Job Discussion Forums

[Malsol]

[tw]

My freshmen students are more active than my sophomore students.

[saint57]

A clown suit is much cheaper than dental school. You could also go to comedy clubs for amature night. The uncomfortable feeling you get when a comedian is bad, is very similar to a bad lesson.

[The Voice Of Reason]

Best preparation? Go to (near) Xian and talk to the Terracotta Warriors.

[sheeba]

If you wish to be properly prepared to teach conversation English to freshman college students, try

changing your brain.[/quote]

[Malsol]

[NathanRahl]

Truth be told perperation is the key, period.

Create a lesson plan that hase many different ways of transmitting the info. Oral, visual, and participatory. Have several parts or more to your lesson, and don't linger too long on any one part.

Variety of what your offering the kids will play a bigf part in keeping their interest. Don't have a lesson that just starts at the beginning, and ends 45 minutes later, doe three or four different things, and do them in different ways, so everyone see's hears, and doe's what your teaching them.

It's really rather simple, and with a good lesson, well, this can go a long way.

Truth be told though, even if you do all this, they still may not be interested. Students in china have a long, long day. If it's thursday or friday, and the kids on those days seem numb and un-interested, while the students on monday and tuesday loved it, means they are just tired. Don't feel too bad, at that point you just have too push through, despite their fatigue giving them an "I don't care" attitude.

In these instances you'll just have to work a lot harder, and sometimes, well, you can still do everything right, and not succeed in your percieved goal. In such a case, which will happen often, don't feel bad, it's not you.

Oh, and you will know when it is you, believe me. Take care.

[seperley]

I think that it depends upon the school. I have worked for three schools at three levels. I have taught middle school students who can carry on intelligent conversations in English for extended periods of time.

I have had college juniors who stare at me and who cannot even respond to a question which requires little more than a raised hand.

I have worked with primary school kids who speak better English than most of my college students--- and some of my Chinese colleagues.

I understand the frustration, though. Sometimes it seems like the road to h*ll is paved with proven pedagogy.

[Steppenwolf]

The biggest challenge is to get them to LISTEN and FOLLOW your instructions.
I don't believe the blackboard should be used to prop up their memory and to help their limited attention span. If it's called "conversation" or "speaking and listening" then I do not want to write on the board - I let my students do that.

[vikdk]

Going to china with an open mind really helps - and don�t expect all you read here to be gospel -

[NathanRahl]

Good teaching goes a long way, though don't expect loads out of your worst classes. For the purposes of testing and such, the chinese lump all the dumbest and most ill behved students together, as they do with all the brightest.

That said, you will see much greater differences in your classes, with some being superb students, and other whole classes being a near total loss. Thats education in china for you, and it's a dumb idea really.

The dumb ones reinforce each other, and the smart ones, well they have no one to counter them, and be an example of what they do not wish to be. Then of course the dumb ones have no one to act as an example of what they should be.

It's really not a great education system, I would venture to say it is not even good, probably poor, but you have to work with what your given, so good luck

[sheeba]

[NathanRahl]

Sheeba, I believe the word you are looking for is Empathy, it seperates the good teachers form the great teachers.

[vikdk]

[sheeba]