Being effective in your situation

This page is about being an effective teacher in your particular situation. Every situation is different right? - But that does not mean that there are not some little things that we can all do to be more effective teachers. This page is the sugar in the phrase "If you are given lemons make lemonade".

Flashcards

Is your one and only role to lead the class with flashcards? There are many ways to be more effective here.

Rhythm

Get a beat to your repetitions. Start with a slow 4x4 beat. Tap it out with a pencil or with your foot. Say the word on the first beat, and get the students to repeat on the first beat of the next bar. Once the words are comfortable you can move onto individual repetition.

Individual Repetition

Decide on an order for the students to repeat the words(e.g. going from the front to the back). Say the word on the first beat and the students repeat the word one at a time in order. It is expected the someone will miss the beat or mispronounce the word. When a miss happens, stop that round and start again from when it stopped with a new round. If it does not stop increase the speed until they can't keep up.

Divide and Conquer

To encourage a louder response, divide the class into a number of groups (2-4). Instead of the whole class repeating the word, only one group repeats. Encourage the students to compete against each other. Repeating the same word for each group so the next group can try and be louder than the last. Raise your own voice when prompting to lead the class.

Paying Attention

When you are asking students to repeat words individual, other students may space out when they are not called. To help guard against this, instead of just prompting with new flash cards when one student has replied successfully, mix it up by asking the next student what the previous student said. For example,

• ALT: "Video Games..."
• Emi: "eto...."
• ALT: "Video Games..."
• Emi: "Bideo Gamesu...."
• ALT: "Video Games..."
• Emi: "Video Games..."
• ALT: "Great! Shin, what did Emi say?"
• Shin: "eto...."
• ALT: "Emi, what did you just say"
• Emi: "Video Games!"
• ALT: "Great! Shin, what did Emi say?"
• Shin: "Video Games!"
• ALT: "Great!"

Expanding into games

Flashcards can be used with various games:

• Keshigomu game - a listening and speaking game that divides the class into pairs.

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