QUICK RESOURCE SHEET #78

Teaching teenagers

PREVIOUS TOPICS LISTED AT BOTTOM OF PAGE

Teaching teenagers isn't easy because, well, being a teenager isn't easy. Just think back to your adolescence when you were going through all those changes, changes in your body and in your mind: habits and opinions, tastes in clothes and music, relationships with parents and teachers… Of course, it's dangerous and difficult to generalise about adolescence from individual to individual, and from culture to culture; levels of maturity can differ significantly from culture to culture and in individuals within the same culture. But if you have accepted the challenge of teaching teenagers, then you are the teacher of a group of young, impressionable people and will need to try to be flexible and patient with each individual. And you will need to remember that in the classroom, the group dynamic is often as important as pedagogical content and activities will carry benefits other than linguistic content.

--- from http://www.cambridge.org/elt/englishinmind/teacher_resources/teaching_teenagers.htm

http://education.indiana.edu/cas/tt/ttarticles.html

“Teacher Talk is published by the Center for Adolescent and Family Studies at the School of Education, Indiana University, Bloomington,IN. It is a publication for preservice and secondary education teachers…”

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/methodology/teen_angst.shtml

“Teaching teenagers can be a frustrating and stressful experience. They tend to be less motivated than other age groups, they can have a low 'world' awareness and can be unpredictable. Often they don't want to be in class. However, they can also be the most rewarding, fun and liveliest students you'll ever teach.”

http://www.onestopenglish.com/Young_Learners/Teenage/index.htm

“Teenagers are notoriously hard to please and teachers are always looking for original activities that will both capture and hold students' interest. All of the ideas, materials and lesson plans in this section aim to inspire and engage teenage learners of English and to activate learning across all four skills.”

http://www.oup.com/elt/teachersclub/teenage/?cc=global

A collection of free downloadable activities and other information for use with teenage learners.

http://www.teenadviceonline.org/

“The Mission of Teen Advice Online (TAO) is to provide support for teenaged problems through a network of peers from around the globe. Worldwide, yet operating as a close knit community via the wonders of technology, TAO recognizes the necessity of working together, assisting humanity in dealing with the challenges of life.”

http://esl.about.com/library/lessons/blpop.htm

“Getting younger, teenage students to talk can be a real challenge. This lesson focuses on using a True or False game as a means of motivation to get them discussing their favorite types of music and musicians.”

Previous editions of the QUICK RESOURCE SHEET

#1 – Creating quizzes (and more) online                                                         

#2 – Vocabulary builders

#3 – Online discussion groups for English teachers                                    

#4 – Grammar headaches – and how to cure them

#5 – Resources for new teachers                                                     

#6 – International Education Week

#7 – Mentoring programs                                                                    

#8 – Education publications online

#9 – Applied Linguistics                                                                   

#10 – English for Young Learners

#11 – World AIDS Day                                                                      

#12 – Online writing guides

#13 – E-mail exchanges                                                                      

#14 – Free online English courses

#15 – Effective e-mail communication                                             

#16 – Libraries online

#17 – American Studies                                                                     

#18 – Teaching methodologies

#19 – Internet tutorials                                                                       

#20 – Using the newspaper – Part I

#21 – Making books                                                                           

#22 - Using the newspaper – Part II

#23 – Human rights in language teaching

#24 – Blogging

#25 – Poetry and language teaching

#26 – The communicative approach

#27 -  Idioms

#28 – Earth Day

#29 – Alternative assessment

#30 – Peer assessment

#31 – Self-assessment

#32 – Portfolio assessment – Part I

#33 -  Portfolio assessment - Part II (Online Portfolios)

#34 – Intercultural communication

#35 – Teaching Adults

#36 – Learning disorders / Special needs

#37 – Using computers in reading instruction

#38 – Use of authentic materials

#39 – English for Medical Purposes

#40 – Sources for authentic materials

#41 – Education and technology

#42 – Academic writing

#43 – Teaching and stress

#44 – Back to school

#45 – Motivating students

#46 – Action research

#47 – Internet terminology

#48 – Fluency

#49 – Curriculum design

#50 – Pragmatics

#51 - Podcasting for English teachers

#52 – Critical reading

#53 – Learner autonomy

#54 – Scaffolding

#55 – Holidays

#56 – English for Academic Purposes

#57 – Mixed-level classes

#58 – The brain and language learning

#59 – Book clubs/Readers’ groups

#60 – Teachers and technology

#61 – Using video in the language classroom

#62 – Internet-based classroom projects

#63 – Observing student teachers

#64 – Digital literacy

#65 – Group work

#66 – Giving feedback on student writing

#67 – Vlogging

#68 – Educational leadership

#69 – The first five minutes: How to get a class warmed up

#70 – Managing test anxiety

#71 – Developing listening comprehension

#72 – Discourse analysis

#73 – English for Tourism

#74 – Storytelling

#75 – Virtual Learning Environments

#76 – Sociolinguistics

#77 – Corpus Linguistics