Korean Job Discussion Forums

[oldtactics]

Anyone who's teaching highschool this year - I felt initially like the girls were too old for games but I've noticed that when we just do worksheets and reading, they don't seem interested at all.

Do you do pure conversation classes where you're teaching them phrases and words to help them survive in an english speaking country, or are you doing grammar work as well?

I'm thinking about introducing some in-class 'projects' where they have to work on skits or something, but the girls seem way too shy and insecure for it to work successfully. I could be wrong though.

Just looking for some different perspectives, I'd love to hear what works for you. Thanks!

[Yu_Bum_suk]

After over three years of it I'm still working on ways of getting them to interact more. If you have a Korean teacher in the classroom it can sometimes really cut down on the amount of interaction and make them more hesitant to speak out in English. Re-writing dialogues together is one way to get them giving more original English input.

[ChinaBoy]

You have to do some grammar work or they make the same mistakes time and time again.. plus it's good for trying to enter college

[harlowethrombey]

Provide ample examples that can be expanded upon.

Start with a basic structure on the board and then leave room for them to get creative (or not).

Have the students talk in pairs if they're high level, or read dialogues and make changes if they're low level.

I teach my kids western style which means I try to lecture as little as possible and focus on doing small group activities and then let the groups or individual students 'present' to the rest of the class.

In big classes its impossible to have 1 on 1 time with each kid, so I just walk around while they're in groups and check that they're using English and help them with grammar.

My coteachers do the same thing and two people can cover the room quite nicely.

This year my school has me teaching in English Classrooms so the kids sit at big tables. This makes them more talkative, but it makes doing group work a lot easier.

Also, to address mulitple intelligences, I have one activity for every class that has the students get out of their seats and move a bit while they practice speaking or listening. This wakes the kids up and might help them remember some strange/tricky vocab (although for rowdy classes I absolutely advise against it).

If not movement, I also have the kids draw a bit sometimes.


With that said, there is certainly a time and place for worksheets and quizzes. You could do something fun to practice the grammar/vocab with the students and then give them a short quiz at the start of the next class, then practice new grammar/vocab at the end of that class, etc.


Just some ideas. But remember that virtually all their other classes involve them just listening to a teacher lecture for 50 minutes straight while they fill in blanks or rewrite entire blocks of text ad finem. So give them something fun to do!


Sorry my post is so long, hope some of it helps.

[Fishead soup]

After school classes or camps would be better for skit contests and games.

[suki]

Fat chance. When you figure it out, please let me know.

First - my kids need lessons in how to do group work, since there's no way to interact with over 40 in a meaningful way. Hard to do when it's difficult to even stand up, as the chairs and desks are packed so tightly in the room. Their natural groups consisting of the nearest bodies will revert to private conversations no matter how interesting or entertaining you are.

Second - my kids need lessons in how to do anything different from sitting on their bums taking dictation or crunching numbers all day.

Third - someone with power over their futures needs to tell my kids that speaking English has any value at all. Without that, speaking class is merely an interesting but totally irrelevant break from their grindstone.

I'm bringing a towel and rolling it up into a ball tomorrow. I asked a Korean teacher about hackey sacks and she told me to save my money and use a towel - it's from a Korean children's game, and they will all know that they are supposed to throw it at each other. I'm going to peg students with it, and they must answer my questions. That's the only thing I can think of, since it's just a waste of time and disruptive if I have them get into groups.

But that's only one thing - I need a bag full of these tricks, and everything I read here, on other EFL boards, and on-line are totally inadequate under these nearly impossible circumstances: kids so petrified they can't even say, "pass" in English, so many desks in a class you can barely walk past them, in a homeroom system where kids never leave their desks all day except for P.E., lunch, and to go to the bathroom, children sleeping on pillows during lessons because they've been studying all night. It's appalling. Speaking English is the last thing on their minds, and it's merely a mini vacation from academics - one which they intend to enjoy to the fullest - in spite of that foreigner up there talking...

[harlowethrombey]

I'm all for people here taking their jobs seriously, but that doesnt mean anyone's class should be deathly quiet or involve non-stop verbal repition and/or text copying.

If the kids dont have at least some fun they wont retain anything we teach them anyway. And, sheesh, they go to school for like 15 hours a day, so what if our classes are a little bit goofy?

[jvalmer]

There's always a handful that will enjoy almost anything english that you hand them. I'd say averaging around 5 students. Just be happy the others keep quiet and don't make your classes a living hell.

Just try to mix things up so you eventually peak everyones interest at least once in the semester.

[Dodgy Al]

Throw away the textbook. If possible. You are not here to teach grammar. They are in high school, so they already have a lot of grammar classes behind them. The problem is accessing that knowledge. It's buried so deep, that it almost doesn't exist. But it is there. Let the Korean teachers worry about exams - you should focus on real communication. Activities where they have to find out information from each other are great. Refresh useful expressions with them briefly, then let them fly. You'll be surprised how much English you start hearing. Get them out of their chairs, talking to other students. This allows lots of students to communicate at the same time, and has the added bonus of keeping them awake. Think about how much you are talking - it's probably too much. Try to halve your talk-time, and give students the chance to speak instead.

[I-am-me]

This is my first year at a high school and I am scared. Teaching elementary kids at hagwons was easy for several years. Anybody have more advice on teaching High School? My classes start next week!!!

[espoir]

The vast majority of my lessons are worksheet based. I make my own based off of several books that I use for reference. Although each one is slightly different they all have varying elements of the following exercises:
Listen and repeat, listen and fill in the blanks, complete the sentences, matching games, answer the sentences, ask other students specific questions.

I teach at a technical high school so my students levels are extremely low and their will to learn is absolutely minimal. I tried last year to ignite their creative side and let them try and answer questions on their own with only an example and minimal guides, but that failed miserably. The studnets first off didn't know enough english to form a proper sentence and were way to shy to try and experiment. So I learned to have any success I had to structure everything, including giving them basically the entire answer, minus 1 or 2 key words.

I try and speak as little as possible, and aim for having the students talking for 20min of the class, having them quietly working for 15min and myself talking for 15min. Also every 4 classes I do a fun activity such as, tongue twisters, movies/music activity (not just watching a movie, that I save for exam times), or some speaking games.

[suki]

[Koveras]

Suki,

At seven months I'm hardly a veteran, but here's what I think:

The hackeysack game works. Give them an example on the board, and have them substitute the lesson's vocabulary, or just ask random questions. But too much and the students will get bored of it; just like you said, you'll need a whole bag of similar tricks. You could try throwing things of varying density and shape - a mini-football, a hackeysack, a big novelty die. You can also have them throw the object to each other and ask their own questions - although sometimes throwing to deteriotes into throwing at. Make them understand that once that starts the game ends and the worksheets begin.

As for group work you could try teams of two or three, so that the students needn't move, instead joining up with whoever is to hand. If you pick on them to perform for the class, and reward jobs well done, you should find them willing to work in this format. In a case like yours, I think the worksheet is your friend; again, pick on students for answers once they're done.

[Zutronius]

It depends on the classes. Some classes look fowards to my classes and other are about as interactive as a bag of rocks. I'm on my second year at a girls high school and I found that a review with a powerpoint game to reinforce what ahs been learnt works. They get really competitve and it works well. I also review what was done lastw eek and the students who take part I reward with candy.

I've been having mine work in groups of 4 this week. Each student writes down 16 words. Then the group has to make a 12 sentence story using those 16 words. The final 15 minutes of class are for letting groups read their stories to the class. It worked pretty well this week. There are some grammar mistakes that I correct when I have the time (no coteacher and 35 students leaves me little time sadly ).

[Pwillig]

Some classes are great, but my delinquent classes (8-9th graders who are on kingergarten English level) are like interactive brick walls.