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andrew



Joined: 30 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 11:01 pm    Post subject: ..... Reply with quote

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Last edited by andrew on Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:46 am; edited 1 time in total
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dulouz



Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Location: Uranus

PostPosted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 12:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thats easy. Grow pretty blond hair and nice boobies and the students will be much more enthused about learning.
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rapier



Joined: 16 Feb 2003

PostPosted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 12:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

People learn as much as they want to ultimately, you cannot force them. your job is to give them the option to learn if they want.
Ultimately, learning here depends on your personality and charisma. Do you have an appeal? otherwise they won't want to learn anything from you- its all about presentation.
you can have a PHd and be a veritable mine of information, but nobody will learn anything from you unless you look like something they want to be, ie, confident, funny, entertaining, whatever.
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crazylemongirl



Joined: 23 Mar 2003
Location: almost there...

PostPosted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 3:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Middle schoolers are a tough bunch. If they don't know you, they have nothing vested in you then it's going to be tough you just one of a long line of teachers they see every day. Try to get to know them as people, maybe do some easy going lessons to find out what makes them tick.
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Yu_Bum_suk



Joined: 25 Dec 2004

PostPosted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 3:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If they're middle schoolers it all depends on the context. Presumably their parents are paying good money for them to get a good education. In any normal country the thing to do would be to talk to their parents with a translator about their goals and expectations, but that seems just too logical for Korea. Are they old enough that they should have the responsibility to learn put on themselves? Should you just take away their handphones and MP3 players and keep them late if they don't do any work (probably what their parents would want)? Sould you find a new personality that magically makes them want to learn English (probably your director's idea)? Should you press a magic button that makes them want to speak English? At any rate, if it's only one class and the rest are OK, you're doing fairly well.
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Gopher



Joined: 04 Jun 2005

PostPosted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 3:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

[deleted]

Last edited by Gopher on Wed Jun 14, 2006 5:04 pm; edited 1 time in total
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rok_the-boat



Joined: 24 Jan 2004

PostPosted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 4:39 am    Post subject: Dumb Wisdom Reply with quote

There is a wise Confucian saying that only 10% of what you learn comes from the teacher and that the other 90% comes from the self.

Now think about that - it is a wise saying.

But, and it is a big but, anyone in the West will say - "Doh! Tell me something new!"

In Asia, it is a wise saying BECAUSE NOBODY UNDERSTANDS IT. "Don't be ridiculous, the teacher has to teach us everything, that's his job!!!"
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joe_doufu



Joined: 09 May 2005
Location: Elsewhere

PostPosted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 4:55 am    Post subject: Re: Where does student responsibility for learning begin? Reply with quote

andrew wrote:
I am finishing my second week at my new school, and I have a problem. My classes seem to be going well and are quite lively except for one group of middle schoolers that I have in the evening. There are two girls and one boy in the class, and trying to get them to speak is very difficult.


To add injury to insult, you will start getting serious sore throats from this class. Mine hit in about week three.
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guangho



Joined: 19 Jan 2005
Location: a spot full of deception, stupidity, and public micturation and thus unfit for longterm residency

PostPosted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 5:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I told two 4th graders that I don't like talking to myself and let them out early. I lied tho--I make a sparkling conversation partner according to my personalities.

Hey listen- these kids are being spoonfed crap fourteen hours a day. You should do the same if all else fails.
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joe_doufu



Joined: 09 May 2005
Location: Elsewhere

PostPosted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 6:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's a struggle to make them create anything new with English, all they can do is repeat what they hear. Maybe "mad libs" is a possibility... give them a composition full of holes and let them fill it up. Then after writing, they read what they've written.

Going from
brain --> paper --> eyes --> mouth
seems easier than directly from
brain --> mouth
for my students.

I want to get them interacting with real foreigners who they are interested in, so they'll be compelled to speak on the spot. I'm thinking of a "video pen pal" program but it'll be a lot of trouble and I don't have a video camera! Maybe "video personals" for the teenagers?
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Gopher



Joined: 04 Jun 2005

PostPosted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 9:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

[deleted]

Last edited by Gopher on Wed Jun 14, 2006 5:04 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Mr. Literal



Joined: 03 Jul 2003
Location: Third rock from the Sun.

PostPosted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 12:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Your question was, "Where does student responsibility for learning begin?"

The answer: The instant s/he walks through the classroom door.
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Qinella



Joined: 25 Feb 2005
Location: the crib

PostPosted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 12:37 pm    Post subject: Re: Where does student responsibility for learning begin? Reply with quote

andrew wrote:
I am finishing my second week at my new school, and I have a problem. My classes seem to be going well and are quite lively except for one group of middle schoolers that I have in the evening. There are two girls and one boy in the class, and trying to get them to speak is very difficult. We are using a book called "Communication Strategies" by David Paul and it is a very good book, but I don't think it really works well in Korea for cultural reasons. It encourages free thought and opinions, and I think the kids in this class have been taught that there is only a yes or no answer for a question. Black and white, nothing gray. Today the director said she couldn't understand why I'm having such a hard time, because I was "the teacher" and that no one else has such a problem. Well, when you have kids that are more focused on their hand phone than speaking, or who mumble their words and have to be reminded to speak clearly, what else can I do? I try for lively conversation, but it's like talking to a brick wall. What bugs me the most is that I feel I am being blamed for their silence. In a meeting I had today, after the subject came up, I stated that I would not be blamed 100% for this - that the students have a responsibility themselves to make effort, as much as the teacher. Is there another way I can handle this, and if so, how? Thanks!


Don't worry too much. As long as you are cool with them (and I mean strict, but friendly and interested in them), they will open up. Teenagers are like that. Don't be afraid to joke around with them, draw funny pictures on the board, confiscate the cell phone and pretend to be the student talking on it. Things to break the ice.
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