Anyway, last night as I was planning a lesson for my beginning ESL class, I spent about 25 minutes on the internet looking for a picture or cartoon that I could use to teach body parts. I finally came up with this:
After all that time of finding NOTHING, this picture made me happy. The only word I couldn't teach with it was "back". But 9 out of 10 isn't bad, especially at 10:30 at night. I proceeded to put the picture into a word document and make it into a worksheet.
As I printed out the worksheet to copy before class the next day, Dr. Seaman's (one of my TESOL profs) voice echoed in my head...."cultural sensitivity is really important when you teach ESL, especially when you're teaching students who come from a very different background and tradition."
Suddenly my fantastic body parts man looked very naked and very not-so-kosher for the Ethiopian woman in my class who was raised in a largely Muslim part of the world. Too much skin.
So back to the drawing board I went. But after about 10 more minutes of searching I realized that I wasn't going to find what I wanted. And then a stroke of genius hit me. A few minutes and one light blue post-it note later, I had this:
Ta-dah! Probably still too much leg for the ultra-conservative among us, but at 11pm it was close enough. I was pretty pleased with my creativity.
Tonight I went to work with flash cards that say things like "hand", "ear", and "arm". I also took two flyswatters, for the ESL teacher's greatest tool- the flyswatter game.
I could have a job that requires a copy of the Wall Street Journal or a stethoscope or a tool belt. But I'm happy I have one that involves flashcards, markers, flyswatters, and shaving cream. I'm thankful for my job.
4 comments:
I'm teaching English at my church each week now, in an overt attempt to get them to like me. And I'm not an "Trade: English Teacher", so I need all the hints I can get. What is the fly-swatter game???
Sorry, make that: I'm not A "Trade: English Teacher", not AN "Trade: English Teacher"...
How embarrassing.
Well, in the flyswatter game you split your class into two teams and line them up in front of a black board or wall or white board or whatever you have. You write or tape vocab words or pictures of vocab words on the surface randomly. The first person in each teams' line gets a flyswatter. You call out a word and the first person to slap that word or picture with the flyswatter, wins a point for their team. Then the flyswatters get handed back and the next two people in line take a turn. I've never seen this game bomb in any classroom.
The flyswatter game (http://eslcarissa.blogspot.mx/2012/09/flyswatter.html) is a sure hit in all levels with all cultures!
When you do body parts have you ever tried Oh No Poor Joe? It is a bit juvenile (http://momtessori.blogspot.mx/2010/03/oh-no-poor-joe.html) but I find the rhythym works well in most beginner classes.
Good job on the post it!
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