Teacher Discussion Forums

Hi.
So many teachers complain about adult students not being interested in learning... I very rarely have that problem, but I could use some new ideas...
I teach Swedish (and English) in Finlnad, a country where most Finnish people concider "Swedish to be a compulsory evil" to learn. This has made me realize that to keep them in class, you have to make the classes fun as well as educational. I use about 20-30 different boardgames (everything from Trivial pursuit to Alias), interactive online vocabulary- and grammar games, worksheets, magazine articles, excursions and anything else I can think of. I make a lot of worksheets on www.thelanguagemenu.com, but I would now like to find out if anyone else has some ideas I could bring into my classes? New websites, tools, ideas on vocabulary and grammar games or anything else adults could enjoy in class???
All replies very much appreciated
Regards
Veronica

I used to write a one-page newsletter about what was happening in the class and the outside world. I'd give a copy to everyone as they came in and write some questions about the content on the board. When everyone was finally there, we'd go over the questions and answers. It was a way to make announcements and get them talking.

Have you tried madlibs? They can be fun, and I just happen to have written an e-book of them:

http://people.lulu.com/users/index.php?fHomepage=254241

I teach adult students in Mexico, and they love games. If the class is in the evening and the energy level is low, I sometimes do things as simple as having everyone get up and take a different chair to sit in. It gets the blood moving and gives everyone a different perspective.
Another thing I have fun with is low level competition, like having the class form into 2 teams and line up in front of me. We then review selected vocabulary or grammar or whatever. I stand at the head of the line and present the question and the first person to respond scores a point for their team. The winning team might get some minor prize, like a new pencil, which works here, where something like that is valued.
Anything to get them moving around the room and or interacting with each other will make it a bit more lively.
Hope this helps.