It has already been said that teachers don’t teach anything. We just motivate our students to learn. The more we can motivate them, the more they will learn.
When you are dealing with teenage students, you know it is hard to keep them motivated. Most of the time they feel they would rather be anywhere else but in an English class. They don’t see the point of learning English. When you tell them that English is important for their future, they couldn’t care less. For them the future is the party they are going to have on the weekend.
Anything you can do to show them that English can be used in their lives now is welcome. This will give them motivation to learn English now.
Teen.com is the a website for teens and tweens and it’s a wonderful source for celebrity and entertainment news, exclusive video interviews, TV recaps, movie reviews, new music and funny viral videos. It is really appealing to teens. There’s something for everyone.
Teen.com also has many fun quizzes and surveys, hair and makeup ideas, trivia guessing games, photos of hot celebrities and celebrity-inspired style tips. They have a lot of information on favorite teen celebrities like Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, and One Direction. They also have information on TV shows and movies like Glee, The Vampire Diaries, The Hunger Games and Snow White, plus fun games and polls.
Encourage you teenage students to visit this website (www.teen.com) and find out that English can be used to know more about their own world.
Here’s an example of an article on the great TV show Glee:
https://www.teen.com/2012/09/28/television/glee-gossip/glee-recap-season-4-makeover/
The site always has a lot of videos that students can watch in class (if you have the time) or at home. Here are just a few examples:
Inside Harry Styles’ Mansion
Non-Expert Advice: This Weird Kid Likes Me!
Eff Yeah! I Want That!: World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria
The videos are usually short, which is really good. You can show them one or two videos in class and encourage them to find something they like on their own. If they don’t understand a lot, tell them not to worry. The more the watch videos in English, the more they will understand them. And the more they read articles and stories in English, the better they will read. It is just a matter or practice.
Your teenage students will love this website and learn a lot of English while having lots of fun! And Teen.com is also a great source for teachers. After all, understanding our students’ world is very helpful for us, because we can relate to them much better. So give it try yourself!
Loved the tip. I always find it difficult to reach to teens or tweens, fortunatelly (or, unfortunately) I've never had many of them. I'll sure make good use of teen.com with my future young students. Cheers