I work for SMOE and I know that I will leave at the end of my contract. I've had a wonderful time here and hope to return but for the time being, I'm heading back to the states.
I wanted to leave something for my replacement; a sort of note for all the things I wished someone had told me. Although my school was as accommodating as they could have been, there were many things that could have bee cleared up with a simple sentence or two by the previous teacher.
So, I encourage you to leave a similar note on the desk for the next teacher. It certainly doesn't have to be as long winded as mine but even just a courtesy note might make the transition to the new job more smooth.
*note* I've removed sensitive information with OOO for obvious reasons.
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This will be a short little written piece of advice. I have no idea who you are and if you've ever taught before let alone if you speak Korean or not. However, I'll use a little Korean in the hopes that you do speak it. This is all just a few key points that I wish I would have been told on my first day.
First off,
the apartment. You live in a nice officetel, all things considered. When I first moved in, it was a total rathole in terms of cleanliness. If it seems a little dirty to you, please forgive me but trust me it could have been worse. Your washing machine stops in the middle of the cycle sometimes and doesn't drain all the way completely but otherwise works fine. Your place didn't have hot water the first six months I lived there but it has a new boiler now. You have a chair from the school which is 10x more comfy than the one I used to have. Your bed is big but the sheets weren't mine, either. I didn't pick that shade of orange but at least they're clean. On the roof is a private place to line dry your clothes and also get a decent view of the city. Just walk up past the seventh floor; the door is open. Your bathroom sink might get clogged; just use an unfolded clothes hanger and it'll clear right up. Thankfully you live in between lines 2 and line 5. I preferred OOO but OOO is also there. Your neighborhood is near 목동 but is really in OOO . Your mailing address is: OOO. English mailing address: OOO . The landlord's number is OOO . The password to the building is OOO and the password to your door is OOO
Commuting: To get to your school, walk across the street near the middle school and get on green bus 6714 or 6514. Ride it for about six stops and get off at OOO . If you don't want to wait for the bus next to a bunch of junior high kids, walk downhill towards the water fountain near OOO and wait there instead. If you prefer taking a taxi, it usually costs about 3000 KRW which isn't bad if you're running late. Your school is called OOO but it's easier to tell the driver that it's near OOO which is past OOO . Make sure to come to work before 8:40am - preferably by 8:30am. Even though you will just sit there and check email before class starts, your coworkers will get bent out of shape if you come any later. Trust me. Stay until 4:40pm even if you have no real work left to do. Think of it like this: even though "work" is done, you're getting paid to sit there and use the computer until that time. Try not to ask to go home early as it might give the wrong impression. When coming home, take green bus 6514, 6714 or blue bus 602. Stop at OOO .
Your coworkers: you work in the 교과실 which is like the subject department. There's another room with music and art teachers. Many of your coworkers get rotated almost every year and may or may not be fully "qualified" to teach English. Do the best you can to find a common ground and maintain respect for each other. Try to speak Korean outside of class if possible but you are certainly not required to do so. Your supervisor, the person who is supposed to take care of you, will make mistakes - both in and outside of the classroom. Let's just get that out of the way. Legally, do what you need to do to make sure your paperwork and contract is all taken care of. All other things, just take his/her lead and make sure to let him/her feel that you appreciate them. It sounds silly to say that but believe me it's important. That relationship will make or break this job.
Your work: Teach in English and speak Korean to the kids when/if necessary. I'm learning Korean and I used it a lot in the classroom and found no stigma attached. I used it to enhance the English lessons and also to show that we are are all students. Sometimes the coteacher translated for me and sometimes I translated for myself. Just remember that it is supposed to be coteaching. Maybe you plan half and half. Maybe you just follow and be a human voicebox. Maybe you take the lead and he/she translates. It's different for everyone. Maybe you speak only English and he/she speaks only Korean. Whatever you two choose, just keep the communication lines open. My first semester, I taught 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th in two week cycles. My second semester we got a new English classroom and I only taught 5th and 6th. Each school is different.
lesson plans: use the template I left for you and not one that actually makes sense. When I first came, I used a "real" lesson plan template and it was not well received. The template unfortunately requires the use of that horrendous program "Hangul". Fill it out, print it out ahead of time and get your supervisor, one of the vice-principals and the principal to sign it about a week ahead of time but expect the actual lesson to change without notice. Sucks but hey this is Korea. I left a bunch of old files on the computer; some were accidentally written over. Some are just plain missing. Just alter the contents and you'll be fine.
Planning: Each chapter is broken into four separate lessons. The highlights are, in order: listening, reading, writing, speaking. However, since you are the native teacher with a clean accent, you'll be asked to do some sort of speaking each lesson. Out of the four lessons that students receive per chapter, two of them will be with you and two of them will be with your coteacher by him/herself. For example, you might teach the 1st and 3rd lesson with your coteacher while he/she teaches the 2nd and 4th by him/herself. It takes a while to get used to but remember that each chapter is two weeks long. You are free to teach what you want but try to stay within the course of the book. Also, I prepared a vocabulary/spelling quiz system that seemed to really work with the kids. I required them all to bring English notebooks to class everyday. At the start of each new chapter, I put the words on the screen and they wrote down the vocab in English and Korean. A week later I gave them a spelling quiz. It didn't take long and they learned the words a lot better this way. I graded it and handed it to the Korean teacher to give them next class with her/him. If they had a mistake, they had to rewrite the word five times. I've already done all the legwork for it (creating PPTs, designing quiz, etc) all you have to do is administer it each lesson. You don't absolutely have to but from one teacher to another, it worked well. I didn't do it my first semester and was disappointed by the lack of ability in the students. The second semester they really shined and liked the consistency and challenge.
English club activities: There are 18 regular classes a week but your contract stipulates a maximum of 21. That means the school will milk you for the extra 3 classes. I did two Teacher English classes (Tu,Th) and one Low Level Student English class (Th) in the afternoon. I left some materials for both classes on your computer and near your desk in bright green folders. These classes might be canceled often but you may find out only minutes before the meeting time. Otherwise, you really don't have much power to cancel the classes yourself. Just follow your supervisor's lead.
Sick days/vacation: Stick to your guns and use your sick days and vacation days as you see fit. You have 21 vacation and 5 free sick days. Make sure to call, text or in some way communicate all of this to your supervisor. They will frown everytime you take a sick day but remind them that it is in your contract. If you're coughing up blood, stay at home. If you just are feeling down, come to work and talk it over with your supervisor. I left you a copy of my winter vacation schedule from last year to give you an idea of how to take vacation days. The main rule is to make sure that they do not interfere with winter and summer camps which is in your contract to teach.
Your computer: is not the worst thing but still crummy. Use Google Chrome or Firefox and it'll work better. Use Coolbox to store and save teaching files (as well as access them from other computers) and use CoolMessenger to send and receive messages to coworkers. While browsing, you might encounter a page called "safezone". Try going to craigslist or blogger and you'll see it. This is the school's firewall blocking a certain set of websites deemed inappropriate. You can occasionally get around this if it's a harmless site by using a proxy:
http://www.freeproxyserver.netPrevious native teachers: My name is OOO and I'm from Texas. I study Korean language and history and recently got married while I was here. I loved my life here but it didn't pay all that well so I went back to America to teach at an elementary school in my hometown. The guy before me was named Joe. He was an older guy from California who had created a bunch of powerpoints. I still have them on the computer in case you want to use them. I also left all of my old stuff which will really come in handy if you're stuck. eflclassroom.com and barryfunenglish.com are worth checking out. The latter is a pay site but it's 100% worth it for the hangman game alone. Also,
http://waygook.org has a lot of good plans and ideas. The Korean teacher uses a site called "indyschool" but in true Korean logical fashion, foreigners don't have easy access to it. Frankly, it's not that impressive so you're not really missing out.
Trash: To buy trash bags, go to the convenience store near your place and ask for 쓰레기 봉투 이십 리터. The married couple who run that place are very nice and will help you if you need it. Food waste is a gray communal trash can in between your place and the convenience store. No special bags, just dump the food scraps in there.
Ordering delivery food: (If you speak Korean, ignore this) You'll see about a million different ads for delivery. Call and speak in Korean slowly and you'll get what you want. If it's your first time calling them, they may ask for your location. A typical conversation might sound like this:
clerk: 식당입니다
you: 네. 여기 OOO 인데요...
clerk: 어디요?
you: OOO .
clerk: 주소가 어떻게 되세요?
you: OOO
clerk: 뭧 호예요?
you: :OOO 요.
clerk: 네 말씀하세요 / 네 주문하세요
you: 이번세트 (#2 set) 주세요
clerk: 네 알겠습니다
you can also tell them your location by asking OOO 아시죠? 거기서 맞은편이에요 (I'm sure you know OOO , right? It's across the street from there)
회식: It's important. They expect you to be there. I had to miss because of Korean language classes at night but when I did go, it made my job much easier afterwards
Some helpful vocab:
부장님 = supervisor (not technically, but I referred to him/her as such)
교감님 = vice principal
교장님 = principal
원어민 선생님 = native speaker teacher (that's you)
for more:
http://sites.google.com/site/matthewpluskoreanequalsfun/teachingIf you would like to self study Korean, I left a bunch of old textbooks and such underneath the printer.
Lunch: It costs 3000 KRW a day (I think) and comes out of your paycheck automatically. It's not bad. Eat with your coworkers and try not to stand up and leave until after your supervisor does. Leave together.
Making copies: You have access to a normal copier in the 교무실 for quick copies and also a in-house copy service for large orders (and recycled paper). A request form and vice principal signature is required. I left the form in your desk with an English translation. You also have access to a lamination machine on the third floor near the other 교과실.
Have fun: The kids here are super cute and the job is not the hardest on the planet. I hope you do great things here! If you ever are in a bad spot, need to vent or just want to say hello feel free to email me: OOO
Best of luck to you!
