Topic: Your powerpoint bombgames suck and you should stop using them Read 4391 times

notinkorea · « **on:** October 09, 2019, 01:00:43 pm »

I cannot believe that some of you answer with "English teacher" when asked the question, "What do you do?" Personally, I feel terrible whenever I create a lesson plan that doesn't provide an opportunity for the students to effectively use the recently learned grammar point. That is why I never use PowerPoint bomb games as they're a waste of time for both the teacher and more importantly, the students. The teacher doesn't develop any skills other than quickening their pace at copy and pasting images. Using PowerPoint bomb games is NOT an effective way to teach students how to express themselves in a different language. The ability to express oneself isn't through repeating nonsensical predetermined phrases written by the teacher, instead, the ability has to do with saying what the **** you want to say.
As much as foreigners shit on the east Asian education system of rote memorization, it makes me wonder whether our own system is any better when "teachers" from the West genuinely defend their PowerPoint games as proper methods of pedagogy.

« **Reply #1 on:** October 09, 2019, 01:44:50 pm »

Okay, but sometimes its hard to come up with something to do. I only use it when I run out of options mostly for review. and most of us get everything from waygook and other websites as well and that's kind of all we find. Not everyone can be creative- gee sorry.

johnny2shoes · « **Reply #2 on:** October 09, 2019, 02:10:40 pm »

I agree that they are overused and should not be relied on as a teaching tool but they are suitable for review. I teach at a private elementary school. I see each of my four classes five times a week. I only use bomb games before the mid term and final tests. That's two out of about 80 lessons. Are there more effective ways to review? Probably but, I also look at them as a treat for the students.

« **Reply #3 on:** October 09, 2019, 02:33:31 pm »

OP, you should realize that for a very large percentage of English teachers in Korea, the foreign teacher's class is considered game time/break time by the Korean teachers, principals, mothers, and kids. Trying to actually teach a lesson can lead to a fair amount of animosity. Yes, ideally, the teacher should make every lesson fun and educational, but let's also keep in mind that this is a profession with next to no chance for advancement. Why then should teachers let themselves be exploited? The "Do it for the kids" excuse is simply a rationale for treating teachers like crap, getting the most out of them for the least amount of money. The Korean education system--and those that take part in it--are happy so long as the kids aren't complaining and they're hearing English from a native speaker for 45 minutes during the day. I can't say I agree with this, but as someone who spent years fighting this system, I can wholeheartedly say it's a losing battle.

Chinguetti · « **Reply #4 on:** October 09, 2019, 02:47:56 pm »

Yeah, agree with mjc8500. There's only so much a teacher can do when the system itself is designed against using NETs effectively.

My coteachers expect me to use bomb games at least a couple of times per semester. I get a lot of grief if I don't because the kids love them, and that's what I'm supposed to be here for -- to make English fun. I'm not supposed to actually teach them anything, their KT English teachers are. The most I can hope to do is to have them practice what they're already supposed to have learned... which is difficult when they're not actually trying to learn the material.

I do incorporate learning aspects into my lessons because otherwise the games and activities will be impossible for them, but if I do too much of it I get a lot of hostility directed my way.

There's only so much that can be done. Kudos to NETs that work in an environment that promote proper and various ranges of pedagogy, but most of us don't work in those environments. Lack of qualifications aside, most NETs have their hands tied.

Cohort 2019 · « **Reply #5 on:** October 09, 2019, 03:10:20 pm »

@op I am a Teacher of English. Only Ronnie and other UK peeps could use your badly construed admonishment in such an ungrammatical fashion tsk tsk...

You old-fashioned t-wat. Piss off with your Grammar and pedagogy lingo, if you don't know the jargon don't act like you've got an M.Ed. If anything, those people using different games are applying an EFL socio-interactive approach which has been scientifically proven to work much more effectively than your old-fashioned Grammar teaching. Prof. Hillocks has reviewed 4000 papers on this and stated ''Grammar teaching is a great disservice which should not be tolerated anymore.'' (G.Hillocks, 1984). What do you base your faulty opinions on?

2 months of teaching rowdy classes back home? Of course your games bombed.

Quote

The grammartranslation method was particularly in vogue in the16th century.The focus was then on the translation of texts, grammar, and rote learning of vocabulary.

Chinguetti · « **Reply #6 on:** October 09, 2019, 03:22:12 pm »

And yeah, since Cohort has brought it up, I also should have stated that I don't see anything wrong with using bomb games. They're a great review option that provide students with extra incentive to participate, and they can be really effective if you structure your questions properly. They're like quizzes and tests that don't count against your grade.

No teacher should be dependent on them, but then again no teacher should be dependent on any one teaching tool. There's absolutely no issue with using anything and everything available at your disposal, as long as it's not something you're using all the time.

bb459 · « **Reply #7 on:** October 10, 2019, 07:40:01 am »

lol

Quote from: notinkorea on October 09, 2019, 01:00:43 pm

I cannot believe that some of you answer with "English teacher" when asked the question, "What do you do?" Personally, I feel terrible whenever I create a lesson plan that doesn't provide an opportunity for the students to effectively use the recently learned grammar point. That is why I never use PowerPoint bomb games as they're a waste of time for both the teacher and more importantly, the students. The teacher doesn't develop any skills other than quickening their pace at copy and pasting images. Using PowerPoint bomb games is NOT an effective way to teach students how to express themselves in a different language. The ability to express oneself isn't through repeating nonsensical predetermined phrases written by the teacher, instead, the ability has to do with saying what the **** you want to say.
As much as foreigners shit on the east Asian education system of rote memorization, it makes me wonder whether our own system is any better when "teachers" from the West genuinely defend their PowerPoint games as proper methods of pedagogy.
Quote from: notinkorea on October 09, 2019, 01:00:43 pm
I cannot believe that some of you answer with "English teacher" when asked the question, "What do you do?" Personally, I feel terrible whenever I create a lesson plan that doesn't provide an opportunity for the students to effectively use the recently learned grammar point. That is why I never use PowerPoint bomb games as they're a waste of time for both the teacher and more importantly, the students. The teacher doesn't develop any skills other than quickening their pace at copy and pasting images. Using PowerPoint bomb games is NOT an effective way to teach students how to express themselves in a different language. The ability to express oneself isn't through repeating nonsensical predetermined phrases written by the teacher, instead, the ability has to do with saying what the **** you want to say.
As much as foreigners shit on the east Asian education system of rote memorization, it makes me wonder whether our own system is any better when "teachers" from the West genuinely defend their PowerPoint games as proper methods of pedagogy.

lol

lhelena · « **Reply #8 on:** October 10, 2019, 08:06:19 am »

Ever consider a lot of us are told to "just have a game/activity for the last 30 minutes" for main classes? For after school I try to come up with original lessons but I have to "make them fun". Most elementary students have been conditioned by the schools to see English class as fun time.

Kwai_Chang_Kain · « **Reply #9 on:** October 10, 2019, 08:33:43 am »

Quote from: notinkorea on October 09, 2019, 01:00:43 pm

I cannot believe that some of you answer with "English teacher" when asked the question, "What do you do?" Personally, I feel terrible whenever I create a lesson plan that doesn't provide an opportunity for the students to effectively use the recently learned grammar point. That is why I never use PowerPoint bomb games as they're a waste of time for both the teacher and more importantly, the students. The teacher doesn't develop any skills other than quickening their pace at copy and pasting images. Using PowerPoint bomb games is NOT an effective way to teach students how to express themselves in a different language. The ability to express oneself isn't through repeating nonsensical predetermined phrases written by the teacher, instead, the ability has to do with saying what the **** you want to say.
As much as foreigners shit on the east Asian education system of rote memorization, it makes me wonder whether our own system is any better when "teachers" from the West genuinely defend their PowerPoint games as proper methods of pedagogy.

How about recording one of your classes on video and then posting it up on YouTube so that we can all see how it's done right and model our teaching after you.

oglop · « **Reply #10 on:** October 10, 2019, 11:49:59 am »

yes, bomb games are lame. but so are the public school text books. so is english education and the attitude towards it in public schools, generally. pretty sure everyone knows bomb games aren't "proper methods of pedagogy", but i guess they are okay once in a while (for fun)

i, too, would like to see a youtube recording of OP's class

theman3285 · « **Reply #11 on:** October 10, 2019, 12:13:14 pm »

Quote from: oglop on October 10, 2019, 11:49:59 am

i, too, would like to see a youtube recording of OP's class

Same. Show us what a pedagogue looks like, OP.

MoneyMike · « **Reply #12 on:** October 10, 2019, 01:14:19 pm »

Sort of agree with OP. I think it's fine to use a bomb game at the end of semester or something as a review of all the lessons, but they aren't good language practice and shouldn't be treated as such.

"But everyone just sees English time as fun time!" - Alright, so use activities that are fun but also better language practice.

"My co-worker just asks me to come up with a game for the last 30 minutes!" - If you have 30 minutes you should probably come up with two activities rather than one, and should use ones that are better language practice.

This isn't rocket science.

Here's a bit I wrote about making or selecting language activities. Formatting will probably be crap because I'm just pasting it.

Making / Evaluating Activities for the EFL Classroom
- What makes an activity good?
   - Strong focus on the skill or skills being practiced. For example, if youre doing a
speaking activity, you should try to avoid letting the students read if possible.
(use picture cards to direct, rather than written sentences)
     - Most textbooks use the natural method. (Listening -> speaking -> reading -> writing)
Its generally fine to go backwards, as most speaking activities might have a
listening component, and many writing activities require reading as well, etc.
When possible, however, try to avoid going forward. (If youre doing a speaking lesson, avoid reading and writing where possible, as these will distract from the students concentration on speaking)

Elements that can make activities fun:
- Competition - Students love to compete against each other.
     - Randomness Games that have an element of luck are fun.
     - Designated progression Students often enjoy a task that has clear progression.
     Something like a survey isnt a game exactly, but students will usually work to
     progress towards a clear goal. (interview this many students for example)

Other guidelines:

- Keep it simple. An activity should be as simple and uncomplicated as possible. There
     is a time when this rule can be broken, however. Well talk about that a bit later.
     - High engagement A good activity will allow a large number of students to
     participate at once. An activity that only allows a few students at a time to practice
     should be seen as a failure, even if the students like it.

All of this together gives us some idea of what a good activity will look like. It should have a strong focus on the language skill being practiced, though going backwards in the learning order is fine too. It should be fun or at least engaging for the students. It should have as few moving parts as possible. And it should allow a large % of your students to participate at the same time.

stoat · « **Reply #13 on:** October 10, 2019, 01:37:35 pm »

Some good advice there, though I'm not sure about the terms 'backwards' and 'forwards.' Are you talking about moving from receptive skills to productive skills?

MoneyMike · « **Reply #14 on:** October 10, 2019, 01:54:31 pm »

Quote from: stoat on October 10, 2019, 01:37:35 pm

Some good advice there, though I'm not sure about the terms 'backwards' and 'forwards.' Are you talking about moving from receptive skills to productive skills?

Sorry I was speaking while people had a handout so I could explain that better. Most textbooks here use the natural method, meaning they go from listening first, speaking second, reading third, writing fourth, then maybe combine them for the fifth period of a lesson. It's called the natural method because that's how kids learn their native languages, in that order.

What I mean by going backwards or forwards is in terms of that order. If you're doing the second period of a lesson in a book that uses this order, you should focus on speaking, although having an element of listening is fine. (since listening is backwards in the order, the kids have already done a listening lesson) Going forwards and including a reading element in your speaking activities should be avoided though, since that will allow them to avoid having to think and reproduce the grammar point on their own, since they can just read it.

Backwards in the order, no problem. They've already practiced it and for example reading is often a requirement in writing activities.

Forwards in order bad, since it's diverting students attention from the language skill they should be focusing on.

This only really applies if you're using a book that uses the natural method. Most of the books I've used here do, though I'm currently using one that doesn't.

Hope that clears it up.

lhelena · « **Reply #15 on:** October 11, 2019, 07:55:24 am »

I think it's also important to note that not everyone is using just bomb games every class either. Just some sort of game/group activity. I have my activities match the level of the lesson we're at (as well as the level of my students and class size). A bomb game should be like a cumulative quiz of speaking, reading, writing, and production of language skills. So throughout the lesson I utilize speaking games (ones where the students do all the speaking with some prompting from me if they get stuck), then I move to reading and speaking (any activity where they have to read something out loud to progress), then reading and writing activities.

I would love to do more involved projects each lesson or even each unit, but I didn't get much support when I tried so fun activities it is. It's important to realize that not all NETs have the same support to actually do what they think should be done in the classroom. If you're at a school where they actually give a crap about your teaching philosophy and support your lessons being actually good and not just following the book, awesome. But keep in mind that you might be the minority, at least in EPIK. Most of us are at small schools in rural areas where we aren't utilized properly or taken seriously as teachers. Don't even get me started on how many times I've had to justify teaching phonics to grades 1-3 since the failed English ban on grades 1-2.

wherever dreaming goes · « **Reply #16 on:** October 11, 2019, 08:20:13 am »

My co teacher leaves early and comes late with no chance of discussion what the next period will be, and also the fact that I teach at 2 other schools, when I come to my main school I get told in 10 mins before class what we're doing, or what has changed. In that time, using one of the many bomb games is the only option.

Not everyone here gets to actually teach classes, not everyone here is actually respected enough to be taken seriously. I am often told not to waste ink if I want to print or create my own materials for classes. With that kind of attitude coming from schools and their attitudes towards foreign teachers in general, it's no wonder bomb games are the go to.

glad you have a decent teaching position where you can actually teach. Those positions are rare. You must be new to Korea or where ever the fck you are (just saw your nick) to be on such a fcking high horse about teaching. Wait until you get one of the many crappy positions with co-teachers from hell, and then let's see how much you love them bomb games.

Also, if you've been here for a while and realize that you wont be doing any actual teaching... you tend to just be here for the easy money. I'll save my efforts for the positions that actually deserve it. And the kids??? fck no! they get their no respect and don't care attitudes from the co-teachers.

I put in the effort for those that deserve it and want it. So fck off ...

Liechtenstein · « **Reply #17 on:** October 11, 2019, 11:25:14 am »

Quote from: wherever dreaming goes on October 11, 2019, 08:20:13 am

My co teacher leaves early and comes late with no chance of discussion what the next period will be, and also the fact that I teach at 2 other schools, when I come to my main school I get told in 10 mins before class what we're doing, or what has changed. In that time, using one of the many bomb games is the only option.

Not everyone here gets to actually teach classes, not everyone here is actually respected enough to be taken seriously. I am often told not to waste ink if I want to print or create my own materials for classes. With that kind of attitude coming from schools and their attitudes towards foreign teachers in general, it's no wonder bomb games are the go to.

glad you have a decent teaching position where you can actually teach. Those positions are rare. You must be new to Korea or where ever the fck you are (just saw your nick) to be on such a fcking high horse about teaching. Wait until you get one of the many crappy positions with co-teachers from hell, and then let's see how much you love them bomb games.

Also, if you've been here for a while and realize that you wont be doing any actual teaching... you tend to just be here for the easy money. I'll save my efforts for the positions that actually deserve it. And the kids??? fck no! they get their no respect and don't care attitudes from the co-teachers.

I put in the effort for those that deserve it and want it. So fck off ...

Brutally honest.

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. You can stick a kid in school but you can't make them learn.

Reach the reachables. Teach the teachables. Try not to lose your mind over the others. This is life brothers and sisters...not life sentence!

Have fun.

Do what thou wilt.

mikeycknowsrnb · « **Reply #18 on:** October 11, 2019, 12:36:54 pm »

Actual requests from different co-teachers this year
"Can you just give them answers for the page and just play a game for the period"?
" Can you prepare the class like your English camp? You know with the games and balloons? The students' levels this year are too low"
"You don't have to teach them the book. Just do a fun activity"
"Don't give that boy a worksheet. I usually let him sleep"
"Just tell them the answer they don't know" after a student barely tries for about 45 seconds.

We aren't here to teach. Shoot in my case I'm instructed not to lol. The students aren't there to learn.
I don't use bomb games but you need to get off your high horse. The first time I ever even saw a bomb game was during my EPIK orientation and it was a Korean teacher who was demonstrating it for us. Maybe I can use what I've learned to actual use when I transition into teaching adults but for now I'm just the fun foreign man. I do what I'm told and collect my check.

hangook77 · « **Reply #19 on:** October 11, 2019, 01:53:14 pm »

Quote from: Kwai_Chang_Kain on October 10, 2019, 08:33:43 am

Quote from: notinkorea on October 09, 2019, 01:00:43 pm
I cannot believe that some of you answer with "English teacher" when asked the question, "What do you do?" Personally, I feel terrible whenever I create a lesson plan that doesn't provide an opportunity for the students to effectively use the recently learned grammar point. That is why I never use PowerPoint bomb games as they're a waste of time for both the teacher and more importantly, the students. The teacher doesn't develop any skills other than quickening their pace at copy and pasting images. Using PowerPoint bomb games is NOT an effective way to teach students how to express themselves in a different language. The ability to express oneself isn't through repeating nonsensical predetermined phrases written by the teacher, instead, the ability has to do with saying what the **** you want to say.
As much as foreigners shit on the east Asian education system of rote memorization, it makes me wonder whether our own system is any better when "teachers" from the West genuinely defend their PowerPoint games as proper methods of pedagogy.

How about recording one of your classes on video and then posting it up on YouTube so that we can all see how it's done right and model our teaching after you.

Well put Mr Kwain. Another pompous arrogant ass who thinks we should all bow down before him it seems. Change the games or activities and re enforce re enforce re enforce. I prefer our ppt games over the textbook ones. It's better than being some lazy ass teacher who just makes up some lame simple game on the spot and is too lazy or too incompetent to use technology. I guess the fact he doesn't know how to use it effectively makes it feel in his own mind that he can compensate by lashing out.

Topic: Your powerpoint bombgames suck and you should stop using them Read 4391 times

Your powerpoint bombgames suck and you should stop using them

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