Having taught groups of three for so long, I am find the classroom dynamic interesting. Although I am having some trouble with the back of the classroom. I find I do better when I pair students and then walk around and set up on the right tracks in their pairs.
Actually, on the tesol.org mailing list recently, a big topic has been how to get a classroom to use EO (English Only). This is not my goal but I do find my service language students speaking a lot of spanish. Interestingly, some of the respondants on the mailing list talk about hanging slips of paper up in class with people's names on it and points they deduct everytime someone uses a non-English language, someone else points out that their students are surround by Spanish 22 hours plus a day and it creates too artificial environment to start inhibiting their ability to speak it in class. Any additonal thoughts?
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Kris, could you elaborate a bit on where you've taught groups of three? (I thought that all of your "e-teaching" in Japan was one-by-one.)
ReplyDeleteI've always preferred classes that have an even number of students since pairwork is so easily facilitated. If necessary, you can form a single group of three, if necessary. Try to avoid working with one student to form a pair.
As I recently mentioned in class, I often compare learning English to the game of tennis. The "coach" has to do his part--including instruction, motivation, organization and correction (Yes, Ruby!).
However, for years, I've have seen classes "come alive" the moment I let them do pairwork. As a teacher, you cannot always entertain your students. But you can keep them busy--if they are busy, I can assure you that they are not bored!
As for the EO (English Only) rule, it really depends on a number of factors, including the (1) age of students, (2) total number of students in the class, and (3) their level of proficiency.
In your case Kris, I think I'd try the following: Have the students stand up while doing intensive pairwork. During this time, no languages other than English can be spoken. If they continue to speak in their native languages, ask them to leave the classroom.
I think you'd only need to do this once!
Looking forward to hearing from everyone else...