1-1 Kid classes! Help!

spain212 · Post by **spain212** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 11:32 pm

All of the websites I see and games I find are all geared for groups. I have 2 private classes with kids (age 11) and I'm dying for ideas to keep them interested. They're too old for silly kid songs but not old enough for their attention spans to be longer than 1 minute so we can hold a conversation. HELP!

castle · Post by **castle** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 4:24 pm

Hello Spain,
Some of my best classes so far have involved magazines and glue. I have them draw/find an Anime figure or actor, musician, Harry Potter etc., and tell me how old he/she is. Then, they find a picture of a place, and I ask"where does your friend live"?...Pictures of pets...dolphins wombats etc...I ask does he have any pets..."he has two pet dolphins" etc. Whatever. Then I have them practice the intoduction routine they learned from the text book, make notes next to the pictures. After they have practiced over a couple of classes, I spin a coin and see if they can say it all before the coin stops. Almost all of them are able to do it after a few tries. I also do the same with more advanced classes. I ask them to plan an imaginary Christmas vacation for example. Find pictures of places, things to do, and ask "where is your friend going"? "What will he/she do", "what does he/she want to do"....etc. Good luck.
Castle

elbereth_elendil · Post by **elbereth_elendil** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 9:45 am

You can watch movies with them. Play cross words. Hangman. Also, you can take them out to some English speaking part of the city. Or, do some web quest activities.

spain212 · Post by **spain212** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 8:26 pm

thank you....I'm gonna try some magazine pasting.

now, I need more advice.

I recently obtained another class of 2 11 year old girls that meet for an hour and a half. One is really smart and a very good student. She always tries hard and speaks always in English. I'd even go as far as to say she's an over achiever. Her counterpart, however......doesn't stop talking in Spanish about irrelevant things and she can't follow along for longer than 1/2 a minute because her friend is sitting next to her. I refuse to talk to her in Spanish but her friend always translates for her. Because she's getting the translation she isn't relying on English. But the problem seems to be that if she doesn't get a translation we could sit there for 10 minutes and not go anywhere. She always will say, "I don't know". But the thing is that she knows just as much English as the other girl (they're in the same class at school), it's just that the other girl has better discipline and tries harder.

I'm afraid she'll pull down the other girl if I don't get her under control or interested in something soon. She just needs to FOCUS!

Sally Olsen · Post by **Sally Olsen** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 5:52 pm

It seems that she has confidence problems and is letting the "better" student take her "proper" role. I wouldn't worry about it and let the better student translate for her for awhile until she is more confident. She is still getting the English and will get even more if you say the sentence translated another time after the first student has translated. It is a great opportunity for the better student because she is learning to translate as well and isn't dragging her down at all. Some people just need more help as they are getting to know your routine and style and there will always be one better student and one that is below them. That is the way we learn, from others. Just use your better student as a second teacher and value anything that the poorer student has to say. Encourage the better student to get her friend to repeat sentences in English and be a good teacher. It will come more naturally from her than from you to ask her to participate in English but as I say, don't make a fuss or it will become an issue and your main purpose is to concentrate on the English, not the behaviour.

spain212 · Post by **spain212** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 6:08 pm

Thanks for your advice. You're totally right.....but this all brings up another point I've been thinking about.

How do you know the difference between a student who is embarassed or shy with the language and therefore doesn't try ---AND--- someone who just has behavior problems and is very smart but just doesn't care?

Sally Olsen · Post by **Sally Olsen** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 6:06 pm

Ask them.