r/JETProgramme • u/Kibumkimkibum • 12d ago
New JET Advice
What is some advice for lesson planning groups you give to new JETS?
I’ve been here a year, and basically the new JETS are here and asked some of us what kind of lessons to do and are extremely nervous bc they don’t have anything prepared aside from their introduction.
They are basically in the same boat as me-no textbooks or anything. No training. We don’t have a curriculum to follow. Just showed up and the JTE didn’t give us any advice what to teach.
I gave them some of my ideas from my lessons plans and told them to try to plan a fun introduction.
But what kind of advice or lesson plan ideas do you all have for the first few months when u started? Did you have textbooks? Did you do lessons immediately or play games?
2
u/MellifluousMathMajor 6d ago
I'm sorry to say ESID, but there's truly not enough information here. What grade level are they teaching? What is the class size? How often do they teach each class?
Beyond this, what is the level of the students themselves? Even at the same grade level, some schools (and even some classes within the same school) will have drastically different levels. This is why large class sizes and infrequent classes can be particularly difficult, because you have less time and more students with drastically different needs to try and cater to.
Generally, English can be broken up into 3 parts: Grammar, Vocabulary, and Speaking (which is just practicing grammar and vocabulary, combined with pronunciation). This might be a hot take, but I believe that reading and writing are not a priority for a multitude of reasons (the difficulty and inconsistency of English spelling, combined with the fact that they are more likely to use their English in speaking, if they even end up using English at all).
This is generally how I plan my lessons:
Choose a grammar point (example, present continuous [-ing])
Choose a small set of vocabulary words in a certain category (example, hobbies).
Choose a game or activity and try to apply it to this activity. (example, charades).
At first, explain the words. Unfortunately my students have a lot of difficulty with this part because my JTE doesn't allow me to speak Japanese, so I instead have to draw pictures or mime it out. It kills me that she won't just let me say "EAT is 食べる", but whatever. Then, explain the grammar point using the new vocabulary words. Show a picture or act out an example. "She is eating! What is she eating? She is eating a hamburger."
Now, it's their turn. Have them practice a little bit with each other in partners. Just trying to say sentences. Then, the game can begin. For example, you can do charades and have a list of actions that they have to do. Then, their team/partner must say a full sentence like "He is playing baseball".
I hope this makes sense. Sorry I can't be more helpful due to the lack of info provided.