Tips for teaching Teens

Worgan M. describes some aspects of the teacher- student relationship that have worked for her and hergroups.

1. The First Day: The first few days are crucial to the way the course will run. This is the time when the students will make unconscious decisions about what kind of teacher you are and it is essential to let them know that, while you may be relaxed and friendly, you will not accept any nonsense.

Make sure they are conscious of the amount of work they will be doing both
in and out of class if they want to reach their objectives (pass a course or an exam, learn English, etc.) Most teenagers expect to have to put in a bit of effort, and this usually motivates them. It is really important that they feel motivated.

2. Being strict: Research has shown that firm but fair teachers are preferred by this age group. Many times teachers are tempted to treat a group of sixteen year olds as adults, but the fact is that  emotionally they are not. If you talk to them as if they were your friends or peers, they will often use this as an excuse not to study or do as you ask.

At the end of the day, most teenagers
don’t have the maturity to choose learning over fun and games and it will be much more difficult to get them to
put in the required effort. However, this doesn’t mean that teachers have to be strict all the time!

Students should be rewarded when they work hard and rewards, such as games and other fun activities, can be a great
incentive to get the task done. Transmit the idea that you are in control of the class, this is something teenagers consider as a qualification of a good.teacher.

3. Short-Term goals: For the teacher, the school year may fly by, but for the average fifteen-year-old, though, a year can be a very long time. Set them regular,
achievable goals in order to keep motivation as high as possible, and discuss and negotiate these goals with your students keeping them involved.

4. Motivation: Worgan M. mentions that one of the questions teachers of teenagers constantly ask is “How can I motivate them? They aren’t interested in
anything!” They usually don’t like the books and the topics in them. If you ask teenagers what topics they would like to cover in class they, usually, don’t know or
will come up with just a few.

Even if you bring in materials about their interests they will most probably show very little enthusiasm. The problem is not the actual topic of the lesson, but the type of activities involved.

I have used the following activities with
teenagers and they have worked well. Imagine you have a text about someone who found a bottle on the seashore. In the bottle was a message which was written many years ago.

Instead of just asking your students to read, tell them the story from the writer’s point of view from the beginning, but stopping before the end.

Now ask what happened next, encouraging all kinds of funny answers and, then, get them reading! The gist of it is to find fun ways to exploit the materials they already have in their course books.

5. Humour: A good laugh now and again can motivate teenagers to want to come to class. Make up stories or ask them to help you solve a problem or to introduce a grammar point that they actually know. My favorite problem-solving activity used to be a story which was partially true.

I would tell my students that I had
received a horrible birthday present (an orange blouse for example) from my husband and I didn’t know what to do with it, without hurting his feelings. The students would come up with all sorts of solutions, have fun and, actually, practice their English.

This will give you and the students an opportunity to relax. They will be much happier about working when they notice the teacher is prepared to tell a story or
joke. As a follow-up activity you can ask them to share similar problems they have or have had and their peers should suggest solutions.

Teenagers will be eager to
participate (as long as it is done in English) and our teaching objective will have been reached (2 nd Conditional: if I were you, I would…).

Effective Teaching Methods for Teenagers
Louanne Piccolo states in her article Teaching Teenagers: How to Motivate and Interest

Them, that t eenagers look for meaning and significance in relation to their own lives in what they are taught. An intelligent teacher will use this knowledge to personalize their lessons and relate this to what is going on in the lives of the students at the moment.

Teenagers want to know about now, and not about what happened a hundred years ago! Keeping up- to-date with technology and the topics that may interest teenagers may take a lot of effort on behalf of the teacher, but it is of utmost importance to getting and holding their attention.

Most teenagers like to talk about themselves, what they think, what they don't like and are quite emotional; so, teachers must be creative and organize activities like sharing journal entries or writing articles for a magazine students have created themselves.

This allows students to express themselves freely and talk about a topic they are interested in: their own ideas. Piccolo further explains that, prior to learning, teenagers need to know why they are doing something, how it can help them and how it relates to their lives.

Although everyone prefers interesting classes, this is not always possible. Teenagers are aware of this and even though they are, generally, in favor of fun they know that good learning takes an effort.

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Six Resources a Teacher Should Use When Teaching Teenagers

Piccolo suggests six resources which help put teaching methods into use, through appropriate and adapted
activities.

Here are some particularly useful resources when teaching teenagers:
Not quite-yet-adults and not-still children is a difficult thing to be. The average teenager is an inquisitive contrast of innocence and worldliness and has a thirst for knowledge that is endless, in spite of the fact that
their interests, emotions and frustrations vary enormously.

A teacher who understands the characteristics of a teenage learner, effective teaching methods and the resources to put those methods into
practice, is a teacher who will motivate and challenge a teenage class to learn with interest.

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