[emile]

I'm wondering what kind of mistakes the people here made when they were newbie teachers. In my case it was probably everything in the book.

Anyone wanna share?

[Eric]

Fun question!

Since moving to Korea my spelling has become (checks dictionary) atrocious. Once I misspelled (checks dictionary) badminton only to have my 12 year old student point out the mistake. Very (checks dictionary) embarrassing!

[mesmark]

Most of my mistakes were/are trying to explain something in Japanese. Everyone went/goes away none the wiser.

Just 2 weeks ago I was showing a picture of an eel (and it isn't really the best cartoon eel) and I repeated told them it was a cricket. They didn't seem to want to believe me and I thought it was because the picture was a little misleading.

Last year I told my nursing school students "asthma" was a "brassband performance."

a brassband performance that causes shortness of breath, wheezing and can be life-threatening.

[livinginkorea]

Quote Eric

Fun question!

Since moving to Korea my spelling has become (checks dictionary) atrocious. Once I misspelled (checks dictionary) badminton only to have my 12 year old student point out the mistake. Very (checks dictionary) embarrassing!

That's when I say, "Good job! John is paying attention! A special point for him"

[livinginkorea]

I made the mistake of not being strict in my first few classes. I was totally unprepared especially in the whole area of discipline. They walked all over me.

Everytime a newbie asks me for teaching tips I always stress that you have to be a total hard *** for the first couple of weeks until the kids realise that you are the boss. After the (battle) lines have been drawn then you can relax and be yourself. Do it the other way around and you are up against it.

-livinginkorea

[Eric]

Quote livinginkorea

That's when I say, "Good job! John is paying attention! A special point for him"

yeah, now i intentionally misspell words and give a bonus point to the student who identifies the error. it makes them pay closer attention to my writing and is a safety net for my creative spelling.

[emile]

i made this mistake too. After going from teaching at a language school to teaching at a government school once a week (in Turkey), I got the shock of my life. The kids were so badly behaved. The local teachers used to smack them about, and even that didn't always work.

[little sage]

My biggest mistake is that I used to think I couldn't take the local language (for me, here, Korean) out of the classroom. I taught kids and I expected so little from them, I wanted them to speak only English, but I didn't know how to enforce that rule. I thought it would be impossible to create an English-only environment. It took me over a year to figure out that a simple reward system works wonders.

ANYWAY, in the meantime, I resorted to using some Korean in class myself. This was an idiotic idea. Once, while playing cards with a group of 6 year olds, I wanted to say "good job/ well done" (jal-hae-sseo) to the kid who had won. Instead I said "you show off" (jal-lla-sseo). Thank God they laughed.

I think I'll sift through my 13,000 other mistakes and try to find a good one now.

Karen

[deon]

I have heard that quite a bit but I have a hard time being a hard a$$ - not that I can't be a b!tch at times but I find myself being more frustrated than anything. But I have only taught one week so far. Wanjan (Monday- hey, I am trying) I am going beyond introduction 'warmers' and using a "lesson plan" ACK *good nauture grin*

Quote livinginkorea

I made the mistake of not being strict in my first few classes. I was totally unprepared especially in the whole area of discipline. They walked all over me.

Everytime a newbie asks me for teaching tips I always stress that you have to be a total hard *** for the first couple of weeks until the kids realise that you are the boss. After the (battle) lines have been drawn then you can relax and be yourself. Do it the other way around and you are up against it.

-livinginkorea

[HUE]

I initially made the mistake of assuming that I must always be right. I've since realized that it's perfectly alright to say "I don't know" or "Let me check and get back to you." Before I finally realized this seemingly simple point, I couldn't count how many times I had launched into an explanation only to then realize that I didn't understand the language point well enough to give a clear, concise answer.

[Eric18]

In addition to the good mistakes mentioned above, I was also far too slow to recognize the power of electronic dictionaries, YouTube, and videotaping student presentations. Many students have grown up digital, and pandering to their obsession with electronic consumer goods makes class feel more modern and relevant. Likewise, emailing each student feedback on both papers and oral presentations seems more effective than just passing back evaluations in class.

[clivehawkins]

Apart from the usual classroom management, discipline and grammatical mistakes, I suppose the hardest thing was getting the level right when speaking to the class e.g. talking to beginners too fast and using language they'd have no chance of understanding (phrasal verbs, present perfect) and making things too easy for the higher levels by talking more slowly than I should have.

As for gaffes made when using their language, I have loads Like the time I went to the bank and said I wanted to make a cheque really angry , or worse, after lunch with my then new girlfriend's (now wife's) parents saying that after such a great lunch I was ready to make love! (I meant to say I was ready to burst!)

[clivehawkins]

Oh, and the time I wanted to ask an elderly lady where I could find a shoe repairers and instead asked where the nearest 'gigolo' was. Great stuff.

[ahmedxzxz]

i liked all of your writings about mistakes but we err to learn.

[Eric18]

As the old proverb goes, "we learn by stumbling."

Stumblers like myself like this saying - and sometimes we even learn too!

[EngliPatrick]

I've noticed that I acquired a slight lisp sometimes when I'm speaking English. I think this has something to do with speaking Japanese and/or katakana English in everyday society.

[clivehawkins]

Quote EngliPatrick

I've noticed that I acquired a slight lisp sometimes when I'm speaking English. I think this has something to do with speaking Japanese and/or katakana English in everyday society.

Interesting. I've rolled my 'r' since living in Italy.

[Labinky]

Excellent...I now know everything that I am about to do.
The only evidence I've now read this, a different of expression of my face...

[jellybeanenglisch]

Biggest mistakes: not to follow through (either with rewards or discipline) and not being prepared. Always always have a lesson plan and prepare for eventualities (such as time left). I also made the mistake of addressing the children with their English names which they find cool BUT when push comes to shove you want to address them with their real names to make sure they listen...

[pink_lady]

hey everyone!
well, i'v been teaching since october 2008, so only a month so far and till now my biggest mistakes have been using Arabic in class... i'm teaching 1st n 2nd years at university, -in Tunisia, my home country -, they'r english majors, and they'r kind of not happy with this thing... but i'm using Arabic only when i feel they didn't get the explanation i gave them in english...
another mistake's rather done out of forgetfulness, i sometimes forget 2 ask the questions i'm supposed 2 ask my students within a lesson, though i prepare my course notes beforehand... but anyway, i'm always trying 2 learn from my mistakes and not 2 do the same thing twice, though 2 err's human