TOEIC

The students did another TOEIC test last Friday (12th Feb) and the average was 629!!

This was a great achievement. The top score was 810, followed by 800. The lowest score was 450, which is still pretty awesome!!!

TOEIC, Bridges, Photographs, Christmas, holidays

Hi everyone,

Well, it's been another long spell without writing anything. A lot has happened, so I'll just go through a few of them. Firstly, the students are all doing well with the TOEIC tests. They are actually sitting another practise test today from 9-11. If you want to know more about this test then look at the link on the side of this blog. This year I'm giving the students about 13 tests. These tests usually happen at the end of the week. I also do a resit on Wednesdays. The average is going up all the time, so I'm very pleased with the results.

The students have also been building their balsa wood bridges. They then broke them last week. I have a video of it, but unfortunately when I tried to put it up on the blog it didn't go up. (Perhaps it was too big!) If you would like to see it then I can give it to your student.

The students are also getting good at using the Smartboard. The students take it in turns to do a 5-10 minute grammar or vocabularly class and teach it to the rest of the students.

The students have finished taking their photographs for the photographic competition. The categories were nature and people. They will be judged next week. All of the photos are hanging up in the classroom.

I am going to be teaching the students a little about Christmas. I have already told them about the Santa Parade, but would appreciate it if you could also encourage your student to go and see it.

Well, that's all for now. Remember that the classes go through to the 11th of December, but I will be here until the 18th of December, so I am trying to encourage the students to come in and practise their conversations, even though all of the engineering classes have finished. So...the week from the 14th to the 18th December is not compulsory for the students to come, but I will be informally coordinating activities in the morning for anybody that comes along. I have told the students of these arrangements.

Also, I haven't really had any feedback from you as homestay parents about anything, so am assuming that things are going smoothly. Remember that if you would like me to go over some English, or bring a matter up for the students to discuss in class, then please contact me - if not through this blog, then mpryde@tekotago.ac.nz

Talk to you soon,

Michael

Recent Classes, TOEIC

The students have been busy doing some TESOL classes. The students have been coming into the class to see how to teach English. They usually come in on Wednesdays to teach the students for a couple of hours, but for the last couple of days the students have been going to the university to sit and talk to people interested in teaching English.

The students are going to be sitting a TOEIC exam soon. The TOEIC exam stands for Teaching Of English for International Communication. This exam is a multiple choice exam and only tests reading and listening. It is an important exam in Japan. the maximum score is 990, or 495 for reading and 495 for listening. The exam lasts for two hours. The academic vocabulary for the test is quite high, so some students will feel the strain. This is only a practise exam. I plan to do about eight with the students and they will then sit the real exam when they return to Japan.

For information on the TOEIC test, go to google and type in TOEIC or click Test of English for International Communication.

You Tube

Recently, I have been using some very informative YouTube videos to teach the students about some interesting topics, but also as a listen and repeat lesson. I firstly, get the students to listen to the topic and then get them to talk about it for 45 seconds to their partners. I then give them a model answer. I go back over the model answer by stopping and starting the video and get the students to repeat the sentences. I pay attention to particular vocabulary and idioms and anything else that I think the students had difficulty understanding.

Here are a few of the Youtube videos that I showed gave to the students. They are all to do with the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) test.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux2Q0upiD_0

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJg138YlwvA

(If these links don't work then just go into YouTube and write in TOEFL and all of the links come up.)

The students find this difficult, but it certainly does give the more advanced students some great listening and speaking opportunities. Once again, the students can decide to go to the level that they are comfortable with. The students can also replay the clips as many times as they like for extra practise. Since the students are going to be doing the TOEIC test soon, then this is a good starting place.

1000 Basic Vocabulary

Before the end of last term, I gave the students the 1000 most basic words in English. The students have been writing out sentences using these words and I have been correcting them. The students have then been playing vocabulary games in class to familiarise themselves with these words. In fact, now, every day, the students have to take the role of teacher and make up a five minute game to play. The idea is for the teacher to use a lot of instructional English to get the class to perform. It also gives the students an idea of how challenging it is to be a teacher. The students also learn the vocabulary.

When the students have a grasp of these 1000 words, I will go onto the TOEIC vocabulary. The TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) is a test which the students will take when they return to KTC and is an important test.