Job Discussion Forums

[matko]

Hello all.

I have taught private lessons before. Almost always adults.
Next month I am starting to teach a Junior high second grader and a High school second grader.

My problem? I have no idea where to start. I asked their mothers what their objectives were. Their answer: I want Him/Her to be a better speaker. J2 kids, as those with experience know, are very shy and don't really have a good foundation to carry on a conversation. H2 is also a problem because, although their ability is a little better, it is still like trying to squeeze blood out of a stone.

Any strategies, ideas, books ANYTHING that might help out would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for anyone who dares to answer

[TokyoLiz]

Matko,

Are you teaching them together or individually?

I taught special needs kids English in junior high school in Japan. Usually, I only had one or two students. They were a challenge times two - developmentally delayed, sometimes Downs Syndrome kids, and often major discipline problems. I loved them the best of all my students!

But you've got average kids, right? I'd suggest a lot of flashcard-type games. I play Othelo (also called Reversi) with verbs, nouns or whole phrases on the cards, Japanese on one side, English on the other. You can take language points from their lessons or introduce new ones, or review points from the previous year.

I played a lot of I Spy and flashcard activities for vocabulary review with my jhs kids (both ninensei). We also read Dr. Seuss together (even adults like Dr. Seuss), sang kids songs (there are lots of Canadian childrens entertainers who do fun and easy music), made picture stories with captions.

You need to use a little imagination and get them hooked on something they want to talk about. My special need kids were different, I know, but they wanted to talk about games, anime and what foods and movies they like. Sometimes I played dumb foreigner and asked them to teach me janken, tell me what's special about Doraemon, how to make okonomiyaki or how to get from school to the train station. All of these cultural things required them to describe features or a process and give you a clear objective - teach specific vocabulary, review verbs they need and give them hints about the correct prepositions to use.

Good luck with these guys!

[matko]

Hey Liz,

Thanks for the ideas!

I'll be sure to try some of them.

I'll be meeting them tomorrow and I will hopefully be able to judge their levels and go from there.

I take it you're starting as an alt soon.

Good luck!

[Glenski]

I have found that junior high students are extremely energetic and outgoing, while second year HS students are morose and lackadaisical because of the higher work load and number of school activities put upon them. There are exceptions, but this fits about 90% of the kids I have taught in Japan.