Author Topic: I'm a new high school teacher ..... HELP!!! (Read 64011 times)

krissyboo75 · « **Reply #40 on:** September 28, 2011, 08:14:42 AM »

Thank you for your input! That helps a lot! :)

Yu_Bumsuk · « **Reply #41 on:** September 28, 2011, 08:35:48 AM »

Make a slide show about your life and your family and friends back home. You can also show some pics of things from your home country (making maple syrup / barbequing kangaroos / whatever). This is a great way to start making a personal connection.

Also learn the difference between there and their. They're smart enough to pick up on mistakes like that, even if they don't know how to ask permission to go to the toilet in English.

krissyboo75 · « **Reply #42 on:** September 28, 2011, 09:24:23 AM »

Oh I know the difference. Just a typo! :)

derryo13 · « **Reply #43 on:** September 28, 2011, 12:32:43 PM »

I don't know if you've done your orientation yet but the module on powerpoint use in the classroom was perfect for this. The guy who gave the lecture was Jacob Boer and he has lots of stuff up here too. He has videos up on www.sundryacademy.com/videos.

krissyboo75 · « **Reply #44 on:** September 28, 2011, 01:47:55 PM »

He WAS good. I liked his games. I will be checking his site out soon :)

O.M.C.M.B. · « **Reply #45 on:** September 28, 2011, 02:06:19 PM »

Quote from: Yu_Bumsuk on September 28, 2011, 08:35:48 AM

Make a slide show about your life and your family and friends back home. You can also show some pics of things from your home country (making maple syrup / barbequing kangaroos / whatever). This is a great way to start making a personal connection.

Also learn the difference between there and their. They're smart enough to pick up on mistakes like that, even if they don't know how to ask permission to go to the toilet in English.

"...but their English...."

Pretty sure she is using their correctly boss.

krissyboo75 · « **Reply #46 on:** September 29, 2011, 08:00:28 AM »

Oh I edited that haha. But it was a typo haha :)

Logan.kruck · « **Reply #47 on:** September 29, 2011, 08:23:00 AM »

A piece of advice:

I am a first time English teacher, and at a High-School. I have been teaching for a month at a "low-level." However, I've been researching the Su-neung test that 3rd years take for College, and I have discovered that I need to focus on harder material. Even if the students are "low level" they can learn harder vocabulary and phrases. I have taught them "low level" for a month, and it's fun but not challenging. Be challenging. Get their textbooks, look at the vocab, group some together with some good English phrases, and execute.

I'm doing a dating lesson that starts with personalities. The personality words are pretty tough. But the activity is really fun. I'm also working on a McGuyver type EMERGENCY lesson built around "what went wrong."

Mark van · « **Reply #48 on:** September 29, 2011, 11:00:55 AM »

hey krissyboo75 don't worry to much.

I've found that your high school could ask you to either work from a textbook (maybe the "speaking part" of each unit) or ask you to give "culture lessons" (Which means you're free to do whatever you want).

I have to work from a textbook at my school. Each lesson you might have to do 4 pages or so or be told to only focus on an activity section. High school kids are VERY SLEEPY! Some of them only leave school at 22.00pm. So while you're doing 4 pages in 50 minutes it can get really boring. So just download some relevant youtube videos to watch, or do a fun activity in between and you'll see it helps a lot.

There are some great icebreakers on this site :)

Goodluck!

nataliekristin · « **Reply #49 on:** October 05, 2011, 10:37:46 AM »

I just arrived here last week, but am just doing office hours until next Monday. I teach 12 individual Grade 1 classes throughout the week and One Grade Two class twice a week. My question is does anyone have a good idea for my first class. I am aware it should be about me and the students getting to know each other, but I was wondering if anyone had some fun ideas. Thanks for your help!

sheedi · « **Reply #50 on:** October 06, 2011, 09:54:29 AM »

Have an introductory lesson on yourself and look up the human bingo game and there is also an introduction bomb game. I did the human bingo game with my middle school and it went well.

Another idea is for them to guess some answers about you instead of doing a ppt presentation on yourself. You can have a question on the board/screen..Where am I from... Canada or America and students will move to the right side for Canad or to the Left for America. They will cont. answering ques. until there is one person standing. If all students are out, then everyone stands up and continue playing. It's helps them get to know you but in an interactive fun way.

Wonju? · « **Reply #51 on:** October 27, 2011, 10:12:29 AM »

I'm a new teacher. I haven't started yet, but will next week. Any advice on what high school boys and girls are interested in so I can make my lessons more interesting to them. And does anyone have any recommendations on how to play off of classroom dynamics and how that works at the high school level? Thanks

Jozigirl · « **Reply #52 on:** October 27, 2011, 10:22:30 AM »

There are a couple of threads on this topic already. I don't have time to search for them now but try looking for them as people gave lots of useful advice.

Quote

And does anyone have any recommendations on how to play off of classroom dynamics and how that works at the high school level?

As for the "classroom dynamics": There is no uniform answer to this question as every class is different. The class dynamics are affected by the students in the class (obviously), how they respond to you, the relationship between you and your co-teacher, how they feel that day, how you feel that day, the general atmosphere in the classroom, the type of lesson, and their overall attitude to English. You're going to have to figure out the dynamics for yourself and it'll take a couple of lessons to do so.

High school kids here are like high school kids elsewhere - they're teenagers. They have the same basic insecurities and fears and are interested in the same basic things that other teenagers are interested in. The content of your lessons will be influenced by their English proficiency, what the school may or may not want you to focus on and the type of school at which you're placed (academic, specialised, technical, vocational, rural, city, big, small, high/middle/low income).

Ochodnid · « **Reply #53 on:** October 27, 2011, 10:24:24 AM »

Depends on the class. I teach high school girls and they mostly act like American middle school girls. They tend to like various k-pop groups, American pop/rap, hello kitty, cute things, and bubble wrap.

sam1989 · « **Reply #54 on:** October 27, 2011, 01:00:45 PM »

I also have high school girls and they are pretty much just interested in clothes and boys.
It might be a good idea to come up with a questionnaire that you can give your class which questions about their interests, make movies/music they like, etc. That way you can get a fair idea of what they like and can incorporate that into your lessons.

sunflower · « **Reply #55 on:** October 27, 2011, 01:21:38 PM »

I think they are interested in Pop idols and other teen pop stars like Justin bieber.
They are crazy about imitating the Korean singers dance moves almost the same.
They always worry about their future and university entrance exam.
So, you should be very active and humorous.
Even if you are a boring person, always prepare some games and humour which can make your students laugh.

amurph8 · « **Reply #56 on:** October 28, 2011, 09:34:53 AM »

As mentioned above, it takes time to figure out the dynamics of your classroom, school, co-teachers, etc. It's important to be able to adapt accordingly when something isn't working. You'll probably have lessons that don't go as smoothly as you imagined, as some that the students respond to better than you expected. It's all about trial and error. I'm constantly trying new things. The methods that work well, I repeat. The methods that don't work for me, I adapt or try to avoid, but I try to mix it up constantly to keep the students engaged. And what works great for some people, may not work for you, due to differences in personality, teaching style, ability and expectations of your students/teachers, etc. I'm not naturally an overly animated person, so I don't teach that way. I don't put on a fake personality in the classroom to keep my students engaged.

I'm a female, but I have only taught boys, middle school and high school, since I've been in Korea. While some topics appeal more to boys, others are gender neutral. Some topics I've covered are: dating etiquette, american food, baseball idioms, fears, advertising, survivor situations, hunting, sleep and dreams, body part idioms, weather idioms, Mr. Bean videos with question and answer, tattooing and body art, world records, bucket lists, and the list goes on. The use a mix of PowerPoint presentations, video clips, worksheets, listening fill-in-the-blanks, writing activities, discussions, etc. along with a mix of individual and group work.

This site is a great resource! While it may take a lot of time to sift through topics and threads to find something that will work for you, you can get some really great ideas here!

Best of luck to you!

Waygooker · « **Reply #57 on:** November 01, 2011, 08:13:39 AM »

This won't help much, but according to talks I've had with many of the students at my mid-level boys' high school, the top five things they are interested in are: 1) sleep, 2) video games, 3) sleep and video games, 4) sleep and 5) thinking of girls while sleeping or playing video games.

flasyb · « **Reply #58 on:** November 01, 2011, 09:17:49 AM »

Yeah, sleeping is their number 1 priority. At my rural high school, some kids stay in dormitories at the school and study until around midnight every night. Then they get up at 7am. Others have part-time jobs after school and still others travel out of town to attend hagwons. Catching up in sleep during my irrelevant, untested lessons is at the absolute top of their list in my class. After that, the boys like hitting each other and the girls like looking in their mirrors every 30 seconds or so or else using their smart phones to check their appearances. They also like calling anyone who is slightly overweight "pig" and referring to other students with darker skin tones as "black." Around 15% of my students are interested in learning English. Communicating in grunts is another think they like to do. In order to avoid speaking English, they will point at stuff and make grunting noises to try to get their point across.

The best thing you can do is strike up a good relationship with the most powerful students in the class. They'll just clap their hands, yell a little and the class will fall silent. They won't even do that for any of my co-teachers. Well, maybe they would for Mr P - he has a badminton racket and he's not afraid to use it.

GURIGURI · « **Reply #59 on:** November 02, 2011, 09:51:35 AM »

I also teach high school girls - their main interests are fashion, k-pop bands mainly such as 2am, 2pm, infinite, super junior, kara... to name but a few - they love to sleep which can become frustrating at times :( They also would be interested in your culture & movies - famous people & make-up...

Author Topic: I'm a new high school teacher ..... HELP!!! (Read 64011 times)

Ochodnid