So this might sound like a dumb question but I am not really sure what to do, I have a sixth grade student who joined my one class this year who moved here from Texas after living there most of her life. She is obviously fluent in English and I feel so bad that she has to sit though the boring ass curriculum class when she knows it all already. The problem is that my classes have about 28 students in each of them so it is difficult to focus on her, I also don't really know anything about what American students get taught in the sixth grade as I am from South Africa. Does any one have some sort of suggestions?? The teacher keeps telling me to use her to explain things but she is quite a shy girl and I personally think that will just embarrass her.

Dido to what akli said.

Also, times may arise when she would be useful as a "helper" since her English is fluent already.  This isn't USUALLY a problem in curriculum classes, but it sounds like a fairly large class.  If there's an activity that could use a second native speaker to assist students, she might be useful for that as well.

Yeah I also thought of giving her a book to read. We only teach curriculum classes at my school as I am the only foreign teacher at my school and it is huge, so no after school classes.

She just looks so bored haha but it's also difficult as it looks like she doesn't want to be here at all, not just in the English class. I mean being taken from America and suddenly placed in rural Korea can't be very easy.

I will work something out! Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions :D much appreciated

What I did was print out worksheets from all different subjects for the year after my student left the States (she was born and raised in California). You can find them if you google, "6th grade worksheets."

You just found your T.A.. Use her.

That's not a dumb question. I have had multiple students like that when I worked in a country school as well, and now in Seoul I have classes I teach by myself with only students from abroad. I tried doing  book reports with one of my students and can tell you from experience it isn't a good idea. It also seems like the easy way to go, but it actually isn't.

Any work that that  student does for you will not be graded and will need to be done outside of their usual school time, meaning it will feel like extra pointless work. Even though I let my student pick the book to read, she didn't read on schedule. Also, you will have to read the book as well. That isn't too big of a deal, but I wasn't hip to reading Warriors. Kids are pretty fickle as well, so they might lose interest in the book before they finish it.

I suggest you use short stories and articles to discuss, summarize, and write reactions and journal entries too. In my American sixth grade experience we started learning more about American and Western history, as well as current affairs. In literature we started classic short stories (like Poe) and poems (like Whitman). Having a variety of topics will keep her interest and introduce new concepts, as well as vocabulary. The biggest problem I have had with students from English speaking countries is that since their household isn't composed of native English speakers, their exposure to vocabulary is extremely limited. This is especially true if the student isn't much of an avid reader and now even more so since they are in Korea.

I dislike when teachers use students from abroad to make their jobs easier. It emphasizes the idea that they are different while discouraging the Korean students from thinking they can learn English. A young American student of mine at my countryside school was bullied by a Korean student who kept badgering him to speak English, though he was just trying to fit in. Just treat her as you would any other high level student. Force her to participate at times and pass over her sometimes if she raises her hand to answer a question when other students do as well. Have her help her classmates learn by having her interact with them, as opposed to making your job easier by bringing her up to the front of the class to demonstrate a dialogue.

Keep things short but challenging. Don't be as lenient to any mistakes she makes speaking as you would be with other students, and be extremely critical of her writing. Watch out for when she uses the wrong homophone (there vs. their vs. they're) or use the incorrect tense (like would vs. will). Give her tips to strenghten her writing as well. She has learned to speak, but having just hit middle school, she has developed her writing and thought organizing skills much.

Why don't you talk to her about it? You'll probably find that she'll be able to explain what would keep her engaged in a much better way than a forum of anonymous people who have never met her. (Sorry if the tone of this seems cynical - it isn't meant to be).

How about asking her to write about what she is learning in other subjects. That way she can self learn the appropriate vocabulary.  There are only a few months left until she will be in middle school. Try and get her into good habits of a self sustained learning process. She may not have a native teacher at her next school, so what you do now could be something great for her if she sticks with it.

Teach her about South Africa.

It's a little ironic that many say Korean students are over-worked, but you want to give the kid more work.

I say let the kid be. Treat the kid like any other high-level kid. If the kid decides to approach you on their own saying that your class is too boring and easy, then you can consider other more constructive English material. Otherwise treat the kid like any other kid.

I know if I were some fluent English speaking kid brought back from where-ever to Korea, I'd just want to blend in and not stand out at all. Also, I'm lazy, and no way in heck I'd read an extra book, or do some extra work sheet. I'd rather blow paper spit-balls out of an empty pen-shell at my friend while your not looking.