Job Discussion Forums

scratchpiece27 · Joined: 11 Mar 2011 Posts: 44

I've been teaching them since October and it's going surprisingly well. But at times I feel like my lessons aren't interesting. My company has never told me what I need to teach so everything is entirely up to me. Yesterday my class was observed unannounced by my supervisors and I was given a solid review.

What I'm wondering is what is acceptable? I mean I'd like to teach them about American culture (food, holidays, movies, music, etc) but that wouldn't really give them an opportunity to learn English, would it? If I show them pictures of American food, is that just a waste of their time? I know other teachers do it. What about watching a tv show or movies? I spoke to a friend who told me he watched a 20 minute video in his class. That seemed ridiculous to me but maybe I should consider it

This is such a vague post but basically I'm just looking for new ideas. I've been teaching all ages in Asia for 5 years in three different countries and it's always nice to get some fresh input. I hope this post isn't seen as me saying, "I'm too lazy to do my job, you do it for me"

My last few lessons have been:
* Opposites (attack/defend, forget/remember, etc)
* What should I do? I present a problem and they say "You should..."
* Listening activity and vocab - I give them lyrics to a song with some words blanked out, we listen together and they fill it in
* Desert Island - Put them in groups, each group is given 5 items and they say how they would survive with those items.

I find that the class is MUCH easier to manage when they have a paper in front of them, or there is a video or power point.

maxand · Joined: 04 Jan 2012 Posts: 318

60 students in a class? my condolences...

suggestions? rope, meet neck Laughing

Javelin of Radiance · Joined: 01 Jul 2009 Posts: 1187 Location: The West

scratchpiece27 · Joined: 11 Mar 2011 Posts: 44

SH_Panda · Joined: 31 May 2011 Posts: 455

Do you teach with a classroom assistant?

scratchpiece27 · Joined: 11 Mar 2011 Posts: 44

nomad soul · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 11454 Location: The real world

Have you approached a lead teacher or any of the other teachers at your school for suggestions? They should be your first source of ideas. Otherwise, give the Stuff for Teachers link on this site a look: http://www.eslcafe.com/teachers/

Also, do an Internet search on teach esl large children lessons for links to sites such as:

english-4kids.com
eslkidslab.com
eslkidstuff.com
esl-kids.com

RWA1981 · Joined: 27 Mar 2014 Posts: 143

Try Valium.

Non Sequitur · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 4724 Location: China

doogsville · Joined: 17 Nov 2011 Posts: 924 Location: China

Any topic, from food to culture, can be used to teach language. Start from the end. What learning outcome do you want them to achieve? Whether you use video or PPT or whatever, make a list of the vocabulary you want them to learn and any grammar point you want them to focus on. Go through the material and pick out a few things you want to concentrate on, and then use some games or other activities to reinforce those things.

Briefly introduce the topic and the vocabulary/grammar point. Show them the video or PPT to further demonstrate how it's used. Then do some games/activities to allow them to practice it. Finish with small group presentations using the target language to build their confidence and allow you to evaluate the effectiveness of the lesson.

When I taught middle school I found the hardest part, especially since the textbook was based on American culture, was making it relevant to the students. To do that I would have them compare American/Western culture to their own, so they could relate to it in some way.

As long as the focus is on language, the topic can be almost anything.