with my friends last night about pay at a Korean University. One of my friends who works at another uni, said that she would appreciate it if Korea unis would bump up the pay by 100 000 or 200 000/month after a couple years service.  I said that I didn't really care and am quite happy working for the salary I agreed to when I started, plus a little cost of living increase once in a while.

It's not about the base pay, but it's about the overtime opportunities.  There really isn't that much difference between 2.0 million and 2.3.  And, as my other friend that I work with pointed out, if you make more than the newbies you work with, it just makes your more expendable.  So back to the overtime.  When you are at the interview, you really should ask about overtime opportunities.  You will have plenty of free time, so can reasonably do 5-20 hours/week of overtime.  If the uni doesn't have any, I wouldn't necessarily work there unless the base pay was over 3.0 million.  But, if the uni has opportunities, this is how you can really make good money at a uni in Korea.  And, the longer you stay at a uni, the more connections you will make and the more offers you get.

What's your experience been like?  Lots of overtime?  Not so much?