Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Qinella]

This one may seem like a no-brainer, but maybe it'll help one or two people. My students have a habit of saying things like, "Book no," "pencil sharpener," "friend spelling," and "teacher bathroom," even though they already have the vocabulary to form proper sentences. So I made a collection of signs on colored paper and posted them around the whiteboard. They read:

May I go to the bathroom?
How do you spell __________ ?
I need a ...
I don't have my ...
I can't see! (yes, I finally figured out what AN BWAYO! means)
Please give me ...
I have a question

I'll probably make more signs as I go along, but as of yet these have been very helpful. When the offending child makes a nonsense utterance in English, I point to the appropriate sign, smile, and wait for them to say it properly. It's awesome. Now they have mostly memorized the signs, and I'm constantly berated with, "Teacher, I have a question! May I go to the bathroom! haha!" I think sometimes they get a kick out of speaking intelligibly to me with simple, memorizable phrases.

If you have any easy, simple ideas like that, please pass them along.

Cheers,
Q~

[jajdude]

That is a good simple idea.

[pet lover]

I used to do that. But, the kids completely depended on the signs and even months later, were reading them in order to say anything. Took the signs down.

Now, I make them say it the right way ten times (or five if it's the little ones) before I let them do what they want. Of course, if it's the bathroom, and they are little, I let them go first, and then make them say it after they get back. If it's ten times, I hold up all my fingers and count down as they say it. If they screw up, a finger goes back up. In order to avoid this, most students tend to learn the proper way to say things very quickly.

[plattwaz]

I did the same as Qinellea, and last year posted signs up.

BUt I found the same as pet lover...my students relied too much on the signs....

So I adapted.

We had "Sentence of the week" or "Useful Expressions" time and each Monday I chose one or two of the biggest annoyers for me, taught them, drilled them, and hung them up on hooks. (I laminated them and punched two holes in them, and threaded string through them)

After one week, I took the sign of the week down, and moved on to a new one or two.

After that first week, the students who wouldn't use the previous sentences properly (ie/ "Teacher, bathroom!!") had to wear the sign around their neck for the day. The first one or two times they thought it was HILARIOUS and did it on purpose, but after a couple of weeks of it, they hated it, and tried their hardest to get it correctly.

If another student asked the question properly "Teacher, can I go to the bathroom please?" I would have them ask the sign-wearer, who would then say to me "Teacher, can SHE go to the bathroom please?" and have them learn to alter the sentences appropriately.

We had good fun with it over the year, and the kids really understood WHY I did it....if oen or two were fussy one day and I could tell they were upset, I didn't push them on it.

This was a class of my own students, where they were with me 6 hours a day, five days a week, and I was their only teacher....so it was pretty effective, I dont' know if I would do this if I saw a bunch of different students for 40 minutes at a time.

[Ya-ta Boy]

The sign thing is fine if you can find a good way to get them past relying on them. One way is to make signs, review them at the beginning of every class, and then remove them. Add new signs as their mastery of old ones increases.

[pet lover]

Plattwaz....like your idea...consider it stolen.

[Qinella]

Plattwaz, that is an interesting idea. I'm not sure how I feel about hanging it around their necks, though. I don't like punishing or humiliating them simply for making a mistake.

Actually, though, most of my students have already memorized the signs I put up last month (spelling, bathroom, question). The newer ones I just placed up the other day, so it might take them a few weeks to get used to it. I'm not sure why you and pet lover had that problem, as I certainly don't do any drilling or anything.

In other news, I've got my phonics class answering random questions with complete sentences. Wahoo. Maybe all the children at my school are smarter than at yours!

[plattwaz]