Job Discussion Forums

[oprah]

Here is my story .. I have taught primary school, adults, teachers and now it is teenagers in senior middle school.. Need help on teenagers...

First class --they are excited and happy to see new foreign teacher. First class is introduction. Second class... we talk about current events with a few new words each class. Now I am getting familiar with the territory, soon they will be bored or will not be paying attention??
Many good students, but some are not interested in the class.. Why?? they live in the school and put in many long hours and some are very tired. Some want to do their home work during my class when they think I am not looking... but I am always looking. Then I was told some do not care and sleep as this oral english class.. they do not have an exam for oral english so they only care about the classes where they will write an exam and get a mark.
So... what do I do for my next classes ?? I thought doing current events would work, but am wondering if this will hold their interest over a few more classes??? They want you to sing and tell about your personal life.. am I just a monkey performing and entertaining these students??
School does not tell you what their expectations of the class is, is it just to entertain them??? I am told do not worry about those that do not pay attention. I say remove them from the classroom, so not to disturb the rest of the class and to waste my time. I travelled a long way to not waste my time in the classroom..
Any advice as to how to proceed to keep students interested in class. So far they do not talk all at the same time like they are use to.. that is a good thing..
I have heard foreign teachers say as the school year move on, they get less and less interest from the students for attention to your class. Looking for some input .. thanks...

[lagerlout2006]

This is a fine summary of ESL in China. I wish I had answers but to be honest I have thrown in the towel...I have only found 1 thing that works...Bribery.

I tell the class if they pay attention and speak ONLY English for 25 minutes the class will stop there. At that point they can turn on the computer (our classes have them at the desks) or they can go outside, I suppose this is unprofessional but at least I teach a half class. Otherwise it will be 45 minute farce. It is surprising how advanced a lot of students are if they put down the homework (or just shut up) and talk to you...

By the way I will get in crap when the FAO finds out what I am doing.

[rick_martin_78]

I taught at a middle school for a bit as well, and ran into many of the same problems. It's kinda difficult to keep things interesting, but if you have total control over the content of classes, it's not so bad.

some possibilities:

for kids that do other homework, yeah, I just let them do it, more often than not. I just make sure to call on them every so often, just to keep them on their toes.

for kids that sleep in class, two suggestions: 1) break off little bits of chalk, and try your luck picking them off from the front of the room. I developed a near-deadly accuracy after a while, and it always amazed the students to see me pick off a drowsy kid from 15 or 20 ft away.
2) crouch down next to the kid's desk, and put your face as close to their's as possible. Then make a subtle noise, not to loud, but enough to get their attention. Invariably they fall out of their desk after awakening to find a laowai 2 inches from their face.

Once I gave a class on the story of Hamlet (not the actual text, cause that'd be nuts, and plus I didn't have enough books). But sort of summarize it, scene by scene, and relate the main idea. Most of them are familiar with famous plays like this (Romeo & Juliet, as well), so the exercise is to get them to fill in the blanks. i.e. So what happens next? They really enjoy all the killing (we used badminton rackets for swords), and they get all bashful about who's whose girlfriend, boyfriend, wife, husband, etc...

When all else fails, bring in Frank Sinatra. Play a song, stopping after each line, and see if they can repeat back the lyrics. Sinatra is very clear, and easy for most kids to figure out. Fly me to the moon usually works well.

[whitjohn]

We have talked about some of the better movies...Forrest Gump for example gives many ideas about life in the US. Ghost with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore opens up "love" which usually interest teens..and the idea of ghosts and the supernatural. Just two I've used with some success. Good luck!

[oiboy]

I currently teach middle school / college students. I have found I had the same difficultly with my middle school students. I stress the word HAD. As with all kids they will TEST to see how much you can put up with. Especially being a lao wai they think they can get away with more. What I do is if they are sleeping or talking I just keep silent at the front of my classroom and look at my watch. For every minute they wasted in class I kept them for that long after class. I told them that the clock begins when they are silent. It took them 30 minutes to all be silent the first time. Now its not an issue they are pretty attentive in my class. (Perhaps out of fear)
I also rewarded the students who did homework with ice cream from our school store. Guess what? Week one only 2 students did their homework. After week 2 , 23 students in my class did their homework. I bought some cheap candy for those classes. Buying ice cream for your whole class would be financially draining. Also change the seating of your whole class and DO attendance. The troublesome ones usually sit in the back. Separation is good. Pass around a sheet of paper and get them to sign their names on it. They sometimes will write another students name on it that isn't there. That�s why every few classes you should call out names.


Good Luck in the Dungeon of ESL


=o )

[struelle]

Hi Oprah,

You've described the Chinese middle school situation very accurately. I'm in a similar position as you, having taught all the different age groups and now trying teens. I think they're by far the most challenging to teach, and in a boarding school environment, you need a double-dose of patience.

The students are being thrown into the grinder at this age. As they go up the ladder of senior school, the competition becomes indescribably brutal to get the best marks.

They have very high demands from their Chinese teachers, in all 8 courses of mostly science study. As well, they cram in tons of extra-curricular activities after studying. Combine this with the hormonal changes of typical adolescence, and the teenagers are really going through a lot.

It is no surprise then that the teens' attention span is short, and teaching them must take this into account. Teaching also needs to deal with the inevitable mixed-level classes and differences in ability and motivation.

With all the demands they face, oral English is sort of like a welcome break. But this can be exploited in a positive way. It's unfortunate that Chinese administration knows very little about how to actually do this, but here are some things I've tried that have worked:

- *Competitive* Games!! Sentence Relay, Hotseat, Telephone, and Running Dictation are some of my favorites. If you pit teams against each other, they thrive off this. Check the 'Idea Cookbook' for more.

- Keep the pace of activities fast and furious, and try not to let them drag. As a general rule, I do about 5-10 minutes per activity in a 40 min class.

- Do topics that are directly related to teens' interests: School life, food, movies, music, and shopping work well. I tried boyfriends and girlfriends once, but the school gave me beep for it.

- Use lots of pictures and fun dialogues. The Super Goal textbook series is good here.

- Pitch the class towards the average-level students, and give more feedback to the higher-level ones.

- Start off strict and let them know you're in charge. The class will be fun, but they need to respect you first.

- They love for you to sing and dance, but insist they work first. Or, find a way to teach new words using silliness.

I figure this: The teens are going to have a relaxed attitude to oral English anyway. So I may as well go with this, and somehow turn it into learning.

Steve

[Ger]

[oprah]

Thanks so much for all the info on this topic. Sounds like this is a challenge for many. Information on resources would be helpful. I went shopping the other day and could not find Forrest Gump or Frank Sinatra music. You can always find the Carpenters but they know this stuff. There was mention of Idea Cookbook and also The Super Goal Textbook, where does one find these resources?? and do you spend your own $$ on these or does your school contribute to the cost??

[mr pink]

My job, as explained to me by the powers that be, is to get them to open their mouths. I have very little content to teach so I'm able to bring just about anything into the classroom to use as a vehicle to get them talking. Here are a few things that have worked for me.

One time I started with an urbane question like "what did you do yesterday" and then used the Socratic method and dialectics, asking why why why why. It got their attention and then we did the same process again on the blackboard on things like beauty and happiness. Then I moved onto a question like "Why are you here" and had them write out their answers until they came to the "truth." Having them write it down first gets all of them thinking and able to take part in a subsequent discussion.

Word association is fun. I've started with a list of words that you know they have a strong feeling about, like Beckham, Japan, Michael Jackson, English, school, goose frabba (which I got from the movie Anger Management). As I read each one, they write down their first thought/ impression. It can lead to discussions about history, politics, life, sports etc.

One fun thing is to have them get into groups and open imaginary restaurants. They have to decide things like atmosphere, theme, and most importantly a menu. After they're prepared, I hand out slips of paper to each group describing who they are--maybe monks on vacation, investors from Singapore, aliens from Mars, an angry football team. They get to visit each other's restaraunt and find the one they like best based on their character.

There's virtually an infinite number of activities to do if you bring in stuff that you are interested. Not that it's always easy to think of them.

hope this works for you,

mr pink

[No Moss]

Well, lots of luck with the class. The problem with teaching "oral English" to a class of (usually) 50 students is that there are (usually) 50 students. It's hard to have any meaningful interaction with the students or even to monitor pair work. It's also pretty much impossible to do anything else if you try to maintain order, at least in my experience. With 50 students, there's a huge difference in English ability and motivation to learn English. And you're pretty much left to your own devices by the Chinese teacher, who's just glad to be outta there for a hour or so. Don't worry--all these shortcomings mean that there's a fair market for private tuition.

[Just a guy]

I just brought in a handful of simple riddles to class & it went over Great. I found a few that play on words the kids in junior 2 & senior 1 know & they enjoyed being showed how often, a simple answer is the best answer�or how actually reading what is being said & following it gave the answer.

�How many letters are in the alphabet?�

�How many sides does a circle have?�

�If you Cross out six letters you'll find a word that we should know. The word must be spelled out in order.
SBAIXNLETATNERSAS�

`ones like those.
I had a student write them out on the board for me.

They have new words, provide listening / reading practice & are a bit of a challenge, even the naughty boys liked them�

I have many more that get more difficult for later classes, I think I�ll use them in each class for now on as time / tension breakers.

I found them at;

http://www.riddlenut.com/show.php

It takes time going through them but worth it I think, the tough ones are also great for the teachers & yourself.

[jessybaker]

One thing that I like to do, is have them try to tell me Chinese stories. For example- -journey to the west. All the kids know it, all the teachers know it - even I know it. But I don't let on-in fact I deliberately misinterpret the things they describe things to me, forcing them to give more detail, and communicate more creatively. For example, they say "long ago, there was a monkey" , so I draw a monkey on the board. "yes! he could fly!" - Looking incredulous, I draw wings on the monkey. "no! he didn't have wings!" I ask them how he could fly? - " a cloud! stand on a cloud!" - I draw him on a cloud. " He had a big stick!" And so on.

I've had them teach me other stuff, like how to make dumplings. They get a good laugh when I "misunderstand" their instructions and mime eating of an un-cooked dumpling. They then have to figure out a way to explain the concept of "boiling".

[arioch36]

I loved teaching at the middle school, but it hurt to see the teachers and students be virtual slaves there (in my eyes). I did some of the "fun" stuff. (I show Forrest Gump to my college students, but I didn't feel it was appropriate for my middle school students.

But my mainstay for activities in class was integrating there other classes with my oral english class. I would use the reading books, which was okay, as the basis for many oral an vocabulary exercises, etc. It helped the other teachers, and it helped the students in those "real" classes

[kev7161]

I found a textbook with accompanying workbook that I use as a foundation for my Senior classes. At first, the school was NOT going to give me a text to work from. I told them that I was a creative sort, but not THAT creative and I'd need it for reference from time to time. It has a HOST of things to do in it: dialogues, new vocabulary, grammar rules, CD-Rom videos/exercises, word searches, crosswords, conversation topics, listening exercises, and a host of other things. Some of you may have heard about it: The New Cambridge some or other (I don't have it sitting right in front of me and can't remember the EXACT title).

Each chapter has a certain topic, such as the one we most recently completed: food and recipes. Along with the basic exercises in the book, I also taught them the following recipe: peanut butter/honey/banana sandwiches (it was from one of the dialogues from the unit). I asked them, "if I happened to have one of these sandwiches here, would you try it?" Most of them said no. So I proceeded to pull out a few loaves of bread, some jars of cheap Chinese peanut butter (not as good as Skippy, but so much less priced!), honey, and bananas and had the kids go to town on making their own sandwiches and giving them a try (with my class of 41, that was quite the experience!). Almost all of my kids had never tasted Peanut Butter and NONE had ever had a sandwich like this. 99% loved it! Afterwards, we talked about it and it was one of my most successful classes to date.

Naturally, I can't do things like this all the time, but I brought a bunch of things with me from the states such as: menus from restaurants, magazines (with lots of pictures of cars, food, non-Asian people, celebrities, fashions, etc.), art supplies, etc. Once or twice in each unit, I try to have an EVENT where we do something interesting, cultural, and, you know . . . DIFFERENT than the same ol' routine. I'm always playing music when they come in the door and, if we come to a closing spot before the end of the class, then we play another song or two.

A fun thing I do from time to time is have one of my more advanced students give a "lesson". Usually they don't even know I'm going to call on them so they have to do it from the top of their head. Maybe they will go over the workbook answers with the class or review the vocabulary words . . . something. Not only is it good for the advanced students, but his/her fellow classmates perk up and get a kick out of it as well. I always pretend I'm sick or really tired and they are "helping me out".

Something I'm going to try for the next couple of months is give individual students the last 5 minutes of class. They can choose to share a poem, sing a song, lead the class in discussion of some sort, and so on. The first half of this school year, I found myself doing a lot of talking. When I'd ask for an answer, I would get stone-cold stares. This term I've been trying to shake that up and give more opportunitities for the students to, you know, TALK in their SPOKEN ENGLISH class!

[oprah]

The information presented on this topic has been terrific. Can anyone help with what are good and successful poems they have used?