So I'm finishing up my 4th week teaching here and I'm wondering if following the textbook is a terrible thing? To give some context, I work at a public school and teach 4-5 40 minute classes a day. I teach 3-5th grades and strictly listening and speaking. My CoTs teach the reading and writing portions of our textbooks. I've successfully introduced some very small things (heads up 7up, four corners, Rosie's Walk story for prepositions) but any large changes and it seems that I lose everyone. Coteacher included.

Is it wrong to coast and just teach to the text? I'm no language expert and this is my first time teaching in a formal setting (I was a youth librarian before this and I made diy'd the shit out of my story times). I'll be starting an online MAT program in June as well. I guess I'm just feeling like this is really easy and so I must be doing something horribly wrong.

You can always use the textbook for a guide and modify activities/list/worksheets to match student level.

Thanks for the responses, I will start planning to include more of the basics for my students for the next week. I definitely feel that my book skips right over what I would consider essential skills for learning English.

I'm lucky in the sense that my co-teacher doesn't just chill at the back of the classroom when we teach so we usually do our own review together, she'll do the textbook questions, I'll do the pronunciation stuff, then I lead the kids in a game. We generally follow the textbook for the teaching parts but the book we use has garbage games most of the time. Typically I come up with a game because the kids aren't into the textbook games. I'll explain the game to my co-teacher the day before so she knows what's going on and she can help translate to the kids if they're super lost, but usually I have at least one hagwon kid in the class who helps translate to the other kids.

I guess in short, the textbook knows what it's doing for the teaching, but do your own thing with the games/activities.

I would love the chance to collaborate with my coteachers. I have 11 and while some are on the same lesson others are not at all.

So I'm finishing up my 4th week teaching here and I'm wondering if following the textbook is a terrible thing? To give some context, I work at a public school and teach 4-5 40 minute classes a day. I teach 3-5th grades and strictly listening and speaking. My CoTs teach the reading and writing portions of our textbooks. I've successfully introduced some very small things (heads up 7up, four corners, Rosie's Walk story for prepositions) but any large changes and it seems that I lose everyone. Coteacher included.

Is it wrong to coast and just teach to the text? I'm no language expert and this is my first time teaching in a formal setting (I was a youth librarian before this and I made diy'd the shit out of my story times). I'll be starting an online MAT program in June as well. I guess I'm just feeling like this is really easy and so I must be doing something horribly wrong.

You might be losing control because they may not understand your directions or what you're trying to do which is your CT's job since they can explain things in Korean to the students.  If your CT is getting it, maybe what your doing isn't being explained well or the explanations just need to be simplified. 

Middle school more freedom to teach your own materials based on the book without having to use the dreaded book in class.  Kids get bored anyways when you do.  In Elementary, you have to use the book.  If you have high level kids, you can teach the book more quickly.  Check the understanding briefly and move on.  Less need to repeat and drill over and over if the kids levels are high; they'll just be bored out of their minds.  Get through the required parts quickly.  I try to get it done in 28 to 30 minutes in a 40 minute class and spend the other 10 minutes doing my own crap (games, ppts, exercises, etc).  If you're stuck with an old school teacher that wants to repeat and practice everything to death even if the kids are above the book level and she uses yelling and extreme discipline to make them listen, even when they're bored, you got to co teach the book for the entire 40 minutes no matter how unbeneficial it is.  It depends on how much flexibility you get.  Most teachers are flexible, a few are not. 

Middle School is more work and preparation of your own materials, but you own it and own the class.  Kids will talk more and you have to be willing to talk over the noise as well as get the baddest kids to sit in the back and ignore them.  Both have their pros and cons, I guess.  Sometimes, I did the listen and speak part for one week for 30 mintues of a 45 minute period.  Then, for the next two weeks made my own games and activities based on that chapter and did my own thing.  Elementary is less work in some ways but more monotonous.  Middle is much more work if you want to actually be prepared and have decent classes.  Some folks only do a section of the book and wonder why the kids are bored and out of control.  Their price to pay for laziness I guess.  Personally, I like have more freedom in my lessons that middle gives me.  This year I'm doing elementary and feel less tired and like I'm doing less work, cause I have little extra prep to do.  Plus classes are 5 minutes shorter.  Pros and cons.