|
Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
kanjizai
Joined: 29 Jun 2003
Posts: 69
|
 Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 10:21 am Post subject: From conversation school to working in schools |
 |
|
| If one leaves a conversation school for a classroom, what skills are most impotant to pick up first? And what internet resources are there to help?Any helpful posts are appreciated. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
PAULH
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 4672
Location: Western Japan
|
| Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 11:10 am Post subject: Re: From conversation school to working in schools |
|
|
| kanjizai wrote: |
| If one leaves a conversation school for a classroom, what skills are most important to pick up first? And what internet resources are there to help?Any helpful posts are appreciated. |
Just off the top of my head:
Class sizes are much larger so you need to know how to work with larger groups. In my classes I have up to 40 students in one class. Learn how to get students doing pairwork or small group work.
Teaching in a classroom is less about being a talking head doing 50% of the talking but being like a conductor of an orchestra. be a model for the students, correct mistakes and then get out of the way.
Try not to micromanage the lesson and what individual students say. They will have forgotten by the end of the lesson anyway.
Biggest complaint my students have is i dont write clearly on the board. Write clearly in big letters.
Learn how to deal with mixed levels in a class. You may not know the levels of each individual student but you learn to give slower students more time to answer questions.
Its very easy to pick 'favorite' students to ask and answer questions, especially those sitting at the front of the room. Devise a way so you can pick students at random, even at the back etc so everyone gets a chance to speak to the teacher. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
markle
Joined: 17 Jan 2003
Posts: 1316
Location: Out of Japan
|
| Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 12:50 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Don't be too ambitious in the amount of material you want to get through in one class.
Aim the material at something that majority of the class can do but can be dumbed down or smartened up according to the students ability. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
|
| Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 2:07 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| In my classes I have up to 40 students in one class. |
I have 47 to 48. If you are an ALT in a public school, you might face less than 40.
Sometimes you may be able to divide a class in half and teach each half with the help of another teacher, but beware of that situation, too. You and he/she may not teach the same way or at the same rate.
If you are an ALT, another difference with eikaiwa is learning how to team teach, whether with another native English speaker or (more likely) a Japanese teacher.
Learn enough Japanese to do simple discipline and record-keeping. When you take attendance, for example, and someone announces that Takashi is "koketsu" or "kibiki", you'd better know what that means. Disciplining a class is another animal entirely. You don't have to rule with an iron fist, but knowing how to communicate certain concepts to the kids is important.
Learn enough Japanese to understand some basic things with your fellow teachers, too. And, the office staff.
This is not a skill, but you should realize that you are probably going to get zero notice on what you are going to teach, and probably a terrible book if any. Know how to create lesson plans at the drop of a hat. Learn how to squeeze in lesson planning any moment you get. Be organized with everything you do. There's nothing worse than having 8 groups of kids being taught the same lesson one week, and then having a holiday foul you up so that 1 or more is not getting the lesson the next week (sometimes 3 weeks later), so if you don't know what you taught to who, you can be in trouble. Late assignments are another thing. You might have to take care of 450 students with all of your combined coursework, and trying to remember who was absent and deserves a break on timely homework is impossible.
Learn patience with your fellow staff and the admin in general. You likely won't effect any grand changes, and any direct approaches you take to do so will only meet in failure (although sometimes you may not realize that until much later).
Watch what your Japanese teachers do with students outside of class. They are counselors, surrogate parents, career officers, disciplinarians, and glorified babysitters. You may not like it, but you might have better luck with some students if you assume some of these roles. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
tokyo376
Joined: 29 Jan 2006
Posts: 39
Location: Tokyo
|
| Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2006 4:22 am Post subject: |
|
|
I made the switch to classrooms 6 months ago. I find I'm more of an entertainer than a teacher. What I mean by that....in a large class keeping the students interested can make or break you in the eyes of the faculty. The emphasis is on motivating the students to enjoy English. In elementary schools, you're not expected to teach anything difficult. It's mostly simple expressions and vocab. If the students are using the target English in your class, and having fun, the school should be quite happy.
Also, the kids are usually very excited when the English teacher walks in. Use that energy in your lessons, because it's near impossible to get them all to be quiet. I do lots of group shouting and active games and the students love it (and surprisingly, the staff don't seem to mind the noise coming from my classroom). The important thing is that the students enjoy their English classes.
And I agree with everything Glenski and PAULH wrote. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
takamatsudaiki
Joined: 25 Jan 2006
Posts: 11
Location: Where I don't want to be
|
| Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2006 6:57 am Post subject: |
|
|
Paul and Glenski:
How much do you recommend using Japanese phrases and then translating into english? For example, if you are trying to teach "I don't care (which)"/"It doesn't matter" (Dou demo ii), would you use the Japanese pgrase first or would you break it down to the lexicon and then put everything together in english? This is something that has been swimming in my head for months and I'd like to know what experienced teachers in the Japanese EFL environment think about it. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
PAULH
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 4672
Location: Western Japan
|
| Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2006 8:34 am Post subject: |
|
|
| takamatsudaiki wrote: |
Paul and Glenski:
How much do you recommend using Japanese phrases and then translating into english? For example, if you are trying to teach "I don't care (which)"/"It doesn't matter" (Dou demo ii), would you use the Japanese pgrase first or would you break it down to the lexicon and then put everything together in english? This is something that has been swimming in my head for months and I'd like to know what experienced teachers in the Japanese EFL environment think about it. |
The best idea would be to look at articles on use of the students first language in the class room. There are two schools of thought in Japan, that Japanese should not be used at all by native speakers of English, or using enough Japanese that students understand whats going on and are kept on track rather than trying to decipher the teachers instructions. I will probably use Japanese for 10-20% of the lesson. The class is not about 'translating' phrases but completing a task each lesson and getting them able to do something and I will use whatever works best to achieve that goal. Some teachers choose not to use Japanese at all in class as even instructions or directions or replies to questions count at input in the ESL classroom. Others can not use Japanese as they dont know enough to communicate the concept with their students. Students have to negotiate meaning with the teacher in that case.
Using L1 (students mother tongue) in the language classroom:
http://www.teflcertificatecourses.com/tefl-articles/L1-teflclassroom.html
http://exchanges.state.gov/forum/vols/vol37/no2/p6.htm
Students should get as much input of English as possible in a class including directional or reply utterances by the teacher but if the utterances are beyond the student's comprehension then giving a relpy is pointless (unless student knows and can work out meaning) and students will wait for a Japanese translation to follow.
When giving instructions or directions in class i will sometimes Japanese (more than I should)but when reading a dialog or using the tape etc I will use English. For formulaic classroom English you can teach students phrases at the beginning of the year e.g. "please repeat that" or "how do you say....." with the Japanese equivalents and use the English phrases in class, once students know what you mean. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling.
Contact Dave's ESL Cafe
Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
