Korean Job Discussion Forums

[MoneyMike]

Hey guys, just started at an academic high school this week, was transferred from the middle school I was teaching at last school year. It's an academic high school, and apparently it focuses very strongly on English.

Talked to some of my co-teachers yesterday, and asked them what I should focus on. I guess they want me to just do writing and speaking, as the students at this school do a twice a year writing and speaking test.

First off, does anybody have experience teaching writing? At my previous school they just wanted speaking and listening, so I didn't really get any experience doing writing. Do you do activities with writing, or assignments? Any advice?

Also, for those of you who work at high schools, what kind of activities do you use for speaking? I've got lots of game type activities, but I get the impression this school wants slightly more serious classes, less game-ey.
I have a few activities that I know will go over well, but what activities do you all recommend for high school classes?

Any advice is appreciated!
MM

[Patrick Bateman]

[ESL Milk "Everyday]

If they focus on English, you've probably got it made... motivated kids with brains are just dying for a chance to express themselves.

I really like creative writing. Guide them through the process... don't just sit them down and say 'now write', give them a basic sense of story construction, or essay construction, or whatever style of writing you're supposed to be teaching them. You can find outlines of the basics for each style online (when in doubt, use Wikipedia), which is fine for ESL.

If you have just one class per week, then you could probably spend two months on each assignment if you start from scratch and they choose their own topics (this is what I would do-- they'll be more motivated to express themselves if you let them personalize their studies)... probably more than two months, actually (assuming you see them once a week). I usually do a little 15-20 minute spiel at the beginning of each class, give them some structured handouts, and then let them go... weaning them off of the scaffolding as we go along, until finally they're writing their stories/essays/whatever and it's at least mostly organized (organization is the most important thing in writing!).

If you have Korean-English dictionaries (or if they have them), they'll help a lot... and save you some time and stress.

Whatever you do, don't get into that mode where you're just standing up there lecture-style going on and on and they're copying stuff out... everyone will be bored including you. Don't get hung up on grammar, either... it's important and you should correct it, but don't teach it unless there's a real problem... it's boring, it can make the students feel more confused, it's restrictive, and different students will have different problems... it's best to deal with this one-on-one during their 'writing time' if you can.

Talk about how to construct a speech, work on posture, tone, inflection, presentation skills, etc... all of that is important in communication. Speeches should take at least a month and a half... possibly longer.

Debates are good one-offs for filling in the gaps.

[MoneyMike]

Hey thanks for the thoughts guys.

To be honest, at this point I'm not sure exactly what kind of writing I should be teaching. I'm supposed to get a previous copy of the test some time this week, so once I see what kind of questions the students are asked I'll have a better idea.

I'll post another reply when I find out more.

Thanks!