Taming Class from Hell
Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2004 10:05 pm
I was given a class made up of all the schools problem kids for an afterschool activity group. I was told they hated English because of their poor vocabulary.
The first session was me staring at them as they ignored all my instructions and just chatted away in Cantonese. Most of which caused extreme laughter at what I think was my expense.
In the second session I set up three Phonicball games and when they were in their desks chatting I ignored them and started playing by myself. Within 5 minutes they were all interested and quite and had raised their hands indicating they wanted to have a go.
After 10 mins I chose a kid who had quietened down and played with him. This had an immediate effect on the rest of the class and they all settled and sat quietly with hands in the air.
By the end of the lesson I had kids in groups competing against each other and loving it. The only other trouble was getting them to stop playing at end of the lesson.
Their lack of vocabulary no longer evident. With classes like this motivation and fun are the key.
The first session was me staring at them as they ignored all my instructions and just chatted away in Cantonese. Most of which caused extreme laughter at what I think was my expense.
In the second session I set up three Phonicball games and when they were in their desks chatting I ignored them and started playing by myself. Within 5 minutes they were all interested and quite and had raised their hands indicating they wanted to have a go.
After 10 mins I chose a kid who had quietened down and played with him. This had an immediate effect on the rest of the class and they all settled and sat quietly with hands in the air.
By the end of the lesson I had kids in groups competing against each other and loving it. The only other trouble was getting them to stop playing at end of the lesson.
Their lack of vocabulary no longer evident. With classes like this motivation and fun are the key.