Job Discussion Forums

[naturegirl321]

My school has finally decided to change books, but not only next year. SO right now I'm stuck with the FCE and CAE Masterclass books. NOt that these are bad books, but I teach 13-17 year old girls who really have no desire to take the exam.

If you konw about these books, basically they're simply practice exercises to prepare for the exams. The have intros, the exercise and then a closing. I teach from the book, partly because of lack of preparation time, I've got 8 classes, and partly because I have to according to the syllabus and to get grades. And simply because of our tight schedule, we can't deviate too much from the book or we won't have time to do everything. Also after paying an arm and a leg, parents want them to use the book and the school isn't keen on photocopying, probably because they've decided to copy the lit book instead of have the kids buy it.

Anyone else teach exams? How do you go about teaching them? I have my students work individually, partners, groups. HOwever, I AM basically teaching from the book. When I look at how different it was when I was teaching uni, with only two different classes, it's startling. I had games, role-plays, extra exercises, but everythig related to what we were learning.

SO basically, I need to follow the book, but need to make it a bit more lively. Any ideas would be appreciated.

[Justin Trullinger]

I guess quitting would be one option.

It's an old game- the school wants you to use the book, and to fill it, that means the whole book, and nothing but the book. (And parents don't get it that maybe not everything in the book needs to be done.)

One option I've seen used is to teach as best you think you should. (Which means using role plays, debates, realistic use activities, etc, and skipping some things in the book.) Then towards the end of the year, you have a book filling party, in which students race through their books, with instructions to put something in every blank as quickly as possible. (First one through gets a prize.) That way, the classes get taught right, and the books get filled. It only works if they're parents don't speak English, though. (Or aren't paying attention.)

If you suspect that parents may be checking in on the books during the year (nosy *beep*s) then you could either keep the books in the classroom (where they can't find them) or maybe have a "chapter filling" party every couple of weeks.


Best,
Justin

PS- this is serious. The desire (of parents and administrators) to see a book completely filled, in spite of limited classroom hours, has pushed some teachers I know to bizarre tactics.

[naturegirl321]

Great idea about the book filling contest. Thanks

[Justin Trullinger]

Book filling is kind of weird. I also knew a teacher who took every third page out of textbooks with an exacto knife, to make the book fit into the hours allotted to it. (I don't know if parents or admin ever noticed, or not.)

There's an Azar textbook that I have periodically instructed students to tear pages out of. (a la Robin Williams.) Only the pages with really aggravating stuff on them...


Best,
justin

[johnnyappleseed]

I sympathize with you.
Those Cambridge exam books are hard to teach from. I really hate them.

I've learned that the only way to get through them is to

a)assign lots of homework from the book

b) cut down on games role-plays, etc. i.e., what makes you an effective teacher.
If somebody has another suggestion, I'd love to hear it! I have to emphasize that my students are adults and pay for their own books. Skipping a bit might not be a bad idea, but it's impossible to skip much: besidesm, what to skip? Those books are not written like most text books.

I feel that the most effective way to use them is to teach exam techniques(what can they expect on the exam), with bettering their English a secondary goal.
HOwever, if the majority of your students do not wish to take the exam, that puts you in a bit of a bind.

The trouble with those books, is rather than having a unit on, say, "future perfect" or even "future perfect and continuous", they tend to have a couple of pages on "future forms"--all of them! It's overwhelming. I feel like I could easily do ten lessons on "future forms!, and here I am forced to do them all in one or two lessons.

Good luck.

[naturegirl321]

[tedkarma]

I'm not familiar with the specific tests you are teaching, but generally it is a good idea to get at least some sort of baseline - regardless of the specific test.

Are there sample tests provided to help baseline your students? If you don't know where you are starting it is a bit difficult to get where you want to go.

Getting a good baseline also helps you know where your students need the most work. Most of my experience is with TOEFL, for example, and depending on student skill levels - I approach each course differently.

This depends too, on the size of the class you are teaching. I can't see that you could really tailor a course for a large group of people - but you could to some extent as they will all be products of the same school system (I am guessing).

Assuming that the goal is for students to get the highest score possible (the goal of most such courses that I have taught anyway) - doing several practice tests under (ideally) real test type conditions also helps. Practice testing help the students get a sense of the pace of the exam, question structure and builds their confidence.

[johnnyappleseed]