Korean Job Discussion Forums

[oskinny1]

I may be teaching some large classes (80+ students, 40-50 minutes), any idea on what to do here? I am at loss.

[Horangi Munshin]

Running?

Mass games?

[English Matt]

80 students??? Holy crap! I teach 40 at a public school and I thought that was a lot, and difficult to manage.

Well, it has to be group activities really doesn't it. Otherwise it's gonna end up as one large, unmanageable mess with you lecturing to the masses as they sit around and chat to one another. Do you at least have a coteacher in class to help you?

I would suggest using video clips, getting them to do some creative writing exercises, things like that. If you can organise them into groups and have them compete against eachother during tasks (e.g. the first group to finish gets some points, the group that performs the best gets points, etc.) then you might be able to keep most of them on task.

What age are the students? Will it be a mixed level class? Boys and girls?

[oskinny1]

It is for a volunteer job. The students will most likely be college age or a bit older. They will all be in the beginner range (though they will have had 6 years in middle-high school plus whatever they did in uni).

Not sure what the facilities will offer in video capabilities, but please, keep the ideas coming!

[Fishead soup]

A zero tolerance discipline program with a signed contract( in English and Korean) with the parents. A three strikes you're out policy. A firm agreement with the administarion that if they don't support you on this you'll walk out and leave the program unfinished.

Ask for a bilingual Korean co-teacher and that you won't start the lesson until he/she arrives. If he/she decides to leave early you will leave early.

The seating plan should be in small groups with each group having a name.

You should have a Laptop computer with internet connections. You can go into the site

http://eflclassroom.ning.com.

I'm not sure if this link works. If it doesn't contact duebels on this site. You
should use Baam and Fling the Teacher as a warm up. You can modify these activities. This site also offers lots of great PPT. Their Christmas PPT
and Side by Side materials are great.

If they are not willing to offer this kind of support. They view you as a dancing monkey and should try to avoid participating in this program.

[missty]

you volunteered for an 80 plus class? Games, group work and valium.

[Underwaterbob]

80+ university students... a microphone and amplifier to cut through the snoring is recommended.

[blurgalurgalurga]

Full-contact Pre-Columbian Field Lacrosse.

That'll get the numbers down to a managable level in no time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_lacrosse

[Easter Clark]

Some good tips for teaching large classes here.

I used to teach classes of 70+ middle school students in China. My advice is not to try to speak over them--you can't do it. If things get too loud just stop talking. If they continue, then have a seat. If they respect you then they should self-police.

Don't worry if 100% of them aren't paying attention 100% of the time. I believe yingwenlaoshi mentioned being comfortable with a certain amount of "background noise." If they aren't disturbing other students or making it difficult to hear you, leave them alone.

Keep the lessons simple. Have lots of pair and group work. Don't bother with handouts. Use drawings to introduce vocabulary, and have the students brainstorm vocab in groups. Then have a class brainstorming session.

This goes against modern methodology, but use lots of drills--listen and repeat, fill in the gaps, etc. If you don't have a projector (I didn't) the chalkboard can be utilized--write the structures you want them to learn on the board. Dictations to reinforce the target language are useful as well.

[QbertP]

Didn't actually click the link. Is that like the mayan version where the winners got sacrificed?

To OP

Chants are a good option with huge groups. Ive seen daft punk's "technologic" broken up into chunks and used to great effect with a large group.

Also ensures conciousness through participation.

[oskinny1]

Thanks for the help everyone!

[emmuh]

80+ that is hectic...
I hope it works out for you. I don't think I would be able to handle more than 25...!!
Good luck!!!
ps. if any of the ideas suggested work you should let us know so if we're ever in this situation we have a way to tackle it!

[Hanson]

Surveys - get students into groups (2-4 students) and have them make up a survey on a specific topic (sports, fashion, high school life, entertainment, etc... A different topic for each group). 8-10 questions with multiple choice answers to choose from. Students survey each other without showing their work (listening practice!) and then get back int heir groups to gather the results. Then teach "most, all, not all, some, a few, a majority, a minority, X% of students, half, ... and get them to put together a short presentation to inform the rest of the class of their results.

Find Someone Who (for big groups) - This one takes a bit more prepping - you give each student three strips of paper. Each strip of paper has something like this: "Find 5 people who are from Gangwon-do", "Find 4 people who have met someone famous", "Find 6 people who can name 4 European capitals in 15 seconds", and on and on and on.... Students then mingle and find the number of people they need by asking yes/no questions. When they find a "yes" they write that person's name on the back of their paper. Follow-up with a writing exercise... 3 strips per student is to have them make more than only 1 question (that's boring, over and over, the same question) and to lengthen the activity. You could also ask them to find out one more thing from each person they found by asking a wh- question.

What Can You Make With...? - Bring in bags with various household objects, enough bags for the number of groups in the class. Objects could include a hanger, a comb, a spatula, a light bulb, a toothbrush, a plastic cup, and so on. Tell the groups that they have to use the objects given to make a new invention that will improve people's lives. They can transform the objects if they want to and they don't have to use all the objects. This could also lead to a short presentation, and you could pre-teach things like "target market", "slogan", and pricing to "sell" their invention.

Deserted Island - Tell the students that they will shortly be forced to spend the rest of their lives on a deserted island with no other people. There are animals and vegetation on the island, but no infrastructure whatsoever - think Tom Hanks in Castaway (or was it Cast Away?). Then, tell students they will be allowed to bring 12 items to the island to help them survive, but that they all have to agree on which items to select. Pre-teach opinions, counter-offering and compromising. Give them a list to choose from if they are very low level - things like lighter, swiss army knife, telescope, mirror, soap, netting, a book, a fishing pole, a gun, an umbrella, an article of clothing, bow and arrows, etc... I tell students they cannot bring a computer or a cell phone, just to make it a little harder. After everyone is finished, you can tell groups to nominate a thief to go and "steal" the best idea from the neighboring group. Chaos and fun ensues!!!

Hope that helps...

[sojourner1]

Holly guacamole bajibbas kalamazooloo supercalifragidotious. 80 students?

Since it's adult, I'd lecture like a college professor and make a curriculum based on modules which are subjects such as debate, science, math, English composition, computing, business, finance, and any others the students might want or need after surveying their interests. I'd allow anyone to speak or ask questions by raising their hand with a zero tolerance to disrespectful behavior and that we must be civilized adults aspiring to be professionals. And make it where they get tests and grades too.


80 kids? No way! Jose! LOL! 35 6th graders can be misery.

[Fat_Elvis]

Any kind of mingle activity will be chaos in the classroom, forget it. Pairwork is the way to go. Don't expect everyone to stay on task.