One of the perks of teaching in the UK are the holidays. All that time off to fully recover from dealing with little people and their snotty noses, whining, whinging and constant need for attention. So it's bliss....Well Korea has a different attitude. Well for native English teachers anyway.
So roll on holiday...YAY...NO! Whilst the majority of the teachers at my school have about 5-6 weeks off, I don't....balls. Not only that but I am obliged to fill up this holiday time with English Camps. ...what are they...well,basically, it's more school for these poor kids. Parents would rather stick their kids in these extra school camps than look after them during their holiday. Which means that I have to plan and run extra classes. Now it sounds like i'm whining...it's because I am. I didn't enjoy it.
Here's how it broke down:
Week 1: Hermes Camp....this is a camp set up by my city's Office of Education that enables families who can't afford to send their kids to private academies or can't get them into their schools English Camps. It's made up of a variety of different schools and there are 6 native English teachers along with a dozen Korean teachers involved in organising the camp.
My role is simple. Prepare 1 lesson for 6 different classes...3 higher level and 3 lower level classes, so it's really straightforward. I'm given the topic of dreams, but I decided to change my topic to monsters....who doesn't like Monsters.
The week goes by and it's a real blast...the kids are a lot of fun and because you're like all new like shiny new toy, you kinda feel like a rock star with all the attention. Plus you're done by 1230 so it's all good.
That was a fun week....started high...the only way was DOWN...and down it went.....
The next 2 weeks are my schools English Camps...week 1 3rd and 4th Grade; Week 2 5th and 6th Grade. All with the same Korean teacher, Josephine, whom I have never worker with.
Everything is all set. 21 students signed up. There are 4 classes per day, I have all my materials, Ice breakers, PPTS. I'm set....ready for my 9am start, 3 hours. Bring It!
0915: 3 students have shown up. HUH???!!! By the end of the day 7 students stumble in over the 3 hours. My entire first day was ruined and I completely winged it. The week follows the same pattern with 12 being the highest number of students I get on any one day and that was on the last day. GRRRRRRRRRRR.
On the flip side there were some adorable students there who really tried hard and I had some fun moments.
These were from probably the sweetest little girl I have ever met in my entire life....It made a tough week seem a little bit more worthwhile.
Week 2: Expecting 21 students again.........20 show up. Great! But they're 5th and 6th grade (12 and 13yrs old) so they do not want to be there and they can't put down their phones for love nor money...and there's no one more unpopular than the teacher that bans phones. So it was always an uphill battle from the start and I really lost interest after the first day. A really long week.
I had the same Korean teacher for the whole camp....I found out that she got the sack shortly before the Camp started, which is why I found her to be a bit useless....I heard she was great to work with...but when she walks out of the room to do something and then I find her and she's on Facebook I really wanted to scream a bit.
Chalk it down as an experience and when the next Camps come along in the Summer at least I'll be a bit more experienced and have either a better plan or a shotgun! Either option would be better than what I went through....
I have to also say that I am in the minority and teachers here in Korea generally like these Camps. I know a lot of people who really look forward to them and have a lot of fun. Think I was just a bit unlucky....and seeing as I have to do them, then I might as well get used to it.
Laters folks....
