Open Class in Korean Elementary School - EPIK

A couple of weeks ago, I had what is called an 'Open Class'. For me, it meant that a team of teachers and administrators from my school, along with two Korean English teachers from other schools in Tongyeong, and a supervisor from the local Office of Education would come watch my class with Minie, one of my co-teachers.

I had heard about open classes previously, but now that I've experienced the joy [insert sarcasm] of open class, I thought I should share with you.

Here's the deal. In the States, if the principal or higher-ups want to know how your class is going, they'll just pop in randomly for an evaluation. That is not the case in Korea. In Korea, in contrast to every other event here, weeks and months of notice are given prior to the open class. What this means is...the teacher has lots of time to prepare the lesson, practice with other classes, and prep the students in the actual class for the 'show'. From what I can tell, no open class is a TRUE representation of a normal class. It's more like a normal class beefed up on steroids times 10.

Here's how we prepare for a normal class...
Two days before the class, we check the lesson coming up and see if there's anything special we need to do.
One day before the class, we discuss our final plans for the class and assign parts of the lesson. We find some activities if we don't like what the book has suggested and we get the materials ready that we need.
The morning of the class, we confirm our roles and head to class!
(Please note, in elementary schools, the books are laid out and each lesson is prepared. You can...as we often do...expand on the basic lesson, but it's not a requirement. Also, Minie and I have been teaching together for 8 months now, so we've got a pretty good flow going!)

Here's what went down with my open class...
About three months ago, Minie and I were notified that we'd be having open class and the specific date. It was up to Minie to coordinate with another elementary school in our town so the Office of Education supervisor could knock out two schools in one day. This is also when we chose the exact lesson and section we'd be doing. (Our lessons have 6 parts, and we wanted to do an interesting part....not a boring.)
About two weeks prior to the open class, Minie and I started brainstorming ideas for activities.
One week before the actual open class, we decided on our activities and the procedure of the class. We then started making the corresponding materials. (The book has activities, but we sometimes/usually come up with our own because the book ones are too simple/boring.)
Five days before the open class, Minie made a one-page Korean lesson plan and I produced a two-page lesson plan for the Native teachers that would attend (there were none!). We also made a video that we'd use as our motivation to get the class started.
Four days before the open class, we completed all of the materials and I 'practiced' a section of the lesson on another class that I share with a different co-teacher.
Three days before the open class, Minie and I practiced our full lesson on a class that we don't normally teach. (I teach half of 6th grade with Minie and the other half with Karen.)
Two days before the open class, we rehearsed the open class as it would happen and worked out our 'natural' flow between each other.
One day before the open class, I had to go to my country school so no planning or discussing open class that day.
The day of open class, (the actual class was during second period) Minie and I spent the first period with the class to prep them and get things down to a science!

And all of those things led up to a 40-minute class, which from what I could tell, was well received by the teachers and administration in attendance. The principal, who doesn't speak much English to me, told me I did an excellent job as he was leaving the class...so that was a plus! After the class was done, Minie and I had a meeting with the supervisor, two teachers from other schools, and the teacher that is actually in charge of me at my school. The meeting was all in Korean, so I just tried to understand what I could and watch for gestures and body language. I asked Minie what everyone thought, and she said they had lots of good things to say.

After that, we headed to another elementary school to see their open class. It was nice to see how other people do things and how their classes go.

So all of this is to say....if you hear the words open class in your school, be prepared and clear your calendar!!