Excel Beyond Your Job Description

I shouldn't even have to say this, but it's vital to go past the expectation of your employers in any working environment.  This includes doing things such as doing your employers a "favor."  (please don't misinterpret this the wrong way)   When it comes to doing your job, sooner or later your boss or supervisor might will need you to come in to work when it's not during your normal time (or even your day off).  Part of making a good impression is to volunteer for that time slot, even though you are specifically told by your employer you don't have to.  The truth is, if you want to excel, you need to help out your school even when the contract or school says otherwise.  You do not get promoted by just doing your job.  Yes, your school or workplace will like you for doing your job, and doing it well - but if others do their job well, how are you better than the others?

In any job: customer service, student work, or ESL teacher jobs, it is vital to show that you care about your job.   Why?  Initially, it's because of the ethics, but secondly, it will benefit you later, if not sooner.  If you want a transfer to a better location, or a letter of recommendation, doing only your job is not going to get you anywhere; but if you do whatever you can to show that you care, you will be rewarded.

It's understandable if you already have made plans and are unavailable for that time, but if you would rather stick to a contract for some selfish reason, then don't expect them to appreciate you.

Sometimes, your school or workplace may never know you did the right thing to go beyond their expectations, and that's okay.  It beats them knowing if you made an unprofessional or selfish decision.  For example, about a year ago, I was asked by the County Office (of a different location than Chuncheon) that I needed to come into the office that same day to bring in some paperwork he should have asked for when I first got there (and this was 6 months after working there!).  The situation was that the boss of that county was a bit disorganized and needed to show those who have a higher ranking above him, and chose to have a translator ask me at the last minute.  That day was also when I had the most amount of classes.  Since he was the boss of my school's principle, I could technically have gotten away with following orders, and avoiding to teach class.  (Yay - a free day!)  But I always care about doing my job right, and this was something I could not let the county boss get away with.  Since my job was also dependent on following these orders, I chose to tell the translator a simple, yet alternative solution - "Do you have a fax machine?"  To this day, my school never knew about this strange episode of my teaching career.

I'm not saying one should say yes to their boss every time, but show an effort that you care for the one who provides you shelter and pay.  Even when it comes to going to a 2 hour-long dinner, do what you can to say 'yes.'

Video Links - Gogo's Adventures with English

Image from didak.com.br

Need some videos to help give you materials for teaching elementary students?  These videos are used in 학원s as a guide for teachers, but for elementary school teachers, they aren't used as often.  Whether or not your school is willing to purchase these videos, most likely, your school won't own them at the moment.  Here is a free method, you can find them on YouTube without any legal risk on your end.  I have seen these taken down from YouTube before, but this has been up for over a year, so it shouldn't hurt to try to post a link to these.  I hope these are a help to your curriculum classes and/or after-school classes.

1. My Name's Gogo
2. What's His Name?
3. She's My Mother
4. What's This?
5. Is That a Tiger?
6. What Colour is This?
7. What Are They?
8. How Old Are You?
9. How Many Are There?
10. What's the Time, Please?
11. What Do You Like?
12. Do You Like Sausages?
13. Revision
14. Have You Got a Ruler?
15.  Let's Eat
16.  I Can Swim
17. You're Big
18.  We're Hungry
19.  She's Got a Towel
21. Where's Gogo?
20. Unavailable.  Have a link to one? Email me. 
22. What's She Doing?
23. What are We Doing?
24. We're Building a Treehouse
25. Where Are You Going?
26. Revision
27.  May I Have a Blanket?

Solar System Model

This is perhaps one of my favorite lessons.  This is one of my last lessons at my rural school in Hwacheon County, about a month before I transferred to Chuncheon.  Normally, what is done in teaching at public schools is using curriculum which is made by the government, which limits what I want to teach, and gives me such a short amount of time.  The beauty with "camps" (which isn't necessarily camp, but more like a Summer School or English Vacation School) is that you are more free to use your creativity and have more free reign what you want to teach.

These solar system models were designed to be used in the classrooms to be hung from the ceiling so that other Korean teachers can teach them the names and order of the planets.  This was also intended as a farewell gift, so that I could be remembered.

While this is one of my last lessons at this school, this is only the beginning of teaching here in Korea.

If you want to use this lesson plan, I used this to guide me on how to make it:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/astronomy/solarsystemmodel/

And I should mention, I used images for the planets and the Sun from here.  Although, it is worth mentioning, you should copy the images and paste them in a word processor, and re-size them accordingly.  I don't want to be too specific, I'd rather have you figure out the rest on your own to use your creativity.  This is a lot of prep work so that the students can finish it in a decent amount of time.  Even then, it took 2 class periods to finish it, but it was worth it.