How to motivate your students
An extract from a new book on teaching English to Thai students
Many studies have been undertaken to determine the reasons why South East Asian students have problems learning English. I would add to the list: weakness of the curriculum design, limited school resources, class sizes, poor course design, and course-books not always being relevant to the student's own environment.
Notebook concerns
How to get your students to use their notebooks effectively
Friends of mind say that they give importance to student notebooks by grading them, giving stickers to those who have a complete set of notes , stamping them with positive comments - and giving points as part of their grade to those students who have complete, neat, and beautiful notebooks.
#atweetaday
Organising a social networking project for students
Wouldn't it be great if students could use some of thier social networking time to develop their English? This was the thinking behind a project I started with my Mathayom 3 students - 'A Tweet a Day'.
Teachers playing games in class
Is it a case of too much monkeying around?
Games can reinforce what has been taught earlier in a lesson and can be used as a filler or as a reward for good work. But to expect foreign English teachers to spend the majority of their time entertaining students, especially adults, is, to me, just not right.
On having an English room
The advantage of having your own classroom space
I consider my classroom to be an extension of my house. After lunch, I can lock the door and take a little nap. Or I can watch my favorite movies and news broadcasts from The Philippiness. It's so different from the days of old when I didn't have a room and I had to bear the heat and noise of the library or the clinic or other 'makeshift classrooms'.
Thai students and the fine art of copying
I couldn't believe what was going on in the classroom
I come from a society and a culture where the copying of anything in or out of a classroom is simply looked on as cheating. Not only cheating the whole idea of education but cheating oneself out of any possibility of learning, not to mention a total disrespect of the student who goes to the trouble of learning the correct answers in the first place. So I was appalled beyond measure when I saw my first example of copying in my classroom at my first school in Phuket.
Go Genki
An unusual approach to teaching vocabulary
Why don't you try Genki English now? Once you have tried it, your teaching worries will be over, lessons will be enjoyed, dynamic students will be developed and most of all your classrooms will come alive.
Science day spectacular
Thais certainly know how to put on a show
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Thai schools love to put on a show. It's not always a GOOD show, but at least once every week or so, my school has some kind of event happening during morning assembly that lasts well into the school day.
Unending speaking day
Ideas to get your students speaking English
I had the rare privilege of attending an English seminar facilitated by one of the most sought-after language speakers in Thailand, Mr Andrew Biggs. I was able to get many ideas on how to make Thai students like English. One of these ideas is through auto-suggestion.
Failures in sarcasm
When a lesson plan can all go horribly wrong
Even when I try to tone down my sarcasm, those rascally comments still slip from my lips! I know that my students are vaguely aware of sarcasm but they don't quite understand it and they certainly would never use it on their own.
