Teaching Roundup 3: Getting Creative

Over this year I’ve experimented with a lot of different types of lessons. There have been serious, “academic” lessons (like debates on the death penalty and censorship in schools, and one-on-one exam prep for the oldest students). I’ve also done more playful lessons, especially with the younger students (who themselves tend to be more playful anyway).

For the last few weeks, I’ve tried taking some advice from one of the English teachers: teach what I find interesting, and the students’ enjoyment will follow. Here are some of my favorite lessons that have been pretty successful, largely because my own interest in the topics has made me much better at teaching them!

Macklemore: I managed to organize an entire lesson about American society around the song “A Wake,” a feat which I'm probably a little too proud of, but anyway. I’ve done the same lesson with a bunch of different classes and age groups, and it works every time. I think the students are a little surprised that a teacher, even an assistant, would do a class based around a rap song.  More importantly, the song contains a lot of references to important problems in the U.S. and so is actually a useful teaching tool.  The other great thing about a Macklemore lesson is that I get to finish by showing the class the “Thrift Shop” video, because I'll take advantage of any tiny opportunity to watch it.

Jeopardy: Jeopardy is another lesson I’ve adapted for many classes. The great thing about playing ESL Jeopardy is I can alter the difficulty level for my most and least advanced students. I can also keep changing the questions so the same students get to benefit from the game more than once. Some of the categories include French to English country names, naming famous Americans from their photographs, and spelling tricky English words.  Even some of the calmest students were motivated by the competitive nature of the game, and everyone seemed to appreciate the top prize cookies for the winners and consolation prize candy I gave out.

Pantene: Earlier this year, I followed a link on my Facebook news feed to this Pantene commercial from the Philippines.  While it doesn't really advertise hair products, the commercial is interesting for drawing attention to the sexism involved when people judge men and women. It’s a good conversation topic for a class, and the ad also provides a perfect opportunity to teach a few vocabulary words. I’ve taught this lesson to one of my less advanced classes, and I’m pleased to say that the students learned the vocab and were able to engage in a productive conversation about the video.

Psycho: I’ve been inspired by the upcoming Oscars to teach a class about movies, and this week I debuted a new lesson about Psycho. I love old movies, I love Alfred Hitchcock, and I love psychological thrillers, so Psycho made perfect sense. A lot of people abroad have seen Psycho, so rather than watching clips from the film, I focused on the 1960 trailer. It's a unique, 6.5-minute video featuring Hitchcock walking the audience around the grounds of the Bates Motel. The lesson was a lot of fun and I’m already planning to repeat it with several other classes.

(image credits: http://presents.knittingfactory.com/show/macklemore-ryan-lewis-2/, http://logos.wikia.com/wiki/Pantene, http://www.impawards.com/1960/psycho.html)