Tips and advice on teaching large classes

[sirchai]

Build their vocabulary up, by always adding new words, how they have to be used and when. Once they're familiar with some easy sentences, they'll be happy to learn more.

Pronounce all words right and speak slowly, help those who struggle, as you'll have new interested learners.

You should consider to do introductions, all grade six students should be able to do so, but the reality is always different.

Introduce yourself in the first week, write all on the board, where you come from, your age, how many people there live, which leads you to words they should learn in grade six. Population, capital (city), favorite, subject(s),

Then the wh questions. What, when, why, who, whose, where.....

Mostly focus on the students surroundings.Ask them some easy questions, once you know the better students they'll try to help those who are poor.

I give the bright ones some extra assignments, otherwise they'd be bored to death as the majority can't even say a simple sentence.

Please be aware that kids will reply the "good morning thing", when you say: "Good morning, students. How are you? They'll all say: " I'm fine, thank you.

But would they ask you and you'd answer: " I'm fine thank you and you?" most of them don't even get that part "and you" right.

Be always well dressed, don't speak loud. Yelling at somebody in Thai culture's considered impolite and you won't like to try to be louder than they are, once they misbehave.

And one way the other, you'll have to find your own way to deal with kids that age who misbehave. You can't just run to a Thai teacher and ask for a helping hand. If you do, then you can't control a class.

Many boys are troublemakers, not just in English class. Try to separate them from the beginning, once you've realized who they are.

Nobody and I mean nobody expects from you that all kids will be fluent after this year. Just do your best and all will be fine.

Kids, or their parents will see you almost everywhere, even if you don't recognize them. What goes around comes around. Cheers-.

[amse]

Few of the boys and Thai teachers will give you any respect, only the girls are the serious ones about getting ahead in life. The boys will constantlly give you the finger behind your back and say to your face

"Your father is dead" (in thai). Best bet is to eventualy get your TEFL degree and look for a bilingual school at the beginning of the school year that is desperate to fill a position. I taught at several schools for 7 years before retireing, in Phuket and Bangkok. At bilingual,international & thai government schools, K1-3, P1-3, and M1.

[alphaboy123]

Karlitos:

A lot of sound advice has been given here already.

I'm quite moved by the thoughtfulness & care of the teachers who

have posted here, men & women obviously in love with what they do.

In the face of such a flood of well-meaning suggestions, very little is

left to add, i suppose.

Discipline is an issue you should consider from the very start.

How much are you going to allow them to get away with?

It's best to lay down the law at the very outset. It'd be a tough call to try

& tighten the reins later on when you've started off all soft & permissive.

In saying that though, even as you let them know of limits, punishments

and the like, a warm sincere smile is in order.

Make it fun, even if the topic is serious.

Stern faces will get you nowhere; in fact, they're totally counteractive!

You know when kids respond best? When they feel genuinely & individually

cared for.

It's a class of 50 ... you cannot love & guide every single student every time.

No worries, ... there will be a moment for every one of them, & he or she

will not easily forget the loving look in your eyes or your firm but sweet advice.

Please, do learn a little bit of the language.

Imagine the poor kids struggling, not having a clue of what you're saying!

This is enough to put anybody off.

Don't try to stuff too much into one lesson.

Make it one or two points only, & build your lesson around that.

Don't talk too much yourself. Say little, but say it with your heart.

Joke a lot.

Teach them respect. Wai at them at the start & end of the lesson; they should

all wai back at you (don't wai too high, roughly at chest level).

I expect you to be pleasantly surprised at how cute the little ones are, in

particular the little boys.

Boys are forward, very imaginative & witty, very sincere with their feelings,

boisterous, & on average, far more selfless & loyal than girls.

Personally, whenever i've needed help of some sort, it's always been a boy

who's come to the rescue.

Some well-meaning posters seem to claim that girls do better than boys in

general.

One person in particular goes as far as to say that 'few of the boys & Thai

teachers will give you any respect. Only the girls are the serious ones about

getting ahead in life. Boys will constantly give you the finger behind your

back'.

Do not be put off by these statements. They're largely untrue, & to the extent

they're authentic they have a great deal to do with the person who is making

them.

That some Thai teachers as well as some students may dislike you & disrespect

you merely because you happen to be a farang is, sadly, a possibility. Thailand

(for reasons that go beyond the scope of this thread) seems to be a magnet for

Western riff-raff, & i think has been so for decades passed. They've given the

farang a bad name & everyone pays the price.

A few teachers, while having no particular dislike for farangs, may happen to

dislike your personality, just as they may dislike some Thai teacher's personality.

This is pretty normal & never an issue as long as you remain self-possessed &

polite.

Many, if you're a cool & happy bloke, will like you DESPITE your being a farang.

I think that is key: show yourself a contented cheerful person & everyone will

want to be your friend.

As for academic performance, boys thrive wherever there are mental challenges,

competition & physical action. Do magic tricks, impossible feats, pose questions

that require logic, & you'll have your boys spontaneously come forth, with their

eyes fixed on you, & begging you for a chance to give the stuff a go himself.

Parrot-learning is not for boys.

Talk a lot, & you'll see the boys mentally drifting away into passive inattention or

downright disrupting your lesson.

Boys will be boys, & this is how we, boys & men, learn.

The traditional Thai classroom setting is the very opposite of all this, which explains

why oftentimes girls seem to do better than boys.

Present your point, give a few examples, drill the vocabulary, ask random questions

& have them all write the stuff down. Even better, throw in a song. This is exactly the

way girls learn. It leaves boys totally out as it offers no meaningful challenges.

To play safe, try & include lots of games & activities in your lesson, which will,

hopefully, appeal to both genders.

If you have troublemakers, trust them with special tasks ... write on the board, take

registration, see that his or her classmates are doing the assigned classwork, collect

worksheets, and so forth.

Trust a person freely & he will respond to your trust.

[brubakertx]

It really depends which class level your teaching.

It also depends if you have Thai co-teacher or not.

Look and see if the Thai teachers are carrying sticks or not.

Try and not get too serious, because most Thai students don't give a shit about learning English. Especially the boys.

You can't fail the students, so most students really don't care.

Play a short game in the beginning of class helps.

Humor and showmanship is the best thing!

Boys are usually terrible students, unless they are gay or a ladyboy.

If you have ladyboys in your class...use them!!!!!!! Most ladyboys are not shy, and they are great way to get the classes attention. Ask them questions and do role play with them in front of the class.

[tingtong]

..

.

Boys are usually terrible students, unless they are gay or a ladyboy.

If you have ladyboys in your class...use them!!!!!!! Most ladyboys are not shy, and they are great way to get the classes attention. Ask them questions and do role play with them in front of the class.

How did it go from kids to 18+ stuff?

Btw, I also believe that girls in general pay more attention, etc, but cant generalize to say that all the boys are bad or terrible students. There are smart girls and smart boys too...(and many not so smart, too.)

[Greg Nixon]

I have thirteen years experience teaching.

First of all determine those children who genuinely want to learn English if that is the subject.

I suspect they all do.

Find the students who can speak or read or write English already - they are your allies and an important resource. The other children will respect you for it.

Dividing into smaller groups is a good idea. Designate any students with English skills as leader.

Be careful of using English books written entirely in Thai. Use them very sparingly.

Initially it will be about crowd control but as you get to know the students and they get to know you crowd control will meld into your objectives.

Where is the students present knowledge ? Do they all know the ABC 's ? Can they count in English ? Start from what they know and move into what they do not know. Teach using the concrete. If you want to let them know that ball begins with a B and the sound of B toss a ball around the class until everyone knows the sound.

Use music a lot in any subject. Thai children love music. Dance with them. Sing with them. I used music in Math classes in China very successfully.

Smile a lot. Laugh a lot. Enjoy the children and the experience. Let the children know you love them.

Oh one important item. 10 minutes of teaching followed by 20 - 30 minutes of practise. Any more than 10 minutes will result in them falling asleep or chatting with one another. Make the students the centre - you are not. It is their learning that is important . You are merely a means to that end.

[benalibina]

Very informative thread. Good to read that there are many who care about teaching children and are willing to share their opinions.

[kirstymelb101]

Teaching can be both rewarding, or aggrevating. It all depends on you as an individual. Gain the students respect, and they will respect you. Any student who likes you will pay attention in class, no matter what profeciency level they're at. First impressions count for most, so be charismatic and enthusiastic in the classroom.

I remember my very first day teaching at a large Govt., school in Bangkok. Black board / no air / dodgey fans that barely work - be prepared to expect these things. Instead of dwelling over them, be positive and make do with what resouces you have.

Come prepared every lesson with a back up plan. If your first lesson plan doesn't go accordingly at least you have other alternatives..

Back up games and worksheets come in handy! Say if all the students fly through the work real quick, you can play bingo or give them a worsearch to complete.. note: they absolutely love wordsearches, but to much of anything gets boring quickly.

To be honest, don't over analyse everything. Go with the flow and you will get the hang of things naturally.

Chok dee and good luck ^^,

[lostinisaan]

Teaching can be both rewarding, or aggravating. It all depends on you as an individual. Gain the students respect, and they will respect you. Any student who likes you will pay attention in class, no matter what proficiency level they're at. First impressions count for most, so be charismatic and enthusiastic in the classroom.

I remember my very first day teaching at a large Govt., school in Bangkok. Black board / no air / dodgy fans that barely work - be prepared to expect these things. Instead of dwelling over them, be positive and make do with what resources you have.

Come prepared every lesson with a back up plan. If your first lesson plan doesn't go accordingly at least you have other alternatives..

Back up games and worksheets come in handy! Say if all the students fly through the work real quick, you can play bingo or give them a word search to complete.. note: they absolutely love word searches, but to much of anything gets boring quickly.

To be honest, don't over analyse everything. Go with the flow and you will get the hang of things naturally.

Chok dee and good luck ^^,

I always appreciate your posts and it seems that you’ve got plenty of time to be online before school starts. You seem to be the perfect teacher, as you speak, read and wrote Thai, right?

Please let us know if you’re explaining all in Thai, I mean do you translate whole sentences, or just words? Would be great to hear that from you.

I made a similar experience when I started teaching. Black board, no air, hot as hell and no support from any Thai colleagues.

I always use word searches, as you can keep them busy and you’re using words that you’ve taught them. It helps a lot.

But that’s all theory now. Let him start and see how he likes his new job. Not everybody is good dealing with kids. There’s no do it this, do it that way, rule.

I’m pretty sure that everybody has to find his/her own way to teach a language in the Kingdom of Thailand. Cheers

[Phatcharanan]

I find that teaching large classes is easier than small ones. With small classes, the students tend to be much quieter and trying to get feedback from them is like pulling teeth. With a larger class, however, there'e always a few students who will give responses to questions, and that in turn helps the rest to interact.

Thats as maybe but for sure the kids in a smaller class generally tend to make better progress than those in very large ones.

[a99az]

Hi there,

I was teaching M1 and M2 myself a couple of years back. I soon realized that you have to be firm but approachable or you will bomb. It's all about scores for them and if they can see each week how they are scoring it will help. Also watch out that they don't slid out after role call, I locked one door at the back of my class so that they would have to pass me to exit. Day one, give your class rules and get them to copy them into the first page of the book in English and Thai and get them to sign it. Also get them to print there name and class on the cover of the book very clearly with your name so that they don't use it for other lessons.

I went out and bought a projector and screen with sound system so I could project all my lessons which I produced on my Mac using Keynote with a remote.

I also place my lessons on You Tube so that the kids could review the lesson they had just had and even prepare for the forthcoming lesson.

This made my job easy and I could spend more time helping students instead of being at the front of the class with my back to the students scratching out the same thing over and over. It's also far more dynamic and engages the students even before they get seated, it also gives students the chance to hear other English accents.

I could send you a full years English lessons I have them for M1 M2 M5 M6 and some teacher training stuff that worked for me but You should try to make your own lessons. I would be happy to send you a sample lesson or two if you decide to go this route.

Another advantage you don't need to make photo copy's for each lesson. Buy your self two custom self inking stamps and as the lesson draws to an end walk around and stamp the work as complete or unfinished you can score it later but you want the students to complete in class not wait until later to copy others. It's not perfect but it worked for me.

[KarlosInBKK]

I'd just like to thank everyone again for taking the time out of their busy lives to leave these replies. It has been a great insight for me and very helpful

[Thighlander]

Assigned seats, with an accurate seating chart is a necessity. Take roll from it; it will save valuable time. Practical uses often provide the best experiences. Role playing 7-11, or ordering food. You can legally obtain anti-anxiety drugs here...100% legal. 5 mg of Valium about midway into the third class (if teaching four) will make the whole thing less offensive. I used to call it "teacher's helper." I've been a licensed Substitute in America for 18 years...only one gun incident...lived to tell about it, but I always ended up working in the worst parts of town, because basically the pay was better, and you had some negotiating leverage.