Hey all

I have afterschool with around 10 5th/6th kids each week. 3 kids are high school level English - the others range from beginner to intermediate. I teach with a great co -teacher. I'm a new teacher.

My problem is my lessons keep bombing.
And I mean BOMBING. I feel bad for the kids cos I try to keep them interesting but I keep failing. The kids are so bored and the topics are always either too easy or too hard, I can't seem to strike a balance.

I did the Presto! lesson, predictions lesson, make your own country etc and each lesson went down like a lead balloon.
Its really getting me down at this stage.

I've had a revolving door of co-teachers for their actual classroom English so have found it hard to get to know them or have any continuity in teaching styles.

Does anyone have any advice? Really just dont know what to do at this stage!

At this point I think it would be best if you ask your students what topics they want to cover. Tell them it can be anything. And then ask what English instruction they want to focus on, whether its listening, speaking, or writing. And then base your lessons around those responses.

Do this at the end of every lesson if need be. Have it be a "Ticket out the door" sort of thing, where as they walk out they hand you a piece of paper with their responses. You can also ask what other types of things would they like to do in class. More interaction, less activities, more group work etc. etc. 

Then you have to make lessons. Best thing to do is start from the finish. Figure out what you want your students to be able to do at the end of the lesson and then build your lesson so that your students can complete these tasks/goals.

example:
Students will be able to identify five examples of verbs.
Students will create ten sentences using past present progressive possessive blah blah.

Make sure your goals are quantifiable. Then at the end of your lesson if the students are able to complete these goals/tasks, you know you have done your job. 

For my after school classes, they usually enjoy using this time to learn more about American culture. Anything that is different than Korea. Tail gate parties, pep rallies, road trips with friends, Black Friday. My students loved these because they were so different from anything they've seen. And since your kids are in High School maybe talk about college life in America as a lot of your students may be planning on going to college in the states. Things to avoid would be holidays, they've had enough of these, do something new and different.

If you are from any other country then I'm sure you can think of plenty of things that are unique to your country that Korea does not do/have.

Try and do as much group stuff as possible, and your students may not ask for this at first, and it may be hard to get started, but it will pay off in the end. I have had classes that were resistant at first, but after the first time opened up and started asking for more group work. Anything that they can be doing solo, think of ways you can have them do it together.

Even if its just discussion. Discuss with your partner where youd go on a road trip/what problems you'd encounter. Then after spending 5-10 mintues doing that, have them present their discussions to the class. Theres another 15-20 minutes. Then have them identify five problems that can occur on a road trip. Did they do it? Blam-O, you are an amazing teacher. Have them create a travel plan on googles map with at least ten stops. Could they do it? Well great, you achieved something today.   

Best of luck to you.

Hey, OP!

So, one thing to remember about 5th and 6th graders is that their hormones are starting to go crazy and they're also under a bit more peer pressure. Their hagwon classes are (typically) becoming more intense and starting to be more like actual classes than before. They're growing rapidly and not getting enough sleep. Also, a lot of parents treat afterschool classes like a babysitting service before/between hagwon classes, so their children may feel the same way.

So, don't feel too badly about your classes not being a roaring success. Just keep smiling and acting like you're having a good time, and press on through. Since you are a new teacher, it may be difficult for you to feel confident and to project confidence, and kids can sense that and turn off their brains: "The teacher obviously isn't feeling this, why should I?"

Your activities don't sound too bad, and I bet if you did them during camp in the morning, they'd go over well. Remember that it's afterschool. The kids have, what six hours of school behind them? But they also may have another five ahead of them. They're wiped out.

My fifth and sixth graders particularly enjoy pair and group games/projects, crafts, board or card games, and guided creative writing. They don't much enjoy long-term projects, lots of writing, or singing (because they're pretty shy as a group). Try playing the Cards Against Humanity/Apples to Apples games on here; my kids always love those.

Like Wintermute said, ask the kids what they want to learn about, but don't expect that every answer they'll give you is going to be a successful class- or even the truth. My kids begged me for pop song class last camp and then no one wanted to sing the songs. Finally, they admitted that they thought I would let them sing K-pop  uhhhhh no? Hahaha.

Just keep plugging away, OP!

What about making a board game with students?

There is a thread on waygook with all the materials to make Settlers of Catan with your students. I'm sure they would love it, learn a lot of new vocabulary, and it would take a lot of pressure off you for lesson planning.

This would require multiple, multiple classes to complete. It's a big project.

Another option is having students make their own Monopoly board game. You can find blank Monopoly board templates, and have them pick their own theme (examples from my class: Doraemon, Space, Precious Stones, Adventure Time - this was with 3rd and 4th graders). They should get really into it.

Hope that helps.

Sorry guys I thought I had responded to this.

Just wanted to say thanks for all your suggestions, they def helped me.

Thank you :)

What about making a board game with students?

There is a thread on waygook with all the materials to make Settlers of Catan with your students. I'm sure they would love it, learn a lot of new vocabulary, and it would take a lot of pressure off you for lesson planning.

This would require multiple, multiple classes to complete. It's a big project.

Another option is having students make their own Monopoly board game. You can find blank Monopoly board templates, and have them pick their own theme (examples from my class: Doraemon, Space, Precious Stones, Adventure Time - this was with 3rd and 4th graders). They should get really into it.

Hope that helps.

Any idea where this might be on waygook? The Catan game.  I apparently suck at searching....I'd like to do this though.

Thanks :)