Evaluations? No biggie.
Teaching January 22nd. 2008, 9:08pmWe got a notification that evaluations needed to be done by the end of the week. This is the first time that foreigners got the notification before the Korean teachers. I’m taking advantage of having access to all the evaluations at once to try to get them done early for a change.
Evaluations this time around seem to be going smoother. Perhaps it’s because I get to set down the tone of the report card with my own scores before I see what the rest of the teacher’s feel. If I want to heap praise on a student, I can without looking like I’m out of whack with what the Korean teacher feels.
I’ve also done way more testing than I usually do. This means I don’t have to worry about not having enough scores to justify my final grades. This means when parents come in to see us in the office next week, I’ll be able to point to something to explain grades. This is key.
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January 23rd, 2008 at 10:41 pm
I really lucked out in choosing my hagwon. The most important need for me was a very close proximity to Costco–a 3-5 minute walk depending on the weather is not bad at all. I did have to thank my brother, and his construction company, for an awesome mapping program that actually makes sense of the Korean roadway naming and numbering system that I consulted heavily before selecting my institute. Everything concerning school policies has been gravy though. This includes no grading, no testing, and no parent conferences. The downside is that for many classes, I am little more than a glorified babysitter. However, I teach as much as I can, as best I can. The job is try to keep the customers happy, so they don’t take their complain and take their won elsewhere, and sling as much English at them as I can while trying to get as much as possible to stick.
Damn, it seems that after a year here, my slinging has gotten so good that I have taken on added responsibilities and more advanced classes. The better students will now study with me for three hours a week, instead of one like all the other kids, and the focus will be more on speaking and writing. I like equal amounts of speaking, reading, writing, and grammar myself. Now, I will also have to give one test for these special classes at the end of each three month period with a small report detailing the students’ progress.
I didn’t know that my teaching skills would actually end up being utilized for more income for the school, a richer learning environment involving more one on one time with me for the kids, and a bit more work for myself as well. I sometimes think I should have negotiated a better deal before signing my second contract, but this came up the day I returned from my vacation. I also really like teaching these kids who actually want to spend the extra time in my class and aren’t afraid to make mistakes, joke, and have a pretty good time with me while their English improves by leaps and bounds compared to the one hour a week kids (Use it or lose it makes more sense to me all the time.). It almost makes up for the classes where the bad apple spoils the rest, the bumps who would rather sleep than learn anything (including English), or those who are outside their proficiency range, but can’t be placed in their actual levels due to societal and parental influences.