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Author Topic: Textbooks and Outside Sources  (Read 413 times)

Offline Double LT

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Textbooks and Outside Sources
« on: April 12, 2017, 12:51:39 PM »
Hello Waygooks,

I am a new teacher and am curious as to how everybody else teaches their lessons. I teach at five different schools with fourteen different co-teachers, who have their own idea on how I should teach. Fortunately, all the schools use the same textbooks. I mainly teach elementary school but five of my classes are middle school. Because I am new, I follow the textbook materials with my own twist on the content. Eventually, as I get more comfortable, I would like to break away from the core material and use more outside sources. As I said before, what I am mainly curious about is how my more experienced peers do their lessons. I know that each school is different and not everybody has the freedom to choose. What I am really hoping to do is a blend of the two. I want to still refer to the book but also use outside materials to make the lessons interesting and easier to understand.
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Offline LouiseH

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Re: Textbooks and Outside Sources
« Reply #1 on: April 16, 2017, 07:59:47 PM »
I'm a new teacher at a small hagwon (I'm the one foreign teacher, and my boss is the one Korean teacher), and I teach the same eight classes every day, Monday to Friday (elementary school second grade to middle school third grade). I have no textbook, so I have to prepare all my lessons myself! It's challenging, to say the least, and it could take a while to figure out the correct level of English to teach each grade, but I expect to learn a lot in the process. Fortunately there are plenty of resources which can help as far as content is concerned (although finding the correct level is still tricky) but at this stage it feels like an almost impossible task. It will get better in time, but having coursebooks or textbooks would help a lot!
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Offline Double LT

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Re: Textbooks and Outside Sources
« Reply #2 on: April 17, 2017, 03:36:02 PM »
Quote from: LouiseH on April 16, 2017, 07:59:47 PM
I'm a new teacher at a small hagwon (I'm the one foreign teacher, and my boss is the one Korean teacher), and I teach the same eight classes every day, Monday to Friday (elementary school second grade to middle school third grade). I have no textbook, so I have to prepare all my lessons myself! It's challenging, to say the least, and it could take a while to figure out the correct level of English to teach each grade, but I expect to learn a lot in the process. Fortunately there are plenty of resources which can help as far as content is concerned (although finding the correct level is still tricky) but at this stage it feels like an almost impossible task. It will get better in time, but having coursebooks or textbooks would help a lot!

I remember in my TEFL course, they warned us that we might get stuck at a school that won't use/be unable to afford textbooks. They did suggest that we buy our own in those circumstances. I think that would be a good idea because it gives you a sense of structure. You obviously wouldn't have to follow it closely and you could pick and choose what you want to include or not. If you cannot, the internet is your best friend. So many people offer advice and lesson plans that you can build off of. Your situation is unfortunate but I have no doubt that you will take control and be able to teach efficiently. I know that I am new to this, but if you need any help, send me a message and I will help if I can.
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Offline kriztee

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Re: Textbooks and Outside Sources
« Reply #3 on: April 17, 2017, 04:04:51 PM »
Quote from: Double LT on April 17, 2017, 03:36:02 PM
Quote from: LouiseH on April 16, 2017, 07:59:47 PM
I'm a new teacher at a small hagwon (I'm the one foreign teacher, and my boss is the one Korean teacher), and I teach the same eight classes every day, Monday to Friday (elementary school second grade to middle school third grade). I have no textbook, so I have to prepare all my lessons myself! It's challenging, to say the least, and it could take a while to figure out the correct level of English to teach each grade, but I expect to learn a lot in the process. Fortunately there are plenty of resources which can help as far as content is concerned (although finding the correct level is still tricky) but at this stage it feels like an almost impossible task. It will get better in time, but having coursebooks or textbooks would help a lot!

I remember in my TEFL course, they warned us that we might get stuck at a school that won't use/be unable to afford textbooks. They did suggest that we buy our own in those circumstances. I think that would be a good idea because it gives you a sense of structure. You obviously wouldn't have to follow it closely and you could pick and choose what you want to include or not. If you cannot, the internet is your best friend. So many people offer advice and lesson plans that you can build off of. Your situation is unfortunate but I have no doubt that you will take control and be able to teach efficiently. I know that I am new to this, but if you need any help, send me a message and I will help if I can.

I recommend teaching based off the "Everybody Up!" series of books. They have a "starter" book then 6 or 7 levels more. I did an after school program where they gave me those books with no teachers guide and told me to use those all year. I pulled the key words and sentences from the books and made lessons based off of those. They're not expensive and they help a lot.
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Offline LouiseH

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Re: Textbooks and Outside Sources
« Reply #4 on: April 18, 2017, 12:36:30 AM »
Thanks for the advice.  ;D I like the idea of designing my own curriculum, but it takes more time than I have! I'm blessed to have a boss who is kind and understanding (I've read and heard that this is rare) but it's still a lot of work and some (most?) of my students are merciless. (Possibly because I'm a new teacher, and the teacher I'm replacing taught well and was popular among the students.) For now I'll try to make it work using (and adapting) internet resources, but those books could be a good option in the (possibly near) future.  :azn:
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