Teacher Discussion Forums

After having a bad day student teaching last week, I ask the students to give me two topics that they would like to cover this week. They wanted to practice speaking English in real situations. Since most of my students are in 10th and 11th grade. I obtain copies of job applications from the Guidance Office for the summer painting crew which is made up of all students from the high school.

We talked about where to look for jobs, what kind of clothing is appropriate, as well as what kind of questions would be asked on the application and during an interview. Each student then filled out an application, each line was discussed.

Students then paired off and asked each other the five interview questions provided to them. It was great to watch them practice! Afterwards all of the answers were shared with the class and the teacher and I share some other appropriate answers.

Tomorrow we will be reviewing things that they should not do in an interview as well as vocabulary they need to know for these situations. They will also read the transcript of an interview and decide whether the applicant answered well or not.

I fully endorse doing this kind of an activity with high school students.

Up next, scholarship applications. I will let you know how that goes.

What a great idea to prepare ELLs for summer employment and beyond! I think this is a very nice end of the year activity as the students are a bit "checked out" by this point and thinking of summer anyway. Scholarship application is a great skill to have, as well. Have you thought about having them learn about college interviews and how to ace them? Also, depending on the level of your students, would you find it beneficial if they wrote a persuasive essay explaining why they are the best candidate for a particular job or college? This could be like a letter of Professional Objectives or Cover Letter to their resumes. Lastly, we discussed this type of activity in class last week and how it ties into the curriculum and goals set forth by the school. How do you justify these activities as being on target and part of the curriculum to your higher-ups? Kudos and I can't wait to hear how everything goes!

Teenagers... with their raging hormones and all that. They key to motivating teenagers is in building rapport and treating them how they want to be treated. Younger-level learners will be upset with you if you yell at them during class, but will have forgotten any transgressions by the time the lesson is over. Teenage students however, will not. The ongoing relationship with teenage students is one which must be nurtured and maintained because it’s built on trust and respect– older students need to be treated as a friend, not as a foe, and need to be given the respect that you as a teacher give in return.
Source: http://goldstarteachers.com/working-teenagers/