I have 19 classes. 3 are advanced. 12 are average. 4 are low.
Some teachers don't really enjoy teaching the low classes, and while at times their laziness and lack of participation definitely bother me, I quite enjoy playing games with them. They don't think that games are beneath them; in fact, they get really excited, super competitive, and entirely wrapped up in what's going on (if they can understand).
This week, we practiced some useful words for giving directions, then practiced giving directions using a mini-map with basic places in a make-believe town. During the last 10 minutes of a class, we played a game.
I whipped out a blindfold ("hey Besssany, is that one of your headbands?") and asked for 2 volunteers. They were a little hesitant to volunteer because their English is really very poor and they can't say most things, but finally, two kids volunteered. I asked one of them to go outside the classroom and put on the blindfold. Then I hid 2 pieces of candy, and the other student had to use English words to guide the blindfolded student to the candy.
Some teachers don't really enjoy teaching the low classes, and while at times their laziness and lack of participation definitely bother me, I quite enjoy playing games with them. They don't think that games are beneath them; in fact, they get really excited, super competitive, and entirely wrapped up in what's going on (if they can understand).
This week, we practiced some useful words for giving directions, then practiced giving directions using a mini-map with basic places in a make-believe town. During the last 10 minutes of a class, we played a game.
I whipped out a blindfold ("hey Besssany, is that one of your headbands?") and asked for 2 volunteers. They were a little hesitant to volunteer because their English is really very poor and they can't say most things, but finally, two kids volunteered. I asked one of them to go outside the classroom and put on the blindfold. Then I hid 2 pieces of candy, and the other student had to use English words to guide the blindfolded student to the candy.
They got really, really into it, and I had tons of volunteers after the first round. In the beginning I had to re-enforce that they could not just tell their friend in Chinese whose desk the candy was at, but it wasn't a problem in this class. All the students wanted to help their friends find the candy, and if anyone dared to speak English, there were a few self-appointed referees who repetitively shouted at them, "NO CHI-NEE-SUH! ONLY EN-GAH-LISH!"