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Boodleheimer
Joined: 10 Mar 2006
Location: working undercover for the Man
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 Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 4:28 pm Post subject: My co-teacher is having the same problems... |
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every lesson i'll start with a simple review, asking questions about stuff we went over last week (and that they did correctly, last week). my lower-level first graders always bomb. after class, my co-teacher said "it must be frustrating for you to teach lower levels." i said "i don't mind teaching lower levels, i just expect them to bother learning what we've been teaching."
he said "i know exactly how you feel. i've felt like this for the past three years [i've been teaching these students]."
it was as if i could see his halo. and there was a heavenly organ playing a beautiful chord.
so, ladies and gentlemen of the Korean Job-related Discussion Forum: any ideas? i've started instituting tests for some classes in 2nd grade, but they take quite a bit of time out of my lesson -- i've only got 50 minutes with them once a week. the chances of them doing homework are slim to none. (and then there's the "sharing answers" factor. and the fact that they seem to be experts at excising new information from their brains as soon as any task is over.) |
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kermo
Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Location: Eating eggs, with a comb, out of a shoe.
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| Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 4:43 pm Post subject: Re: My co-teacher is having the same problems... |
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| KWhitehead wrote: |
every lesson i'll start with a simple review, asking questions about stuff we went over last week (and that they did correctly, last week). my lower-level first graders always bomb. after class, my co-teacher said "it must be frustrating for you to teach lower levels." i said "i don't mind teaching lower levels, i just expect them to bother learning what we've been teaching."
he said "i know exactly how you feel. i've felt like this for the past three years [i've been teaching these students]."
it was as if i could see his halo. and there was a heavenly organ playing a beautiful chord.
so, ladies and gentlemen of the Korean Job-related Discussion Forum: any ideas? i've started instituting tests for some classes in 2nd grade, but they take quite a bit of time out of my lesson -- i've only got 50 minutes with them once a week. the chances of them doing homework are slim to none. (and then there's the "sharing answers" factor. and the fact that they seem to be experts at excising new information from their brains as soon as any task is over.) |
Kermo the Behaviouralist to the Rescue!
A few suggestions- shorter recall time, wide range of sensory input and reinforcements might help things stick.
1) Review the lesson at the END of the class you just taught. Try to incorporate writing, using their bodies, singing... appeal to different kinds of learners.
2) Quiz the students at the end of the class.
3) Reward the best responders with something nice, like a little sticker, or candy.
4) Ask the same/similar questions at the start of the next lesson.
5) Reward the best responders again.
If you don't have time for your whole lesson, that's probably okay, since they don't remember it anyway. Pare it down a bit to the key points. Good luck! |
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Boodleheimer
Joined: 10 Mar 2006
Location: working undercover for the Man
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| Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 4:58 pm Post subject: |
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i don't know... candy? i mean, they're high schoolers.
my co-teacher already reviews the whole lesson in korean at the end.
(sorry, i should have mentioned that in the first message)
help me, kermo! |
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EFLtrainer
Joined: 04 May 2005
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| Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 5:00 pm Post subject: Re: My co-teacher is having the same problems... |
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| KWhitehead wrote: |
every lesson i'll start with a simple review, asking questions about stuff we went over last week (and that they did correctly, last week). my lower-level first graders always bomb. after class, my co-teacher said "it must be frustrating for you to teach lower levels." i said "i don't mind teaching lower levels, i just expect them to bother learning what we've been teaching."
he said "i know exactly how you feel. i've felt like this for the past three years [i've been teaching these students]."
it was as if i could see his halo. and there was a heavenly organ playing a beautiful chord.
so, ladies and gentlemen of the Korean Job-related Discussion Forum: any ideas? i've started instituting tests for some classes in 2nd grade, but they take quite a bit of time out of my lesson -- i've only got 50 minutes with them once a week. the chances of them doing homework are slim to none. (and then there's the "sharing answers" factor. and the fact that they seem to be experts at excising new information from their brains as soon as any task is over.) |
| Quote: |
| my co-teacher already reviews the whole lesson in korean at the end. |
I think the issue here is very closely related to your expectations, which are extremely unrealisitc. Languages are not acquired linearly, but by repetition, repeated exposure, etc. If you add in that you see them one time a week? It's unrealistic to expect them to remember anything at all. Anything less than, oh, six hours a week of exposure shouldn't be expected to get you very far.
In order for them to remember your lesson, they need re-exposure (practice/study/use) during the week between your visits. This might be done via homework or via integrating your lesson content with your co-teacher's. Etc.
First, if you haven't already done it, you should get ahold of a basic intro to language acquisition/pedagogy book to you better understand what your expectations should be. First time teaching?
Last edited by EFLtrainer on Mon Oct 30, 2006 5:04 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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djsmnc
Joined: 20 Jan 2003
Location: Dave's ESL Cafe
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| Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 5:03 pm Post subject: |
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| Wow, you guys actually teach them? |
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Yu_Bum_suk
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 5:11 pm Post subject: |
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| KWhitehead wrote: |
i don't know... candy? i mean, they're high schoolers.
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My high schoolers go wild over candy. This being Halloween week, all of my students get one so long as they make a good attempt at the story lesson. In my best grade 2 class I thought they'd be mature enough that I could just pass the candy bag around with the instruction of 'hangae!' but I turned my back for a few moments and what had been enough candy for three classes was quickly reduced to enough for half of the next class.
I've had two seventeen-year-olds wrestling on the floor over a candy after a lesson. |
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laogaiguk
Joined: 06 Dec 2005
Location: somewhere in Korea
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| Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 5:12 pm Post subject: |
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| Yu_Bum_suk wrote: |
| KWhitehead wrote: |
i don't know... candy? i mean, they're high schoolers.
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My high schoolers go wild over candy. This being Halloween week, all of my students get one so long as they make a good attempt at the story lesson. In my best grade 2 class I thought they'd be mature enough that I could just pass the candy bag around with the instruction of 'hangae!' but I turned my back for a few moments and what had been enough candy for three classes was quickly reduced to enough for half of the next class.
I've had two seventeen-year-olds wrestling on the floor over a candy after a lesson. |
In China, I had university students fighting over candy. Do not underestimate the power of candy (or pocky). Still, be careful with it or they will start to expect it and only do things if you give them candy. |
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kermo
Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Location: Eating eggs, with a comb, out of a shoe.
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| Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 5:15 pm Post subject: |
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| KWhitehead wrote: |
i don't know... candy? i mean, they're high schoolers.
my co-teacher already reviews the whole lesson in korean at the end.
(sorry, i should have mentioned that in the first message)
help me, kermo! |
How do you review an English lesson in Korean?
Maybe you and your co-teacher could collaborate on making those reviews more effective, possibly through using different learning styles.
And candy? Oh yes. I teach university students, and they will do almost anything for a little stamp! Can you think of anything they value more (that you could a) afford and b) give them in the classroom)? Buy a 500 won pack of M&Ms. Dole them out one at a time for students who participate in the review.
Here's one way to review English phrases.
1) Write a handful of sentences on the board. The students read them aloud. Choose one or two to do it solo if you like (and reward them.)
2) Now erase a couple of words. The students read it, filling in the blanks as they go. You can get some students to solo this too.
3) Erase some more words... you get the picture.
If you want to make this a little more hands on, you can find some actions to substitute for the words, and instead of erasing the words, ask the kids to just say the words in their head, and do the actions instead. It's silly and fun, and it'll help ease the dullness of repetition. |
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Boodleheimer
Joined: 10 Mar 2006
Location: working undercover for the Man
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| Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 5:22 pm Post subject: Re: My co-teacher is having the same problems... |
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| EFLtrainer wrote: |
I think the issue here is very closely related to your expectations, which are extremely unrealisitc. Languages are not acquired linearly, but by repetition, repeated exposure, etc. If you add in that you see them one time a week? It's unrealistic to expect them to remember anything at all. Anything less than, oh, six hours a week of exposure shouldn't be expected to get you very far.
In order for them to remember your lesson, they need re-exposure (practice/study/use) during the week between your visits. This might be done via homework or via integrating your lesson content with your co-teacher's. Etc.
First, if you haven't already done it, you should get ahold of a basic intro to language acquisition/pedagogy book to you better understand what your expectations should be. First time teaching? |
no, this is my third year and i've never EVER had this problem before and i don't have this problem with ANY OTHER of my classes. my second-graders are good and my third-graders are good. my upper-level first-graders are good. i see every one of these classes once a week for 50 minutes.
these lessons are level-appropriate as well. "how many uncles do you have?" can be answered on week one, but when it comes to week two, they're clueless. some don't even try, just repeating the mantra "mollayo" even to "how are you?"
i think part of the problem is that the classes are streamed and that the lower-level students are in the mind set that they're stupid, so why bother?
if it were up to me, the whole system at my school would be changed and i'd see these classes every damn day.
what have they been doing in the English classes up to now? i mean, even a Korean teacher who speaks Korean 75% of the time should be able to drill them on "how are you?"
additionally, my principal asked me to design my lesson content for the whole year in August. i did just that and created a book, which includes exercises. i think my co-teachers are scared to so much as touch it! one of them (a second-grade teacher) has on at least one instance needed a dictionary to prepare for my classes (that would be the chapter on "what is it made of?" "what does it look like?" and "what is it used for?" to describe objects). |
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Boodleheimer
Joined: 10 Mar 2006
Location: working undercover for the Man
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| Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 5:24 pm Post subject: |
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| laogaiguk wrote: |
| Yu_Bum_suk wrote: |
| KWhitehead wrote: |
i don't know... candy? i mean, they're high schoolers.
|
My high schoolers go wild over candy. This being Halloween week, all of my students get one so long as they make a good attempt at the story lesson. In my best grade 2 class I thought they'd be mature enough that I could just pass the candy bag around with the instruction of 'hangae!' but I turned my back for a few moments and what had been enough candy for three classes was quickly reduced to enough for half of the next class.
I've had two seventeen-year-olds wrestling on the floor over a candy after a lesson. |
In China, I had university students fighting over candy. Do not underestimate the power of candy (or pocky). Still, be careful with it or they will start to expect it and only do things if you give them candy. |
that's the problem my boyfriend's having at his school. the kids expect candy. he's trying to break them of it. |
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Boodleheimer
Joined: 10 Mar 2006
Location: working undercover for the Man
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| Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 5:27 pm Post subject: |
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| kermo wrote: |
How do you review an English lesson in Korean?
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maybe he's just saying "nod so that the foreign teacher thinks you're getting it." but i think he was saying "grandmother means both mother's mother and father's mother, it's the same term" in the last lesson. |
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kermo
Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Location: Eating eggs, with a comb, out of a shoe.
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| Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 5:30 pm Post subject: |
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| KWhitehead wrote: |
that's the problem my boyfriend's having at his school. the kids expect candy. he's trying to break them of it. |
The most powerful reinforcers are intermittent, i.e., the students don't know when they will appear.
There are lots of ways a reinforcer can go wrong:
-given for normal, unexceptional behaviour
-given too often so the student is sick of it
-no variation so the student is bored
-given too late so it's not connected with the act it rewards
However, a reinforcer, wisely delivered, is very powerful indeed. |
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Boodleheimer
Joined: 10 Mar 2006
Location: working undercover for the Man
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| Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 5:38 pm Post subject: |
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i'll give the candy a shot, even though a feel a little weird doing it.
last week i started an experiment where they had to memorize a pre-prepared dialogue so that they'd get used to certain collocations and talking about hobbies. i was going to test it this week, but i just found out that those classes have been cancelled. i think this public school is undermining me. but i'm a little paranoid at times. |
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Ekuboko
Joined: 22 Dec 2004
Location: ex-Gyeonggi
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| Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 5:52 pm Post subject: |
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| IMO candy is not the right answer. |
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Boodleheimer
Joined: 10 Mar 2006
Location: working undercover for the Man
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| Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 5:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Ekuboko wrote: |
| IMO candy is not the right answer. |
yeah, i'm going to give it a shot, though.
one of my misgivings is that the Korean teacher has the same problem and he sees these same classes every day! |
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