Your First Hagwon Year: A Practical Teacher Guide

1. Get the basics clear in your first week

Ask for your timetable, the teaching materials, and a named person for academic questions. A copy of a completed lesson plan or report is often more useful than a long explanation.

If observation is available, watch a class close to the age and level you will teach. Notice how the teacher gives instructions, checks understanding, and ends the lesson. Ask to practise a short activity before taking a full class.

Confirm arrival arrangements and your route to work before the first morning. Keep a contact number and the school address in Korean somewhere you can access offline. See our first-week arrival guide for arrival and orientation ideas. Confirm current service requirements and fees separately.

2. Prepare around one learning goal

Start with what students should be able to say, read, write, or understand. “Finish two pages” tells you how much material to cover. “Ask and answer where an animal lives” tells you what to teach and check.

1. Read the assigned pages. Check the teacher’s notes, audio, vocabulary, grammar, and answer key. Try each task yourself.
2. Choose a small goal. Match it to the school’s plan and the class level. Include a model students can understand.
3. Plan the instructions. Show one example. Have a student demonstrate the next step rather than asking only “Do you understand?”
4. Make room for practice. Include supported practice, then a chance to use the language with less help.
5. Prepare a quick check. Use an individual answer, a short written response, or an exit question so you can see who needs another example.
6. Keep a backup. Choose a short activity that practises the same goal if the audio fails or the main task finishes early.

Check the school’s marking conventions before correcting books. Agree which errors to correct immediately and which to revisit in a later lesson. Use the publisher’s authorised teacher resources when available; access and reuse rights differ by book and subscription.

Preparation takes longer while you are learning the curriculum. Ask which tasks have priority and when preparation fits into your workday. Reuse a successful structure with new content instead of making every lesson from scratch.

3. Make the classroom predictable

Learn names, demonstrate the routines, and explain what students should do next. Younger learners may need a visual cue or a demonstration. Older students may need more thinking time before speaking. Watch the class response rather than changing activities on a fixed timer.

• Begin with a familiar task. Put a short review or prompt on the board so students have something to do as they settle.
• Keep instructions short. Give one step, show it, and check that students can start. Add the next step when needed.
• Share participation. Use pair rehearsal and individual checks so confident students do not answer everything.
• Respond calmly. Describe the behaviour and the next action. Follow the school’s support procedure if disruption continues.
• Correct without embarrassing. Model the language, let students try again, and avoid public labels about ability or behaviour.

A game should practise the lesson goal. Avoid a scoring system that leaves one student blamed for the whole class losing. For a mixed-level group, vary the support: one student can use a word bank while another gives a fuller answer.

Follow the school’s safeguarding and emergency procedures. Know whom to contact for an injury, a missing student, a serious behaviour concern, or a disclosure that needs attention. Use approved channels for student communication and photographs.

4. Use a routine that fits your actual workday

Before your teaching block, check the room, materials, audio, and any timetable changes. Between classes, leave one useful note: the last activity completed, a difficulty to revisit, or a task that worked.

At the end of the day, check the next assigned pages and list anything you need from a colleague. Keep work in its agreed hours rather than quietly building a routine around unpaid early arrivals or late nights.

Check the calendar for reports, tests, open classes, camps, and parent meetings. Ask how schedule changes are communicated. When several deadlines overlap, ask your lead to confirm the order of priority.

5. Keep a small, useful teaching record

Use the school’s approved system first. A shared document, the school platform, or an authorised workspace in Notion can all hold a useful record. You do not need a complicated dashboard.

Do not photograph a roster or move student names, contact details, grades, or behaviour notes into a personal app just for convenience. Ask about approved storage, access, and retention. Keep your personal lesson ideas separate from identifiable student records.

6. Use AI with your materials and a clear review step

AI can help draft a lesson sequence, adapt the difficulty of a worksheet, or turn your notes into a clearer document. Start with a small task you can check. A polished worksheet can still contain an incorrect answer or language your class has not learned.

Current tools can work with files as well as typed prompts. OpenAI’s teaching example starts with approved source materials and produces an editable unit plan. Gemini supports file uploads, and Claude artifacts provide a separate place to view and revise output. Features and limits depend on the account, settings, and tool.

Step 1. Give it the teaching context

State the age range, English level, class size, lesson length, learning goal, and materials available. Use an authorised excerpt or your own notes when helpful. Check the school’s AI policy and the material’s permission for reuse before uploading it.

Leave out student names, photographs, recordings, parent messages, health information, passwords, and identity documents. An invented name attached to a detailed real student record is not automatically anonymous.

Step 2. Ask for the plan before the finished worksheet

Adjust the plan, then ask for an A4 worksheet and a separate teacher answer key. Request an editable Word document if the tool supports file creation; otherwise copy the text into the school’s document template. Describe the page layout, font size, and space students need to write. OpenAI’s file guidance recommends specifying the file type, structure, and review criteria.

Step 3. Make a targeted revision

Ask for one change at a time: “Reduce the reading load,” “Give weaker learners a word bank,” or “Add a speaking extension using the same target language.” Compare the revision with the version you approved. Check that it has not quietly changed the lesson goal.

For a reading activity, use your own or authorised text and ask for a simpler version with a list of changes. For report writing, use de-identified learning observations and ask for a clearer draft without adding progress, effort, or behaviour claims.

Step 4. Check it yourself before class

• Answer every question independently, including the teacher key.
• Check vocabulary, grammar, reading load, and age suitability.
• Try the activity instructions aloud and confirm the materials are available.
• Preview or print the page to check images, spacing, and page breaks.
• Have a colleague review sensitive translations or parent-facing wording.

AI checking is an additional pass. You still decide what goes into the classroom. For current factual claims, open the original source and check its date; a citation generated by AI may not support the sentence.

Save repeated instructions, not private student data

ChatGPT Projects and Claude Projects can hold reusable instructions and reference files. Save the approved curriculum, preferred worksheet format, and a rule to flag missing information. Add the current class goal to each task. Check which files and instructions the new chat can access rather than assuming it remembers every previous conversation.

Start with one worksheet or plan. A reusable file naming habit, such as “Unit 04 / beginner / worksheet / approved,” will often help more than an elaborate automated system.

7. Prepare reports and open classes with evidence

Ask for the report format and deadline early. Record what the student can do, one specific area for practice, and a useful next step. “Can answer familiar questions with a sentence starter” gives a parent more information than “Excellent student.”

Use the school’s review process before a report reaches parents. If AI helps with wording, keep the evidence yourself and do not let it invent improvement, behaviour, or effort.

For an open class, confirm the audience, lesson length, required content, and who handles parent questions. Rehearse transitions and check materials. Plan activities that show students using familiar language, with enough support for quieter learners to participate. Discuss feedback afterwards and choose one improvement for the next lesson.

8. Make communication clear and kind

Ask colleagues how they prefer updates and questions. When an instruction is unclear, confirm the action, date, and person responsible. One written sentence can prevent a misunderstanding.

For example: “I understand that Class B will use pages 12 and 13 on Thursday. Should I move the speaking activity to Friday?” If a change affects your hours or duties, raise that directly and ask for written confirmation.

Learn the workplace’s habits without treating every indirect comment as a hidden message. Schools and individuals differ. Social invitations, punctual departures, and quiet colleagues do not tell you someone’s intentions by themselves.

9. Build a life around your work

Learning a new job while arranging housing, food, transport, and paperwork can be tiring. People settle at different speeds. There is no reliable week-by-week timetable that tells you how you should feel.

Choose a few manageable routines: find a grocery shop, learn a route home, make time for meals and sleep, and keep contact with people you trust. Plan something small outside work so your whole week does not revolve around preparation.

If your housing, schedule, or workload is causing a problem, describe the specific issue and ask for a practical change. You do not have to wait a month before raising it. If health or emotional difficulties persist or interfere with daily life, seek professional support rather than trying to diagnose yourself from an “adjustment” checklist.

Our Korean pharmacy guide can help with everyday pharmacy communication. For further teaching ideas, see practical ESL teaching tips.

10. Check the practical work and admin details

Keep your contract and important documents in secure storage. Compare the agreed timetable and duties with the information you receive at orientation. Ask about pay dates, leave procedures, insurance registration, and any deduction you do not understand.

• Foreign registration. If you will stay for more than 90 days, the Ministry of Justice says to register within 90 days of entry. Arrange the appointment and required documents early. Check your situation with Immigration on 1345. Official guidance.
• Banking and phone service. Requirements vary by provider, identity documents, and account type. Confirm them before making a trip. Do not assume every service must wait for the residence card or can be completed in one visit.
• Health insurance. For eligible employee-insured people, NHIS states that the employee and employer each pay 50% of the contribution. Confirm your category and registration; exemptions and individual circumstances can affect coverage. NHIS guidance.
• Pay statements. Employers must provide an itemised wage statement when paying wages, including the components, calculation, and deductions. Keep it and ask about discrepancies. Ministry of Employment and Labor guidance.
• Extra work or a change of school. Before agreeing, confirm what your status allows and which permission or reporting procedure applies. Ask Immigration about the immigration requirements and your employer about the contractual arrangements.

Use current official guidance for legal and administrative decisions. Your recruiter can help clarify communication, but cannot make an immigration or labour ruling.

11. Ask for help while the problem is still specific

For a lesson question, speak to your academic lead. For housing or scheduling, use the school’s named contact. If you need help communicating with the school, contact your recruiter with dates, the agreed arrangement, what has happened, and the outcome you are asking for.

Keep the message factual. For example: “The timetable lists preparation until 2 p.m., but I have been assigned a class during that slot on three days. Can we confirm where preparation fits?” Keep relevant records without forwarding unrelated student information.

OK Recruiting can help with placement questions and communication with a school we introduced. Employer duties remain with the employer. For formal labour concerns, use the Ministry of Employment and Labor; for immigration matters, use Immigration. For immediate danger, seek emergency help.

Common questions about your first hagwon year