Thread: My lesson (video). Criticism and suggestions what to improve welcome

Originally Posted by markle

Aside from a narrow range of circumstances with absolute beginners using L1 in class is a sign of a weak teacher.

Seventeen years ago my main 'trainer' told me never to speak or accept the use of Thai in class. I probably, at that time, was abiding without knowing the true reasons why. In that time, I've never uttered a Thai word(other than comical links to English) in class(and my Thai is not the worst) and I believe that I churn out some exceptionally good students along the way. God help those TEFL teachers in London, teaching classes that speak as much as ten different languages, how do we deal with that?

This 'fear of foreigners' is a cop out. No matter the level if you are unable to remove intimidation without Thai, you are probably doing the wrong job. Sadly as we know that is the case with oh so many 'teachers'.

Originally Posted by Mr Mister

God help those TEFL teachers in London, teaching classes that speak as much as ten different languages, how do we deal with that?

I do that here in Boston. It's great. I just speak Esperanto.

---Update---

Originally Posted by Mr Mister

No matter the level if you are unable to remove intimidation without Thai, you are probably doing the wrong job.

You simply can't hold up any one thing and account for bad teaching. It's impossible. 'Good teaching' is the product of so many variables, and is achieved in so many unique ways. I simply reject your (not using the descriptor flippantly, but I think appropriately) foolish notion that simply speaking some Thai in classes warrants dismissal, even condemnation, as 'a teacher'. Any self-respecting 'serious' commenter on the profession here on this forum or anywhere else simply can't get away with it. I'm calling you out on that one. You're wrong.

Though I tend to agree with more of what Mathew has contributed, Mr has some very good ideas on structuring and follow through.

Lessons are more than just individual events.

First things first, get the class into teams and set up reward systems. Makes the class room much easier to manage and will alllow for interaction and problem solving between students which reduces dependency on the teacher, ergo more proactive students and less TTT from you.

Flashcards are great and they lend themselves to so many games, so why not introduce the language with a simple game? In a large class, picture pelmanism is a good way of eliciting vocab and you can then have the students turn around while you remove one and they turn back to tell you what's missing. Gently competitive, challenging and easy to do.

Also, push your students. They can say the names of the animals, great, so ask them to give you a little more. Do they like dogs? Do they have a dog at home? What colour is it? Wow, Bom has a brown dog, what colour is your dog, Nit? Pitch your language just a lttle bit higher than their current level and use gestures, pictures and actions to help them with this.

Animals are also a great base for project work. The OP might want to consider doing something like this as it enables all students to contribute and will also allow for lots of language production (both spoken and written).

Have a look at Children Learning English by Jayne Moon. Lots of good info about working with YLs and some good suggestions about project work.

Finally, fair play for putting the video up.

Seeing as I've been teaching P1 in Thailand for 4 years I feel I should try and give some advice. I'm not the greatest teacher in the world but I'm not too bad I suppose.

First of all, don't lose your enthusiasm. The good news is the kids like you and are engaged during your talk time. Some teachers with all the qualifications in the world can never quite manage that, so the hard part is over.

As others have stated, you shouldn't assume anything. Kids will repeat 'parrot fashion' without actually comprehending what is being taught.

Phonics is the big one here. Start with the hard sounds ('gu' as in goat but don't over pronounce the 'uh') then move on to the soft sounds ( 'ju (again don't over pronounce the 'uh'') as in giraffe, c as in 'ice cream, city and celery explain that ce, ci, ic (without a k) = soft 'c'.

Good place to look at some phonics rules is right here.http://www.cceschool.org/hayes/Phonics Charts.htm Print them and keep them handy.

Please bear in mind there are always exceptions to the 'rules', but if kids follow them they should end up being able to read most words. Treat the exceptions as 'difficult words' , the word 'one' for example would rhyme with 'bone' if you followed the 'magic e' rule. Good books, in hope that your school may help, are 'Jolly Phonics' and 'Lets Go Phonics'.

The other pointer is 'watch your kids'. When you did the 'left hand/right hand', the kids were following you as a mirror and putting up the wrong hands! I find turning slowly towards the board with my hand still raised can help for the first few attempts. It's also one of the few times I will translate. 'Sie' (rhymes with pie and means LEFT) and 'kwarh' means right. They usually get it correct pretty quickly this way.

Visuals. The flashcards were rather small. I understand that these may be the only ones available but if possible, get some bigger ones and in colour. You placed them low on the shelf of the board. I doubt the kids towards the back, or even in the middle could see them. Buy some board magnets (10 for about 70 Baht) and place them so that all of the S's can see them. You can get them in any stationery shop or even the larger supermarkets.

Scaffolding. You didn't get that far it seems in the clip, so if you already use it ignore the following.

If you have a sentence like 'He is happy' don't just show a picture of a happy boy and say the sentence. Start with asking 'How many boys?'. The kids should answer 'five/one/whatever'. Get them to understand the question 'How many?' first. Next up would be 'Is this a boy or a girl?' When the kids answer 'Boy' ask them 'How many boys?'. They should then say 'one'. Then go into explaining 'is and are'. Ask 'how many is/are?'
Simplified (after kids understand the question 'How many?') you could ask whilst placing the picture high on the board..

He or she? (after kids answer write 'He' on the board)
How many?
Is or are? (after kids answer write 'is')
Happy or sad? (now write 'happy' after kids answer)

Now you have the sentence. You could then go on to elicit other adjectives (angry, hot, fat, thin) and get the kids to do an exercise on this in your next lesson.


Next up, if it's worked you will only need to hold up a flashcard for the kids to chant the sentences He is sad, She is angry etc. Then move onto other pronouns (We/ You/ They etc).

Scaffolding is not easy and it comes with experience. You really need to watch the kids to check on their comprehension to see if you need to use it a liitle more.

But overall, I was impressed by your bravery of posting a video here and the rapport you have with your students. Your teaching style is a good one for young learners.

Good luck.