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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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 Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 11:35 am Post subject: |
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| Since it is a totally unestablished school, I have a couple students that are my regulars. However, any student can enter the class at any time. |
What is "unestablished"? Pardon me for being so blunt and sarcastic, but is that the going phrase for "stupid"?
Obviously, if there are no standards, and anyone can join a class, you are going to have chaos. Anyone running a school like that ought to be shot. All I can offer in the way of advice is for you to point this out (professionally, of course) to your superiors. If they want you to design a curriculum standard, do it. Take the lead. Read up on what it takes. If they want to muddle through with what they have, you are going to have to face the music and either muddle through yourself with little hope of improving matters, or you choose to leave for better pastures.
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| I would be very interested in what goes on as far as "different ends in sight." What they expect their students to have learned by certain times in certain skills, etc. |
You teach adults in the USA, which probably means students are from more than one country and L1. They may not have ever had any exposure to English. (You'll have to clarify if I'm wrong.)
I teach in Japan, where everyone gets 6 years of English instruction in JHS and SHS. Adults usually take conversation school classes for review or to pick up some ways to communicate abroad on vacation. Some schools sort out the adult students by level, so you don't have the horrible task of teaching to a mixed group.
The textbooks for conversation school are often in levels to accommodate the students' abilities. None are very good to use, but they start with using "be", then action verbs, then adjectives, prepositions, and go from there. The books are all geared differently in terms of how they present the language, sometimes for themes like travel, restaurants, banking, etc. and sometimes just for random daily chatter.
Goals of students vary.
Housewives and retired people may want a refresher course, or to just meet people socially, not study hard.
Businessmen think they can actually improve their TOEIC scores by attending these classes once a week, and thereby earn a chance at an overseas job assignment or a promotion. |
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muckhead
Joined: 03 Nov 2005
Posts: 21
Location: San Diego, CA USA
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| Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 8:47 pm Post subject: thanks |
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| spiral78 wrote: |
| If you're planning to teach overseas and/or make a career of ESL/EFL, you should probably seriously consider taking a certification course at minimum. |
I'm doing that right now. My problem is that I had been hired even before I began the program. I don't ever have complaints from my students and they tell me all the time that they really enjoy my class. I just want to make sure that I am on track with what I expect from myself. Thanks for your help. It is well appreciated! |
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muckhead
Joined: 03 Nov 2005
Posts: 21
Location: San Diego, CA USA
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| Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 8:50 pm Post subject: |
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| jr1965 wrote: |
| 2) Also, you say you're in California. If you're working with an adult ed population, I believe (but am not certain), that standards are published by the state. You may want to google Adult Ed/ESL/California standards and see what returns. |
Bingo! All sorts of stuff with 8 zillion links. I kept coming across stuff that were just typical pay for lesson plans junk. Lessons and activities are no problem. This is the meat that was missing from my sandwich. Thanks big time! |
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muckhead
Joined: 03 Nov 2005
Posts: 21
Location: San Diego, CA USA
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| Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 9:03 pm Post subject: |
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| What is "unestablished"? Pardon me for being so blunt and sarcastic, but is that the going phrase for "stupid"? |
Classic! No pardon needed. That's why I am on here. To seek help from people who care (at least somewhat).
Like you said, it is the perfect environment for "chaos." Luckily, it hasn't gotten that far yet. It looks like I am going to take the lead on this one. I can't just bail out on those students.
Anyhow, I really apprecite your advice and humor. I'm going to make this work. If I don't, well, at least I tried really hard! |
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gaijinalways
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
Posts: 2279
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| Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 2:15 am Post subject: need help |
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Sorry, my last post got wasted (I think my wife closed my window) and I forgot about it. It does seem odd that the school has no curriculum, though then again, my wife has come to some 'established' schools in Japan without a curriculum for some departments, but I thought that was an exception.
Good luck muckhead. |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 6:57 am Post subject: |
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I wanted to say that it's a really good thing that muckhead's hung in here with us, and stayed active on the thread. It happens way more often that the original poster never/rarely responds to anything that's been offered and just basically drops out. I always find that rather rude, although it's clear that it happens sometimes just because o.p.s don't get the info they want to hear (eg. on-line courses are sufficient, non-EU citizens can work legally within the EU, stuff like that).
So, thanks for your professional attitude, muckhead. Wish there were more out there like you than there are! |
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muckhead
Joined: 03 Nov 2005
Posts: 21
Location: San Diego, CA USA
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| Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 9:21 pm Post subject: |
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| spiral78 wrote: |
So, thanks for your professional attitude, muckhead. Wish there were more out there like you than there are! |
I ask for help and get all sorts of guidance, and I also get a nice compliment! Now, this is my kinda message board!
Seriously though, everyone has been a lot of help. I really wanna do this right. You folks have given me inspiration to do just that. |
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