Post by irina on Nov 4, 2016 11:39:12 GMT 8
Even though the students in a training school like i2 are expected to come to the class motivated it is not always the case. Children tend to get bored of grammar or writing tasks and only enjoy the class as long as it is all based on fun. I found some of the solutions to motivation issues in chapter 2 quite practical. For instance, solution 2 is obviously very important, even though, as Eline has mentioned earlier, it may be a bit problematic to adjust every activity for every class due to the limitations in time, the outcomes are worth the time spent on preparation.
It is hard to believe, but even in our context of 4-on-4 classrooms, we have mixed abilities classes. I can see that a big gap in abilities is detrimental to motivation of both stronger and slower learners. Adjusting the tasks is a good way to fix this kind of issue. I have practiced it in one class where one girl was the fastest and she always had an extra task in her worksheet. Her classmates never payed attention to the tasks she was supposed to do, but they all focused on time everyone was spending doing the task and when they saw, they took roughly the same time to complete the task, they felt successful.
I really liked the solution number 5 that suggests handing out a questionnaire for older students in order to find out what they do and don’t like and which interactive pattern they prefer in a class: work individually, in pairs or in groups. I believe, a simple questionnaire should be done upon student’s signing the contract in our school, which should make student’s placement easier and prevent some motivation issues caused by clashes of interest in the same class. (I have a class like this when one student loves singing and hates drawing and the other one is just the opposite, so one is often bored when the other is enjoying himself).
When I work with teenagers, I sometimes tell them that the activity we are going to do is important because it will help them learn/practice something, especially if it is just a grammar drill. Students tend to neglect the grammar but once the drill is turned into a game, as suggested in solution 6 or has a clear purpose (solution 4), the situation changes. Simple Guess Who game is basically a constant repetition of the same grammar: “Has he/she got _____ ? Is he/she wearing _______?” but it has a clear purpose – to find out who’s the person or animal in the partners card and it is fun.
J. Moon also gives one solution I never used but always wanted to try is to find pan pals (or e-pals now) for my students. It would provide a real purpose for communication with peers from other countries and expand learners’ horizons. I may try it in one of my older classes as I have some former students back in Russia who are about the same age.
It is hard to believe, but even in our context of 4-on-4 classrooms, we have mixed abilities classes. I can see that a big gap in abilities is detrimental to motivation of both stronger and slower learners. Adjusting the tasks is a good way to fix this kind of issue. I have practiced it in one class where one girl was the fastest and she always had an extra task in her worksheet. Her classmates never payed attention to the tasks she was supposed to do, but they all focused on time everyone was spending doing the task and when they saw, they took roughly the same time to complete the task, they felt successful.
I really liked the solution number 5 that suggests handing out a questionnaire for older students in order to find out what they do and don’t like and which interactive pattern they prefer in a class: work individually, in pairs or in groups. I believe, a simple questionnaire should be done upon student’s signing the contract in our school, which should make student’s placement easier and prevent some motivation issues caused by clashes of interest in the same class. (I have a class like this when one student loves singing and hates drawing and the other one is just the opposite, so one is often bored when the other is enjoying himself).
When I work with teenagers, I sometimes tell them that the activity we are going to do is important because it will help them learn/practice something, especially if it is just a grammar drill. Students tend to neglect the grammar but once the drill is turned into a game, as suggested in solution 6 or has a clear purpose (solution 4), the situation changes. Simple Guess Who game is basically a constant repetition of the same grammar: “Has he/she got _____ ? Is he/she wearing _______?” but it has a clear purpose – to find out who’s the person or animal in the partners card and it is fun.
J. Moon also gives one solution I never used but always wanted to try is to find pan pals (or e-pals now) for my students. It would provide a real purpose for communication with peers from other countries and expand learners’ horizons. I may try it in one of my older classes as I have some former students back in Russia who are about the same age.
