encouraging students to actually talk

[sambelina78]

i had a lesson with grade 2 middle schools students. they are the highest ability class in that year group, and their Korean English teacher said they are quite good but shy. Well... she certainly was not joking!! they barely wanted to say hello to me!! i just saw blank faces staring at me... maybe they think i am boring, but it is the first time i have met them and surely one cannot have a boring way of saying hello to greet their class? it was like pulling teeth trying to get them to talk. they barely even cracked a smile when i showed them a video of an amusing event in my home town which had all other classes in stitches.

help!! has anyone got any tips / hints of things to get them talking/moving/showing emotion? lively activities etc.

thanks

[dporter]

Sometimes a good class is quiet because they just got reprimanded by their homeroom teacher for something.

Also, once class does not a year make. Wait a few weeks and see if they come around.

[sheedi]

As they get to know you and vice versa, you'll see which classes are more active meaning they answer your questions and participate. I have about 3 classes out of the whole school who are shy or ..I'm not sure what the issue is and they don't want to talk or they talk really low.

[torstrom]

If no one was asleep then you can take that a reassurance that they were interested in the lesson.  I also teach middle school and each of my classes has a different composition. Some of them are boisterous and some of them are very quiet.  If they are able to fight through sleep deprivaton enough to stay awake during your lesson you are doing something right. The inclusion of videos and pictures to jump start conversation can really make a difference. It sounds like you put together a great presentation and they were just shy.   As you get to know the students better they may open up.  However, some of these students are painfully shy. It can be like pulling teeth to get some of my students to say anything in front of a group of thirty students and if they do speak it might be an inaudible whisper.  Try speaking with students before and after class. Some students really open up when there aren't thirty pairs of eyeball trained on them.

[kaymac]

pull out some candy. suddenly they can't stop talking.

[krtastic]

I've learned making a fool out of yourself always works. The kids then aren't afraid to speak when they see the attention isnt all on them.

Just give them some time. You'll be surprised at how first classes can be decieving

[sonya]

I have a sticker bag...give a correct/interesting answer...participation...good behaviour...whatever...I throw that student the sticker bag and they can choose a sticker.  My stickers are from Canada so they seem to like them even better...but one of my Korean coteachers now does it with korean stickers and it has the same effect.  I have found that all levels and both genders enjoy the stickers...I couldn't believe my high school boys even got a kick out of them.

I also build in a lot of mistakes into my lessons...in my powerpoints, in my speech and when I write on the board...find it and get a sticker.  I'll write skool for school or point to the wrong body part...they eat that up!

Just keep trying different things until you hit on something that works for you!

Sonya

[karenology]

I didn't want to buy them candy every day (it gets expensive, especially trying to find Western candy here!), so I built an incentive system where if they raise their hand and answer a question in class, they can get up to two star-shaped post-it notes.  I made it a maximum of two, so that the same students aren't encouraged to talk for the entire class! When a student gets a star, they write their name and student number on it, and then after class they turn the stars in to me.  Over time, if they collect six stars, they can trade them in for candy.  It's worked pretty well so far, so well that I have to figure out where I'm going to buy some more of these star post-its before today's classes   One kid actually said he'd prefer not to trade his stars in for candy, because he wanted to keep accumulating them!  The rules system is kind of complicated for this, so if you do it, make sure to explain it slowly.  My students are mid- to low- level, though, and got the hang of it pretty quickly.  Good luck!

[teacher_del]

My coteacher uses a system similar to yours.  The kids collect ten stamps in their English folders in order to claim one piece of *good* candy.  With a CostCo membership, the cost works out to be less than 1 cheap candy per stamp, and the kids eat a lot less sugar while practicing delayed gratification.  It works.  It's also probably a bit simpler to manage than buying post-it notes.  She lets the kids get up to three stamps per class.

[michael.james.122]

I'm working at a middle school and I've been using a system similar to the star post it notes, except I use playing cards.  When students are participating, or if they won a game they get a card.  At the end of the class I draw a card randomly from another deck, the person with that card gets to put their name in a box.  At the end of every week I draw a name from the box and that student gets to have lunch with the teacher.  They get to bring a friend also (for those students that are shy or not confident with their English).  It's worked well so far.

[thefrownclown]

So Michael, do you have lunch with the student in the school cafeteria or do you go out somewhere and make it something special?