Yuki's Passion 1 Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 Hey everybody Ive started working at my new school and its really impressive - the kids are on the ball and so are the teachers. Not like so many schools Ive been at before. From this year I have the ability to teach any thing I want as long as I can connect it to English in some way or another. As of right now Im going to be teaching a debate class and a music class but I still need to think of 4 other classes for JHS and HS kids. Im at an international HS/JHS so the kids are quite fluent so level isnt that big of a factor. Ive been considering some other classes like: movies/tv shows/drama current affairs class natural disasters/environment teaching how to do research projects ...? What would you like to teach if you could teach anything? How would you approach it? What has worked/hasnt worked for you. I dont really have anything to do with monbusho anymore bc of students level and ability so creative and interesting classes are a must!! Lets ideas! Link to post Share on other sites
Hokkaidough 4 Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 So are you going to actually have to work a lot then in this new school CB? Link to post Share on other sites
cheeseman 1 Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 How about cheese and other nutritious and delicious foodstuffs? Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted March 30, 2007 Author Share Posted March 30, 2007 Quote: Originally posted by Hokkaidough: So are you going to actually have to work a lot then in this new school CB? my life has done a 180 and Ill be lucky to sleep Link to post Share on other sites
cheeseman 1 Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 Remember to take regular cheesebreaks! Good luck! Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 I'd love to teach surfing, especially to high school girls Link to post Share on other sites
SirJibAlot 0 Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 Skiing and Creek Diving 101 - of course! Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted March 30, 2007 Author Share Posted March 30, 2007 any SERIOUS teachers out there? Link to post Share on other sites
me jane 0 Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 I had free reign when I was at a SHS too. Did a debate course too & let the kids choose the topics. They got really into it and started requesting other topics they wanted to study after the debate course. Did stuff on language resister. A lot of adult Japanese with good English are not even aware that different registers exist in English (& your students will love it when you try to elicit all the slang they know to write up on the board!) I taught a first aid course which was fun, lots of role play. I was at a Commercial High school so we also had two classes together for a triple period doing a business simulation. I did it with teh help of two accounting teachers. It was in a huge room with telephones & computers (sort of like an open plan office). They were all divided into companies (half retail, half wholesale) and they were given tasks to complete in each lesson. For example: At the beginning they had to create business cards & introductory pamphlets for their companies & then go around & introduce themselves to the other companies. Most of the middle sessions were buying, selling & negotiating prices. They had to write up invoices & keep accounts and stuff. At the end of the project they had to give powerpoint presentations on their companies, saying what they had achieved. Back later...student came Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted March 31, 2007 Share Posted March 31, 2007 The one subject I'd love to teach would be about finance. I teach a few adults with a similar interest and it helps so much. Might be hard to capture the imagination of all the students, but you could get them involved in various stockmarket share games. Link to post Share on other sites
merryJim 1 Posted March 31, 2007 Share Posted March 31, 2007 How about world politics and discussions on where Japan and your country stand on them and with each other. The word "Gaijin" and other such issues. Link to post Share on other sites
SirJibAlot 0 Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 sorry CB, I couldn't resist making that crack Music is always fun (think school of rock). One thing I have always wanted to do is do a family tree on my wife's family. Supposedly, you can trace families back 2000 years or so in Japan...I dont think many japanese do it for fear of being disappointed that thier ancestors were just farmers. It might also be interesting to go into Hawaiian history - something unique. Other than that, I'm officially out of good ideas. Does your new school have a website we can check out? Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted April 2, 2007 Author Share Posted April 2, 2007 SJA, yeah will pm you that link Link to post Share on other sites
HighlyTrainedNovaTeacher 2 Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 Quote: One thing I have always wanted to do is do a family tree on my wife's* family. Good idea, I did that last year with a group and it was really very interesting (for me too). Took a bit of effort but the students were up for it and so it turned out to be a popular choice. Maybe could do it for famous people. (* Not your wifes family, by the way). Link to post Share on other sites
Oyuki kigan 0 Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 I used to have a great upper-intermediate/advanced textbook i bought dealing with various issues like marriage, sex, the environment, etc that focusd on conversation and debate. It was really good, and made people think about different viewpoints while they had to express their own ponions about the various topics. But i'll be damned if i can't remeber the name... Link to post Share on other sites
Tesselator 0 Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 Quote: What would you like to teach if you could teach anything? How would you approach it? What has worked/hasnt worked for you. Film parody. (Use Mad Magazine) Teach how and why. Small engine repair. (teaches technical instruction learning and is fun!) Get a buttload of 3 to 5 HP gas engines, rebuild them by the manual and if there's still time build go-carts. (I did this in Utah at a boys ranch one summer. It worked out nicely there.) Teach how to set up an internet radio station. Make them take turns DJing - require 20% (or something) of time to be "talk". Photo Journalism - Digital pics and write about it. Theater - They write plays in a group and then different groups have to preform the plays. (Teach the standard 2 and 3 act formats.) etc. Link to post Share on other sites
me jane 0 Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 I'm using a really good series of textbooks too. Called "Ideas and issues" and the focus is listening, discussion and debate. Takes articles from newspapers, magazines & TV. PM me & I can fax you a few pages or something if you are interested. Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted April 3, 2007 Author Share Posted April 3, 2007 >But i'll be damned if i can't remeber the name... Impact Issues maybe? Have used that. Tesselator, am considering a drama class right now for one class...just havent had drama since high school and only 1 in uni. Need to find some books with ideas on how to teach/approach it. mejane, "ideas and issues" sounds good. will see if we have that floating around somewhere but will send you my info per pm Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 How about some Earth Science? Geographic. Not just naming the elements (hill, mountain, river..) but discuss why the landscape here is among the most dynamic on Earth. Thrust faults, volcanos: rocks in the sky; all wanting to go downhill. Climate. How is it possible to go straight from sub-Arctic winter to sub-Tropical summer? Social. How does the combination of rich fertile soils and abundant sun and rain shape an island society? Link to post Share on other sites
SirJibAlot 0 Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 Writing poems, or err...rap songs? Not only can they work on thier english but also thier skillz. Link to post Share on other sites
scouser 4 Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 Quote: How is it possible to go straight from sub-Arctic winter to sub-Tropical summer? Good ideas there soubs. And if your students fine out, CB, do tell us how it is possible. Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted April 5, 2007 Author Share Posted April 5, 2007 prolly just live in Hawaii Go from the top of Mt. Kiluea to the beach in a few hours Link to post Share on other sites
samurai 0 Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 blogs... topics can vary, but having each student set up a blog will force them to pay attention even after you leave or they graduate. And who out there doesn't need to know how to do it? I am dying to progress my school into the IT realm. But the truth is, their english is far from being adequate to handle such a task. I teach at a famous sports school and most students don't have computers at home so they don't even understand PC use in japanese and are actually really behind the rest of their generation... so it really is harder than it sounds. But if level isn't an issue for you... Link to post Share on other sites
samurai 0 Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 I just reread your initial post and discovered they are at an international school. Can you think along the lines of university prep? I know they may get a lot, but I liked your idea about research papers. Most students (in america) can't even forumalate an essay albeit argumentative, informative or persuasive. Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted April 6, 2007 Author Share Posted April 6, 2007 Quote: Originally posted by samurai: I just reread your initial post and discovered they are at an international school. Can you think along the lines of university prep? I know they may get a lot, but I liked your idea about research papers. Most students (in america) can't even forumalate an essay albeit argumentative, informative or persuasive. Samurai, thats exactly what Im thinking of. Im a 3rd year jhs homeroom teacher and 70% of my classes are with them. In my homeroom, which has 38 kids, over 25 have lived abroad for 5 years or more all cross the world. Its incredible. I have many kids who are so good at English that their TOEIC scores are easily over 850 and also have EIKEN pre 1 and 1. Ive been looking online and have found a myriad of syllabi from the States, Canada, and UK for regular jhs/hs kids. That has been a huge help in my lesson planning. Just like me before I came here 95% of what I taught the last 8 yars was for your general monbusho kids/adults. Please keep those ideas coming!! cheers Link to post Share on other sites
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