English classes

English classes - i wanted to take a slightly different approach to teaching the kids as the books they use seem to be ineffective. So i took a book from home and began following the order used in that book. As they learn fast and are enthusiastic it is a pleasure to teach them and they make it easy for me by doing their homework on time etc. I am also working on being more patient with them and feel i have succeeded. I now calmly explain what they have got wrong instead of getting frustrated, however i lose my temper when they do not bother to do their homework.The fact that some of them don't appreciate the fact that i spend my Saturday mornings trying to teach them a language they will definitely benefit from knowing in this country irritates me as i am not doing it for myself or my cas blog but for their betterment, and when they seem indifferent to that fact it annoys me.
Recently i taught then verbs and the first, second and third person singular forms-present tense-of some common verbs. they grasped the concept soon and i have asked them to fill in a table for homework. Another goal i had was to make the classes interesting. While i now understand how frustrating it can be to teach an unresponsive student and the importance of doing homework as a form of revision, i also know how frustrating it can be for a student to sit through a boring lesson. It makes the student hate the subject. Even if the subject is a students favourite, a boring teacher really knows how to kill the passion a student has for a subject by teaching it in a boring manner. i was determined not to do this to the kids i teach. I also wanted to encourage a little competition between them as i believe a little competition can really raise the standard of a students work. Co-operation between student is essential for a class to succeed but the student also needs to feel some pressure to do the work given to him/her. This is true for me as in the classes in school in which the students are competitive i feel my standards have increased and the classes in which the students are lazier, i am slacking. Another thing i am happy about is the fact that i have got some of the lazier girls to start taking an interest in the work. Nowadays in Sri Lanka, if a person wants a decent job with a good salary they need to know more than one language and being able to speak good english can really help with getting jobs. because of this i am happy that the few students who used to give up instantly if they didnt know the answer to a question now seem to be deliberating over the answer and actually giving me a response. I am teaching the students tomorrow morning and i am looking forward to seeing what they have done at home.