Ok guys I have a bit of a problem.

I am just after starting teaching in a vocational high school, first and second grade.

Here, the students have almost zero motivation to learn English and have about high elementary/low middle school ability on average. Some don't even speak any English at all.

As most are not going to university, they see this as a blow off/sleeping class.

They seem to respond best to games and I've been looking for simple games that might be relevant to high school interests. I've looked through middle school and even elementary but I'm not sure the games there are age appropriate.

If anyone has any advice or could even point me in the right direction I would greatly appreciate it.


Thanks!

you sound like me. high school is just a time for the students to wait until military duty. most have jobs, drink and get more action than I do. Coming to school 3 hours late with hangovers. I can't even see the next door classroom through the thick cloud of smoke.

Nevertheless teaching is possible, keep it short, sweet, and simple. I did a lesson on ABCs with a bit of a minecraft theme, the kids were so loud yelling shiz out at me, they loved it. taught adverbs using LoL champions. whose the fastest, yada yada. I've never played either game if that is what you are worried about.

This week I am doing a lesson on food. I never use videos, but this week is the one rare exception. I start with a video of food which piques their interest, and go from there. its been one of my best lessons.

Don't bother with teaching grammar.

Games are nice and all, but if they are too low level to understand, then it won't do you much good. just have clear simple easy goals, get them to use the English they already know rather than teach them new stuff. and while some may know nothing, don't fret, work with the ones that do and care.

I suggest stop relying on games to get you through, and get ready to start teaching. I know it's hard and scary, but it is possible, and for the most part, people like to be challenged. So if you keep the challenges level appropriate the students will work towards your goals.

Yep. This is all fabulous advice. They are totally teachable, you just have to change your expectations a lot.

Another big big piece of advice, although it has nothing to do with lesson planning: for god's sake don't look down on these kids. Korean schools are very harsh with students who don't do well. If your kids are anything like mine, they've been treated as wastes of oxygen or future thugs for years. And sure, maybe some of them are, but most aren't. A lot of them have amazingly crappy home lives and some of them probably didn't want to go to your school, but didn't have a choice because of grades or finances or whatever. Don't be a pushover, but don't treat these kids like they're useless. Acting like they're intelligent human beings isn't something they get a lot of. Most of them WILL respond to that. It won't make them more interested in English, but it will make them a lot easier to teach.

And if all else fails? Candy.

Quote from: Wintermute on September 03, 2013, 12:08:44 PM

you sound like me. high school is just a time for the students to wait until military duty. most have jobs, drink and get more action than I do. Coming to school 3 hours late with hangovers. I can't even see the next door classroom through the thick cloud of smoke.

Nevertheless teaching is possible, keep it short, sweet, and simple. I did a lesson on ABCs with a bit of a minecraft theme, the kids were so loud yelling shiz out at me, they loved it. taught adverbs using LoL champions. whose the fastest, yada yada. I've never played either game if that is what you are worried about.

This week I am doing a lesson on food. I never use videos, but this week is the one rare exception. I start with a video of food which piques their interest, and go from there. its been one of my best lessons.

Don't bother with teaching grammar.

Games are nice and all, but if they are too low level to understand, then it won't do you much good. just have clear simple easy goals, get them to use the English they already know rather than teach them new stuff. and while some may know nothing, don't fret, work with the ones that do and care.

I suggest stop relying on games to get you through, and get ready to start teaching. I know it's hard and scary, but it is possible, and for the most part, people like to be challenged. So if you keep the challenges level appropriate the students will work towards your goals.

Yep. This is all fabulous advice. They are totally teachable, you just have to change your expectations a lot.

Another big big piece of advice, although it has nothing to do with lesson planning: for god's sake don't look down on these kids. Korean schools are very harsh with students who don't do well. If your kids are anything like mine, they've been treated as wastes of oxygen or future thugs for years. And sure, maybe some of them are, but most aren't. A lot of them have amazingly crappy home lives and some of them probably didn't want to go to your school, but didn't have a choice because of grades or finances or whatever. Don't be a pushover, but don't treat these kids like they're useless. Acting like they're intelligent human beings isn't something they get a lot of. Most of them WILL respond to that. It won't make them more interested in English, but it will make them a lot easier to teach.

And if all else fails? Candy.

Very well said. It really saddens me to see how much contempt some teachers show for their kids both on here and in conversations I've had. Teachers need to lead by example. You give up on them and they will give up on your class and themselves.

I'm a new EPIK teacher this past few weeks and I can tell you that we are all going through the same thing that you are!  Take solace in the fact that you are not alone, and the others are right in advising not to take it too seriously.  Take it seriously enough, of course, but there is no reason to feel down on your students or yourself because of the situation.  Try to find their interests and make it fun for you both! 
I often feel frustrated without guidance from my co teachers or any sort of textbook or reference notes on my classes' ability levels, but I just need to sit back and realize that it's not that big of a deal, others have done this/been here before me, and if my co teachers aren't as worried about it why should I stress myself out so much?  All we can do is try our best and figure out how to teach these classes by trial and error and have faith in our students as long as we can figure out how to motivate them...  There are a lot of great activities on here, so take a whiiiiile to sift through and choose some that sound interesting to you, and make it simple for your students.  A lot of the material on here is good but everyone needs to tweak it a little for their own use.  Thankfully we have "deskwarming" hours to do so.  Good luck!

I did two years at a school like that. The single most valuable thing I learned there was to minimize my own speaking time. They didn't understand much of what I said anyway, so it'd just bore them. I had much more success when I hammered through a very easy grammar point, and then got them interacting with each other instead of with me (board games, bingo, etc etc). They have fun when they're talking to each other and will use their English if they know exactly what to do.

If you have a co-teacher that can translate/explain what you say, it opens up a wide range of things you can do. If not, don't despair, but choose your activities with care :)

I’m also at a vocational high school. I actually taught here a few years ago and came back to the same school. Once you get comfortable in your situation and make it fun it will be better. You came to Korea thinking you would be teaching and making a difference. You probably did some research into Korean schools and education. Vocational high schools are nothing like that. But you can still make a difference.

As everyone else said, don’t blow the kids off like other teachers have. I think some of my students are actually quite smart. They don’t want to follow the rest and all of the pressure and stress for tests and success. Not everyone can or should work for Samsung!

I always greet them in the halls, and if they want to chat with me I do. I can’t tell you how many times I have the same conversations in a day. But at least they are talking, and getting more comfortable with me.

I see each class once a week. I play games with them. I might teach enough, or review target vocab for the game, That is it. They don’t care for anymore. They love the competition. Find ways to balance the lower level and higher level kids.

I will announce at the beginning of a game that spelling doesn’t matter. If I can figure out what they are saying 1/2 point (if I can’t spell, why should they?). That way they still try, many times in their lives they have been turned down and told they are not good enough. Be positive and treat them like people, not failures.

Some kids don’t even know the ABC’s! Review activities/games with that. Make them randomly sing the ABC’s.

When I came back I had a ppt with a variety of different pictures on each slide. Then I let the kids tell me what they saw. This let me figure out what words they know, and what subjects they were interested in. And best of all (the point of our jobs) they were talking!

Keep trying. Just because a lesson plan fails in one class, doesn’t mean it won’t in another. And try to make it fun! That is the only guidance/feedback I've gotten from my school.

use the elementary school board to find lessons for them and make it more fun than for a  kindergarden class...good luck I am in the same boat.