I have to teach a SAT Verbal Section to korean high schoolers tomorrow. Usually, my students have been caucasian whom are more outspoken than the asian students I have had in the past.
Normally my basic teaching style involves breaking things down, and asking questions on why something is a certain way and why something else isn't.
When I've done this with asian students in the past, they don't really seem to give any input. They just want the rules chucked at them and it often stifles my ability to teach.
I am asian btw, before any outroars of racism ensue.
Any suggestions on how I might teach them how to break down reading passages and vocabulary? Are my past experiences teaching asian students simply out of the ordinary?
I'm a (new) teacher myself although I don't teach to kids so I can't give you advice, but I've given a few classes where the students don't really like to interact. I like to meet them halfway, as different people (or groups) learn in different way, so I'll be more thorough in my explanations and try to interact with them and stress that they can ask questions if they want to know more about a certain topic.
It may take some adaptation for you and for them. Last semester, I really had a tough time getting my students to talk but by the end of the semester some of the guys who were clearly more shy would ask me questions and come up with interesting stuff to talk about.
I once read about a non-asian girl who went to teach chinese kids. The school asked her to use physical punishment, which she refused, instead she asked the kid who misbehaved the most to go in a corner at the front of the class...she became the most feared teacher at that school. Seems like they "asians", are really scared to stand out, seperate themselves from others or make mistakes in front of others. I think if you would do the boring stuff first, then have them break off into very small groups to practice with each other, you could go from table to table and answer their questions on a more personal basis without risking to expose them in front of everybody. If that turns out to be ill practical, find a way to asks your questions so that everybody has to interact, maybe go from student to student, let them know that you go from left to right and everybody has to answer / explain something, so noone risks looking too different.
If students are unwilling to speak up, often they'll just sit and look at each other, waiting for someone else to answer. If you want to ask questions, I recommend picking people to answer rather than just throwing it out to the whole class. Start with some easy warm-up questions that everyone knows the answer to, so that they get used to being called on and answering. Then you can move on to the questions you really want to ask.
Also, make sure they know it's okay to say "I don't know" if they don't know, so they don't feel put on the spot. If the first person doesn't know the answer then just pick someone else.
Edit: I actually taught Korean high-schoolers for one year. I'm not sure what your class dynamics are, but I had 30 students in each class and they were really low level. What I ended up doing was having them work in groups, and calling on each group to give an answer, so no-one was singled out. But if you have a smaller class size with SAT level students, getting them to answer individually is reasonable imo.
The key to getting students to interact, especially when employing a dialectical teaching method, is to never give the students the chance to opt out. In sales terms, you can never give them the opportunity to say no. If you turn to the class and say "who knows the answer to this question?", you give them carte blanche to not respond. It is more difficult to address this problem in a large class, though. You can't pull a whole class along the same way that you can a few students.
One method I like is having a system for randomly selecting students: For example have a cup filled with tongue depressors with the students' names on them. Let the students know that you expect everyone to answer a question every class. The students will follow along because they know they could be called on and will be eager to answer any question that they know.
My credentials are the Kaplan SAT training program (although I did not work for them very long) and tutored middle school students for an AVID program (if you know what that is).
I wouldn't select students to answer like that. personally. Some students may get really discouraged and embarrassed if they get picked to answer something they don't know. A method I've never used before but I've been told about is to encourage students to interact by adding some participation points that area reasonably easy to get. That'll get the students to get involved when they feel like they have something to contribute.
Personally, I'd experiment with different grading systems, depending on the reason they don't participate in class. There are many different reasons to stay silent, for example:
a) They fear their grade will suffer if they give bad answers b) They fear they will make a mistake in front of the others c) They genuinely have no idea d) They're just not interested
Now there is no patent solution for c and d, but for the rest, it might pay off to experiment with different grading systems. If set up properly, the new system might get the a/b people to participate.
One such option would be to make the "exam grade" sufficient to pass the course and count all participation positively towards improving the overall grade (negative marks only for disruptive behavior). That way the a) students might feel less pressured, less fearful.
To relieve the b) fears, you have to create an atmosphere where students feel that it's safe to participate, that their fellow students won't mock them. I'm afraid that is much harder to pull off; maybe that's where the corner comes in? It all depends on what the students respond to.
Studying to be a teacher myself, and if I get a class that is very quiet, and not very interactive, I often try the following whenever I ask an important question:
-tell them to "Discuss this with a classmate next to you. Try to figure out the answer." -You give them about a minute to think and discuss. Maybe they'll just talk how they know nothing, but maybe they'll figure out the answer together -After that, you ask them with their NAMES, and as PARTNERS. When you call them by their names, it's like music to their ears instead of just "hey you!" and they are more inclined to answer. Also, when you ask them to answer as PARTNERS, they want to answer because they help their partner out, and it puts the pressure out because they thought of this together, and its not on just one person. -You can then further encourage using phrases like "You don't have to tell me your own thoughts, tell me what your partner thought!", or "What did you two think of, anything is fine. Maybe even what is confusing about this part!" -You decrease the pressure by asking them by their names and as partners while motivating them to answer, but don't let them off easily. If one partner doesn't know, go to the next. Also, instead of saying "Does anybody know?" ask instead "Who knows?". It's a small difference, but you approach with a totally different mindset and they are more inclined to answer
Needless to say, with a very quiet, un-interactive class you cannot build your lecture only on questions, but you can discuss the important concepts. Eventually when they get a bit more brave and learn this working method and you, they may start answering better on their own
Yes, you have to create a comfortable atmosphere, but....push has to come to shove at some point. Some kids will never willingly interact no matter how much indirect prodding you give, especially in a group setting.
I don't know if this method fits with what you're going to teach etc, but in a similar situation during high school (I think high school corresponds to ages 16-18, right?) my teacher used this method:
1. Tell the class that everyone will have to speak up and answer a question at some point (during this lesson or week or whatever fits)
2. Tell them that the questions or discussion points will get harder and harder (in my class we ended up having to talk about the economy of tajikistan, wtf dude).
3. Shoot questions!
There are two big benefits:
1. The students who are tryhards and feel like they want to prove they're good will wait for a while, so they can show their balls. 2. The insecure students will want to answer as fast as possible, so they'll answer as soon as they know the answer to a question.
Maybe a little too late to help, but why not just give them what they want and not ask any questions? I was a teaching assistant for a year in college teaching evening recitations for a freshman level computer science class. Trying to get any interaction from a room of 50+ students would have been like pulling teeth and a complete waste of everyone's time. So I just ran through my material non-interactively and just asked for questions periodically if no one stopped me. The students didn't have to show up, but virtually all of them did anyway so I assumed I was doing something right.
It's not that I'm against interactive teaching, but some material lends itself well to that format and some doesn't. For example, I went to law school, which is taught almost entirely through interaction with students, and it worked great because answers were always relative and flexible. However, subjects like math and science that expect one correct answer don't work nearly as well with participation. In my opinion, the SAT is squarely in the latter category given that it's a multiple choice test.
EPT
