FG teaching tips: 'Find someone with pink underwear'

[Taro Toporific]

When stumped, real English teachers 'goflibberate'
The Japan Times: Oct. 9, 2004
...."Don't you have a degree?"
"Yeah. In art history. Then I came to Japan and built a resume of teaching English. Now I'm a veteran. Employers don't question my credentials at all. But if they do, I just say, 'Of course' and ask if they want to see my thesis on 'Locative Marsupials Lingualizing in Post-Traumatic Suffixation.' They always decline.
"It's not that I'm a bad teacher. I'm almost never late -- unless I've been oscillating with purgatorial affricatives. I also have a strong teaching philosophy."
Which is?
"Do what the people with higher degrees do: Follow the damn textbook. After that, conduct lots of people searches. You know . . . 'Find someone with pink underwear,' 'Find someone with an uncle in prison,' and so on. Then, no matter what happens, always -- ALWAYS -- spend 15 minutes taking roll."

[Lifer]

When stumped, real English teachers 'goflibberate'

Seriously LMAO! Great article. I can't even begin to imagine how many FG's can relate to that. I've been here over ten years and have yet to meet an English teacher who actually majored in English or education.

Hell, even after I decided to stop goflibberating and actually teach, it made absolutely no difference. The J teachers even started to treat me worse!! Problem is, now I can't go back to goflibberating!! Damnit!

Dude needs to stop worrying and be thankful that he can breeze by AND find out what color underwear his students are wearing. (Of course - if he wants to know then he's probably been here too long anyway)

[Taro Toporific]

When stumped, real English teachers 'goflibberate'

I've been here over ten years and have yet to meet an English teacher who actually majored in English or education....

Hey, I'm Certified*.


*In ESL/EFL, not like Steve B but neither of us teach.:P


Speaking of teaching, adavanced degrees and certification I just reread this great teaching-in-Japan advice from the FG's at J-List ....

Peter's Generic Information on Teaching in Japan
Wherein the author give some slightly cynical information for would-be ESL teachers in Japan
version 2.85 Updated Aug 2004
...Remember, too, that "taught English for three years in Japan" on your resume carries about as much weight in the eyes of a potential (non-teaching-related) employer as house-sitting....
...Be careful: I don't recommend anyone go get a Masters' in TESL unless you are serious about the field. Overqualification is a big problem in this line of work, and getting too qualified can hurt you more than it helps, amazing as it may seem. I have met PhD's who made less than me (I have a BA), and had a harder time finding jobs because of their advanced degree.

[Steve Bildermann]

[Taro Toporific]

[gomichild]

Wow Steve!

*waits in eager anticipation for the webcam*

English royalty is very inbred. They are quite used to mad outbursts.

[mr. sparkle]

Wear a kilt dude.

[Steve Bildermann]

Wear a kilt dude.

I'm ready

[cliffy]

I am impressed Steve, you have indeed been honoured .
May I ask the field and topic of the lecture?

[Steve Bildermann]

Well it will be one of the social sciences but I haven't got the purview papers yet so I don't know the exact subject.

He has asked me to prepare material on the UK's involvement in promoting the Iraq war and the role the BBC played in it so we could be for some controversial stuff. He like to stir the shit (but hey don't we all)

[American Oyaji]

Steve my man! That is AWESOME!!

And by the way...how much whiskey is a dram?

[Steve Bildermann]

am tempted to also book a flight and show up with some Japanese 'press credentials' et al and, of course, at least one Pongi cam. But this will, most likely, become a MAJOR WORLDWIDE NEWS STORY!!!

Stranger things have hapened

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,983037,00.html

[Steve Bildermann]

And by the way...how much whiskey is a dram?

Generously ignoring an entire line of comedy revolving around the word dram/sdram and computer memory Steve B replied

Well luckliy a dram is whatever the pourer decides it should be

A wee bit of Scotch whisky info

[prancer]

That article made me sick. It is very easy to keep a dictionary and grammar reference in your bookbag. If you don't know something, look it up.

I go into into a classroom about once a day and notice that the teacher before me has left a misspelled word on the whiteboard. Look it up in the freakin' dictionary already - it only takes a minute. I used to feel funny about using references in class, like I was admitting I wasn't as expert on the English language, until the students told me they were happy about it, and shared stories about previous teachers who they knew couldn't be trusted.

Your students keep their notebooks. Sometimes they look up the words to see a dictionary definition, and they DO find out when teachers can't be trusted. They lose respect for you. Don't think for a minute you're getting away with anything.

Please don't use this post as an excuse to start correcting my spelling and grammar on this board - I don't use references when I post, as this board is not a classroom. and rankly I don't care that much.

[omae mona]

mispelled

'nuff said.

[prancer]

mispelled

'nuff said.

Edited and noted. Like I said before, this bb is not my classroom. I actually wasn't sure of the correct spelling when I wrote my original post. Had I been writing on the whiteboard, I would have looked it up.

[dimwit]

That article made me sick. It is very easy to keep a dictionary and grammar reference in your bookbag. If you don't know something, look it up.

Your students keep their notebooks. Sometimes they look up the words to see a dictionary definition, and they DO find out when teachers can't be trusted. They lose respect for you. Don't think for a minute you're getting away with anything.

I think that the level of commitment depends on how much the the students are willing to pay. If I am teaching technical english to a bunch of company engineers who are paying me pretty penny for my time then my planning will be meticulous. If I am teaching a "Are you married" class at an eikaiwa then who really gives a damn?

[kotatsuneko]

mr B - officially cooler than Fonzy