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Message board > I need some advice,please
I need some advice,please
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jamiejules
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I need some advice,please
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Hi everyone,
I am starting to doubt my work... Since I joined your community I have had a good look at the kind of ws people do and how they can be used.
I thought that the stuff I uploaded was useful ( I have been using it for one!!!) but it seems that only a few people download it ( I do have my 30 free worksheets a day so i am in no case trying to advertise my work to get points)
My question is genuine : Why do people download the same stuff all the time? (comparative / simple past...) and also Is my work that useless?
Please put me out of my misery.
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17 Feb 2009
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aftab57
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Hello Jamie,
As ladybird says don �t worry. I think I have downloaded a few of your worksheets and they are excellent. Just keep sending in your contributions and remember patience pays off in the end. |
17 Feb 2009
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libertybelle
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Many ESl teachers teach the language through grammar and are huge
comsumers of these grammar sheets.
Some teach through oral conversation. (imitation)
Others use reading to teach English to beginners.
YOu have made some very nice worksheets using dinosaurs.
That is a very selective subject. I usually have around 2-3 boys
in my classes who are interested in that subject, the rest are more
interested in soccer football, films, computer games etc.
Therefore I try and use WSs that aren �t quite as special as yours.
I think you ought to talk to your classes and find out what they
are interested in and make WSs that they would find interesting.
Keep up the good work.
L
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17 Feb 2009
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freddie
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Dearest Jamie
Please dont despair, I have downloaded your describing dogs worksheets and they are GREAT! YOU DO GREAT WORK!! I work with adults so your beautifully made dinosaur worksheets wouldn`t work for me.
I think that is it, everyone has a different style of teaching, different age group,a different syllabus etc etc and so our needs are varied. I think what is important is that you make material YOU like and that works for you and that you feel good about. For example, the other day I uploaded a worksheet that I LOVED and was very successful with my upper intermediate class very few people downloaded but a silly simple grammar worksheet I made was downloaded hundreds of times and I didn`t expect it. Who knows why, not many worksheets that day? the grammar topic was unusual? everyone was teaching that grammar topic at that time? it could be used with all age groups? Anyway, I feel best about the one that wasn`t downloaded much. With such varied needs and the whole timing thing one shouldn`t go by downloads to judge ones work! |
17 Feb 2009
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crazy_turtle
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Hello,
I fully agree with the comments above.... I love your worksheets.... This site would be very boring if no one had the guts to make something original....
Picasso, Van Gogh, Macintosh and Gauguin never sold any art before their deaths. Where are the painters that sold a lot of paintings in their time due to following a style? forgotten... Same can be said for music and movies... Britney Spears, Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Take That etc all thrive on blandness and unoriginality...
Dont give up!!!!!
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17 Feb 2009
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katiuskams
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�Dear Jamie� I do feel sometimes that way mmm but don �t worry these stages of doubt come to us a teacher every once in a while so be patient and strong your worksheets are as useful as anybody �s here� SMILE BEING A TEACHER IS THE BEST CAREER IN THE WHOLE WORLD EVEN GREAT INVENTORS DOCTOR SURGEONS AUTHORS �HAD A TEACHER FIRST :) |
17 Feb 2009
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Logos
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I think the comments above are all extremely valid. We have to face the facts of �market � reality and that is the majority of English teaching throughout the world is very grammatical and formal in its presentation. Therefore worksheets which present the language in this most familiar form are grabbed by teachers first. This is what the market demands and there is an ample supply for this market.
There are teachers, however, that �go out on a limb � and produce excellent materials that are not based on this �popular � methodology. I personally prefer functional type syllabus or task based activities to teach the language and so grammatical worksheets do not really apppeal to me. So please keep up the creative juices to produce interesting - �alternative � worksheets and one day all us outsiders will overcome and the TEFL world will see the hollowness of just teaching grammar based activities.
Join the revolution, do not be a part of the status quo and produce more materials that do not conform!!!
(Sorry, getting a bit carried away there!!!)
But basically the answer to your question is that the market demands this type of material and not yours. |
17 Feb 2009
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jamiejules
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morning all.
I have to say what everyone said reassured me on my work and after all never mind if my ws are not the most popular, this is the way I teach and I love it so if it reflects in my ws so be it!
I never teach grammar or the direct way ( you know the copy paste a sentence and repeat again) Because I find that the students do not get think for themselves, my way take longer for kids to be able to speak fluently but it enables them to become whole with the language (am I making sense?) I may be crazy... but it works for me! and I think me students have fun!
Thank you for all your encouraging comments!
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17 Feb 2009
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offstage
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Dear Jamie,
Just keep up with the good work. The creativity you put on the work you developed may be used in other kind of worksheets too. I am sure you are a very capable person. So, downloading your worksheets depends on the kind of students the teachers have. Regards from Brazil. Ursula |
17 Feb 2009
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