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[oprah]

I know some of us have a large number of students in our classes. I have about 53 students in each of my classes and just the logistics of breaking the class into groups for some activites is not possible. You can hardly move in the room. Going outside is sometimes OK, but part of the year is too hot and too cold for outside activities. What successful activities have been able to manage under such circumstances.. ??

[ouyang]

I have one class with 80 students this semester. The others range from 45 to 60 students. I insist on using the school's language lab where each student has a microphone and headphones.

The software allows me to group them in preset pairs, threes, and groups of four. There are also a random and custom grouping options. Then I can use software to choose which group I want to monitor and interact with.

The software is made by http://www.gzlange.com.cn. Even though they partnered with Brits to make their custom teaching materials, there are no English help files and none of the information on their web site is in English.

I aslo kept large classes of 55 to 60 students entertained last year with similar facilities. I don't know how much their language skills improved, but they learned a lot about western music.

Granted, that's not much of a success story, but this year my new school wanted me to teach my classes in a regular classroom. The 45 minutes I spent insisting on holding my classes in the lab, and then getting my way is my small accomplishment.

I know from my last position that there are many schools in china with this type of equipment, and you are unlikely to get to use it unless you insist on it.

[oprah]

Ouyang: thanks for the reply. In fact I will visit the language lab next week, it sits unused and is brand new. It is for my use. Yes the website you put down regarding software is in Chinese. I will meet with our computer leader in the language lab, and any further information you can supply will be helpful as I do not know for sure what to look for when I go to the lab. How does this software program work? Is it only for music? Can I hook the lab up to the internet so I can listen to news and programs from English country such as the one I listen to on my computer?? This language lab is it mainly for listening?? not for speaking??

[ouyang]

I had them network my computer, it just needed a cable. All the computers a school buys usually come with a LAN card. I installed a free RealAudio/Media player to listen to BBC news and watch movie trailers and music videos. Lyrics for most any mp3 can be found on google or some other search engine.

An online chinese dictionary, like http://www.tigernt.com/cedict.shtml and http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict_welcome.php, will enable you to translate new vocabulary. Using songs in class typically requires you to explain a lot of new words and expressions. Students also find images of the artists to be very interesting, which you can get at http://images.google.com/ or yahoo.

The instructor's mic allows you to speak at a normal level and be heard clearly by all your students, very useful for avoiding a sore throat and the nightmare you can experience at a chinese hospital. The students' mics allow everyone to hear those you call on in a large class.

You typically click a square with the student's seat number to turn on a mic, i.e. A1, B1, E4, F5, etc. I had a separate computer in my first lab for this, but the same one which I use for presentations at my new school.

Both labs also provide each student with a keypad for choosing 5 letters, A thru E. My current lab is better about calculating student scores on exams. In both, you first have to specify the correct answers for all your questions and the number of questions. You can also use it for voting on which song they want to spend classtime on.

The software was from two different companies, but neither provided any instructions in English. I've never encountered chinese teachers that had much interest in this technology. You have to get someone to act as the teacher and sit down at a student's desk to test how the keypad works. Bring something to make notes with and don't be shy about asking them to repeat something until you know how it works.

I discovered a major flaw in my current software for giving exams that the vendor is supposed to come fix. I've noticed that the chinese rarely test anything. If they install an air conditioner, they will leave once the power light comes on. They aren't going to feel whether any cold air is coming out. You will most likely have to become very adamant before they will go thru the process of creating, administering and grading a simple sample exam.

How you use the technology is really up to you. I like to visit sites like http://www.manythings.org/ and play games for warm up exercises. My current lab has a feature for dividing the class into teams. Have fun and be prepared for when the internet goes down or the power goes out during class. I have blackboard, in my new lab, which is a big plus.

[Roger]

I suppose you are teaching at middle school level or lower; but even if so you might be able to emulate my example.
I am teaching university students; last semester my classes had no more than 30 to 35 students, plus an assortment of visitors. This term the administration seems to have gone crazy - I have 5 classes, 4 of which have been merged into double classes... numbering 90 or more students!
Since my job is to practise Writing with them, I have little choice but to resort to some practical solution. I ask them to write during the lesson - (we have no textbooks at all - contrary to last term... but those we used thewn were far too high for my poor learners!).
And, I ask them to do COLLABORATIVE WRITING; this means I collect a piece of writing from each group of 3, 4 or 5 students. They have to brainstorm together and put their product on a sheet of paper together, with each of them having to write, say, one or two paragraphs of no more than 40 to 50 words. Thus, they have to discuss who is going to write which part - no mean feat for them, but they have been doing it bravely so far!
Tomorrow, they will have a topic to write upon, no more than 50 words each; one of them from a past perspective (using appropriate past tenses), the next using the present, and the third using future tenses.
90 students = 30 teams of 3 per class; I have two double-classes and a single class, some 250 students, each writing 40 to 50 words. A lot to read ovethe weekend!

[oprah]

Ouyang: This information is great, thank you. I will check out the websites, the computer leader here is very good and is very helpful when it comes to my own computer, printer and scanner....I am fortunate to have these things. Just a question.. I currently use a wonderful sound system and can use MP3 in the classrooms, they are networked, or work some way, I do not understand how this all comes together and I have an overhead where I can show the Lyrics to the songs. This system works well, What are the advantages if any of using the Language labs for music, is it better than what I have just described above for music?

[ouyang]

No, I don't think there's any advantage of using a language lab for incorporating music in a class, if you can already can play mp3s and display lyrics. I do think that when my students choose a song based on the 30 second snipets I play, it makes them more likely to "buy into" the lesson, and keypads are more convenient for counting votes, but not necessary.

As for as lyric activities, one technique is to rearrange the stanzas and have them guess the correct order. Another is to blank out words and have them fill them in, first before you play the song and then after for testing listening skills.

Roger wrote