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ESL forum >
Games, activities and teaching ideas > How to start?
How to start?
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mariontx
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How to start?
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Hi colleagues,
what to do? School starts next week...
I don �t have regular students. They are stupid kids. It �s not mean, it �s real. They have intelligence problems and are in a special section. I already know those pupils, I worked with them for a year, and I have the feeling to have failed, to have done nothing with them, to have brought them nothing.
It �s quite hard. All year long, we used only TO HAVE and TO BE, and I knew that when we were studying BE, they had forgotten about HAVE and when we were studying HAVE, they had forgotten about BE. They are really weak.
They are between 11 and 16 years old, in 4 levels, like in any regular junior high school, so you can �t use documents made for primary school, because "We �re not babies, ma �am!".
You can �t do too frequent/long physical activities, because many of them have comportemental problems and get excited quite quickly.
I have no problems with how to start with the 11-13y.o.
But I �m wondering with the 14-16, because they think they know, but they don �t and they easily get annoyed.
What do you think?
Do you have brilliant suggestions? :-)
Thanks for your help!
And thanks for your contributions.
Enjoy the very end of your holidays.
Marion.
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24 Aug 2010
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Greek Professor
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Hi..
No offence..But never call kids stupid...!!!I believe you will have to find sth that is interesting to them...Use songs...Work from there..Grammar vocab...songs they like...
Give them copies of a song...
Read it, ask them what the song says...and so on... |
24 Aug 2010
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mariontx
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No way, they don �t understand English!
Any song, and it would be "ma �am, what means �it �?" "ma �am, what means �is �?, and I don �t talk about the vocabulary, they can �t learn. Some don �t even know how to read.
And I �m sorry, but I �m not exaggerating.
Most of them are very weak, feeble and I �m sorry, but some of them are stupid, and even some were medically diagnosed lightly mentally retarded.
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24 Aug 2010
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jamiejules
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hi,
so you teach SEN kids what we call SEGPA in France??
I have been teaching them for the last ten years and I only started to understand how to teach them effectively after about 6 years!!
What I did was start teaching them as if they were in nursery school (don �t misunderstand me!!) I mean that what I did was come to terms with the short attention span, the non reading!! and that they needed to have something in their hands all the time!!
I taught them bits of BSL (British Sign Language)
There are many sites that could enlighten you on how to snap out of the doom and gloom of going in a classroom full of kids you do not understand because that what it boils down to really : the whole frustration is not that you think they are stupid and cannot learn but because you would like to be able to get through to them in one way or another...
I do sympathise because I have been through the same and believe me when you finally crack it you may even enjoy it!! I do...
have a nice evening. (if you want to exchange about it do not hesitate to contact me though pm)
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24 Aug 2010
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GIOVANNI
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I also think you must change your approach. No child is stupid. Don �t think of a child that way, maybe it is the way you look at it. |
24 Aug 2010
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Theodo
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Hi there,
1. songs with pictures instead of the words missing, so that when
students listen to the song they will see the picture and it will be easier for them to guess the word (of course they will listen to the song to find the word). Use American songs easy to listen to and understand and choose low level words. In other words, make something that will look too easy for you, but a student always likes to brag that they found everything and they will feel satisfied. Use words that you know that your students know, the easiest words ever.
e.g. Song: Yellow submarine by Beatles.
We all live in a _____________ (picture with yellow color) submarine
The students see the picture and understand the correct word is "yellow" and write it. then, they listen to the song to see if their guess was correct. With weak students it �s preferable that you don �t use grammar, but rather simple words, like colors, or words you know they remember.
At the end, you can let them look at each other �s handout to see if the wrote the same words; they can even exchange words they didn �t find; Then, give them the correct answers and say "bravo" they did it. I usually play the song twice.
2. Focus on words first, not grammar. For example, you say you did "be" and "have" last year. Give them each a paper with sentences like "Mary is a _____________ (picture of a pilot). They have to remember "pilot" You can do it with jobs or anything they �ve learned, and with "have". In this way, they revise vocabulary, but what you �re actually doing is that you give them the verb "to be" and they remember it. At the end, you can take these papers and give them new ones with the same sentences, but, this time, the word missing is the verb "to be" . e.g. "Mary ________ a pilot". I advise that you all first repeat in chorus (all together) the verb to be so that everybody remembers it. If you have learned the school subjects in English (mathematique = maths etc.) you can make a table with your school programme and the verb "have". i can make this with my students too and at the end exchnage school timetables! e.g. "Monday: I have French, maths, art, music and geography". You can draw a big table with boxes and write the days horizontally and the hours vertically. In the in between boxes write the school subjects. At the end, they will write sentences with have and say what their classmate "has" (3rd person).
use a lot of pictures with weak students repetively.
hope it works for you:-)
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24 Aug 2010
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Nabila Manzur
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I wonder if u �d like to be called stupid teacher. no offence, but pay attention to the connotation that this word has.
where there is a will, there is a chance.
i hope u can approach them very soon and happily enjoy and learn ALL together, they from you and you from
them.
regards 
naby |
24 Aug 2010
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Krocha
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Marion,
I think you should different songs and dynamics to teach them.
Did you try to do exercises in pairs out the classroom ?
I know it�s too dificult, but Why not try?
Hugs
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24 Aug 2010
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libertybelle
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Perhaps you ought to concentrate on making them good at just one thing.
If you have "weak" kids - concentrate on speaking and understanding.
That is what language is all about. Drop grammar. If you can make your students good at speaking and understanding - then you have gotten far.
You need to prioritize. Back to basics.
Wouldn �t it be great that if, at the end of the year, they could talk to each other in English?
They learned their own language at one time - to try to start there.
L
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24 Aug 2010
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