After School Program … Be Careful What You Wish For

Back in March I was asked about after school programs by my co-workers. So I told them I’d like to conduct a reading class with students who needed help with their reading and didn’t have access to the hagwons. I said that I’d like to help out the lower-level students. How very Edward James Olmos of me. Well unfortunately for me this isn’t ‘Stand and Deliver’. I asked for low level and my oh my did I get low-level. Kids who after 3 years of English education can read ANYTHING. I had the bright idea of using ‘Green Eggs And Ham’ as a starter book and I spent the first class teaching the students to read three or four sentences (in forty minutes). Today we cover another three or four sentences. I spent a great deal of time teaching the students to say ‘them’, and ‘would’. That’s of course between constantly corralling and trying to get their attention back to the lesson. Today I was 20% teacher and 80% police officer.

So what’s a teacher to do? A few years ago the answer would have been ‘drag them through the book’. However it would be wiser to find stuff that’s more appropriate to their needs. I don’t intend to give up on teaching reading to the group, but I have to change my tack. This weekend I’ll be looking over phonics books.