Job Discussion Forums

[afowles]

Just a quick question for those out there who teach teenagers: How the hell do you do it?

I've been in Poland for three years and have taught at least a few groups of teenagers each year and I find that the materials available for them are absolutely terrible!

This year I've relied mostly on my own materials, which the students liked. I had a WONDERFUL lesson based on Chuck Norris jokes which ended up in a question formation exercise.

But it's been quite hard making these things all year. I'm considering consolidating everything into a book (which may hopefully make me millions of dollars and allow me to retire early) but I'm first curious to know what other teachers do to impart the knowledge of the English language upon the worst-behaved age group in existence.

[Justin Trullinger]

On the subject of teaching teens, there's a lot to be said, though it's true that precious little has been published, and much of that is crap.

Where I work, we've been looking at two series- Extreme, for younger teens, and Framework, which I hope to use with older teens through university age adults.

But with this age group, as with most groups, a teacher's creativity is one of their best resources.

About behaviour- Everybody says that teens are the worst behaved age group in existence, but I haven't found them to be. Sure, they test limits, but if the guidelines are clear and consistent, and the teacher is consistent and fair without being confrontational, they learn the limits as quickly as anybody else. Generally speaking, as they're still in school, they're more accepting of limits than I find adults to be- because they're accustomed to limits.

About your book- if you'd like a proofreader, who will surely steal all your most creative ideas, but would send you his in return...I could be available for that.

The learning process is, to me, quite similar across the age range, from childhood to old age. So a lot of what I do with teens, I'd do with anybody. I find that the teachers who do best with teens are the ones who respect them, expect a lot from them, and relate to them as people.

I'm not terribly "hip" about the music, fashions, or interests of young people, but I'm open to them. I've discovered quite a lot of great music that I never would have heard otherwise through the interests of teenage classes. And a lot of music I really can't stand. But being willing to try out their interests seems to make me accesible to them.

The best idea for teaching teens, or anyone else for that matter, is to enjoy it. If you like teaching them, and actually like them, it can be great fun.

Best,
Justin

[afowles]

I don't like teenagers as people, but I love teaching them. Once you activate them, they are so creative it warms the heart. But you need to activate them (sometimes I wish I could do that with a baseball bat).

Thanks for your thoughts. Will keep them in mind.

That being said, is there anyone on Dave's who would want to collaborate on a project like this? I'm thinking about calling it, The Not Boring Book for Intermediate Teenagers.

[Stephen Jones]

The problem with teenagers is that they are not a homogenous group.

After all, would you consider adults to be a homogenous description.

You can do something with one class that goes down great, and then get a "How should I know?" attitude to any attempt to get a conversation going.

[Glenski]

afowles,
Are you teaching teens in a mainstream school setting or in private lessons or in a conversation school? Materials vary for each setting. I've taught in Japan for a few years now, and 4 of those years involved a private high school. The government selected books suck, and all that's left is conversation school materials (which is pretty much all we are asked to teach them anyway because the Japanese teachers instruct them in the rules of grammar).

[Justin Trullinger]

No group, or age group, is homogenous, by any means, but I would say that there are some unique issues that are common amongst teens, and much less so amongst any other age group.

It's the age when they are becoming thoroughly focused on peer approval, rather than adult approval. It's an age where social development, and social interactions, take place at a lightning pace. It's an age where everything they experience, as they are usually experiencing it for the first time, takes on more importance than adults would give to similar events. They are intellectually close to adulthood, and in most cases socially and emotionally many large steps away from it, and running fast.

I love teaching teens. Much more fun than adults in terms of the kinds of activities they like to do, yet much more sophisticated than children in the kinds of activities they're able to do. And teenagers, in the cultures I know best, often have a sense of humour much freer than either. Add the facts that they're still accustomed to being in school, know how to study, don't expect school to always be fun, and know how to work hard, and you have the potential for the perfect classroom experience.

But, they pout. They cry. They'd rather look cool to their classmates than do well in class. They have long, pointless emotional feuds with each other over truly meaningless slights. They live in cliques. They take the smallest, or imagined, slights from the teacher as grievous, unforgettable insults. They hold grudges. They know everything. In their growing desire to be taken seriously as adults, they take themselves far too seriously. Add all of that together, and you have the potential for classroom disaster.

The difference is often the teacher.


Justin[/i]

[Brooks]

afowles,

I am interested. I teach teenagers, and it is a challenge. I have good and bad classes.
There are lots of materials for kids or university students/adults but not much for teenagers.
I have talked to people from Oxford, Cambridge, etc. and looked at various catalogues but haven`t been able to find what I`m looking for.
I have been forced to make my own materials, but this year it is tough since my schedule is more demanding than ever.
I bought the book Language Activities for Teenagers from Cambridge and found it wanting.

To me what is most important is:

1. be patient
2. have a thick skin
3. work hard
4. don`t give up

[Sweetsee]

I really like those four points Brooks, well done.
Ever use Marathon Mouth, interested in a presentation?

[Brooks]

no, I haven`t used that book.
I am using Person to Person and English Upgrade 2, although English Upgrade is too hard for a lot of my students.
It is a university - level book, after all.

I have written a few articles, one of them was on a review of a few textbooks and the kind of textbook I wished we had for Japanese teenagers.
If I ever did a book, I would make it topic-based. I would also want enough pronunciation practice. Pronunciation exercises seem to be short or don`t exist in many books.

These topics I like doing in class:

1. sports
2. School
3. free time activities
4. Shopping, money, and numbers
5. travel
6. family
7. daily routines and schedules
8. food
9. vacations
10. weather and seasons
11. clothing and describing people

What I really find lacking are seven things, one being pronunciation. The other six are:

1. listening practice with natives and non-natives
2. a grammar review that is combined with speaking practice
3. learning about different cultures
4. speaking exercises that are controlled and semi-controlled
5. reading practice so students can get beyond using their dictionaries, and can learn to skim, scan, read for meaning, etc.
6. Students should be given practice with two or more skills at a time.

[afowles]

The idea of making it topic-based is primo, but the choice of topics has to push the boundaries a bit. It has got to be really fun or they won't do it. I was thinking things like parties, dreams, chuck norris.....etc

I've made a bulletin board for this project over at my http://afowles.freeshell.org/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.cgi?c-nbb/

Sorry for the ugly URL. You have to register and I have to personally validate you for you to be able to post. Sake of privacy.

[bennyr81]

afowles what is it with polish kids/adults and their love affair with Chuck Norris? A few months ago i was doing some creative writing with my students and most stories included Chuck, a round-house and various dead people. The they gave me a sheet with hundreds of CN facts! something about CNN origianlly being the chuck norris network for round the clock ass-kicking, or chuck's 1/8th cherokee...not because of his blood line but because he ate one of them
I teach quite a few teenage groups and apart from always trying to test my patience they are all nice kids, and i think a lot of the problems (in my school especially!) is that many teachers speak down to them...
The books i use 'adventures' and 'format' are crap! and i think a books need to come on the market that caters more for teenage needs!
I think though more serious subjects need to be discussed, they feel like adults so want to speak like them! religion, sex, drugs, culture, bullying, politics, ethics...maybe because it wasnt so long ago that i was a teenager i remember that these were discussions i enjoyed having!

[jr1965]

This is an interesting thread.

I've taught teens from Europe (Spanish, Italian, French, Swiss), Latin America (Brazilians and Mexicans), and Asia (Japan, Korea). They definitely can be high maintenance, but they also have a lot of energy and enthusiasm which if channeled right, can make for fun classes.

In my experience, you have to start with what is interesting and relevant to them. In other words, and as other posters here have said, start with the topics. At the start of a course (I taught grammar and reading courses to teens), I often listed topics on the board; we brainstormed others and then they had to select 3-5 they wanted to cover in class (each student did this). I then designed my own materials around these topics, and occasionally was able to use material from the different texts that were assigned for the class I was teaching.

It's A LOT of work, I know, having to design all your own materials for every class, so I feel your pain. This is basically what I had to do when I taught teens. Too many books are written for people just a bit older (college age), and often when we used some of these texts in class (because they were assigned), my 15/16 year olds got really distracted which = difficult class.

You know, check out Impact Issues (I think this is the name of the book). I haven't taught from this book, but I saw a friend recently using it. It's by Longman, I think, �anyway, it's part of the Impact series (some of which is OK; some I would definitely ignore). Some of the stuff in there might be good for teens. Also, I think Thomson/Heinle might have some good materials for teens, so check out their site too.

Suerte!

[jr1965]

[afowles]

Adventures blows!

[Jizzo T. Clown]

FWIW, though I hated the series at first, I had pretty good results with the Hotline series from Oxford University Press:

http://www.oup.com/elt/catalogue/isbn/38041?cc=ch#sample_pdf