Pretty much title.
The school I work at is kind of dumb and often puts students in classes that are way too tough for them. Higher-ups say I have to teach x, y, and z parts of some textbook, and the kids understand anywhere from about 10-60% of the content. The good kids can grasp 60%, while there are others that are basically being asked to take in entire articles while still being at an “I like X. I don’t like Y,” level of English.
I’m not sure there is much I can do because of stubborn management, but I’d like to hear if anyone has any ideas. Thanks all.
12 comments
This is a strange situation since we didn’t get any context to go along with it. Es, JHS, has, what.
This approach to thinking about the book is way off as well in my opinion. This isn’t how I go about teaching something to students who don’t know it. It doesn’t matter if it’s a sentence or a simple thing like fruits. I teach rooms in a elementary school to ES kids. I’ve had teachers tell me it’s too difficult and the students won’t understand. By the end of the 4 lessons largely they got it.
Meet them where they are and provide the information at their level.
Given how classes all move up together here this is extremely common. If you are making the material you basically just have to make it with that in mind. If you are using premade material basically all you can do is go through the sheet and see what might be possible for them to do and guide them towards those problems. Sometimes this is just very basic and broad information mining. Which is far from ideal but sadly it will be all that is in our prerogative to change.
Not much you can do other that quit and get a better job or just adapt the material to the best of your ability. Your management doesn’t actually care about student outcomes. They just want paying customers, and there is more profit in cramming students together regardless of ability.
Can you give us a working example and we can all give you (attempts) at actual answers instead of hypothetical/ESID/case by case answers?
You mention students that need to absorb entire articles when their level is simple constructions. What are the parameters here?
I frequently teach stuff that is just a bit too far beyond the Ss zone of proximal development. So I have to scaffold it backwards and time for that isn’t allocated for within the lessons. So it’s got to be done fast. If it’s Q&A then it’s a little easier, I’ll have them watch me solve the first answer for them, so I model it, verbalize my processes, then walk them toward a 50/50 choice for the another question. I’ll show them strategies that might help them out (do the easy questions first, skim/scan, have them highlight the answers plus a few secret red herrings that should help them out. Give them a pre reading task involving the answers that sets them up to win.
If it is something that looks like it might be really new for them, then building into it with a key/point of access that they do know are the guiding steps you need to take. So giving a short, easy to follow speech can help. Make it interactive and think about it like it’s a ladder of questions with the first step being a question like, what colour is it, and the 6th question much closer to where the target language is. If you are building new schemata then it’s really tough. I was teaching scientific principles to students that hadn’t studied them in their native language yet…. That was fun.
It’s a lot harder with the higher critical thinking skills, so some of the above ideas work, but giving a lot of answers, providing them with sentences that they can change to give their own answers can also work. It can be hard to move students into a space where they try freely though as there is such a fear of giving the wrong answers. In some cases it took months to get students to ask questions off their own back but, when they do shift that way, it’s really worth all the hard work.
Hope that lot helps. Hopefully they weren’t patronizing replies.
My only comment is that you have the inherent assumption it is ‘too hard’ and the people above you (who have probably taught it successfully) are idiots who make your life difficult.
As such, I recommend that you approach it with an open mind, simplify your English (I can adjust my English so that anybody in Japan can understand it) and maybe try asking those above you for some tips.
What kind of school?
I mean, there are loads of questions to be asked here, but we don’t even know what type of school you’re even on about.
It’s practically impossible to answer a question like this without an example.
I generally scoff at people who say that something is too difficult for the kids, because you can teach almost anything with the rid mindset, tools and energy. Don’t be afraid to challenge your students, but make sure you build your lesson in such a way that it accommodates learning styles as much as possible.
Just start saying
これでもわからないの！やばすぎーーーーーーーーーーーー！もう！
​
very encouraging words
Without a clear idea of the “school” environment, course type, objectives, and plan of work, it’s nearly impossible to offer “ideas”.
If you told us what the course is, maybe the course book, we could offer you ways to adapt it for your less proficient learners.
There are three ways a lesson can be too difficult: content objectives, procedures, and cognitive load (difficult to do in any language.) If you can’t lower one, lower the other two. Use procedures they already know. Simply the complexity of the task/concept. Etc.
just be genki
So yeah most JHS’s English programs are inherently that way. They review 3-6th grade the first 3/4’s of the year then focus so much on what’s written and speaking fluency is likely lost without external education. Then they delve into deeper topics than they do in their Social studies classes without the vocabulary or understanding. This then creates an unpleasant atmosphere for learning.
Opinion: 1. What is your position? Are you a certified teacher or and ALT? If you are a certified teacher then you can coach the lessons down to your students levels and not just give up. Otherwise start looking for another school that you fit better.
2. ALT- remember your title you are an **ASSISTANT** Language Teacher; Teach as you are directed as you have no control over the curriculum. You can do the same and coach the lesson to the students level and just get it done. But in this case the JTE is the course leader and any protests you say will be ignored and likely you won’t return next year.