Korean Job Discussion Forums

[eamo]

My hagwons Winter session has been a disaster in terms of student numbers. Business is bad.

To avoid us teaching to one or two student classes all day they have combined classes meaning the dreaded mixed-levels!

For example, one class has a low-beginner girl who is struggling with four-word sentences while another girl has lived in Canada and can prattle on in very nice English for half-an-hour!

Any activities that can entertain all concerned? Suitable for 9-12 year olds.

They don't have to be very English-orientated. Just something that all levels can grasp easily and enjoy.

[babtangee]

Well, if you want to help your poor hagwon - though it sounds like they are dead in the water already - I would focus on getting the beginners learning. You need to impress their parents most. This isn't going to help your advanced students' English much, but if you can make the lessons fun, it might keep them entertained.

Also, what are your advanced students like? If they are the good hearted caring kind, then perhaps you can get them more involved in the 'teaching' aspect of the lessons. Let them know (subtly) that you are counting on them to help you with the beginners - make them feel they are important contributors to your lessons, like they are your helpers, and they may take pride in their involvement, and experience some of that sense of gratification that teaching others 'should' be all about.

Above all, get the beginners talking - in full sentences. Have your advanced students read grammar-point focused sentences you prepare (prior to class, on butcher's paper or something). Get the beginners to repeat after the advanceds. Do about 5-10 mins of this: 4 short sentences (Q+A or Dialogue), all reinforcing the same grammar point - i.e:

Past Simple.
Q: Where did Jim go yesterday?
A: Yesterday, Jim walked to school.

While your advanceds are 'teaching' these lines - only if they are the sort to be interested in learning grammar rules, mind you (which, knowing Koreans, is highly probable) - have them see if they can figure out what the rule they are studying/teaching is (leave the beginners out of this - grammar rules will only confuse them).

After the 'drill work' (speaking/reading the lines) have fun activities focused on the same grammar point and targeting the beginners' interests (in my example, the words 'yesterday' and 'walked' would need to be incorporated). Get the advanced to demonstrate the activities for you. 10 minutes of this and go back to the drill work with two different examples of the grammar point (this morning, played, cooked).

Then a different activity after 5-10 minutes of that, this one reinforcing all the examples of the grammar point learned (yesterday, this morning, walked, played, cooked, etc.)

Do this three times, two examples per drill for young kids (under 12). Maybe do it twice with four examples per drill for over 12s.
At the start of each lesson (for 5-10) minutes, have a game/activity that focuses on last lessons grammer point - don't drill them on it again, just have them use it in the activity. Drill only one grammar point per lesson.

Hopefully it will take 2 or 3 drills/activities before the advanced can pinpoint the grammar point by name. If not then just pray they get enthusiastic about doing the teaching for you, which is where the best part of your predicament may lie: in that you can have the advanceds doing your job for you. You just having to explain/demonstate the activity adequately so the advanceds can understand and making sure they read the drills properly - you should do the actions with exaggeration during the drills though, emphasis on key words, and get the advanceds to stress those words (yesterday! Jim walked! to school.)

Now if only you could train em to do the prep work...! but I guess that's why we get paid the big bucks (opposed to their pocket money).

Now you are set, I reckon. These damn hagwons just don't deserve me; but I got a soft spot for the battlers.

Good luck (and remember to keep all your lesson plans - order them according to age and level so you never have to plan them again - though try and target the drills toward your actual students' interests: your kids like computer games? "What did Jim do last night?" "Last night, Jim played computer games." - you want to demonstrate key words like 'yesterday', 'last night' etc - in this case I'd use a time line showing that all these times 'yesterday' etc are in the past, before 'today' - nearly every grammar point has these key words.

Oh, and teach irregulars on each grammar point last - preferrably in a seperate lesson (Lesson one: played, climbed, watched, killed etc. Lesson two: ate, ran, sung, drank etc - there's so many irregulars with past tense verbs you just have to teach them, but not before they understand the "ed" pattern in the regulars).

Sorry if I've crapped on about a lot of stuff you already know... I really hope your school picks up... poor, silly Korean businesspeople.

Best of luck. You're looking at some full on prep work. But if you pull it off your boss may just think you are God's gift to Korean English studies.

[eamo]

Babtangee.....Great stuff. Loads of good advice there.