Korea ESL Jobs - About Teaching for Newbies
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Have you taught a language before? This section is devoted to teaching resources. Most ESL teachers have began their careers with little to no experience and training in ESL. You can find many great teaching Tips and Insights here.
The teachers we place in Korea and other countries all come from different backgrounds, but they all take comfort in knowing that we prepare them well before they go overseas to teach with in depth information about teaching and the country they are going to.
Teaching: In Korea you will start teaching either children or adults in a private or public school. The main reason native English speaking teachers are needed in Korea is for conversation. You will have to have some basic knowledge of grammar, but for the most part in most jobs you will be teaching them to speak.
How do you teach them to speak? Well getting them to speak can be the hard part. You will notice that the majority of your students will be a bit shy. You will get some students who are good speakers and willing to talk, but for the most part you had better be ready with some good ideas and activities to get them speaking.
Be dynamic: If you have a large class make sure you move around a lot and involve everyone in the lesson. Don't focus on one or two students, the rest will be bored and you will not be doing your job properly. If you get someone who is dominating the class know how to get the others involved and engaged. If someone is a problem politely talk to them after class in a way that will not discourage them. Ask other students to comment on one this person's opinion or ask this student to engage others him or herself.
Plan your lessons: Don't ask, "What did you do yesterday?" You can ask sometimes, but don't try to base your lesson on this question. This shows a lazy, un-prepared and inexperienced teacher. Plan your lessons. Take some time before class or the evening before to review what you will teach the next day and try to plan an interesting lesson from it.
A lesson plan should have goals. What is it that you want students to take away from the lesson that they did not bring in? Your plan should include your delivery of the lesson.
Easy Planning: Tell the students at the beginning of the lesson what the goals are, "Today we will be ...." Next you will teach it. Then you will model it and then practise it in small groups (if available). Finally you can have them model the structure they just learned in front of the group or use some sort of drills or exercise that makes it more concrete. You can also take them in to an environment for live usage of what they learned. You can create this in many ways like a presentation, video recording, audio recording, small mock play, game, contest or something else which creates a scenario in which they will have to use the language. At the end of the lesson wrap up by stating again what the goals were and what they DID in fact learn today.. Maybe now you will give them a hint of the nest lesson's goals to keep them excited and many will try to prepare for this as well. A well prepared teacher will enjoy his or her job. Use your creativity and learn from other teachers as well.
Bluffing: Don't do it. If you don't know the answer just tell them you are not sure and that you will get the answer for the nest class. If you try to make up an answer you will be caught. Do ensure you get the answer for them, this will ensure you maintain your credibility and gain their respect. No one knows everything and you are not expected to either, be honest, true and give your best effort. This will really pay off in the long run.
Curriculum: Most schools you will work at already have a program chosen and books. Many will even have a orientation or training session from 1 day to a week for you to learn how they approach the language lessons.
Here are Some Resources for Lesson Ideas / Plans:
You can find many great teaching Tips and Insights here.
http://breakingnewsenglish.com/
http://www.5minuteenglish.com/