Hello, Ms. Jennifer here again! With a new week comes a new lesson, and a new attitude. I last wrote about the difficulty I was having with trying to get my students to speak English. I search and search each week for the perfect lesson that will motivate my students to speak and stay interested in my class. Much to my dismay however, I do not think there is one!
So my plan of attack now?...I have several lessons to choose from during the week. This way, if one fails or they are just not engaging, I can try the next. It also breaks up the monotony of teaching the same lesson 18 times in a row. So far, it has been working (of course, it's only Tuesday!).
I have also come to the conclusion that I can not reach everyone. There are just some students that don’t want to learn how to speak English. As I go around the room I have some students that are very interested and then some that could care less. For those that could care less, I give them a solid chance, then I pass right over and move on to the next student.
It's just a fact that I have too many students in my class for me to waste valuable time on a student that does not want to participate.
I even tried handing candy out to the students that volunteered to speak. I thought it was a good idea but I have since changed my mind about that also. I now have a system of going around the room and picking people in random order to speak English. If they are disinterested, I will just tell them thank you and let them sit back down. For the students that want to try, I spend more time asking them questions and engaging them in conversation (that is what the school is paying me for afterall!).
My hope is that the students who want to learn to speak will have an opportunity to speak in the 40 minutes a week that I teach them. The other students that don’t want to learn will at least be forced to listen to us speak. But I have also had trouble keeping the other students quiet as I go around the room.
I will first politely say “SHHHH”. Then I will ask them again, “Please do not be rude to your classmates when they are talking”. Then if that doesn’t work, I will shout “Anjing!” which means stop talking in Chinese - but more importantly it is what they hear yelled at them from their Chinese teachers so I do get them to be quiet after I shout that! Well, at least most of the time.
I do have one class that I am starting to dread teaching. Class 6 on Monday’s has been a problem from week one! There is one boy, in particular, that mimics what I say and talks Chinese to his friends while I am talking. I have asked nicely and I have taken him aside after class but nothing works.
This week, he would not be quiet after repeated requests so I made him stand in the back of the class room against the wall. A method of punishment I learned from other students. He kicked desks and stomped his way to the back of the class! I try not to let it appear that I am angry and I continued my class with a smile.
This boy doesn’t realize who he is dealing with. He might find himself standing the rest of this semester!
Again, I am having a great time teaching though. I have so many students that are very happy to see me, they bring me gifts and stickers, they invite me to go with them to places in town…it is for these students that I love to teach.
I brought my camera with me this week to show you some of my classes and my school. I hope you enjoy looking at the pictures and I will blog again soon.
Bye. Bye.
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