Teaching is an "art". There are many different ways to teach someone to do things. In my ESL certification class we discuss about different methods of teaching ESL. We discuss "grammar-translation", "Audio-lingualism", PPP (presentation, practice, and production), communicative language teaching, and task-based learning. Those are different ways that have been developed over the years, from the 1700s to now, that have been used to teach ESL. In my class we discuss these methods and how their strengths and weaknesses. Even though new methods have been developed the old methods still work.
Working with partners outside.
I often attribute the changes in methods to someone getting their Doctorate degree and coming up with a different idea. Using a combination of all the methods adds variety to the class and is important. When I teach I bring a lot of my personal experiences to my class. I have been teaching for over 20 years and I know what has worked for me and what hasn't. During my class I try to give words of wisdom about different ways of teaching. One of the most important things I try to instill on my students is that students don't learn as much if they are too serious. I tell my students that when they teach they have to find ways their students have fun. I always say you have to laugh to learn.
Playing games while learning.
I taught in Korea for seven years. I talked to many of my students in Korea about their high school days. I always wondered why so many (100% of the students I met) high school students went to "hagwons" which are tutoring centers that are open after school hours. I was told the normal class was very boring. All the students stay in the same classroom and the teachers come to them. There are usually 50 students in each class. The teacher comes in the room and all students stand up and bow to the teacher and the teacher bows back. Then the teacher turns to the board and starts writing things on the board and talks consistently towards the board until the time is over and when it is time to leave the teacher turns around and the students stand up and they bow to each other and the teacher leaves.
Students have to speak in a conversation class.
When I talk to Korean students I ask them "when" they slept in during high school not "if" they slept during high school. After the students go to class from 8 - 4 and have classes that way most students go to a hagwon. At the hagwon the classes are small, about 15 - 20 and the teachers teach math, language arts, science, and English. Many students will be at the hagwon until midnight then walk home and do 2 - 3 hours of homework for school then sleep for a few hours and then go to school. On the weekend many have tutors or another hagwon. They are given one test for each subject at the end of the semester and that determines their grade. It is very a very ineffective education system. Students have no fun!
Using crayons to learn colors.
Much of my class is spent on different games that can be played to teach. I ask my students to remember the when they were in school and spent many hours studying for exams and how much of that did they retain. I don't know about others, but I usually quickly forgot what I had studied for so long. I think if you have stress when you learn it is short term memory not long term. I also believe the opposite is true, when you have fun learning something then you improve the long term memory. When I teach I want my students to have fun and acquire the knowledge rather than learn it. Start with the activity that we want them to learn and then go backwards and teach what they need to do that activity.
All of my classes spend much time playing games.
If I want to find a way to get people to speak I can have them play "go fish". They have to learn the numbers, how to ask for something, how to say they have it or don't, and how to "trash talk". Students want to learn how to do this so they can "win" the game. As the teacher I don't care if THEY win, all I know is I also win since I got them to do what I wanted. If I want to teach then how to use past tense then they have to learn that before they can play a game like Clue. If I want them to learn to use prepositions I use my favorite lesson which I have on YouTube.
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