My Open Class

Once per term, teachers give an "open class" that other people may view and review. The principal, vice-principal, teachers, or even parents may attend the lesson. The open class is a major factor in determining if a teacher will be hired back next year, or for permanent teachers, it can influence their ratings and career progression. All in all, a stressful event.

My previous three open classes were quite unusual because of the pandemic. While technically "open", my classes were online and pre-recorded. So, if people viewed my lesson, it wasn't in real-time or in-person. It had no effect on me either way. Also, I had some leeway when I did my open class and what I taught. I typically made a "free topic" lesson on a fun subject that was not part of the textbook.

This time was different because all classes are now in-person, so I would be doing my first "live" open class. The schedule in November is packed with exams, speaking tests, and field trips, so I didn't have any choice of the date of my open class or the lesson I was to teach. Needing to stay on schedule, I had no choice but to teach a lesson from the textbook. And textbooks lessons are definitely boring compared to free topics, and of course, students don't react as well to boring textbook material.

My Korean co-teacher was stressing out about her open class and by extension, was expecting me to be stressed about mine. I explained to her that I was not worried and that I would not do anything different from what I normally do in class. And, most importantly, I felt that the open classes were meaningless, especially for me at this point, because I am leaving the school in a matter of months. There is nothing that could possibly happen in the open class that could affect me in any real way.

I gave an impromptu mini English lesson to my Korean co-teacher on the meaning of "low-stakes" and "high-stakes." I explained that the open class for me was a low-stakes event. But for her, it was high-stakes because she needed to do well in order to be hired back at the school. She has run afoul of school leadership for reporting late for work too often this year. I'm sure she believes she needs a positive open class to make up for it.

But the open classes really are been meaningless for me. Not once have I received any positive or negative feedback from any of my previous open classes. No one said anything to me. And, as I said, I don't know if anyone event observed the lessons.  So, getting feedback now at the end of the school year, after I've been teaching at the school for so long would just be.... too late.

So the day of my open class arrives and I'm surprised that I'm actually a little nervous. I think it's because the lesson will be recorded. I was asked to set up my phone at the back of the class and record the full lesson. No doubt the video will be low quality, but it's just one more thing to worry about. Also, I'm teaching with my least favourite Korean co-teacher who constantly interrupts me for stupid reasons and exerts control in the class whenever she can, even though she didn't help plan the lesson. Funny enough, I think she at least subconsciously knew that what she usually does is wrong because when the camera was recording this time, she barely interrupted me at all. It was "my class", for once.

So, the open class was going well and as expected no one except the students and co-teacher came to the lesson. That is, until the last 7 minutes or so of the class when one of the department heads, a teacher who teaches a subject other than English, came into the back of the class. She fiddled with the door for a while, making a distraction until my co-teacher let her in. She stood at the back of the class, walking in front of the recording camera and observed me teach for 7 minutes. 

The students behaved well during the class and raised their hands more often than they normally do, so I was happy with class participation. They received a heads up beforehand that this was an open class. They grumbled, "why did you choose us?" I originally wanted my open lesson to be with a more lively class, but it wasn't possible because of the schedule.

I'm glad it's finished. Let's see if I receive any feedback on my teaching this time. I doubt it.