Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Seabass]

I work in a hagwon and am struggling to get the attention of my students. They are bored with my classes and I know its because I follow the books too much. But I feel like if I don't follow the book and get them to do any work, they will just goof off all class. I joke around with my students quite a bit and engage them in conversations as much as I can, but its hard to do entertain students for 50 minute classes. I am also quite energetic, but they just don't respond. Games like hangman, the alphabet game and bingo get old really fast.

It obvious that most of my students don't want to be there to begin with (understandably so) because of their grueling school schedule. But how can I make the classes more fun for the students, while at the same time educational? Sometimes I feel like I'm just trying to get through the classes without the kids just getting out of control or falling asleep from boredom. I want to enjoy the experience more and at the same time become a better teacher.

Any ideas and advice would be appreciated.

[Qinella]

[Ya-ta Boy]

Do a google search of 'ESL games' and you will get hundreds of hits. Sift through the activities you find for ones that can be used with the particular grammar point in the lesson you will teach. It's time consuming, but worthwhile. Keep a bank of the activities that a) your students enjoy (some activities sound better on paper than they work out to be in class) and b) that are adaptable to many different grammar points.

One very simple one that can be used over and over:

Draw a tic-tac-toe grid on the board and fill it with verbs (or ask the students to offer verbs). Divide the class into teams. The basic rule is that the teams must make grammatically correct sentences for each of the verbs---using the verb tense you are teaching. You can require sentences be 5 or 7 or 10 words long, depending on the level of your students.

The competition between teams makes it a game and I've used it with all ages of students and they get into it. They are reading, writing and speaking English. And it requires no prep time on your part. What more could you want in an activity?

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I think games can be useful, especially if they reinforce other parts of the lesson. Also, if you have a low-acheivement activity but 100% are paying attention you're better off than a high-acheivement activity where only 25% are. Bingo where they have to make sentences to get a square is great for large groups, especially when you insist a new person goes each time. Hangman is pretty low acheivement, but it's amazing how if you pick a word and say it's from textbook lesson 7, how quickly you can have them reading through it.

It sounds like the OP is in a very familiar position. Make it more effective and the kids hate it; make it more entertaining and they hardly learn anything; wongjongnim / parents who think they can have it both ways.

[Seabass]

Thanks for the responses. I only use games like hangman during the last 5-10 minutes of class when the kids are getting restless and its too late to start a new lesson. My classes are 50 minutes long, so if I can get 40 good minutes out of them, I consider it a good class. I will search for ESL games online and try to come up with something more original and fun.

I do demand their attention, but there is always 1 or 2 (sometimes more)kids every class who won't listen no matter what I do, so that gets frustrating. Is it a good approach to just focus on the good students? I've tried to do that with the hope that a least a few kids will learn something.

[some waygug-in]

If you try Jeopardy type quiz games, it usually can be both fun and educational. The trick is to make questions that are both.
You can ask grammar questions as part of the game and also vocabulary and spelling questions from the textbook. Mix in some general knowledge and trivia questions and you should be able to make it work.
You can ask geography, science, verb tenses, animal questions, math,
inventors.........you name it. It can be as easy or as difficult as you want to make it, so don't listen to folks who say this is just a time waster.

It depends on the level of the class tho. This is a tough sell for really low level classes.

[Ya-ta Boy]

[jacl]

[harpua]

hey all. some of my students have been bored lately too. i was just going to post something similiar to what this thread is. my boss doesn't really like to see me playing too many games though. It seems that the trick is to always have some sort of supplement on hand, for any students who finish early. my students are all elementary though and a lot of stuff out there is too tough for them. anyways... i guess i don't really have much to contribute but i too would really appreciate any and all advice...

[joe_doufu]

When in need of a time filler, if I've already used hangman or a card game in the past two weeks, I like to whip up a sort of "hollywood squares" crossed with "bingo" game. Depending on the age of the students I make a 3x3, 4x4, or 5x5 grid, number the rows and alphabetize the columns. Students or teams choose a square (a1, b3, c2, etc) and have to answer a question, or follow an instruction, or perform a language task of some kind. You can adapt it you anything you're studying. With older teenagers I use regular trivia questions, and sometimes even let students create questions for their opponents. If they succeed they get their name/initials/symbol in the square.

3 or 4 squares in a straight line is bingo. I found that trying to make 4-in-a-row on a 5x5 grid can fill up 40 minutes well. The best thing is that this kind of game keeps their attention and pushes their language abilities.

[n3ptne]

Uhh... Qinella you're everything I hate in a teacher, but I'm sure you're a lovely person.

I have a philosophy, though I'm a new teacher, and it boils down to "you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar".... so this is what I do:

I walk into the room with absolutely no idea what I'm doing that day except a vague reference to what unit we're on, whether or not I have to make copies of a new word list (in advance, of course), and whether or not I'm giving a test. Thats it.

Now I spend the first 10-15minutes checking homework, reading things in Korean, and teasing my students. I tell them I saw the new Harry Potter movie, and how good it was, and then say that Harry dies.... they look like they're gonna cry, and then I say he gets shot, they all laugh. I tell them Santa is my ģ�� (I think thats spelled right?), and that I have his "hand phone" number. I say that this year hes been working out (coupled with copiously exaggerated body movements) and he isn't fat anymore. That he shaved his bear and sold Rudolph and the sleigh on the Internet and bought a car. I sing the tune to "Santa Claus is Coming to Tune" and change the lyrics to "Santa Claus is not coming, to Pohang"... I do a "Joy to the world, for I have come". I call them �ٺ�, and �ΰ��� (think �ٺ�x100). I make fun of America (in a light-hearted way), and tell them outrageously impossible things about it (i.e. "No no teacher, those aren't the words" "Yes they are, thats how we sing it in America") Basically, I act like a kid, try to steal whatever snacks they have, ask them for money (they always ask me, so I printed up a bunch of fake money and hand that out now), or demand a Christmas present. If I have a Coca-Cola, or something, I offer to trade it for a little piece of candy, then change my mind at the last second. I drink the Coke, and the make exaggerated "Ahhhh" sounds, followed by rubbing my stomach. This usually lightens the mood and gets them all laughing.....

From there we go on to pronounce the word list (its fun, as the kids will typically get into a rhythm of repeating you, to say the next word on the list in Korean and then hear how they all say it back to you before starting to laugh), run through that a few times, make sure they're so added ��'s at the end of their words, make them practice a Fx, Vx, Zx, THx, Rx, or Lx cominations as I see fit and that especially pertain to the units word list. I say a word, they repeat, then we go around in a circle with each student saying a word. This eats up 10-15minutes.

Then we go on to book work/workbook work. I have them take turns reading sentences or answering questions, and then have them "pick" the student who goes next, they love this, but I enforce a strict 5second rule, after which expires, I get to pick... oh, and no tag backs.

Whenever I feel the need to, I tell them to stop and I go to the board and lecture about some of the nuances/abstract tricks of the language. If the unit is talking about how to tell time, I go to the board and explain why its "One O'Clock" and not "One O'Five O'Clock", or not "One Thirty O'Clock". I explain the big hand, little hand, show them how to multiple the numerals by 5 (they're all good at math) to get the minutes. Then take turns drawing a clock and having them tell me what time it is, 1:18, 2:37, etc. If the unit has to do with counting, I don't just do the 1, 2, 3, 4-10/20 bullsnot, I teach them how to count up to a trillion, using multiples of three, and assuring them they really only need to memorize 1-20, the rest of the numbers are easy combinations. (30=TH[ree]+TY, etc). For money I do up a chart that shows them how much a penny is worth in won, etc.

If I spend twenty to thirty minutes on either, the quicker kids can usually answer any of my questions with ease... the slower ones pick it up by the next class.

Now, when I don't see the need to go off on a tangent (btw, I also make them add supplemental information to the book's questions, i.e. Q: "Has the flight to Singapore left yet?" A: "No it hasn't left yet". (how the book wants it answered) A': "No it hasn't left yet, it will leave at nine o'clock") we work through the book, taking the appropriate detours for jokes and the like.... little breathers I call them. And, if this is the case, I let them play hangman for the last 5-10minutes depending on how much we've accomplished. They only see me once a week, and as I always let them play it... it's very easy to get them under control by just saying "Do you want to play hangman or not?"

If I'm talking, I don't stop to let them play hangman, but as I usually am every other class or so, they play every other week. I don't like to give homework (makes it easy to quiet them down by asking, "Do you want homework?), and instead will assign homework as something we accomplished in class... its out "secret". In the event I hand out a new word list I make them write it, I tell them 3 times English, 1 time Hangul (the Korean teachers make them do a 5/1 split)... then we flip a coin. If they make the call, 2/1, if they don't, 4/1. I let them play that until they want to quit, or until they get it to 1/1 or 5/1. In the event we do play hangman, I make them play rock, scissors, paper (in Korean of course) to determine who goes first, unless its a test day, and I let the high scorer go first (ties are settled as you would expect).

Oh, another thing I love doing? Using Hangul in my lectures to make comparisons with the English language when it comes to meaning, pronounciation, structure, etc. They respond well to it.

Competitions work well too, I say words that have similar sounding, yet different first letters and have them write down the correct one. Winner gets 500won. Stuff like that. Make funny, drawn out, voices of American catch phrases like Sudden Death Overtime, when applicable. Teach them slang ways of saying goodbye (Catch you on the flip), and how to do trick fives (as in gimme five).

I usually stalk around the room, book in hand and paying attention to what all of the students are doing, making corrections, etc. Forces them to pay better attention to me as opposed to sitting all the time. Keeps them more focused and interested.

I see my job as having two purposes... to help them with pronounciation, and to make them think. The Korean teachers can do the grammar, and remedial BS, but they can't do this, so I spend my hour with the motivation of accomplishing these goals. Sometimes we don't get any work done, we don't even open the book... just depends on the situation and I feel it out as I go, and as I'm checking the homework during the first ten minutes.