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Games, activities and teaching ideas > A rather tricky class
A rather tricky class
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sclail
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A rather tricky class
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Hi everyone,
I �ve got a class of adults I teach in the evenings.
Apart from being the last class of the day (8 - 10pm), when most people are too tired after work to concentrate or make a big effort, I think there is too much of a problem with dynamics - personality clashes or something.
It �s really hard to get enthusiastic responses or conversation going even though they are intermediate level.
Unfortunately there is a big gap in the better and lower levels in the class and I know that some students are very impatient and intolerant of the others, or simply don �t like them!!
These are all working adults, including a lawyer, from about 30 - 50+ !
I �ve tried to open them up and get some conversation going to practice new grammar that I �ve taught them, but it really is like getting blood from a stone!
I really need to "break" this class (in the sense of a wild horse). Otherwise I face months of one word or strained responses.
Worst of all they don �t seem to be having any fun, and I fear they aren �t getting so much out of the lessons as they seem reluctant to participate. Don �t get me wrong, I �ve had the odd glimpse of fun and laughter with them, but they close up so easily. I feel like they come wanting to see a show and be passive....
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance! |
25 Mar 2010
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Yulia Mo
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I �ve taught adult groups from 17 to 50+, from 8 to 10 pm. And i can tell you this has been the best experience in my life. I love teaching adults. Yes, they are all different, all have their own problems, all need special attention, but you are the glue that sticks them together. I think when you start enjoying the classes yourselves, they �ll easily fit in.
As i see it, you have to have some sort of personal relations with all of them, have to know what they do, where they come from, what their family is. Try for a change to have this kind of activity and talk about yourself. We used to start every new group with this team-building activity. First i said couple of words about myself, and those should be something personal. For sure it doesn �t mean that you should tell the details of your family life, but you should share something. For instance, I collect fridge magnets. Or, i �m so addicted to American literature, i sometimes forget to have lunch while reading. You know what i mean?
And then they take their turn to share something about their life. For sure they won �t do it like you, so i suggest asking a simple question - why did you come to study English? And they have to give an answer to the point. Not just "i want to speak English", but they have to give their personal reason (my daughter lives in the States so i want to speak to her husband freely, or I want to read my favourite American Tragedy in the original). See, this way they will share a tiny piece of their life with the whole group and start to connect.
This is just one idea. Tell me in case you tried it already, i �ll try to come up with something else.
Good luck to you.
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25 Mar 2010
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Zora
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Hello sclail,
I have those type of classes and I have one student who is simply quite arrogant and hates to participate with the others. In fact, I don �t even know why she has signed up for classes at all if she isn �t willing to participate with the rest.
So... one day, quite tired of her "It depends and yes or no" answers. (She has a good level to boot but just doesn �t like participating at all. She even sighs and makes a big deal when she needs to answer... ) I decided to do vocabulary activities AND when we were finished. I made each of them make a sentences off the top of their heads with the words that I picked out from the vocabulary that we had just seen. Sometimes, I would pick two words that were totally unrelated to see what happened or what they �d come up with.
This has worked quite well since the more advanced students can "show off" and the weaker ones can make simple sentences. It doesn �t matter. The main idea is to get them talking and using the vocabulary as much as they can.
And the best part is that sometimes you get a laugh or two from the strange sentences that they come up with from time to time.
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25 Mar 2010
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priorita
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yes, sclail,
I agree with Yulia about this question. Answering why they decided to study English they may tell you their motivation that can be successfully (I hope) used by you.
My mother as a social psychologist always theaches me how to react to the people who annoy me. You can tell this to your students before they start fighting: whatever annoys you in other person or provokes your irritation, you have inside yourself (the same feature).
it is said that the subjects of yellow and orange colour help to concentrate attention. you should also put one bright and attention-attractive item on (scarf for instance). citrus scents are also helpful with this problem (I mean essential oils).
and of course I think you must not take anybody �s side in their arguments |
25 Mar 2010
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sclail
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Thank you all! All great suggestions!
Yulia - I did start the course in a similar way to you suggest (so I know their motivations) and at the beginning it seemed ok, but maybe I lost them somewhere along the way.
You �ve made me focus again on the personal aspect again, and maybe even though its not the start of the course now I can try to dig deeper into their lives - like personal habits or irritations etc.
Priorita, I love the idea about the scarf and I �m sure it does make a difference. I �ll try to stop wearing dull clothes! Luckily none of them fight, they are very lifeless, but I can tell by their faces sometimes they are not impressed by or patient with their classmates!  Obviously this doesn �t promote confidence or free speech, so I think again the suggestions on getting personal will help them accept each other more....
Subtle stuff guys but very important!!! Thanks for the tips
Zora - your student has obviously enrolled on my class too!!! And I ask myself the same thing every time...why did she enroll in the first place, and for the SECOND time?! Your suggestion will definitely be included in my next lesson - I tried something similar last year by giving vocab to make sentences but it �s a great idea to get them to brainstorm....
Thank you all, I will be making good use of your suggestions!
I really appreciate your time in writing to me
Have a great evening!
x
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25 Mar 2010
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Yulia Mo
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i as well had students who were too young to fit in into adult group. They were 17-year-old students who took my classes the same way they take school classes - with laziness and not seriously. It really irritated the rest of them, and the main point is they always complained that they �re not getting any results. With those students i couldn �t be friends, i had to keep distance like a school teacher. I took time to speak to them separately about their aims, motivation and the group progress which they are keeping from moving forward.
See in the beginning we agreed with the whole group that we are a team and we are moving forward only if everyone is moving. That �s why we had to agree on a few rules to follow (adults like kids need classroom rules). So as they connected more and more they really felt for each other and one student �s failure saddened all of them and they tried to give a hand.
There are other types of students, who are know-it-alls. They really irritate the rest of the group. And again it �s your attitude that builds their attitude. I tried to be as patient as i could and said the right word in the right time to stop them from showing-off too much. But i never showed my irritation, the job of the teacher is always to lead the emotions of the whole group. If they are irritated means they take it from you (for sure if you have a сonnection, otherwise they are irritated because they feel not comfortable in this environment).
There was another student who signed for my classes only for me (pardon me this). And he was really nasty, he could bring beer to the class , all the time came not ready for anything, knew nothing about nothing and didn �t really want to know anything.
But for sure i couldn �t kick him out - the client is always right. SO i hid my bad feelings for him and acted with respect, like he �s, you know, my cousin, whom i have to tolerate whatever he does. And other students picked up this attitude. They didn �t take him seriously, didn �t love him for sure, but never showed that they are not happy about him.
I don �t know, just bringing up nice memories...
May be something will help.
As an idea. May be one day (if you see they are ready and they take it right) you can come to the class with a cake and say it�s really a nice day for you today. I don�t know, your birthday, promotion, your sister delivered a baby, your dog won a competition or you just feel like eating a cake. The point is that you want to share your nice mood and good news with them. With a cup of tea you could start a nice conversation during the break.
We always used to have tea in the break and somebody always brought cookies or cakes or sweets for everyone. It really felt like family. I want you also to feel that and start to enjoy your classes.
Fill me in please if you can about what�s gonna happen. May be i can help in some way or another.
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25 Mar 2010
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yanogator
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Here �s something that could break the ice (and the class). In the US, we have a party game called Mad Libs. There is a version of it online here: http://www.rinkworks.com/crazylibs/
The game consists of a story with many gaps in it, where the players (your students) supply random words of the right part of speech (as prompted by the list before the story). You collect all the words, then insert them into the story and read it. If you have internet access in your room, you can collect the words online, then read the story to them. If not, you can print the list of needed parts of speech and copy and paste a copy of the story, so you can insert blank spaces where the red words are.
After playing it, you can discuss what words would have made more sense in each place in the story. The students might then enjoy creating their own stories to use in class.
I hope this helps you,
Bruce |
25 Mar 2010
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sclail
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Thanks again Yulia and Yanogator!
Looking forward to trying these things out....all suggestions extremely welcome.
You �re all fantastic!
xxxx |
25 Mar 2010
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