One month ago, I had the feeling that there were going to be fewer students registered at school, and I was proven right. At that time, I approached the head teacher (SL) and the counsellors and mentioned I wouldn't mind going part-time if necessary. For a while, it looked like that was what they were going with. (I'd explained to them that I was trying to 'help out' by volunteering to go part-time.)
However, now with fewer students and classes indeed, I was kept on as a full-timer (despite my generous offer; not that I'm complaining or anything...). I am teaching my career program in the morning, but am now doing mostly curriculum development in the afternoon. (The school chose to lay off one teacher and reduce the hours of another.) Doing curriculum prep stuff is okay, but I got a chance to hang out with my morning students when they came out to do Steve's in-class assignment on the computer. Good times.
Today I got to substitute conversation and writing classes in the afternoon, something I hadn't done for years. And it was a big contrast indeed. In the career programs, it's serious and academic. In the ESL programs with conversation and writing, it's more about having fun and being friendly with students, making jokes and laughing. Totally different.
What the normal writing teacher had taught the day before was how to write party invitations. Thus, my task was to follow up with that, and what I did was review the students' work, encourage them, and then teach them how to respond to an invitation, formal vs. informal responses, sample sentences, and then a 10-minute game to cap off the lesson. Easy. Anyone can do it. Sounds like a $10 an hour job, as opposed to what these teachers actually make.
My conclusion? Yup - ESL teachers are indeed paid too much. It didn't take me much time to prep for those classes and deliver good lessons. For my career programs, it's about being prepared with hardcore materials, marking papers, and evaluating presentations and offering constructive feedback--more work involved.
Well, we'll see how it goes next week...
"Showing Their Scales" and "The Hockey Farmer"
We are pleased to introduce the works of local B.C. authors KP Wee and Farhan Devji to you:
"Showing Their Scales" contains three tales of lies, lust, and deception. These are short novels which deal with betrayal and revenge, with three main male characters and how they end up hurting the women in their lives.
**Catch an episode of BlogTalkRadio here with KP's interview on his books, recorded Dec 29, 2008.**
"The Hockey Farmer" is a story about Logan Watt, who hails from Cochrane, Alberta, and has to decide whether to rehabilitate the legendary family farm or pursue an unlikely career in professional hockey. The story also shifts to Vancouver and contains numerous Vancouver Canucks references.
Help support a pair of B.C. authors by picking up your own copies today!
-- "The Hockey Farmer" can be purchased here,
while "Showing Their Scales" can be bought here. --
"Showing Their Scales" contains three tales of lies, lust, and deception. These are short novels which deal with betrayal and revenge, with three main male characters and how they end up hurting the women in their lives.
**Catch an episode of BlogTalkRadio here with KP's interview on his books, recorded Dec 29, 2008.**
"The Hockey Farmer" is a story about Logan Watt, who hails from Cochrane, Alberta, and has to decide whether to rehabilitate the legendary family farm or pursue an unlikely career in professional hockey. The story also shifts to Vancouver and contains numerous Vancouver Canucks references.
Help support a pair of B.C. authors by picking up your own copies today!
-- "The Hockey Farmer" can be purchased here,
while "Showing Their Scales" can be bought here. --
The Hockey Farmer / Showing Their Scales
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Brief Resume Highlights
Writing Experience
- Bleacher Report: contribute articles on the Vancouver Canucks, Boston sports, hockey, and baseball at least three times a week (2007-Present); edit sports-related articles from other posters (2008-Present)
- UCL: developed Career Planning curriculum (2007); consulted on for other curricula issues (2005-Present)
- Consumer Research: submitted unsolicited proposals for improvements on company operations (2005)
- B.U.D. College: developed Grammar curriculum consisting of five levels (2004); edited curricula for other courses (2004)
- KGIC: developed Career Planning curriculum proposal for Surrey campus (2004)
Writing Accomplishments
- Named Bleacher Report Bruins Community Leader (2008)
- Bleacher Report: contribute articles on the Vancouver Canucks, Boston sports, hockey, and baseball at least three times a week (2007-Present); edit sports-related articles from other posters (2008-Present)
- UCL: developed Career Planning curriculum (2007); consulted on for other curricula issues (2005-Present)
- Consumer Research: submitted unsolicited proposals for improvements on company operations (2005)
- B.U.D. College: developed Grammar curriculum consisting of five levels (2004); edited curricula for other courses (2004)
- KGIC: developed Career Planning curriculum proposal for Surrey campus (2004)
Writing Accomplishments
- Named Bleacher Report Bruins Community Leader (2008)
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