Helipacter
New member
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2010
- Member Type
- English Teacher
Hi,
I've been teaching for 2 years now, and I feel that I'm getting to grips with the principles of teaching - class discipline is no longer a problem and things generally go to plan!
Good news! Not really, I have one group that I really struggle with - I had them last year, and they're continuing with us this year. It's a group of 13/14 year olds and they're all at the "awkward" age.
I've spoken with my boss about specific teaching techniques for them, and he's advised that I should try and steer clear of any task that is without a structure, as they never really want to open their mouth and give an opinion. So I've followed this up with Role Plays; reading from comprehension texts, getting each of them to query the other with questions from the books etc... but nothing really gives. Games can help them a bit, but they're getting towards the intermediate level now and so it's writing that is the biggest concern.
If a question is asked, they all look at each other and you enter the zone where the seconds creak by and one of them will finally come up with a bare-minimum answer. Try to get them to expand upon it, and they blush and stick their head down and wait for something to end their pain.
Can anyone give some more advice regarding teens in the "awkward" stage? I'm fully aware that it's the approach I'm taking with them, and not a problem of theirs, so any advice would be fantastic.
Thanks very much!
I've been teaching for 2 years now, and I feel that I'm getting to grips with the principles of teaching - class discipline is no longer a problem and things generally go to plan!
Good news! Not really, I have one group that I really struggle with - I had them last year, and they're continuing with us this year. It's a group of 13/14 year olds and they're all at the "awkward" age.
I've spoken with my boss about specific teaching techniques for them, and he's advised that I should try and steer clear of any task that is without a structure, as they never really want to open their mouth and give an opinion. So I've followed this up with Role Plays; reading from comprehension texts, getting each of them to query the other with questions from the books etc... but nothing really gives. Games can help them a bit, but they're getting towards the intermediate level now and so it's writing that is the biggest concern.
If a question is asked, they all look at each other and you enter the zone where the seconds creak by and one of them will finally come up with a bare-minimum answer. Try to get them to expand upon it, and they blush and stick their head down and wait for something to end their pain.
Can anyone give some more advice regarding teens in the "awkward" stage? I'm fully aware that it's the approach I'm taking with them, and not a problem of theirs, so any advice would be fantastic.
Thanks very much!
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