Former FT in China
- 2016-07-15
I can see you're more of a "live to work" type of bloke than I ever
was as a teacher. That's good.
Not really. At the risk of sounding like a complete idiot, I'm paid to do a job so I do it to the best of my ability. Right now I am doing a summer-camp and teaching ESL to grade 7 kids. 14 years old and many have zero or little spoken English ability. Therefore, right now Mr Bean is a godsend, lol.
I never did any summer camps. I liked to spend my long summer breaks not working. Obviously you and I are different people. I would describe myself as a retired 'coaster'. I quickly found out that money could be earned here teaching few classes, just like a parttime job in the west, but the money was decent when compared with the low cost of living.
However, each to their own. I think China has something to offer everyone who teaches. I used to have your work philosophy, but I changed. I care not if others slag me off for my attitude. I stopped being a people pleaser years ago!
paul fox
- 2016-07-15
I can see you're more of a "live to work" type of bloke than I ever
was as a teacher. That's good.
Not really. At the risk of sounding like a complete idiot, I'm paid to do a job so I do it to the best of my ability. Right now I am doing a summer-camp and teaching ESL to grade 7 kids. 14 years old and many have zero or little spoken English ability. Therefore, right now Mr Bean is a godsend, lol.
Former FT in China
- 2016-07-15
Sorry FT, but I have to disagree with you on this one. In classes where there's a vast difference in the language ability of students, Mr Bean is an excellent tool to use. There's no dialogue for the kids to focus on and so their English ability level matters not. They all get to enjoy the show with the same level of understanding.
In my experience the lower-level kids also feel a tad more confident when the time comes for me to elicit dialogue from them.
As for being bored, we're teachers, we're paid to be bored. However, we're not paid to be boring.
Okay, I'm no longer paid to be boring or enthralling or whatever else as a teacher, as I'm retired. I can see you're more of a "live to work" type of bloke than I ever was as a teacher. That's good.
paul fox
- 2016-07-15
If I am bored to death by a TV show, as I am by 'Mr Bean', there's no way I'll incorporate it
into my teaching. I can teach body language and gestures by using photos downloaded from
the Internet. I needn't utilize 'Mr Bean' to do so!
Sorry FT, but I have to disagree with you on this one. In classes where there's a vast difference in the language ability of students, Mr Bean is an excellent tool to use. There's no dialogue for the kids to focus on and so their English ability level matters not. They all get to enjoy the show with the same level of understanding.
In my experience the lower-level kids also feel a tad more confident when the time comes for me to elicit dialogue from them.
As for being bored, we're teachers, we're paid to be bored. However, we're not paid to be boring.
Former FT in China
- 2016-07-14
If I am bored to death by a TV show, as I am by 'Mr Bean', there's no way I'll incorporate it into my teaching. I can teach body language and gestures by using photos downloaded from the Internet. I needn't utilize 'Mr Bean' to do so!
PhD teacher
- 2016-07-14
There's no doubt that showing Mr Bean can elicit lots of English if you know what you are doing. What was Mr Bean thinking? What would he have said? A million ways of getting good English from Mr Bean. Unimaginative or low level English teachers like your South African should avoid Bean though.
Former FT in China
- 2016-07-14
At my last school, a South African FT who was a non-white taught 'Mr Bean'. He said that was because the pupils liked it.
But his English was substandard. He was a non native speaker of English from the Capetown slums.
Non native speakers of English with poor English, usually from Russia or Africa, often choose to teach 'Mr Bean'.