Introductions

[cmtaylor]

Hi,

I'm in Korea for the first time and I'm just about to start teaching in my new school. I've been asked to prepare a small presentation about myself so that I can introduce myself to the students. I was just wondering if anyone else had done something similar and what kind of things they included? What will the students be most interested in knowing about? What games/activities could I run alongside my presentation?

Thanks

[shshin]

Hi! I am new to teaching in public schools and have not taught yet thus far but during my orientation, one of the lecturers prepared a powerpoint presentation where he told two to three truth and one lie and the students had to guess which was was the lie.

Also, during orientation, I was told that it was a good idea to really include authentic pictures. I was told students were really interested in your life and the things you have done and have seen. Personally I would organize my powerpoint to where I'm from and include a picture and show them a picture of your family, saying things such as, "I have one older sibling... this is him..."

Hope this helps!  :)

[jejunate]

Make a powerpoint with some basic information about yourself.  Then include a ton of pics of your family, your city, your old school, etc.  The students love it.  Then let them ask questions about you (be prepared, they will ask you how much you weigh, if you have ever had a gf/bf, etc.  Then have them each tell you one thing about themselves.  (you'll get a lot of I like soccer).

Good Luck!

[rockiavelli]

I'm also having the students group up by level.  Each group will have one higher level, one lower level, and two medium level students, or that's the plan.  Then I'm giving them this handout to do...

That way I only have to memorize the group names.  I go from 40 names to 10 that way, and they kids can peer teach if all goes well.

[sarahk]

I bet your students are wondering about their teacher. Why don't you show your pictures with your history?
Get their attention with your story and make them trust you.
If you can get their attention on your first day, you can make your teaching easy.

[Paul]

I'd just engage them as the presentation goes along. So, for example: What country are you from? When I do this, I ask the question, then start to answer, stop, and ask them to guess. Consider showing them a bunch of houses including unusual styles and a couple of Korean style ones: which one could be yours? Throw them a sticker or something if they're correct. If you lack authentic pictures, exaggerate the truth. All my students for example have seen the photo of my [former neighbour's] cat.

This is also where you get to tell them what to call you. You'll always get just "teacher" in addition, but if you want to lay down the rules for your other title (Mr/Ms Surname or Surname-선생님 for instance) this is the time to do it. When you introduce your hobbies, ask them what their hobbies and sports are, then reveal yours. I'm Australian so for me its dead easy, I show lots of pictures of bizarro animals. Try to pick some iconic and ideally surprising images from home and show them. If you're American, then you might have to lean towards the local level to find something they haven't heard of.

Yeah, expect to be asked about whether you're married/single etc. You can choose to not respond ("It's a secret") if you want. Personally I tell all my students I'm married to the sea. Another common question is "Do you like kimchi?" The correct answer is "Yes."

Finally, this is your opportunity to be a hard-arse. Be nice, open, sure... but it is also a very good time to state your rules and expectations of the students. I would discuss this part with your co-teacher.

Oh, and avoid Prezi. I made that mistake. Prezi is glorious, beautiful, amazing, engaging and all that, but once you set that standard, you'll get asked for more...

[lpaek]

For mine i also did a presentation.

I started it by introducing where i am from, my college, my family, and then i had 3 slides oh things i love. I said that i loved to travel, indian food, and the color pink. On the last slide, I asked the students to go around and answer 4 questions.

1. what is your name?
2. what is your favorite thing to do?
3. what is your favorite food?
4.what is your favorite color?

[skiptomylu]

Like most have said, students love it if you can show pictures of yourself and family

[tomshrimpling]

Just done my powerpoint and it worked really well. Ill upload it soon - but just make it personal!

[jackygor]

I am curious as to what kind of ground rules needs to be setup?

[theirieproject]

I just did a short presentation about my home, family, and hobbies.  Then I tested the children's listening comprehension my quizzing them about myself and rewarding correct answers with candy. Then I gave them a quick worksheet to test their ability to read and write, while simultaneously gaining info about their interests. 

[theirieproject]

Here is a download of the worksheet I made to get to know the students and test their reading and writing ability.  Some students found it very easy, while others struggled with it:

[dtschaeff]

I'm teaching for the first time too.  I basically included pictures of my family, pets, things i like to do, where I'm from etc. I also put in lots of funny pictures of me doing the thing to make the kids laugh :)

Hi! I am new to teaching in public schools and have not taught yet thus far but during my orientation, one of the lecturers prepared a powerpoint presentation where he told two to three truth and one lie and the students had to guess which was was the lie.

Also, during orientation, I was told that it was a good idea to really include authentic pictures. I was told students were really interested in your life and the things you have done and have seen. Personally I would organize my powerpoint to where I'm from and include a picture and show them a picture of your family, saying things such as, "I have one older sibling... this is him..."

Hope this helps!  :)

[cornucrapia]

I'm about to do my first class, 40 minutes with 5th graders, and then another 40 minutes with 6th graders.
I did an introductory slideshow about myself, where I'm from, what I like, pictures of my family (all legit pictures) as well as an overview of some basic classroom rules. My previous teacher had apparently taught the students 1-2-3 eyes on me and 4-5-6 close your lips, so I included slides for that. I also included slides on yellow and red cards, which they should understand from soccer, and my previous teacher had also used. Finally, I plan to bring a printout of classroom rules, in Korean and English, that a trainer for my program (TaLK) shared with me. I've attached it below, hope it's helpful!

[vbee]

I had made a ppt presentation...including a picture of myself as a child, where i'm from, my family, my dog, what i like to do, what i don't like, my favoraite color, and my favorite kpop group. And during the presentation i'm planning to interact with the students by asking them questions...what is your favorite color? and so on. Then I will go over classroom rules, consequences, and reward system. Good luck!

[daithi]

Hi, I'm new to Korea and new to teaching Kids. Teaching in Seoul in an Elemntary school and I've 32 hours a week  ??? But so far i'm liking it. Kids are a handful but i can tell i'll grow to love them over time.

First calss i set the rules and point system for good and bad behaviour in place and it's standing to me so far. In a couple of weeks i may lighten up but for now its Drill Master Seargent Role.

[StopTheMadness]

4 corners works well for this. Use questions like 'where am I from?', 'how old am I?', 'what was my major?' etc., assign each answer a corner of the room and then get kids to go to the corner which they think is the right answer.

[mchau87]

First impressions are important in Korea as anywhere. Take the opportunity to tell your students a bit about who you are. Be selective though -- while you don't want to come off as an enigma, you don't want to tell them about that one time you lost your wallet at McDonald's.

Definitely include pictures if you can though. My students especially like pictures of food and animals. Also conclude with a quiz game (with candy rewards) or some sort of icebreaker if you can. It'll really start you off on the right foot!

[teach_u]

I created a Power Point slideshow with some information about myself with actual pictures of me with my family and friends.  I gave four options about some things that the children had to guess about me.  Some examples include: Where am I from?  What is (place you're from) known for?  Which one is my pet? Who is in my family?  What is my favorite color? What is my favorite food?  What is my favorite holiday? What do I like to do for fun? and so on.  During some slides, I asked the children the same questions to learn more about them.  At the end of the slideshow, I had "What do you remember about me?"  and listed the questions I included throughout the slideshow.  The children really enjoyed the slideshow and remembered everything about me.

P.S.- I included slides about my favorite K-pop group and K-dramas, and the children loved it!