Author Topic: Students actually learning? (Read 7098 times)

Socrates2080 · « **on:** May 13, 2013, 03:15:49 PM »

Do any public school teachers feel like their sudents are actually learning? What's that like?

courtlandmiles · « **Reply #1 on:** May 13, 2013, 04:24:19 PM »

For me it all depends on the grade and co teacher. I can say overall as a whole I think my first graders at my middle school are learning a decent amount, and are actually using the things they learn (repeating new vocabulary in basic conversations with me outside of class, etc.) My second graders are a whole other story; their level is overall abysmally low, and they can't even seem to retain what they just learned that day when playing review games or when I try to hold insanely basic dialogues with them. A lot of it has to do with my co teachers (some really test the kids and get them to listen, while others do nothing and literally let them get away with playing and chatting all class). I heard the second graders as a whole did horrible on their mid terms...

korr · « **Reply #2 on:** May 13, 2013, 04:29:16 PM »

I try to focus on problem spots and I build on things (so like I'd use a make-your-own-store competitive game to consolidate shopping vocab plus commands plus high numbers). That seems to help a lot. One of the things that I've been really pleased with is that they've FINALLY started using "However" at the beginning of sentences instead of "But". They will retain things, or at least most of them will, but you either have to make it very applicable to them or really hammer it into their heads.

Socrates2080 · « **Reply #3 on:** May 13, 2013, 04:59:41 PM »

I don't know what to say or think about the Korean education system. I've been here about 9 months now. I try to be patient and optimistic about my classes as well as my position, but for the most part I feel like the system here or lack of actually henders learning more than it helps.

Hagwon teachers do all of the teaching in this country and public school teachers are just stage clowns. Really? How productive can you be with 45 minutes a week dedicated to classes of about 35. Especially when your co-teacher is not very good at doing one of the most important things a co-teacher can do, just keeping the kids volume below a certain threshold.

kingkeiser · « **Reply #4 on:** May 13, 2013, 05:00:39 PM »

It really depends on the student and how much they want to learn. I'll say this, the girls are much more eager to learn English than the boys. I see the girls taking notes and paying attention while most of the boys are staring into space and picking their nose.

JT080 · « **Reply #5 on:** May 13, 2013, 05:19:46 PM »

Quote from: kingkeiser on May 13, 2013, 05:00:39 PM

It really depends on the student and how much they want to learn. I'll say this, the girls are much more eager to learn English than the boys. I see the girls taking notes and paying attention while most of the boys are staring into space and picking their nose.

Agreed.

On a slightly different note. This year I seem to agree that 1st graders seem more eager to learn English in class and their overall level is much higher than that of 2nd graders, such that I use the same materials all week: the first graders tend to breeze through work I give them, while 2nd graders have more have a desire to complain and give up very quickly.

This is in contrast to last year where it was vice versa.

AGMS_Superstar · « **Reply #6 on:** May 13, 2013, 05:38:03 PM »

It's really up to the students.

What I've noticed is that many students don't see the importance of studying English.
They feel that they will never use it.
In one of the classes, the topic was "I agree/I disagree"
When I told them, "I think Korean students should study English", a lot of them disagreed. They said they live in Korea and speak Korean. They don't want to travel or live overseas either.

If you don't have interest in something, no matter how good the teacher is, it will go in one ear and out the other.

I'm sure that some of the kids are learning a lot from us (culturally), so don't let the few "bad" kids get you down.

TigerKitty1985 · « **Reply #7 on:** May 13, 2013, 06:07:24 PM »

Quote from: AGMS_Superstar on May 13, 2013, 05:38:03 PM

It's really up to the students.

What I've noticed is that many students don't see the importance of studying English.
They feel that they will never use it.
In one of the classes, the topic was "I agree/I disagree"
When I told them, "I think Korean students should study English", a lot of them disagreed. They said they live in Korea and speak Korean. They don't want to travel or live overseas either.

If you don't have interest in something, no matter how good the teacher is, it will go in one ear and out the other.

I'm sure that some of the kids are learning a lot from us (culturally), so don't let the few "bad" kids get you down.

I agree 100%. We as well as the Korean co-teacher, can teach until we're blue in the face. But if the kid has no desire to learn, then they won't. Prime example: i have a student who spent 11 years of the 12 year life in Malaysia and she speaks perfect English and very little Korean. Sadly, she is failing English class because she doesn't take notes on the grammar rules nor does she pay attention in my speaking class. So... yeah.

And I also agree that the girls seem more interested in learning than the boys. But that's more of the gender maturity level coming into play. So it's really great when even some of my students pick up on what they are suppose to be learning.

timephone · « **Reply #8 on:** May 14, 2013, 12:41:16 PM »

The class size is really limits what I can do with them. As someone above said, 30 kids per class seen once a week has little effect. They come into my class looking for something fun and different from their regular school grind. I don't want to always play bomb games, but any activity that requires even the least bit of extended instruction or active participation falls flat because the kids don't have the attention span, and not all of my co-teachers like to take the time to translate my instructions.

But I think they do learn from having me around the school. I am the foreigner that they must use English to communicate with. I can speak and understand some Korean, but I always play dumb when it comes to my students (especially during classtime). They are forced to develop as speakers when they are challenged to communicate with me in a foreign language. Just being around motivates them to study English more. If they take an interest in my hobbies or I take an interest in theirs, suddenly there's commonality and English becomes the medium through which we can discuss our shared interests.

Wintermute · « **Reply #9 on:** May 14, 2013, 04:38:04 PM »

going off of what the other said about girls being better English students. I couldnt agree more, I am guessing it is because they know they need an edge in life. A lot of companies will choose men for the higher positions simply because hes a man, so the girls know they need that extra edge.

all of the girls, if allowed, will talk the whole hour through. where as the boys prefer to use their limited slang vocab as much as possible. most convos with boys go something like f word f word f word, hes gay, they are gay, im gay, f word, oohhh sexyyy, ohhh big boobs. hey whats up man, yo yo yo, yea yea okay, lets go.

Andyroo · « **Reply #10 on:** May 14, 2013, 04:55:48 PM »

Quote from: Wintermute on May 14, 2013, 04:38:04 PM

going off of what the other said about girls being better English students. I couldnt agree more, I am guessing it is because they know they need an edge in life. A lot of companies will choose men for the higher positions simply because hes a man, so the girls know they need that extra edge.

I think the boys at my school are getting a bit of a reality check. They are finding it harder to get jobs than the girl students and it was the same last year.

Today the Korean teachers were lamenting about the tough time the boys were having finding jobs. I suspected this just from anecdotal evidence as most of the thank you and congratulation messages about students securing a job involved girl students.

In a way it's justice because participation in extra activities is dominated by girls.

WestMeetsEast · « **Reply #11 on:** May 16, 2013, 05:32:07 PM »

My 1st graders [middle school] are mostly interested, a decent level (even every single C level can read!!!!!) and I am a better teacher than I was when I first got here. Couple this with having a new, decent textbook and it does feel like my kids are learning and building on their pre-existing ability week on week.

1st grade classes make me happy.

3rd grade sometimes make me want to jump out the window.

artwalknoon · « **Reply #12 on:** June 04, 2013, 11:28:47 AM »

I can tell my students are learning due to the sizable ability gap between my first graders and my 3rd graders. There are activities that 3rd graders can handle that my first graders couldn't even begin to breach.

At the same time I get confirmation every once in a while that my students are learning in my class from my review lessons, increased engagement, their attentiveness to my lesson layout, and only occasionally from their improved English usage.

krisnyc317 · « **Reply #13 on:** June 04, 2013, 01:01:03 PM »

Quote from: Wintermute on May 14, 2013, 04:38:04 PM

most convos with boys go something like f word f word f word, hes gay, they are gay, im gay, f word, oohhh sexyyy, ohhh big boobs. hey whats up man, yo yo yo, yea yea okay, lets go.

haha! I was a HS teacher in NY for many, many years..and I can tell you American HS and MS boys usually have about the same level of English vocabulary!

Andyroo · « **Reply #14 on:** June 04, 2013, 01:36:05 PM »

Quote from: artwalknoon on June 04, 2013, 11:28:47 AM

At the same time I get confirmation every once in a while that my students are learning in my class from my review lessons,

I really recommend doing this.

I teach at an rural technical high school and it was hard to see any progress other than they were more confident and got better at understanding me. The initial trouble may have been my accent or that I spoke to fast so it didn't feel like a big accomplishment.

They rarely added new sentences to their reppoitare so I thought my lessons were largely a waste of time.

Now I do a quick vocabulary review/test at the start of the lesson on the previous weeks (sometimes it was even 3 weeks ago) vocabulary. Then at the end of the lesson do a vocab review/test of the current lesson.

Even the worst classes retain most of it even if they look like they zoned out for half your lesson.

It really keeps your spirits up.

k00108666 · « **Reply #15 on:** June 04, 2013, 03:09:12 PM »

Dependent on the school and area..... As a whole Seoul has a much higher level of English..... I teach in an elementary school, very rural and I can honestly say 90% of my kids have improved a lot but then there's the odd few who have the attention span of a goldfish...... I try help them as much as I can (more then any other student) but I'm beginning to feel it's hopeless they don't even pay attention when the co teacher calls them.... However the majority of my kids are much better than when I arrived....... I teach on my own now this term and only ask for help sometimes when I need it...... Much better this term as last term my co teacher was focusing on so little vocab in class they were only learning a few words as the books really don't have enough vocab!!!

popeye2u · « **Reply #16 on:** June 04, 2013, 03:27:21 PM »

My beef is with the old english teachers I have taken over for. I would expect kids to know how to read and know their ABC's after 3 years. Twice that has not been the case. What did they do for those 2-3 years? I can have kids reading in 6 months to a year in afterschool. Kindy kids know their ABC's after 1 year. My life is just horrible now because some "english" teachers couldnt do their job right the first time!

kingkeiser · « **Reply #17 on:** June 04, 2013, 05:22:37 PM »

Quote from: AGMS_Superstar on May 13, 2013, 05:38:03 PM

It's really up to the students.

What I've noticed is that many students don't see the importance of studying English.
They feel that they will never use it.
In one of the classes, the topic was "I agree/I disagree"
When I told them, "I think Korean students should study English", a lot of them disagreed. They said they live in Korea and speak Korean. They don't want to travel or live overseas either.If you don't have interest in something, no matter how good the teacher is, it will go in one ear and out the other.

I'm sure that some of the kids are learning a lot from us (culturally), so don't let the few "bad" kids get you down.

Dont sweat it, not all of those kids will work for Samsung or Kia. Someone has to drive the buses and run the Ministop's in this country.

kingkeiser · « **Reply #18 on:** June 04, 2013, 05:33:36 PM »

Quote from: Wintermute on May 14, 2013, 04:38:04 PM

going off of what the other said about girls being better English students. I couldnt agree more, I am guessing it is because they know they need an edge in life. A lot of companies will choose men for the higher positions simply because hes a man, so the girls know they need that extra edge.

all of the girls, if allowed, will talk the whole hour through. where as the boys prefer to use their limited slang vocab as much as possible. most convos with boys go something like f word f word f word, hes gay, they are gay, im gay, f word, oohhh sexyyy, ohhh big boobs. hey whats up man, yo yo yo, yea yea okay, lets go.

....plus having a female president who speaks English, Spanish, Chinese, and some French should be an extra motivator to Korean girls. Korean boys better get their sh*t together and stop hanging out in PC방.

Joteacher · « **Reply #19 on:** June 04, 2013, 06:22:55 PM »

I think my students are learning some new vocabulary and expressions, but retaining is another matter altogether. I see each grade once a week. When I am not told I can teach my own material and not from the book, I think the students learn more. The whole listen and repeat thing does not teach learning, but memorization. And then the students don't usually use English outside of the classroom, which isn't conducive to retaining either.

My students that go to an English insititute after school, tend to know more English just because they learn English more often than once a week in public school.

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Author Topic: Students actually learning? (Read 7098 times)

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