Korean Job Discussion Forums

[viva]

Please help! I need some good game and activity ideas to use in the classroom. Hangman and Bingo have gotten old. I have a few other games in my repetoire, but they are quickly losing their appeal as well.

I've read all the ideas in the idea cookbook and am still at a loss for games I can play with middleschool students. My main problem is that my classes are HUGE. I average about 20 students per class, and have had up to 25 kids some days. There is absolutely no room to move around, so games that require movement are out of the question.

Does anyone have any suggestions for fun games I can play with really big groups? I'd really appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks

[the_beaver]

I teach the same size classes.

I always break them into groups of four and give each group whatever activity or game I'm doing. Then I just meander around and make sure they're doing it right.

[rapier]

Thats a tough one- and one reason I left Taiwan:- the classes there were huge, averaging 20. I did a few lessons there but it required a totally different style, and set of games/ activities than in Korea, where classes are typically average 10 students.
6-12 is the ideal class size. Anymore, and your school is little more than a profiteering, cramming, hole.
you say there is no room to move. really? you can't even have them playing touch games, sticky ball,- in 2 lines of quickfire contestants??

[jaebea]

Group them into teams, 4 of 5 or 5 of 4.

Keep these teams over several weeks, and then run stuff like, which team can do the crossword or find-a-word the fastest. Get points, teams get little bonuses for coming top of the table.

I dunno if your hagwon allows kickbacks to your students for working well, but this small group dynamic works well, because the good students will pressure the poor students to lift their game for the good of the group. Use the lure of chocolates, drinks, drugs, your body, whatever to keep them going.. :)

Stuff like quiz games and so on may also work well. Try getting some ideas from popular TV shows, maybe jengban nursery rhymes (kids get owned with trays if they screw up a line) or something? Maybe get them to memorise a short series of conversation?

Good luck, these big classes can be hell on earth. Just about keeping things interesting really.

jae.

[wylde]

my average is 33 students per class.... instead of just playing games, ya could try teaching them english... break them up into groups or teams as jaebea says, maybe print a couple of color pictures of a situation or place and have them describe the hell out of it.... maybe organise and plan a debate day, explain the rules and procedures have them research a topic and run the the motions of a debate.. this will get them talking and help build confidence speaking in front of others... maybe d/l an episode of friends and watch it in class(d/l cuz it wont have subtitles), when it finishes go through it bit by bit to show them how foreigners actually use english in casual conversation, then ask them to write their thoughts about the show..

i am not a fan of games... if i give something fun they must learn something too... that is the deal. there is a few for you.. i hope they help

[rapier]

33 students average??? what!!! How do you teach, with a megaphone and electrified chairs??
QUIT, mate.. and join a school that doesn't resemble the the front row audience of a rock concert.

[adventureman]

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[wylde]

nah.. its sweet bro... great hours and great benefits...

when one of the little brats play up... i make them do laps of the classroom whilst duckwalking and when they get too bad i send them to a korean teacher who must kick the crap out of them or something cuz when they come back their head is down and they stay quiet for the rest of the lesson... i once saw 2 students who were caught eating in class holding the empty food packaging above their head in the middle of the pathway for the entire lunch period... i thought that was really funny.. also i continually see students in front of the english staff room with their toes and head and hands on the ground with their butt high in the air... love the punishment here...

they generally behave well enough, about 491 times better than children at the hogwons i have taught at...

[Rand Al Thor]

You guys need some perspective. 25 students is not huge, it is big. There are many countries where you will be teaching ESL to 80 or more students. Now that is huge.

25 is manageable - with kids it would be more difficult but then kids are the spawn of satan so that goes without saying.

[rapier]

Yeah I guess that numbers ok if you're at a hard core disciplinary public school. I was imagining it in a hakwon scenario...where I find my biggest class currently (13) to be a handful at times.

[crazylemongirl]

I have a class of 25 kindy kids.

I find that you need a) oddles of energy
b) a loud voice
c) when doing activities it's good to have a range of them. Arty stuff for the arty kids, logic stuff etc.

As for games I play a game called master of the classroom for drills of material. I break the class into teams and we have a quiz show type thing. The kids love it.

clg

[adventureman]

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[Mr. Pink]