LESSON PLANS AND DAILY JOURNAL

Perhaps because of spoken communication problems with my fellow teachers, I did not learn anything about what I could do. Adopting a philosophy I learned from an EFL master in Seoul, all I could do was “fake it until I make it”. In other words, I had a lot of on the job training to do. Perhaps for a month or so, just adapting to the food, language and culture would be enough. I had had two weeks training in Korean culture and education, but this was real. One teacher later told me there is no “royal road” to language teaching, so just take my mind easy in these classes because my students are just little kids.

I started with book one for all grades and since few classes had the text, I really felt lost. Book one was the very beginning, “A for apple, and Hello, how are you?” Thank God for the flashcards! A Korean teacher who was responsible for English activities in the school and who was my liaison if I had problems elsewhere, had a set of 150 cards which he gave me. I can’t thank him enough. These cards were very valuable. They served as warm-up exercises and later as invaluable aids for all kinds of games. Many lesson plans were built around them. I did make a book buying trip to Seoul to get additional teaching materials, but I concluded I had enough because my students were just beginning to learn. More interesting educational materials are much desired however. I consulted with other English elementary school teachers and they all had their own system. I remember one teacher kept wondering how to teach his students sentences instead of one word utterances.

After a couple of weeks of either agonizing or hilarious classes, it occurred to me that I should keep a journal. My classes were beginning to confuse me because I was doing different things all the time. I needed a systematic approach and I needed lesson plans. I had nothing. I would stare at a page in the textbook for an hour not knowing how to teach that to a grade four class that would soon start. At last, the journal created some order in the week. Eventually, I saw a pattern developing. I used the journal to plan the next week’s lessons. So each journal entry had what I intended to do and what I actually did do. This was very, very useful. Sometimes in one afternoon, I was able to conceive and create a lesson plan for all my classes, for the next week. This gave me a great sense of accomplishment because it freed up my time and reduced a lot stress. I never had to give lesson plans in advance to any teachers, except informally.

I tried very hard to have at least a rough idea of what I was going to say an do, and what might actually happen, before I went into a classroom. If I knew a lesson the next week would require certain materials, I prepared them well in advance. I always had an idea how much time I would spend on each activity. During actual class time, things might take a different course. After I developed this system, I stuck to it. I seldom went into a class not knowing what to do. Of course, at the beginning, I had no idea, but eventually ideas, techniques, and class material began to flow in. The English grade three videos provided a lot of songs, games, and lesson material, so I had to monitor which classes were using which material.

I constantly reviewed and examined my journal and lesson planning book. AS I did so, I found ideas for games and classes. For instance, I could develop a lesson plan I could use for all four grade six classes, a “cookie cutter” or class lesson “formula”. This would not always dovetail, given the abilities and peculiarities of each class, but it did have a definite structure for the limited class time. If the formula was successful, that is, if I felt happy, the Korean teacher and students felt happy after the class, I could use this in grade five or other classes.

Classes are sometimes cancelled or there are school events and exams, so keeping a journal helps keep track of where each class is or is supposed to be. Why should a class miss a really good lesson because they went on a field trip or had an exam? For example, grade four classes were all on Friday morning, and this was a great time for school events etc, so many classes were cancelled. All teachers like having free time from classes. Some think English is free time for them and the native teacher can teach it better than they, so they don’t show up.

If I had an idea for a class but I didn’t know if it would work or not, I usually took the risk and tried it. I would learn from my mistakes in the first class, but by the last class in that grade, I had developed smoother techniques, or the Korean teacher had added something useful.

In March, classes graduate. This is another good reason to keep a journal. There are no tests or exams in English, but the English ability of the students will get better. No use teaching grade three’s lesson material they received the previous year, though the review might not be a bad idea. Any successful class time might be replicated in another class. Testing students might be interesting. I doubt that they know absolutely nothing. There is at least some English in every mind in this school.

I hear a lot about foreign teachers throwing the textbook out on the first day of class and after that I presume they just “wing it” based no doubt on their many years of teaching experience. I would really like to do the same but the only time I can “wing it” is usually when the Korean teacher has more control of teaching the English curriculum. I cannot wing anything in grade one or two. I need a structure and the support of the Korean teacher. I am always conscious of engaging the Korean teacher more in the process of English teaching, but it’s largely up to them. I often help with the classroom English that they use. If a teacher wants to conduct a lesson by themselves, I am very happy to assist them. Usually only teachers who have taken or will take the English Elementary training course will volunteer to do this, but not always. Some have been doing some volunteer English teaching on their own.

The last good reason why a lesson plan and journal is useful is to pass on a record to the next foreign teacher who comes to the school, like this report may do. Korean teachers might be able to read and learn from it if they are really diligent.