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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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 Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 9:22 am Post subject: Teaching classes with no curriculum |
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Any ideas for things I could include in the lesson?
Last class, I had the students write a letter to an American pen pal. (We pretty much finished that, and I am going to mail the letters to the American students soon.)
What should I do this week? Is there a follow up I could do to build on that theme? (Maybe: "Using English to meet your goals"?)
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Are there any educational games you know of?
The classes are 75 minutes each. The first is three sixth grade boys. The second is three third grade students, one of which is female.
I read that children have short attention spans, so a variety of activities is a good idea. Scaffolding is probably a wise strategy as well, though I'm not sure how to achieve that.
Anyways, thanks for your help. I will take all responses to heart. |
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Carbon
Joined: 28 Jan 2011
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| Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 3:00 pm Post subject: |
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Who teaches a class without a curriculum? Sounds like you are looking for ideas to kill the time. Figure out some goals for yourself as a teacher and for your students instead of stringing together unrelated, meaningless games and BS.
Then again, anyone who writes this....
| World Traveler wrote: |
I know, it's awesome to have som any opportunities to trael the world and make decent coin just for having a ba in basket weaving and speaking my own language!
Beats living in Mom's basement and my burger flipper job at at Wendy's! |
...doesn't really deserve help.
I feel sorry for the kids who have to endure you, the parents who pay you and myself for letting your inflammatory drivel bug me. |
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jrwhite82
Joined: 22 May 2010
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| Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 4:59 pm Post subject: |
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DIsbell
Joined: 15 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 5:24 pm Post subject: |
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| Carbon wrote: |
| Who teaches a class without a curriculum? |
People whose hagwon director throws them into new classes with zero notice and no established curriculum. It happens. So the question is, do you offer practical advice to the poor sap and kids in that situation, or do you just take a condescending approach and deride backpacker/non-career hagwon teachers?
Anyway... how often does the class meet? Regardless, I'd suggest finding a textbook for each class. Hard to recommend one without knowing your students' levels, but hopefully someone at your school can support you in this. You're already "behind", planning and creating a whole syllabus worth of new material isn't gonna happen (well) in your typical hagwon job.
I'd also recommend not plowing through the textbook full-steam, as 75 minutes is a long time. Building on the themes/grammar/vocab in whatever text you end up with will be good- projects like letter writing, story writing, interviewing, etc. As for games, it's important to have some sort of language goal, preferably related to the class material- vocabulary, grammar forms, story/article comprehension, etc. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 5:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Carbon wrote: |
Who teaches a class without a curriculum? Sounds like you are looking for ideas to kill the time. Figure out some goals for yourself as a teacher and for your students instead of stringing together unrelated, meaningless games and BS.
Then again, anyone who writes this....
| World Traveler wrote: |
I know, it's awesome to have som any opportunities to trael the world and make decent coin just for having a ba in basket weaving and speaking my own language!
Beats living in Mom's basement and my burger flipper job at at Wendy's! |
...doesn't really deserve help.
I feel sorry for the kids who have to endure you, the parents who pay you and myself for letting your inflammatory drivel bug me. |
You quoted the wrong person, here. I never said that.
This is what I said:
| World Traveler wrote: |
| Great post, I'm With You, but one thing to note is that the demand for English lessons in Japan is now on the increase. The strong yen means Japan is turning into an economy that will do more international trade. Did you know that sales of the English Rosetta Stone are skyrocketing in Japan? I think the ESL market is improving there and is set to improve further. English is not only a very valuable language to know, but one that is becoming increasingly valuable in today's society. |
Here is your gem of a contribution to the topic:
| Carbon wrote: |
| And for the right candidate, Japan will be great. The OP however, is not that person and Japan may offer some short-term gains, but in the end, a loser is a loser. Wendy's or some hagwon in Korea or Japan....no difference at all. Unskilled labor is always just that. |
A different poster wrote:
| The Floating World wrote: |
I know, it's awesome to have som any opportunities to trael the world and make decent coin just for having a ba in basket weaving and speaking my own language!
Beats living in Mom's basement and my burger flipper job at at Wendy's! |
As for who would teach without curriculum (and by that I mean provided curriculum), I think that happens a lot. Some bosses are just after quick money. Some are disorganized. It is sad but true. I, however, respect the students time and the money paid by the parents, which is why I want to do a good job. As for your assertion that only losers work in hagwons, and that anyone could do the job...well, I would rethink that position. Not everyone can teach well in one. That is a challenge and a skill (one I am trying to improve in myself)...hopefully your attempt to discredit me and make me look bad won't discourage others from posting information that could be of great help not just to me, but many others. |
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noobteacher
Joined: 27 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 2:01 am Post subject: |
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| Are you going to be having these same classes for the foreseeable future or is it just a temporary thing? With no curriculum, my best advice would be to come up with a theme (travel, culture, music, movies, etc.) and build each lesson around that theme. Waygook.org has a TON of lessons in all subjects and areas. Go poke around there and then just build each week's lesson using information, games and activities, etc. |
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Carbon
Joined: 28 Jan 2011
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| Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 4:14 am Post subject: |
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| DIsbell wrote: |
| Carbon wrote: |
| Who teaches a class without a curriculum? |
People whose hagwon director throws them into new classes with zero notice and no established curriculum. It happens. So the question is, do you offer practical advice to the poor sap and kids in that situation, or do you just take a condescending approach and deride backpacker/non-career hagwon teachers?
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Ok. Create a curriculum. Any teacher worth their pay can make a curriculum relatively easily - at least a makeshift one until time/education allows improvements- by looking at the TOC of any EFL textbook. If you have no idea, then one has to wonder what you are doing here? Did you not understand what the words "teaching" and "English" might require of you before arrival?
Even a backpacker should have a decent work ethic, and that means wanting to provide reasonable service to your employer - and by extension the students - in exchange for money. It's your job. Learn how to do it. I hear so much complaining from teachers about low student achievement, when they themselves are no better, in deed or desire. Google and a small time investment could answer the OP's question faster than waiting for anything to appear here. That however, would be seen as work, I am sure.
I am not condescending; perhaps you just feel somehow inferior? Your post is certainly defensive considering I wasn't leveling anything at you. |
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Carbon
Joined: 28 Jan 2011
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| Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 4:21 am Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
You quoted the wrong person, here. I never said that. |
Yes, you did.
Perhaps you were joking? Who would know? That's just what clowns do. |
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DIsbell
Joined: 15 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 4:27 am Post subject: |
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| Carbon wrote: |
| DIsbell wrote: |
| Carbon wrote: |
| Who teaches a class without a curriculum? |
People whose hagwon director throws them into new classes with zero notice and no established curriculum. It happens. So the question is, do you offer practical advice to the poor sap and kids in that situation, or do you just take a condescending approach and deride backpacker/non-career hagwon teachers?
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Ok. Create a curriculum. Any teacher worth their pay can make a curriculum relatively easily - at least a makeshift one until time/education allows improvements- by looking at the TOC of any EFL textbook. If you have no idea, then one has to wonder what you are doing here? Did you not understand what the words "teaching" and "English" might require of you before arrival?
Even a backpacker should have a decent work ethic, and that means wanting to provide reasonable service to your employer - and by extension the students - in exchange for money. It's your job. Learn how to do it. I hear so much complaining from teachers about low student achievement, when they themselves are no better, in deed or desire. Google and a small time investment could answer the OP's question faster than waiting for anything to appear here. That however, would be seen as work, I am sure.
I am not condescending; perhaps you just feel somehow inferior? Your post is certainly defensive considering I wasn't leveling anything at you. |
You're reading into things too much. You dismissed the guy outright because of some random quote, and threw in some "oh poor children" business as well. Even if he is the stereotypical party-boy backpacker, the fact that he asked for advice means you have a chance to help the situation of his students in some small way. Sorry if it seems that I lashed out at you; I only meant to pose a question on how we ought to address these sorts of requests.
And essentially, we ended up giving some similar advice. The guy needs a course text! Cheers. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 5:10 am Post subject: |
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| Carbon wrote: |
| World Traveler wrote: |
You quoted the wrong person, here. I never said that. |
Yes, you did.
Perhaps you were joking? Who would know? That's just what clowns do. |
Nope. I'm pretty sure World Traveler and The Floating World are two different posters.
Why the vitriol?
If you have some insightful job related discussion ideas beneficial to readers of this board you would like to share, great.
If, on the other hand, you are trying to pick an e-fight, then you are wasting everyone's time, including your own. |
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pedrotaves
Joined: 02 Mar 2011
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| Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 5:12 am Post subject: |
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carbon did quote the wrong person and it appears that he/she is likely just a jerk.
to the OP, like the others have said: get books. plenty at kyobo. having structure helps the kids focus. doing the standalone activities gets boring for them after a while. also, having books helps to legitimize you as a teacher. at least in my opinion it does. |
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Carbon
Joined: 28 Jan 2011
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| Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 12:53 am Post subject: |
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| pedrotaves wrote: |
| carbon did quote the wrong person and it appears that he/she is likely just a jerk. |
Yes  and sometimes 
I want no fight, but show some initiative man. Though I may have lashed out (I mistook you for an idiot) I remain essentially correct. Creating a curriculum is fundamental knowledge for a teacher; like a physicist uses math. A curriculum from a Korean perspective, means buying an EFL textbook and following the TOC, hence my earlier reference. While not completely silly, most teachers tire of following a stranger's prescription for their students. Making your own gives you control. |
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Whistleblower
Joined: 03 Feb 2007
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silkhighway
Joined: 24 Oct 2010
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2011 2:54 pm Post subject: |
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| Carbon wrote: |
| Creating a curriculum is fundamental knowledge for a teacher; like a physicist uses math. |
That's not really true. At least in the public system, few teachers are actually involved in curriculum design because curriculum is usually mandated by government. What you mean is creating a unit plan. Even then, it's rare teachers are given carte blanche about how they can teach and what textbooks they can choose.
Hagwons are differently obviously, but a good hagwon should have some kind of progressive system which means having some kind of curriculum in place.
| Quote: |
| A curriculum from a Korean perspective, means buying an EFL textbook and following the TOC, hence my earlier reference. While not completely silly, most teachers tire of following a stranger's prescription for their students. Making your own gives you control. |
Well sure..I'd give the students a diagnostic test of some kind of first. Figure out what they know and what they need to work on. |
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Carbon
Joined: 28 Jan 2011
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| Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2011 8:39 pm Post subject: |
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| silkhighway wrote: |
| What you mean is creating a unit plan. |
No it isn't. Also, being involved in a curriculum and knowing how to create one are two different discussions. |
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