Teaching: Present and Future

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I've received the list of subjects I'll be teaching next semester.

• Intermediate Listening & Conversation (2nd Year)
  
• Intermediate Reading & Writing (2nd Year)
• Fundamentals of Academic Writing (1st Year)
  
• Presentation (Public Speaking) (3rd Year)
• 19th & 20th Century American Poetry (3rd Year)

Last semester, I taught the first four of the five modules listed above. While I am happy for the poetry class that I'll be teaching, I was hoping to get more literature classes. On the other hand, it might be a blessing in disguise. This semester was really tiring -- partially because of all the preparation required for many of the classes. Since the Language Skills classes that I will teach next semester follow the textbooks closely, my prep time will be much less. Also, having had taught these classes before, things ought to go much smoother this second time round. So hopefully I will have more time next semester to get to the many other things which I have been neglecting of late.

While I'm not to keen about the Listening & Conversation classes, the are not too bad. As I said, they don't require too much preparation and the topics are often quite interesting. This semester I had trouble getting the students to talk during the conversation time. I sometimes allowed to speak about anything as long as it is in English, but many of them still did not make ample use of the conversation time. This coming semester I'm planning to walk around with a name chart and if ever I hear a student speaking in Korean, I'm going to deduct points. Since they do not seem to have much intrinsic motivation, I'll have to provide them with some extrinsic motivation instead.

The writing classes are not too bad. This semester I taught Essay Writing (3rd Year). Last semester, as well as this coming semester, I'll be teaching Intermediate Reading and Writing; the same goes for Fundamentals of Academic Writing. I think that my own writing is actually improving because of this continuous revision of the basics of composition. What I do not like about these classes, however, is that they require LOTS of grading.

I am looking forward to the Presentation (Public Speaking) class again. I enjoyed it a lot, and my preparation from last year will only require a little tweaking. It's also a smaller class in which I can get to know the students more intimately; something which is not possible in the other classes.

I taught 19th Century British Poetry this semester. Next semester I'll be teaching 19th & 20th Century American Poetry. It would seem that Fate is grooming me to be a specialist in 19th century poetry. This is not a bad field to specialize in. The poetry of that era is rich, and lyrical, and makes for pleasant reading. Perusing Romantic Poetry is hardly what I would consider a terrible day job.

Still, the balance between Language Skills classes and Literature classes is a good one. It keeps me versatile in my work experience. Who knows where I'll be going a year or two or three from now? Having taught in a variety of subjects (not just literature) is sure to be good for my résumé. I might even get a job at my Alma Mater now that they have a whole department devoted to "academic writing".