The new job.

I finished my last Friday class of my second week at Dong Eui, just 30 minutes ago. So far the experience of being a university teacher has been in superior to my previous job in almost every way. The one glaring difference is that my university students actually have a lot less English than my hogwan students did. The first week was great. Most of the students didn't have the textbook for the first class. So I focused on a series of introduction and interview activities so I could assess their levels. Most of them could put together basic sentences, but they were struggling to go beyond that point. My first Monday classes suffered a little bit because I am so used to teaching higher levels students. It took me a day to reassess and readjust my teaching activities and vocabulary to a point where I could carry out a a successful and entertaining lesson. However, the great thing is that I (like most of the new teachers) am teaching the basic freshmen classes. This means that I have the same lesson plan for the entire week. It may get a bit boring (although I try to keep in interesting by including my own additions), but it means that by the middle of the week I have the lesson down and I can teach the students at my best. Poor Monday morning class will always get my "practice lesson" while the Friday class will get the lesson at it's best.
This week I got stuck into the textbook. It's quite a good book, with a variety of teaching methods included in every chapter. Also, it does a good job of filling up most of a two hour lecture. With just enough time to add in one or two of my own activities. I really enjoyed the activity I added this week. I borrowed the activity from another teacher here Basically I get the students to make up an imaginary character. A lot of them will choose to be Brad Pitt or something of the like, but I encourage a fully imaginary character. The class is then divided into boys and girls (part of the fun is that lots of the "boys" and "girls" are played by girls and boys). They then have two minutes to meet 4-5 other students and have a "speed date." I have the "boys" rotate to meet different girls and I keep the pace fast so they don't get bored. Afterwards I ask the students about their best and worst dates. Its especially entertaining have the students explain why they loved a guy who is playing a girl (or visa versa). They all get a huge laugh from it and I try to egg them on by finding "love triangles" of students with the same first preference. Koreans are mad for dating shows and also really competitive as a culture. So when you combine the two it gets even taciturn students involved. I model a whole series of questions before they go dating. But even so, there were a couple of classes where this really pushed the limits of their abilities. Unfortunately, the more students I have the more limited my ability to create "basic" English activities which work with minimal supervision.
Anyway, I feel like I have made a positive first impression on most of my classes. Which will be important when it comes time for my contract to be renewed.
Next week I start teaching the "institute classes." These classes are for university students who want extra English tuition. They are pretty much like a standard hogwan class actually. About 10 students, a textbook and conversation activities. However, even if it is an extra hour of class every day, I think it will be a positive experience. Firstly, my freshman classes are too large to build relationships with the students. So, the institute classes will allow me to do better, more focused teaching. Secondly, the classes pay $25 an hour, which should really improve my paycheck.
Anyway, the new job is working out really well. I enjoy most of my classes and now that I am starting to get my feet under me I have a lot more time in my work day to improve my teaching.