Full Blast Intermediate School

English Teachers Training ProgramThursday 26th / 12 / 1434

Part 1

Prepared by

Abdulrahman Gadah

اإلدارة العامة للتربية

والتعليم بمنطقة

مكة

Open books open minds

Teaching teenagers: How to engage the disengaged and maximize your students’

learning potential

Features of adolescence:

• Mood swings• Impulsive, risky behaviour • Egocentrism• Concern about appearance • Need to ‘belong’ / peer pressure • Finding one’s own identity

Features of adolescence: Cognitive

• Longer concentration span • Growing ability to work independently • Ability for abstract thought • ‘Black and white’ world giving its place

to ‘grey’

Do’s and Don’ts with teenagers

Do’s Don’tsTake an interest in your Ss’ lives Ignore Ss’ opinions

Respect your Ss Treat them like children

Get Ss involved in setting class goals

Treat them like adults

Make Ss responsible for their actions

Let Ss do what they want

Establish limits ‘Play teenager’

Be friendly Offend Ss

Encourage autonomous learning Be dogmatic

Trust your Ss Make fun of Ss

Teaching teenagers is often seen as a daunting task, whereas in fact it can

be a rewarding and enjoyable experience.

How?

Well, the better we understand their needs, interests and abilities, the more

engaging our lessons become.

How to make the lesson engaging:

technology topics (up-to-date, interesting)

attractive layout variety

motivating activities creativity

student-centered lesson

A perfect marriage

words & images

=memorable & productive

learning experience

semantic info

collocations

grammatical characteristics

sound

written form

image prior experience

NEW WORD

Travel & tourism

Food

Meaning

Image is not just an important factor for understanding the meaning of a piece of

language.

Image is meaning.

Technology and the image age

W O W !

Which of the following topics would your students find interesting?

• A famous football team• A restaurant review• Supermarket shopping• Extreme sports• A real-life mystery• A theme park• Cooking for fun• Interview with a young cook• Fast food vs. homemade food• ……..

Allow students to use their creative thinking through…• Brainstorming• Encouraging originality• Taking risks• Elaborating (embellishing existing ideas)• Inspiration• Problem solving

Don’t forget!Provide students with the relevant knowledge and skills

Because...

• Boredom• Irritability• No concentration• Low productivity...

Quiz

Comic strip

Magazine article

E-mails

A window on the world…

• Ss learn to make connections

• Ss learn about cultural similarities and differences

• Appreciation of other cultures

• Because learning a language is not enough…

WHEN I ARRIVED,I GAVE HIM A

PRESENT, BUT HE DIDN’T WANT IT. I HAD TO OFFER IT

AGAIN AND AGAIN UNTIL HE FINALLY TOOK IT.

Students should have an idea of what they will learn.

MeMyselfand I

Ways of engaging students:

1. Clear goals2. Varied topics and tasks3. Visuals4. Tension and challenge: games5. Entertainment6. Play-acting7. Personalization8. Open-ended cues

Penny Ur, A Course in Language Teaching

Thank you

Abdulrahman Gadah