Korean Job Discussion Forums

[paul]

Okay, how do I put this? Lately I've had some trouble with my patience in class. Perhaps my expectations are too high, or I am just growing weary of the same quesitons over and over, and I need a break. And I will take a break in August for one month.

But here we are going into the busiest month of the year and I'm afraid that I will poke out a student's eye with my board marker if I don't get some advice about how to:

(a) relax in the classroom
(b) be personable but not too close
(c) have fun with students and still get the job done
(d) how to deal with low level students

I'm sure I'm not alone in trying to find new ways to approach old problems. And even though 80% of my classes are running smoothly, there is this one class that gets on my nerves. I do have a few tried and true methods for the problems most of us face. But next month will be hectic so I'd like to hear from other teachers about their techniques for dealing with the above points.

Cheers

[mokpochica]

When I feel like this sometimes I find it's a good time to do a less interactive lesson. Some lessons that are still high on English, but lower on teacher/student interaction are:

1. Watching a movie in English (with English subtitiles if possible--DVD is good for this). Have kids answer some kinds of questions about the movie so they stay on task.
2. Do a scavenger hunt where students have to find some funny objects and ask for things in English from the English teachers at your school (good to arrange this beforehand).
3. Play a game like scrabble or bingo where students can direct the activity and police each other by themselves.
4. Do a music listening activity (Cloze exercise, music puzzle, etc.)
5. Have an internet day where students can play online English games or write letters to e-pals in another country. Internet scavenger hunts (with questions written by you and homepage suggestions to find the answers) can also be fun.
6. Students play a game like the M and M game. They receive different colored M and M's and have to finish a fragment according to each color. Red: Something I like is...., Brown: If I had a million dollars, I would buy..., etc. If they speak Korean than the person next to them may take their M and M and have two turns speaking (and eating) the M and Ms during their round.

I think it's good to have these sorts of activities once in a while to get students to be more independent, to speak English together, and to count on each other and not only the teacher. Actually, any type of group work can be helpful to have students rely on each other and it is helpful to some low level students. Another thing that I've found works well with low-level students are activities that are adjustable for different levels. I can give you an example of this with a game I just played called 'The Ending Game'.

Students had to think of words that ended with certain letters. For example:
1. E 2. ES 3. EST 4. ING, etc. The longer the word was, the more points they would get. In the case of number 1, they might write on(e) and receive 2 points, or they might write everyon(e) and receive 7 points. They worked in groups and had to add up their scores at the end. I gave all students participation marks for completing the task, but gave the highest scorers stickers in addition.

I'll end this here, but if you want any more info about these activities feel free to pm me.

[rapier]

I also have that single class that drives me nuts. After a week of chilling out with them I'm back to zero tolerance again, dealing out smacks to the hand with a ruler. Fairly effective.. All my other classes, there's no need. I am interested in them, they feel secure in this, and generally co-operate. I enjoy my kindergarten the most, as I can act funny and animated and the kids respond positively. Try that in a class of 12, 13 yr olds and you're asking for trouble..

[Mody Ba]

Sounds like you people are talking about hakwon teaching.Forget the fancy theories and rhetoric.Hakwon teaching is babysitting,not teaching.Just play bingo with them and make sure they do not physically assault each other(well,not too much,anyway)

[paul]

Thanks for the advice so far. But perhaps I should have mentioned that I teach adults, not children. (Although some of them act like children).

And the hardest thing I have to deal with is remaining calm and charming in the face of utter confusion over what I think is the simplest thing in the world.

You know, it's when you're rolling along on some advanced concept or irregular verb use, and then you get the blank faces. Sure I know games are a nice distraction once in a while. Hey, I even take my students out for beers so they can speak English outside the classroom.

There's just been some moments lately when I've wanted to pack it in because of frustration. This is the crux of my situation.

Am I making any sense?

I've been here almost two years and I think I'm almost done. I would like to put in one more year. It all boils down to how could I be more easy going with the class. I'll have no problem with 4 out of 5 classes, but it's the last one that has me baffled, even though I really don't change a thing in my approach.

It's a vexing situation.

[rapier]

Paul, I've only taught a few adult classes but generally they were a walk in the park compared to kiddy classes. However I guess ultimately there were still a few problems- just of a different kind...
What exactly are you trying to get them to understand? It could be a cultural barrier, or purely a language structure barrier..it could be embarrasing or offensive to them, or some taboo subject, who knows?

[TJ]

Paul,

Can't offer much in the way of helpful advice but you may feel a little better when I tell you that you are not alone.

I am about to complete my third year here and have experienced the same feelings as you ..... disappointment with some of my students' lack of interest is possibly the most common feeling; although there is also disgust and anger, especially at the way some hagwans and government schools are run. Then I cool down and accept the fact that Korea is different.

The most you and I can hope to do is teach English to a small percentage of the class and entertain the remainder. If we are really lucky we may even encourage some students to use their brains. Sure, that's not in the curriculum [ if there is one ] but I still think it's important.

Finally I will pass on some advice my father gave to me years ago. It's in his own version of latin. "Nil carborundum". My father translated this as ...... "Don't let the bast*@#s grind you down".

In other words ...... "Go with the flow". "Take it easy". "Don't get uptight".

[mokpochica]

I think that a lot of the activities (though not all) that I mentioned can be used for adults.

In addition, have you checked out the English-to-go website? It might be helpful as it uses newspaper articles for stories that are and even the lowest level lessons could be used for adults. There are some good things for adults on the Boggle's World website too. I like these two sites because they offer materials that are for low-level adults, but most of it doesn't seem childish.

[OiGirl]