Job Discussion Forums

[nomadder]

Real or imagined. If real- in what country?

[johnslat]

Dear nomadder,
Perfect?? Well, heck - nobody's pefect, either student or teacher. But from my experience, there can be ones that come mighty close in, I'd say, every country.
Kind of a cop-out, I know, but I do think it's true.
Regards,
John

[guest of Japan]

I taught a perfect student in an eikaiwa for two years. She desperately wanted to learn English.

When I began teaching her she was low-intermediate struggling through an intermediate class. Her confidence was shattered. I had too give her extreme special care and show an endless amount of patience. After completing the intermediate course she went on to an upper-intermediate course which she was still hopelessly unready for. I taught her much the same way as I had the first time, but was beginning to see some remarkable characteristics shine through. She was studying extremely hard and was always willing to try things beyond her comfort zone. She remained the lowest student in the class, but was progressing faster than anyone else.

Upon finishing the course, I persuaded her to take the two courses over again. Most Japanese will refuse to do this, because they feel it is insulting. In addition these two courses were very expensive. When she took the courses the second time, she was by far my best student. She had become both confident and proficient. She had also developed a great deal of trust in me as the teacher and took every suggestion I made and performed them to the maximum possible degree.

After finishing these two courses the second time she was able to function very well in some advanced classes. She became a role model for other students, and helped to bring life to every class I taught. She went from being a class killer to a class savior.

When I finished teaching at that school she broke into tears. In her thank you card for me she called me the best teacher she ever had. She never believed me when I said it was really the opposite.

[Gordon]

Great story Guest. Thanks for sharing.

I too have found that students who were once a pain in the @ss can sometimes become our best students. They're real extremes.

[Boy Wonder]

Female.....20 yrs old..... 5 ft 6 ins....blonde....38-24-36..... and eager to learn the ' English by touch" method........something i have proudly perfected to an art form over the last 23 years......
that's my perfect student.....!

[latefordinner]

goJ, thanks again, that's the kind of story that validates teaching for all of us. Well, anyone who cares.
Boy, I wonder about you. Trolling, sarcasm, or...

[leeroy]

The perfect studetnt? A 1-1 private student who pays but never shows up.

[shmooj]

[struelle]

There's no perfect student, but in China I've taught quite a few ideal students that share several characteristics.

Aside: I'm an idealist and not ashamed about it - not because I want perfection or a perfect world, but because 'ideal' means striving to be better.

So the ideal students often:

- Come to class prepared with notebooks, pens, and curiosity.
- Come to class ON TIME
- Review previous classes and preview for the next ones
- Work well in groups and with different partners
- Try out and participate in new and different activities
- Analyze language patterns and ask tough questions that keep me on my toes. Note: these patterns are not necessarily grammar.
- Use new lexis as soon as they learn them
- Relax, enjoy themselves and have fun while learning

The one student I remember most enrolled in upper-intermediate but quickly moved to the advanced level I was teaching at the time. Not only did she do the above, but was essentially the class motivator.

During breaks when I went for a coffee, I'd occasionally slip back in and she'd be initiating English conversations with her peers, laughing, motivating them, and going over the previous lexis. She gave good encouragement and feedback to weaker learners, as well explained to her peers the rationate and meta-cognitive dynamics of what we were doing. This was all done with a team-player attitude and on equal footing. In China this is unheard of and I nearly had a heart attack when I saw it.

In short, I must say, this student was so good that she should have been running the damn class!

Looking back my teaching skills were OK then, but they've improved a lot thanks to students like these who are on the ball and keep me working hard to be a better teacher.

Steve

[jojo_rock]

First of all: hi to all.... first time I have posted in here. But...

...I can do one better than the perfect student... I had the perfect class last year! They would always do their homework, and always ask for more when they thought I didn't give them enough. They asked questions, got on well as a group, they would socialize outside class so they became good friends too. They would always help each other out when one didn't understand. They were never late (which is close to a miracle since they were Italian) and they never ever missed class unless they were really ill or had to go to work!

I miss them now.....!

[nomadder]

Great stories!!!

My closest to perfect student started off as an annoyance as well. He was in JH and when his male teacher was switched for a female one he wasn't too happy and was shy like many JH boys. He didn't talk much and seemed rebellious at times and rude to the other student. He almost quit and I was hoping he would.

Then the next year began and he miraculously changed. He was not afraid to speak and tried out many phrases and new words and asked questions(unheard of at that level). He brought in English books he bought on his own and was often studying for English tests that you pay for in Japan. He came early too. In that year he really improved and he became fluent-something that was rare in even HS students. His enthusiasm really helped him and he made jokes to lighten up the class as well. Besides that he really did well in regular school as well. Scored the highest in his class.

[Dr.J]

nomadder

Might not be relevant to the post, but I got a real surprise when I checked this term's test scores - of the top 5 JHS students in the year, 3 of them I dread to have to teach because they just mess about the whole lesson.

Turns out they are clever on the inside, but just bored/have no respect.

And probably go to juku every waking moment they aren't in school...