I'm in the same boat as you. I teach Middle school, all levels. No books, no direction, no idea what to do. I started a few months ago, but between finals, winter break and spring break, I've barely had to teach at all. Tomorrow will be my first 'real' day as far as I'm concerned, and I'm still not sure what I'm going to do for some of my classes. If you're looking for the bright side of this situation I guess it would be that you have the freedom to do whatever you want in your classes. I too wanted to have some sort of long term plan but with no guidance from my coteachers I've just been doing random lessons, and no one has said anything to discourage me from doing so. Sorry, this probably doesn't help much, but I can at least relate to your crummy situation.

I think it's best to use the other half of your lesson to reinforce the textbook material.  You can do this by making a PPT with some communicative exercises, such as dialogues, role-plays, etc.  I think it's a good idea to keep some continuity with what the students are learning in the textbook while doing your own lesson.  This site has some of the best material I've ever used while teaching.  Just find a topic and search for it.  Good luck!

Quote from: mr sam teacher on March 06, 2011, 09:35:31 PM

I'd suggest looking for a book that you can use. I was in the same situation, and I used the "New Cutting Edge" Series from Pearson-Longman. It made my life much easier...

Ah, well that's a good idea! Last quarter I just made up all of my lessons, but I was kind of running low on ideas. What level is appropriate for Middle School? Pre-Intermediate?

Do you just buy the student book and make lessons based around chapters? I like it.

The level is going to vary based on the school. I used Elementary for my first-graders in high school, but my wife used Pre-Intermediate for some advanced elementary school students she was teaching. I bought both the student book and the activity book as well as the CD, and used a copy machine and paste stick (old school copy-paste...) to make worksheets. I could usually get four hour-long lessons out of a module. At that pace, it will take a full school year to finish the book, assuming you have two lessons a week per class.

The level is going to vary based on the school. I used Elementary for my first-graders in high school, but my wife used Pre-Intermediate for some advanced elementary school students she was teaching. I bought both the student book and the activity book as well as the CD, and used a copy machine and paste stick (old school copy-paste...) to make worksheets. I could usually get four hour-long lessons out of a module. At that pace, it will take a full school year to finish the book, assuming you have two lessons a week per class.

I went ahead and bought the teachers editions of both Elementary & Pre-Intermediate. I'm sure that between the two I can craft appropriately tailored lessons for the various levels in my school.

They have me teaching so many different students, this book would last forever. 3 grades in middle school... Grades 1/2 I see once every other week because there are so many of them. Grade 3 I see once every week.

I could also incorporate this into any after school programs they throw at me.

Terrifying, isn't it?  I'm sort of in the same boat I think.  It took several days for me to confirm it for sure (lots of people seemed confused or gave conflicting information), but I think I'm also textbook-less teaching grade 1 boys and girls in a public high school.  I'm very thankful that the previous foreign teacher left his whole collection of powerpoint slides for the year in a folder on the desktop, so that'll help me start.  He was from the UK though and I'm American, so I'm a little less certain about some of the pop culture or sports topics that he used and more familiar with some that he didn't teach.

At least I only seem to have to plan one lesson a week.  Though... that also puts a lot of pressure on for each week's lesson to count.  I'll definitely be coming here a lot though, and I like the idea of trying to reinforce what they're learning in their textbook.  Having 4 different co-teachers is going to be confusing, but I'll find a way to manage I hope!  Since I actually studied English literature in college and have 3 years of teaching experience in the States before arriving this week in Korea, I really do want to be a good teacher as much as I can. :)

I'm in the same boat. When I got here they told me to just do what I wanted, not to use the textbook and that was about all. My highschool has 12 english teachers with different levels of english ability. I was doing group work/ presentations but I was informed that I should lecture more... so now I'll be doing more korean style teaching. My advice is to try and find out what they expect from you (this was impossible in my case untill I did something they didn't like), I am now trying to build lessons that complement the textbook without directly using it. Using the same basic vocabulary and focusing on building sentences and pronunciation depending on class level.
I have also started using prezi.com and it is amazing and more fun to use than powerpoint.

My school advised me that I should be doing at least 20 min of lecture with the rest filled in with student practice dialouge and me asking random kids questions. Not sure what your HS will expect but try to keep an open dialouge with your co-teachers. And from what I can tell constructive criticism is an insult here so they may be reluctant to tell you what you need to change.

I like teaching without the same old dated/uninspired books.  I teach at a technical high school so motivation is quite low.  Try integrating a lesson plan on their daily routines such as giving directions to a bus stop, a pc bang, a store that will sell them cigs. Have them be creative, and funny create a super hero, or a restaurant/cookbook Be creative, and think about when you were in high school, can't imagine you were super thrilled to be learning a foreign language.  I'm also having them all bring large A4 envelopes so i can have them collect all their material.  That way at the end of the semester they should have several useful worksheets or projects they can hold onto.

rorio82, that's a really good idea about the envelopes.  I did a practicum a few months ago in a Stateside ESL program and the adult learners were required to bring their own 3-ring binders to collect the paperwork in for reference later.  I wonder if I'm allowed to require these public school students to bring certain supplies like that?  I haven't tried yet.

Someone earlier mentioned that constructive criticism is considered an insult, so unless you do something horribly wrong, the co-teachers often won't tell you if you're doing something badly.  Anyone else find this to be true or not true?  Do your co-teachers correct you or give you a lot of constructive input ever?

I'll try to have better communication with the 4 co-teachers I'll be working with this year.  I'm a pretty non-confrontational person myself, so it'll definitely require effort on my part. =\  The 3 co-teachers I have been in the classes with so far on my first week have all had very different personalities, and so probably have very different expectations.

I was not given any teaching material. I think it's great.
It allows for freedom.
I teach middle school and I have seen the English textbook some teacher use.
I prefer the lack of a textbook. Sure it would make things a bit easier, not having to create my own lessons, but boredom and frustration would surely set in.
This way, I can teach things that I have an interest in as well as what this age group does.
There is plenty of material on this site as well.
Here is an example of some material I have made. Feel free to use it if it suits your needs.
http://prezi.com/lfb9rmeqqqtn/the-news-newspaper/

This has a lot of potential to work out really well for you. I recommend that you make unit plans for yourself. Let each unit take about 3 weeks, and choose topics. Rough example: environment (then, for each lesson that you have with the kids, focus on a different aspect of the environment).

How often do you see the kids? Twice a week? More? How well can they write?
I'd suggest doing a journal or essay writing activity. For example, if you see them 3 times a week, teach them a new concept on the first day, review, and so a bit of discussion on the second day, and on the third day, give them a question that forces them to encompass what they learned that week to write about. And at the end of your units, maybe you can give them a test of some sort. Just a suggestion!