You teach the hated course

Ruchel

Thu, May 06 2010, 8:45 am

sequoia wrote:

Why do you want to teach at that school again?

Do the students at Henri IV or Louis le grand make their teachers cry every day? (Maybe they do, I don't know).

I want to teach there because:
-it's Jewish and strictly Orthodox (easy for shabbes, vacations, won't tell me to teach them about a book I disagree on, etc)
-it is private, the students won't hit me or spit on me
-it's only like a bit more than half an hour by subway from my city, and definitely the closest school searching for someone.

Henri IV or Louis le grand students don't make their teachers cry, but these are elite schools. 99% are not like that, even private ones...

Ruchel

Thu, May 06 2010, 8:47 am

Yiddishe Vayb wrote:

Do activities,, make plays bake go on a tiyul etc just do everything with them speaking only in english. like first learn the words and then go do whatever fun thing you planned with them only allowed to speak in English.

I remember my Ivrit teacher baking with us and taking us to the beach.

lol 18/19 yr old boys don't want plays and don't bake, tiyul is too expensive for a Jewish school most of the time... I also absolutely do not want the legal responsibility of what they could do. LOL

morah

Thu, May 06 2010, 6:25 pm

Disclaimer: When I type these kind of message board responses, I tend to make mistakes. Please no teasing just because I'm an English teacher Very Happy

I teach English Literature in a rotten American public school (I graduated college last year into a bad economy and couldn't find a job in a Jewish school or a decent public school). Talk about kids not caring, being disruptive, chutzpadig etc!

First and foremost, you have to make it relevant to them. By that, I don't mean that everything has to directly relate to the 2010 teenage culture, but that they have to see why this is important in their lives. I've managed to make Shakespeare relevant to my students.

Next, they need to know that they can't throw you off, no matter what. You can cry to your husband when you get home. A lot of kids who act like they don't care are just putting on a show. When they see that you give zeros for missed homework, when they see their grades REALLY starting to slip, when they hear you call parents (whether their own or a classmate's) that initial bravado melts away.

Although you will have to lay down the law, you are NOT a dictator. You are on their side. If you can get that across to them, they will understand that part of being on their side means making them work a little. One of the nice things about teaching English (whether it's as a core subject or as a foreign language) is that there is a ton of curricular flexibility. Yes, I had to do Shakespeare, but no one said which play I had to do. I asked my students if they wanted comedy or tragedy. When they said 'tragedy', I posed the question of Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello, or Romeo and Juliet. Because they were the ones who picked the book, they were more into it. Additionally, they also can't blame me if they decide it s*cks.

One more thing: My philosophy, which has gotten me through this year in one of the worst schools in my area (kal vachomer, this should sustain you in a Jewish school): THERE ARE NO BAD KIDS, ONLY DIFFICULT ONES. When a kid acts up and drives you to the verge of tears, remember that; they aren't being bad, they are being difficult, and it is up to you to steer them in the right direction at that moment. Teachers aren't just for curricular knowledge, they are for social and moral knowledge as well.

leomom

Thu, May 06 2010, 9:54 pm

A few things I enjoyed (and learned from) in French class:

1. Having a set "script" to say while acting it out. Each student took a turn with the same series of actions and it was fun to see the different personalities go through the steps. (I still remember - but pardon any spelling mistakes... ahem... J'entre dans la classe. J'ouvre le livre de français. Je cherche la lesson. Je trouve la page. J'étudie la lesson. Je ferme le livre.)

2. Listening to a French "oldie" pop song with the lyrics on a handout, but with words missing that we had to try to fill in. We had to listen to the song many times to figure it out, but it was fun. (And yes, I still remember the song - almost all the words - after 25 years. "Tous les garçons et les filles de mon age se promenent dans la rue deux par deux..." Music

)

3. Reading simple magazines or books geared for kids. (So, for English, maybe National Geographic Kids, or classic children's books, etc.)

pacifier

Thu, May 06 2010, 10:22 pm

give them some extracts from imamother to read and comment on. That should raise their interest!!!!
They propbably don't like english classes because: 1- they haven't been taught the basics
2- they were never taught anything interesting in english

Now, you're idea of showing movies with subtitles is great, just use the english subtitles and show the movie 3 times. You'll be surprised at how much they will have learnt in a few lessons!

Tell them about your experience as a frenchie on a ajorly american forum, talk about cultural differences....

I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun taking up such a challenge!

invisiblecircus

Fri, May 07 2010, 4:30 am

Hi

I'm in your position only the kids are slightly younger and it's a non-Jewish school.

I agree with everything Morah has said, she has given some excellent advice!

In addition I would find out what the school discipline policy is and what sanctions are "available" for poor behaviour (detention, sent to director, phone call home) and USE THEM!

Start off by letting the students know what you expect of them. Make sure they are clear that behaviour A will result in sanction B. You can even use the first lesson to ask them what they think the rules are so they are clear from the beginning. If two students who sit together are disruptive, tell them you don't want to move them away from each other but if they continue to disrupt you will have to move them. Make sure they understand what you've said, then move them at once at the next sign of disruption.

Something that has worked well with my students is turning the lesson into a game. Divide the class into teams of about 4, smaller if it is a smaller group. Let them choose who they work with. Give points for answering questions correctly, finishing written tasks first, making correct sentences etc and deduct points for behaviour you don't like. Keep this up for the whole lesson.

Another game that works well for things like adverb placement (but can be used for other things) is to take a number of A4 sheets of paper and write sentences on them with the words in the wrong order. These sheets are numbered and places at the front of the class. Students work in pairs of one "runner" and one "writer". The runner runs to get one of the sheets, brings it to the table of their "writer" and together they must unjumble the sentence. The writer then writes it down. The runner then returns the sheet to the front and takes another one. First pair to write down all the sentences correctly wins.

Good luck!