Job Discussion Forums

[dmb]

For some unknown reason my boss spent about 3 hours in the office this afternoon, so I had to look as if I was busy.

I looked through some old files deciding what stuff to throw or not needed.
anyway I was looking at student grades over the past 18 months or so.

Since last April I have only taught 1-1. Probably in that time I've had about 15-20 different students. Their exams results were quite impressive. Pretty much every student passed exams with 80%+.

Why?

If students take private lessons are they more likely to succeed rather than if they were in a class of say 8-12.

Are they more motivated?

Can we, as teachers, concentrate on an individual learners goals? and aid them more?

or......

Or have I just been lucky in having intelligent hardworking students.

Any thoughts?

[Niste]

dmb, I was thinking about exam results myself today -my students did appallingly in the CELS exams that they took at Higher level. All but two got a fail in the writing part, and the two that didn't fail outright got something called a narrow fail . As any reasonably conscientious teacher would, i'm inclined to blame myself
And on reflection it probably was indeed my fault as I didn't give them enough timed practice or homework. But it never crossed my mind that the reason was class numbers (there were 16).
It's hard to give you a sensible response without knowing about the place you work and the type of students you had, but a privvy student is bound to get more specifically-tailored attention than one of a bunch, however much differentiation goes in to a whole class. Or did you prepare them with exam-identical questions beforehand a la many EC / Dilko / Gok-dil teachers ?
Anyway, tebrikler on your / their good results.

[dmb]

I am totally against teaching towards an exam in general English programs. Sure, things like a TOEFL prep class is different.

But when you teach 1-1 you can, some would say chat, for 10 minutes but during that 'chat' the teacher takes notes and gives delayed f/b after. It maybe a new grammar point, a representation, vocab input, pron, etc. But because there is only 1 student the teacher is 100% focused on the one student. I try to do delayed f/b in classes but when you have 8 pairs of students doing an activity it is impossible to pick up on everything, so is it worth the extra money for 1-1 private tuition?

[Baba Alex]

[dmb]

[Baba Alex]

[dmb]

How did you swing that?

[Baba Alex]

[dmb]

[FGT]

I prefer teaching classes (max 14 in my school) because I get a buzz out of it, but that's selfish. Probably the success rate is higher with 1-1 because you can tailor make the classes.

I like what you say about silence but I think another factor also comes into play - in a TEFL class we are taught to keep teacher talking time to a minimum to allow our students to speak, however, we are also a model of the language, so being paired with your student allows them maximum exposure to correct English (which can be rephrased, simplified etc as appropriate), thus the individual student hears the best model all the time.

Some students respond better to a class environment though. Personality has a play, too.

Congratulations on the success rate. Keep up the good work!

[dmb]

You speak good sense FGT thank you.
Also thanks for getting back on topic.
I can't even stay on topic on threads that I start. baba is a bad influence

[Baba Alex]

[dmb]

[Baba Alex]

[dmb]

Just tell the better half that your checking your email and you'll be 5 minutes. She'll fall asleep then you stay up for hours downloading, etc to your hearts content. In the morning, after you have had an only hour sleep. Feign illness then spend half the day in bed.