Teacher Talk (29): Stuck in between

From

To: rahmahs@yahoo.com

Salam Puan,

it's me again! I hope I'm not bothering you with my questions.I want to do fun activities and fun topics with my students but I am deprived of freedom as I am told that the exams/tests will be based on the content of the textbook. I agree that textbooks have a lot of useful content, they can be fun to use too, but I think there are other topics that are more interesting that can motivate students better.I am stuck in between and in the end, I am the one who becomes demotivated when I see students can not enjoy learning.

xxx



Dear xxx

I think you need not worry too much about which materials you use so long as the materials can help improve your students' proficiency. Why not use both? Textbook and other materials form the internet for example? Whichever materials you choose must ultimately help them improve their English. Yes, I believe English lessons have to be fun but FUN must = LEARNING. Sometimes we are misled by the word "fun". Yes, there's a lot of laughter and giggles but have we achieved our objectives? We go all out to make the class fun but whether learning takes place is questionable. I think whatever you do, make it accessible to the learners. Do something that gives them a sense of achievement. One thing I know for sure is as English teachers we do not give up easily. We find ways and means to help our students. Here's a link to a free grammar book by Betty Azar. There are some fun grammar activities that I think you can try in the classroom. Happy teaching!

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The Thinking Teacher