Goodbye elementary...Hello Middle/High school - SHOULD I?

[0mnslnd]

I need to decide between playing it safe and taking a risk. (Gyeongbuk Province)
 
Should I stay at my current elementary school -good school, being treated well -
or
ask to be transferred to a Middle/High school for my next contract.

I know there are plenty of threads about teaching different ages,but no satisfying answer for this situation


Elementary vs Middle/High School ....regarding..
-free time
-more / less workload
-educating clown or actual teaching
-etc.

Please share your personal experience and/or advice with me. I am so confused

[TriKorea]

A few questions for you....
Are you bored at your school?
Do you like young children?

Does what you want to do after teaching in Korea have anything to do with kids? What age group?
Is there any future benefit to you teaching at a different grade level?


"if it ain't broke, don't fix it" If your happy, why change!? If you move up to ms or hs, you will have to create all new lesson plans, instead of reuse yours. GL

[0mnslnd]

Thank you for your reply.

I am rather bored here, yes. I enjoy the free time but I don't like the actual time spent in the classes entertaining. Not job satisfying at all.

I like only the grade 1's and 6's, not in between.

I would probably teach afterwards, preferably older students.

:. There is no guarantee that my future principal and vice principal will treat me as well as my current ones. That's what I'm concerned about ...each school is a lucky packet - you never know what you're gonna get.

Most importantly, is High School harder work than Elementary?
I don't mind productive work, but ...

[MissC]

Here's my experience switching from elementary to secondary. (and for what it's worth, I've never regretted it).

-free time
-more / less workload
I've found that work expands to fill the time. At elementary school I was planning 10+ lessons a week, but most were based on a standard book, and for a lot of them I could just adapt material from this site.
Now I only plan three lessons a week, but I make them from scratch. Most of the materials here are too ppt-based or difficult.

-educating clown or actual teaching
180 degree reverse! At my elementary school we taught out of the books and my coteacher fed the students the answers, even during the speaking test. No accountability at all.
Now I have total control over my classes. No one's even suggested any changes, which I take to mean they like what I do, or they just don't care. I like the responsibility because it means I don't have to accept failure. If most students haven't mastered something I repeat it in a different way the next week.

-etc.
The one thing I miss is the friendships I had with the teachers at my elementary school. They were the sort of people who chose to teach little kids - i.e. friendly, nurturing, outgoing. We had tea time every morning  and I got to know them well. At middle and high school, everyone's doing their own thing.

[TriKorea]

I would say move up!!

I'm in MS, and I find it quite easy.... I enjoy lesson planning and have a very laid back school. Also my c-t is great!

[0mnslnd]

180 degree reverse! At my elementary school we taught out of the books and my coteacher fed the students the answers, even during the speaking test. No accountability at all.
Now I have total control over my classes.

Thank you very much. Your insight might change my life. Everything you said seems very promising.
I'd love having control over classes again (worked at a hagwon before). I got really, really tired of being a
go-getter and a classroom ghost 

[flukeriffic]

To answer your questions...

Free time:
It varies, but during an average week, I usually have about 2 hours or so of free time. I use the 2 hours to lesson plan for the most part. Midterms and Finals week are awesome though, and I get a ton of free time during the exams.

Workload:
I'd say, higher than most elementary school teachers, but not as much as a Hagwon teacher. I teach 22 hours a week, and make 5-6 lesson plans a week. My Middle school does levels for 1st and 3rd grade. So I make a lesson plan for 1A, 1B, 3A, 3C, and 2nd grade classes.

Education clown/Actual teaching:
I get to teach the Listen and Talk section of my textbook, and since that is only about 3 or 4 pages, I always supplement it with my own activities (role-plays, bomb games, running dictation, etc.). I definitely feel like a teacher. My co-teachers are helpful with discipline, and the occasional translating (for lower-level classes), but I would say that I'm in charge of the class. All lesson planning is done by me, and I make the presentations (or modify/take from Waygook...hehe) myself. My co-teachers will help me run activities, but for the most part, they either sit down and do their own work, or run in and out of class every 10 minutes or so (can be a little frustrating at times).

Main difference that you will probably get at Middle School is behaviour. Students at my school behave well for the most part, but I taught at a summer camp for elementary school and the difference was noticeable. Elementary school kids are way better behaved/likely to settle down than Middle school kids are. On Fridays, I teach 5 classes, all-boys, 35-40 students, and they can be a handful. I love their enthusiasm, but the noise levels can get out of hand sometimes. Basically, when they're into your lesson, it's awesome. When they could care less? It's pretty awful. I also feel like I can relate more to my kids than I would with the younger ones at an Elementary school.

Anyway, that's my two cents worth. As you know, it's Korea, so your experience will all depend on a roll of the dice pretty much. Good luck!

[i_am_a_toaster]

I have to disagree strongly with the earlier posts.  Why would you want to give up a good thing for the off chance that you might have ,"more challenging" work elsewhere?

Free Time:  I have at least 15 hours a week at school when I'm not in class.   I usually average five hours a week of free-time  as an elementary school teacher.   My co-teachers teach to the book and I'm there to coach them on proper pronouncation and to make interesting lessons.

Education Clown/ Actual Teaching:  I personally have fun goofing off and creating entertaining activities for younger elementary learners.  You can't be afraid of embarrassing yourself in front of some young kids.  Their just kids for gosh sakes.  Part of the reason why we are here is to ignite a passion for learning English by making in fun.   Being a "education clown"  means that your playing your part to make your activities more enjoyable for the children, who in turn, intrinsically complete the schoolwork.

In middle school classes, you may not have the creative flexibility to liven up the often dry textbook lessons that many co-teachers rely on.  It's up to your new Korean co-teacher how much freedom you will have in your classroom.

While the content you are expected to teach is simple enough, you can easily see the impact of your efforts with younger learners.

Middle School:   I agree with flukeriffic about Middle School behavior to a point.  There are some middle-schools in Korea that are complete nightmares to teach at because of a variety of socio-economic environmental reasons.    Think about this way,  twenty kids entering puberty eager to rebel against authority and a few mainstreamed mental disorder kids.   Middle school students also start attending hagwons and are super stressed out from the unrealistic workload.  Those that don't misbehave might sleep in class due to sheer exhaustion.   

Make a recognizable difference in their life.  Stay in elementary school.   

[DWAEDGIMORIGUKBAP]

Goodbye energetic, positive, enthusiastic and generally well behaved elementary kids and hello bratty, exhausted, silent zombie middle school kids!

Is that something you can hear yourself saying?

[korr]

I taught elementary for two years and currently teach at both a middle school and a high school.

Free Time:
You will absolutely have more down time because of test days, week-long field trips, etc. I also teach fewer hours now because my current schools are much smaller than my elementary school. However, you will not have most of the afternoon off like you probably do in elementary school, and if you teach at a larger high school, it is entirely possible that you will have one or two days with five 50-minute classes.

More/Less Workload:
I work less here. I would say middle school is slightly less work than elementary in terms of lesson planning. High school is a toss-up. If you end up at a vocational school like I did, you're not going to have much work. If you end up at a competitive academic school or a foreign language school, you're probably going to have as much or more as you did in elementary.

Clowning vs. Teaching:
You will almost certainly NOT teach the textbook in high school and will probably not give grades to your students, which means that your students will view your class as free time or naptime unless they're unusually motivated or you find a way to make it interesting. The middle schools seem to be about half textbook teaching and half teaching whatever you want. I absolutely have to do more clowning around with my vocational high schoolers than with my very driven third grade middle schoolers, so again, it's going to depend on where you get placed.

Other Stuff:
If you have a good relationship with your current coteachers and you're sure they're going to stay at your elementary school next year, think very hard about whether you really want to switch schools. Odds are you will have no idea what situation you're going into and what kind of coteachers you'll get.

Also, elementary schoolers are much more responsive and enthusiastic, and you can guarantee that you're going to have at least some interested kids in every class. That goes away in middle school and especially in high school, when they start separating the kids into different schools based on interest and ability. It's entirely possible you will get switched into a very low-level high school, in which case you'll have the same level of English you have now, but with much less enthusiastic students.

If you absolutely do want to switch, I'd recommend middle school. You have a good mix of older and younger students, and it should give you an idea of whether or not you want to do high school or not.

Sorry, that was long-winded. Good luck either way. ^^ 

[Driver 8]

It's entirely possible you will get switched into a very low-level high school, in which case you'll have the same level of English you have now, but with much less enthusiastic students.

Raises hand.  That is probably true in my situation.  And I've wondered if I might prefer teaching elementary here, even though my training has prepared me for secondary.  But then I get a look at some of the subject matter of the elementary lesson plans (It would be hard to for me to be enthusiasitc about teaching the alphabet) and even worse,  the management techniques (Sorry, but I'm not the kind of teacher who is going to set up a chart and sticker system for the students),  and I end up saying, no.

I'm curious though.  Who started in secondary and found that elementary was actually more enjoyable?

[MissC]

Goodbye energetic, positive, enthusiastic and generally well behaved elementary kids and hello bratty, exhausted, silent zombie middle school kids!

Is that something you can hear yourself saying?

I left behind my bratty, energetic, destructive, misbehaving, and occasionally enthusiastic elementary kids and traded them in for friendly, interesting, and well mannered middle school students. There are a few bad apples, but they sit in the back and don't disturb the class.

I teach rurally, so perhaps city students are different.

[DWAEDGIMORIGUKBAP]

Goodbye energetic, positive, enthusiastic and generally well behaved elementary kids and hello bratty, exhausted, silent zombie middle school kids!

Is that something you can hear yourself saying?

I left behind my bratty, energetic, destructive, misbehaving, and occasionally enthusiastic elementary kids and traded them in for friendly, interesting, and well mannered middle school students. There are a few bad apples, but they sit in the back and don't disturb the class.

I teach rurally, so perhaps city students are different.

Is the correct answer.

[orangeman]

I think it depends on several factors.

1) What kind of person are you?  Personally, I prefer elementary here because I would rather have enthusiasm over ability and I don't mind making a bit of a fool of myself in class to get a point across.  And I have to stop there and say I find it kind of offensive this idea that if you're comical, animated and friendly in class you're some sort of clown.  That's what elementary education is about.  I'm not talking about having the kids throw pies at you, I'm talking about speaking in a funny voice for a role play or playing the fool while demonstrating an activity, for example.  If you're able to set aside your ego for a few minutes and have some fun while maintaining ground rules, then elementary is for you.  Plus for me, I find misbaving 10 year olds much more forgivable than misbehaving 15 year olds.  So it's good for my sanity, too.  I've only dealt with middle/high school kids at hogwans and other after-school classes and I could not handle the stone faces, the silence, the arrogance, the hormones.  But that's just me!

2) If you have a good relationship with your school it's pretty deangerous to throw your chips back on the roullette table now.  As we all know, it could end up all sorts of ways.  I understand the need to move on and try new things, though.  Consider if losing all the 'perks' you have now is worth it, because chances are you will lose them, not to mention forge new relationships. 

3) Will your Office of Education let you change?  I know with SMOE you have to stay at one school for 3 years before you change, and now they're moving all the high school teachers to middle and elementary so I doubt it would happen.  If you're thinking about going to another area to start again, consider all the paperwork associated with starting a new subject.  Also, will you get the benefits of staying with your school (raised severance, bonus holidays, etc.). 

Anyway, all things to think about.  There is the option of trying to network to find a good middle/high school that hires directly and going there instead.  It would really limit all the unknowns.  Korea is all about networking, maybe you need to log another year at your school to work some magic first (not sure how long you've been here).  Anyway, good luck.