non-responsive class - cant exist outside the box

[Shamisen]

Well I just taught an absolute bomb of a class.

Since we're doing manga in second grade, I thought I'd get a page from a japanese comic in English and have them read and understand the comic. For fun you know? Well aparently NOT.

We read through it, we translated all the 6 words and 2 phrases which were not in the textbook, we listened and repeated the 6 words and 2 phrases so they know how to pronounce it, then we listened and repeated the comic itself and then translated it verbally into japanese for them so they got the meaning.

After 20 minutes of that, they got into groups to read one sentence each (and try to understand the comic while reading)
Well. It was like everyone went into silent revolt. They all sat back in their chairs and stared into space. I encouraged them to choose the order they were to read in, but they didnt even start.

I asked the JTE "whats wrong? Theyre not doing anything. " He asked the one group that was actually trying to read.

Then they say "we cant read it"
WTF you cant read it? To me that translates as you dont know how to read because there are plenty of easy words in there - even 1st grade sentences for self introduction! Also we've just read it 4 times through as a class. Also, weve just gone through all the vocab, and translated it . What else do they need!!

OMG. Thats the last time I bring a page thats not a photocopy of the textbook for this class. They are soooo used to having things spoonfed to them that the moment something different arrives its like "circuit overload" SHUTDOWN BRAIN.
What the hell?
BTW, its not all classes, only this one.

[jessen100]

after one of my students told me he couldnt read today, since i erased the kataka he had written in over the word, i informed him that he was a liar, and broke the word down into things he knows and made him read it. i think he started to realize that he can read.

actually right now while typing the above, one came up and looked at this screen and said he cant read in exclamation. then i made him read it. and hes like oh yea, i guess i can.

i feel like many kids just have engrained it into themselves that they cant do something and give up before trying.

[Shamisen]

The mind boggles.
My brain refuses to process that. I just cant believe that kids have that ingrained in them that they "cant"
WHO IS Teaching them this idea???
At such a young age too?

After all the easy peasy English weve been coddling them with you 'd think they would have some confidence - even over-confidence! Heck, I know ppl who after taking only 6 weeks of a beginners japanese class, believe they can converse freely with any Japanese and they DO it and while they fail for the most part, they still believe they could communicate with them!






Thank you for the exploding head smily

[Otaku]

Maybe, your class needs to be taught to read? You gotta love the teachers that when you suggest teaching phonics so the students can learn to read, they reply with, "No time. They need to get through the textbook."

It's like trying to get through a Japanese language textbook without learning the kanas and kanji...

That being said, your class sounds pretty English-challenged and it doesn't sound like you're getting much help from the JTE. Sometimes I wonder if some JTEs sit back and take a more passive role in the classroom just to see the ALT get demoralized...

BTW, in the OP, I added the bomb-exploding-in-the-face smilie.

[bum1]

That smilie is golden.

[Paul]

Ok while totally understanding the frustration from my own experience let's put that aside a second and maybe take a look at why they tell you they cant read something. I will bet you that depending upon the student they really couldnt read it.

Here is something that students often say, "I don't understand it" so that also means "I can't read it." I was taught that if you cant read something or dont understand it look it up in a dictionary. They cant read nor understand it because they have only been taught to copy what a teacher tells them that the letters on a page say. If you tell someone that this reads "Good Morning" a thousand times, they will eventually get it through their heads that this is good morning. Personally I am rather amazed that anyone here can actually speak any intelligible English with the system that teaches them the way it does.

Thoughts here, your class may have bombed. Happens to everyone. Little consolation to you I know, but even after all the years I have been doing this I still have classes bomb and I feel disappointed too when it happens BUT I have learned to take a deep breath, talk with the JTE and either my lonesome or with them we work out a way to tweak one of my fantastic ideas to make it come across that way to the kids as well.

You ARE going to coming across classes where kids won't cooperate, in your efforts to try your best to make a class fun and entertaining you forgot to remember that your enthusiasm doesnt get to the kids through osmosis. Dont get down on yourself or the kids either. Just try to look for something else that will work.

Oh and btw, on a side questions here, with the way you described what you did for a lesson would YOU have found it interesting if you were in their shoes? Rhetorical question btw. In your rant I may have missed something and if I did I apologize however just because you find material to be interesting and something unique even though the delivery might have been different, blah is still blah even if it is chocolate covered.

Did you ever think about making that comic into an oral presentation? How about pair work? Was it a manga that "they" liked or even knew or just one you picked? I am not criticizing you, please dont read me wrong there. Just trying to help you to look at a way to rethink what you thought was a bomb and direct your attention to ways to try to make it better.

I have done tons of demo classes things like that, one's that I figured I batted a grand slam, only to get my butt reamed at the follow up meeting for all sorts of nit picky crap. This kid was picking his nose, that girl didnt open her book in a timely manner..... First time that happened I wanted to go ballistic, but realized that here no one can ever do a perfect class, there is always somewhere for improvement and learned quickly that the comments were not personal criticism but professional improvement advice. I would hope that you would read what I wrote that way. Cheers!

[jessen100]

I think one more important thing to recognize on the subject of reading, is that sight words such as "the" "to"and "where" are often not taught as such. when i was taught to read, it was explained to me that such worsd do not correctly follow the rules of general reading, and i think that if japanese kids arent taught that as well, its going to make reading a lot more confusing to them. its important to know which words are exceptions and which are not, so that if you come across a word you dont know, you know which patterns to refer to to sound out the unknown word correctly.

[Shamisen]

Otaku - thanks for constructive response.
After I calmed down and didnt want to punch people in the face anymore, I thought about a few of those.
I should have used Doraemon or one of the other elementary school level animes.
I thought about deleting the text in the speech bubbles and writing my own, but that would defeat the purpose. (to see what an actual English version comic looks like) It annoys me that everything has to be dumbed down so much and have all the sharp edges neatly smoothed over. In that case, I might as well have just drawn my own comic with happy faced stickmen.

But people like what they find familiar.

I had thought about having them write their own comic, but I thought that would have been too big of a challenge.

I thought the drawings were interesting. Lively facial expressions on that page. Its FMA by the way. Theyve got to have seen it at some point since the new ones coming out and stores have had huge posters and displays up to advertise. But I guess its not familiar enough - Id have to find a manga that most of the class has actually read or seen on tv.

Also, lots and lots of background information was needed apparently. I thought not, since it was in the first few pages of the 1st book and the two characters were basically intorducing themselves to a crowd, but it seems that students wanted to know who they were and what they were doing and what the manga was about before even getting into the comic page.

On top of that the JTE told me after that it was a slow class. Thats a nice little after the fact tip right? If I have known they had the lowest grades of all the classes, I wouldnt have attempted it at all.

Well from now on, this class is not gonna get anything except "lets listen and repeat after me" for the rest of the year.
I can do doraemon with the other 2 classes.

[Otaku]

I'm glad there was a little light at the end of the tunnel.

I guess Paul is synanomous with otaku....oh the irony.

[Paul]

I guess Paul is synanomous with otaku....oh the irony.

First off to Otaku...... lol!

Second to Shamisen, I sincerely hope you did not take my post personally that was not the intent.

And I would just say here that in my opinion you learned one very important thing about that class after the fact, which prompted you to reconsider how to approach preparation and delivery. I would be willing to bet that the next time you do a class like that you will find yourself feeling pretty good because the kids responded and had just as much fun as you intended in the first place.

Cheers! Have a great weekend.