Korean Job Discussion Forums

[chest rockwell]

Well now Ive just been informed that a couple of my middle school students arent gonna come to my class anymore cos they think that my classes are too boring. What can I do about it?? How do you go about teaching middle school students so they dont think the classes are boring? I teach from the text and thats pretty much it, boring I guess but what else can I do.

Its quite serious as well cos my hagwon only has about 25 students in total so to lose another couple would be fatal.

[buddy bradley]

There's no such thing as a boring class, only a boring teacher. Do something different each time you see your students, and make them laugh. Jeez man, if I can do it then anyone can.

[Freezer Burn]

I face the same problem.

I threw away the book, I get print outs from www.bogglesworld.com, lots f wordfinds, crosswords.
or I'll play word games, anything but the book.
Inject some wise arseness into your lessons, make them laugh, without looking like a dork.
Make them compete against each other, get a conversation group going, a good game to get conversation going is, start a sentence and get the next person to carry it on, if they screw it up they get a strike against their name, if they get five strikes they have to do something in front of the class, like act like a monkey or sing a song, or make me a cup of coffee etc etc.
Another game similar to that one is the verb, noun adjective game, start of with verbs, they go around the class and can only say a verb and so on and so.
If the director moans, tell would you rather the student dropped out.

[ilovebdt]

[Son Deureo!]

That's the real reason your director is complaining, because your hogwon only has 25 students. Somehow, I suspect that's not your fault.

Middle school students can be hard to get interested in anything in the best of times. Injecting competition and games is always helpful. Use humor. For your more advanced students, use free talking topics and song lyrics as well.

At the end of the day, though, your hogwon's lack of students is most likely not your fault. It's more likely your boss' fault for not doing better marketing in an industry where the competition is brutal. If he complains that it's your fault, just nod and smile. Do the best you can in the classroom, of course, but don't take the hogwon's failing as your own personal failure.

Are you still getting paid on time and in full?

Stay strong.

[captain kirk]

Once a week for two hours. Two MSchoolers. We're supposed to do 'Multiple Reading Skills/G' which goes like this;

When Lame Deer was growing up, he spent all his time with other Indians and had no contact with the rest of the world. He lived with his family in a hut on the prairie..(etc. three paragraphs altogether, then questions like;

1.The best title is-
(A)Life Among the Indians
(B)The meaning of a name
(C)Lame Deer Grows Up
(D)Naming Children

But since there are only three class members for now I can ask them about their life stories. One went up to North Korea for three days. Her Grandfather was a taekwondo judge ten years ago, now lives on Wando (Island). They sure don't mind it when I'm interested and ask about these things.

[Derrek]

I know what you can do to liven-up your classes!


I think it's time for BIG JIM SLADE!!!




Big Jim, former tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, is outfitted with various whips, chains, and a sexual appetite that will knock your socks off!


Big Jim has satisfied women throughout the world...

[chest rockwell]

hmmm ... interesting replies, thankyou all. A bit of background here: I teach in Ansan at a place called LAC language institute for overseas education in Korea. The LAC stands for Longburn Adventist College which is a New Zealand school and in Korea, LAC is its sister institute. I teach from 10yrs thru to adults. And yeah, theres only about 25 students in total (I wonder how it survives myself sometimes). Ive been here 2 months next Wednesday and so far I have been paid on time. My director is a good guy but he's quite moody sometimes but so far has pulled no dodgy business. But I can understand why he's like he is cos he's got back problems and also its tough running your own business. But enuff about this anyway

The school has always been small but has been running for 2 yrs now. But the students that left had been there since the start. I have no problem teaching the little kids as theyre quite easily entertained. But it was a bit of a kick in the guts to learn that my classes were so boring that they felt the need to gtfoutta there. I didnt even consider straying from doing the book but this thread has given me some much needed food for thought. Especially the Big Jim Slade post, he oughta liven things up a little bit.
Humour isnt one of my big points as Im too scared to offend peeps by saying the wrong thing but it looks like I may have to try a different tack here.

[Ya-ta Boy]

Look at your lesson content for tomorrow. Google ESL 'tomorrow's grammar point' and voila! You'll have loads of educational activities based on that grammar point. Lots of them have a game element that make them fun for the learner while providing lots of reinforcement.

[mindmetoo]

Get them to draw. Get them to draw a picture related to the topic at hand. Make the drawing assignment funny. "What's a dangerous food?" Get them to explain the drawing when they're done.

[chest rockwell]

[chest rockwell]

[chest rockwell]

[kermo]

Hey man, your post reply button is definitely working.

Try typing www.bogglesworld.com into the browser. I think the problem with the link was a stray comma.

[Freezer Burn]

wooops try this http://bogglesworld.com

or just type it in the browser its a good site.