Job Discussion Forums

[American Friend of China]

I am convinced that the most difficult level to teach by far is the almost-fluent teenagers class. In my school, it is called C-14.

These teens have been studying at my school for four or five years or longer. They've been through so many foreign teachers, more than they can count. And they've done all the activities and played all the games ever invented in the ESL world. And they've discussed every topic ever conceived by humankind.

So trying to come up with lessons that please this bunch is extremely difficult, pushing my creative thinking ability to the very limit. Nothing ever pleases them. And during the summer, I'll be teaching 30 hours of classes a week. And their class is only 4 of those hours. So, of course, I'm not going to pour all of my lesson-planning time into that one class. I'll prepare for that class first before I prepare for the others, since they are special, but I'm not going to have the kind of time to use more than two hours to prepare for this one class.

Many teachers often feel irritated teaching the little primary school aged kiddies, as the little buggers can really test one's patience and stamina. But actually, the kids rule. They are, in many ways, much easier to please, and lesson aims are much simpler in format. And, not that I condone laziness, but whenever your energy supply gets zapped and you hit a not-so-energetic phase on a given 7-8-hour teaching day, it is easier to get by when this happens during a younger kids class than with a higher level class, especially when there's a Chinese T.A. to give you a helping hand in the kiddies class, and especially in my school where parents are not allowed to sit in the classroom.

The teens are difficult to please. And there is more pressure when teaching the adults. So if you have a very heavy load of teaching hours during an intensive program, the little kiddies are really the way to go. That's my opinion anyway. But if you have a light load and want something more intellectually stimulating, maybe the teens and adults are alright.

[baby predator]

I totally agree. Younger kids are creative, funny, energetic and very forgiving. Adults, while seldom forgiving, are generally better-motivated than the teenagers, so half your battle is already won.

During my last summer course, I found that it took time to break down the stony wall initially presented by my teenage class. I spent time trying to draw the more imaginative ones out of their sulky reticence, and as they gained in confidence and began to speak out more, the others slowly followed suit. Eventually, most were making regular contributions unprompted.

As for the ones who've seen it all before, I found it helpful to focus on certain themes that kept cropping up in class. For example (and this will sound ridiculous), one student with a particularly eccentric personality invented an alter-ego for himself named "the Butcher". The Butcher was on a mission to slaughter as many pigs as possible, with the help of his hapless sidekick, "the knife-sharpener". Rather than laugh off this bizarre development, I encouraged the class to develop the character of the Butcher, and several more of their creations, and at the end of the term, they wrote, directed and performed a side-splitting comedy containing all these odd-bods. At the start of the term, I'd dismissed them all as a bunch of sullen, disinterested dullards. By the end, it was clear to me that they'd simply learned how to suppress their humor and creativity beneath an inscrutable facade.

Humor tends to work well. The slapstick kind seems to work better with Chinese students than irony, but don't be a dancing monkey for them, let them dance for you Encouraging them to work on a long-term project such as a play or something in which they determine the end result will also help negate the repetitive aspect of summer classes and give them a bit more autonomy over their learning.

Use humor, work on their strengths, respect them and demand that they respect you.

[foreignDevil]

wow baby predator- that was an insightful post.

[foreignDevil]

i meant it, baby predator, that was an interesting post. i would like to hear more of the story about "the butcher" and "the knife-sharpener".

this is the most off-beat esl content i have seen...my summer term for older students starts in a few days and this was a real inspiration.

[Roger]

I think such contentions are misleading because they overgeneralise.
Each level has its own potential to fulfill. First thing - kids need to know how to learn. Unfortunately, our Chinese learners do not know HOW WE LEARN a second tongue, and that's why the higher up you go the more friction and resistance there is. To me, the most difficult ones are adults with ten years of "studying English". They can ask you "Have you had lunch yet?", but if you ask them the exact same question they cannot understand it from your mouth!
Besides, with primary pupils and middle-school and college students you almost always have discipline issues and crowded classes that tie down a lot of your energy!

[struelle]

[Kapt. Krunch]

Sunaru, I'd vote for the 2nd level on any shelf. It just makes you lower yourself, but yet I believes itself to be above Level 1!! And yes...while it holds things(I'm positive), it just sits silently in any lesson.

I've just hit a new low...