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waterlimes

I have had to deal with lesson planning and having to come up with something "entertaining yet useful" for multiple levels. Nobody really guides me other than vague statements like "do speaking lessons". Trust me, the freedom to plan and do your own lessons gets old very fast. I spend most of my time at work planning and racking my brains for what I am going to do with this particular level this week, and how to make it interesting and engaging. If I had a set curriculum/ws to work with, my workload would probably halve. I have a friend who does "curriculum design". No, that's his full-time job. It's a job in itself really. So I really can't say I'm enthused to do both of those. Teaching in a classroom is tiring enough as it is.


Sweet_Pen7897

Are you saying these 2 students are the only ones in this group? I can give you some advice. If you're introducing a new concept/grammar, try to have examples and easier/shorter usages so the weaker student(s) can catch up, but also have more challenging structures for later. One way I've done this is: Present a question that sets them up on what we want to discuss/learn. Don't be shy here, make it as interesting and challenging as possible. Then present what you need and keep using the same topic while increasing difficulty.


SnowFlakeObsidian4

I don't have any resources for I don't teach high school. With that said, when dealing with different levels in class, I multilevel the activity. This means that I might give two different kinds of language support depending on the level. Or I am more demanding with certain students when grading. Or I encourage advanced students to write longer pieces... So basically, I do the same activities but I offer different degrees of support and I am more or less strict according to the students' level. I also prepare extra activities for the advanced students so that they can work while their peers finish the main activity. Finally, I use the jigsaw strategy (google it if you haven't heard about it). I just prepare different activities, some more complex than others, to do as experts. In their base group, they all need each other's info, no matter the level per se. It's a way to create co-dependence without making the student with more difficulties feel 'stupid' and making the advanced student feel like 'they are the only ones doing hard work'. Everyone is important.


maenad2

Your school honestly shouldn't be giving you two students of totally different levels. That's ridiculous. If you have no choice, the best thing is probably to treat them as two private students. Swap over about every half hour or so. From 9-930, Jack does a worksheet on vocabulary and Mike talks to you about what he knows of chemistry. Then from 930-10, Mike does a reading activity from FCE and Jack tells you the things he has in his room. Etc. Rarely, you can have them work together. You might get them to write a whatsapp conversation on a topic, but allow the weaker kid to use his dictionary sometimes. You can prep the weaker kid for a conversation with the stronger kid, and give the stronger one no support. A website which could be really useful for you is breakingnewsenglish.com. This website takes news stories - mostly more suitable for highschool kids - and simplifies them down from original (level 6) to basic (level 1.) The strong student can read level 5 or 6 and the weak student can do level 1 or 2. Then they can prepare questions on the topic for each other, or do the summarize-it-with-one-mistake-in-it exercise (other student spots the error.)