::A Geek in Korea::

There was a point where we started our new books and were expected to finish forty pages in four classes. Suddenly, that requirement was dropped, and we had fourty pages for eight classes. The problem being I had burned through a lot of pages trying to match the syllabus I was given, then had to slow down to stretch out classes because I had double the time. All this worked for a while, but now I’ve finished my books in all my upper level classes. I have to earn my title as a teacher until some workbooks arrive for some “filler” material.

Today I designed a “Writing Challenge.” The students had to pick from one of six topics, and then state their opinion, give reasons and defend their explanations in an essay. They only had to write a detailed outline, instead of a formal paper, but they had to give it to me to be graded before the end of class. Then I handed them a puzzle paper they could work on for the rest of class.

This doesn’t seem like that difficult a “challenge” for native speakers, but a few months ago none of my students could do this. When I came back from Europe, I started doing intensive work teaching outlining and essay organization skills. We’ve moved on to persuasive essays and opinion pieces. I think this is pretty impressive. Students can now support their opinions, and can give a reason why they think something is a good idea or a bad idea, and also give opposing opinions to a topic. That’s a skill that they will need to use more in the future, and it got it’s start in my class. I like that.