Girls high school - Grade 1

[7Suarez7]

I'm about to start teaching a weekend class to grade 1 high school girls and I'm unsure about where to pitch the lesson.

I'd appreciate any advice from teachers already teaching to grade 1 high school girls - what sort of things can i expect? I know everyone's different but just some general advice/tips would be a great help!

[kapteyn]

I actually just started teaching at a girls high school also. I do grades 1 and 2. What I have found is that although there is a pretty big spread as far as level goes they have liked the lessons that have been a bit more challenging most. Whenever I tried to tone it down for them they would glaze over on me. It seems like most of the time the higher level students will help out the lower level ones also. Also, use waygook.org. This site has already saved my butt several times with some awesome lessons.
Attached is a great opposites lesson that my friend Matt gave me. He is also teaching a girls high school out here.

[7Suarez7]

Thanks Kapetyn, much appreciated! Do you do anything in terms of rewards/merit system? At elementary school I would offer a pizza party or ice cream at end of the semester to students who had done well but korean teenage girls seem a lot more careful with what they eat than rowdy elementary kids!

Also how do you find the girls when it comes to speaking? My assumption would be that their quite shy, how have you found it?

[kapteyn]

I cant do rewards in my school because they cycle through month to month with different groups of kids missing every week. That sort of ruins anything cumulative I would like to do.

They are EXTREMELY shy at first. I am a guy so they obviously have taken a little while getting used to a waygook around the building. It is getting better but I find that the longer I am here and the more public speaking/volunteering/presenting I have them do in the class the better they feel about it and the more likely they are to volunteer. Stickers and candy help too.

As far as some of the more advanced ones they have really been talking to me quite a bit actually. Some have excellent English but most just know the simple exchanges. Like I said though, if you can get them to come a little bit out of their shells they might really surprise you with how much they know.

[mrobinett]

Thanks for the shout-out Bruce!

I teach G1 High School girls as well Turner. There is no book to go by so I just make up a new lesson each time. Since you are teaching a weekend class I'm assuming you are in the same boat. I propose that we post any lessons that work well on this thread. Bruce already posted an opposites lesson that went over really well in my class.

[Yu_Bumsuk]

I'm about to start teaching a weekend class to grade 1 high school girls and I'm unsure about where to pitch the lesson.

I'd appreciate any advice from teachers already teaching to grade 1 high school girls - what sort of things can i expect? I know everyone's different but just some general advice/tips would be a great help!

How many and for how long? If it's the weekend they're likely expecting one of two things: (a) a test-driven test-prep style lesson or (b) conversation-only lessons. It's probably (b). I'd plan a lot of pop songs and multimedia and make certain that I had access to a computer and screen. Remember that apart from a few prep. classes not much serious is expected to happen at schools on Saturdays.

[nelg]

I have been teaching at an all girls high school for about a year and a half now and everything already posted rings true for me as well.

You can expect them to be shy at first, but that can fade fast if you approach the class in the right way. Teach to their interests, challenge them and let them know they can ask questions freely. Most of the conversation and best discussions in class has come from random questions students ask me. At first, never make them do anything alone, always with a partner or team. I also rarely make them stand up to read or do any kind of boring, dry presentation. They usually freeze up or don't try. The more creative you can be with how they engage with English the better. I like other people here, do not teach from a book so coming up with a new an exciting lesson every week can be difficult, but well worth the time.

I use a fake money, reward system for my classes and they love it.  A lot of times, when I think things may be below them (too juvenile), they still really enjoy it, so do not hesitate to try.

If you have any more specific questions I would be glad to help. I understand it can be daunting teaching at a high school level.

[dwebsterlfc]

I work at a co-ed but have girl classes and boy classes seperately. The girls will listen and actively participate in the class which is always great. What I would say though is that girls are really scared of getting something wrong or looking like they don't understand something. Therefore often they will just say that they understand when they don't just to save face. Basically they aren't all as good as they make out so don't completely focus on group work otherwise the ones that actually do know everything will just take over and the other kids will not learn anything.

[kapteyn]

Not at all Matt. Its my pleasure.

Grab the Pig Personality Test. It is a great lesson that Hazzy made. I am not sure if he got it from someone else but even though the vocab was tough my first and second graders really liked it. If they finish quickly just shuffle the groups and have them go again. I had the winners raise their hands and then made them all tell the class their personalities. I think everyone appreciated that there wasnt much of a reward this time around and the whole class got a good laugh about it.

Heres the link if the attachment doesnt work. http://prezi.com/ildo2bcncezt/copy-of-copy-of-what-kind-of-person-are-you/

[Juicealicious]

I've been teaching at an all girls high school now for about 2 years. I agree with everything that has been said - shy at first, but they warm up to you, create lessons that cater to their interests, etc. The only problem with the teenage girls is that they love to talk, text, snip their split ends in class, and look in the mirror. My girls are actually pretty good, but lazy. At first I did the reward system where I gave out candy and chocolates, but they started to take advantage of it. I talked to my co-teacher and explained that while the girls behaved well, they weren't learning anything or really putting any effort into the work sheets, etc. The best way to get them to really get involved was to make my class worth something (as our classes are usually worth nothing). Anyways, there is this extra 10% my students have for participation and they ended up giving that to me. So right now, it doesn't matter what I teach, the girls work hard and get it done. I suggest talking to your co if you find the interest level or work ethic is low.

[nelg]

Juicealicious, that is really interesting! I wish I had known that at the start of this school year. I started this year by saying that although there are no grades for this class, what we do is up to me. So, if I feel they are not taking the work seriously, the class format will change for them and we will do test prep for the rest of the semester. So far, the looming fear of more studying has made all my classes listen and actively participate in the class.

Are you using any textbook material with your classes, or guided by any other school provided rubric?