Topic :

education/
school matters
Unit 14 My First Class
 Teaching Objectives
Topic: education/school matters
2. Grammar Point: Collocation of some frequently
used verbs with nouns for action, such as give
somebody an answer, vs. answer somebody
3. Vocabulary: remote, dramatic, co-operation,
betray, suggest, amuse, assure, be left stranded,
take over, at the sight of, take an interest in,
leave to somebody, keepdown, amount to,
establishrapport with
4. Writing: Reviewing describing events/people
Unit 14 My First Class

Listening and Speaking Activities

Reading Comprehension and
Language Activities
Extended Activities

Fun time
Listening and Speaking Activities

1. Warming-up
2. Brainstorming
3. Listening
4. Speaking
Warming up
What, do you think, makes a good or
bad teacher?
Characteristics

Attitudetowards students
Attitude towards work
Good Teacher
 A. Characteristics:
A good teacher: sociable, caring,
kind, supportive, funny, humorous,
organized, creative, experienced,
talented, nice, friendly; ready to
accept new things;Patient, fair,
respectful
 B. Attitude towards students
A good teacher: enjoying his/her lessons,
knowing what students expect and
making plans to meet their expectations,
being receptive to students needs,
helping students find their strengths,
always encouraging and motivating
them, not speaking negatively about
her/his students to anyone else,
 C. Attitude towards teaching
A good teacher: making learning
comfortable, fun, enjoying teaching,
being passionate about teaching, being
serious about work, offering immediate
and accurate feedback, having a good
methodology, being willing to experiment
new strategies, thinking in new ways, and
generally doing anything possible to
revive the learning process
 A. Characteristics:

Abad teacher: not creative,

boring, and disorganized
 B. Attitude towards students

Abad teacher: picking

favorites, not caring what
her/his students need, being
impatient, knowing little about
what students are thinking,
 C. Attitude towards teaching

Abad teacher: being not

well prepared, not caring
what they are teaching,
simply following the
routines
 Brainstorming
1. Expressions for educational systems:
2. Expressions for educational
functions ():
3. Expressions for people involved in
education:
4. Expressions for school
organizations: :
5. Expressions for school facilities:

6.Expressions for school activities:

1. Expressions for educational systems:

group, class, grade (form in British

elementary and secondary
education),pre-school education,
elementary (or primary) / secondary /
tertiary education, basic education,
compulsory education, higher
education, adult education,
examination-oriented education,
1. Expressions for educational systems:

quality-oriented /competence oriented

education, universal education,
vocational education, school
curriculum reform, education reform,
higher education, school management
system, commercialization of
educational functions (
)
 2. Expressions for educational
functions ():
nursery, kindergarten, play center, day-
care center, kindie (informal, colloquial
expression), elementary / primary
schools (the former AmE, the latter
BrE), junior high School / senior high
school (AmE), middle school / high
school (Chinese), comprehensive
school (BrE), grammar school / public
school (mainly BrE),
 2. Expressions for educational
functions ():
college, university, academy (mainly
AmE, a secondary or high school, esp.
a private one / a school or college for
special instruction or training, such as
a military academy), school (for
professionals such as school of
engineering / law / medicine, etc.),
vocational school / institute, institute
(for education or research),
public/private school, boarding school
 3. Expressions for people involved in
education:
pre-school children, pupil, student, nurse,
teacher, headmaster, principal, lecturer,
assistant lecturer, associate professor,
professor, president (in tertiary education),
chancellor (BrE), counselor, (Americans
also have a set of expressions for university
students: freshmen, sophomore, junior,
and senior), undergraduate, postgraduate
(more BrE), graduate (more AmE)
researcher, school-leavers (BrE), graduates
(AmE), drop-outs, truants
4. Expressions for school organizations:

teaching group, department,

center, unit, school, branch,
office, general service / logistic
department
5. Expressions for school facilities:
gymnasium (gym), playground,
classroom, library (school /
departmental), laboratory, canteen /
dining room, hostel, clinic, financial
department, bookstore, theatre hall,
classroom building, administrative
building, student dormitory / hall of
residence, teachers' residential area
 6.Expressions for school activities:
lecture (n. / v.), discussion,
seminar (n.), demonstrate (v.),
demonstration (n.), presentation,
perform / make / do / carry out an
experiment, attend, pass / fail /
take (exams, courses) / sit exams,
sit for (an exam, mainly BrE), earn
credits,
 6.Expressions for school activities:
do well / badly in exams, revise /
review lessons, take notes, play
truant, special week (Science and
Technology Week, Arts Week, etc),
society, sorority ()caucus
(), students union (),
competition, match, sports meeting,
party, ball
 Pre-listening Task
1. If you attend a lecture/class, which
seat do you prefer, one in the front
of the lecture room or one at the
back? Why?
2. When will you choose a seat next to
the door?
3. If the lecture is boring, what do you
usually do?
 Post-listening activity
1.Why did the speaker sit next to the door?
2.What can you infer about the boys from
what the Careers man said to them?
3.What was happening at the back of the
hall?
4.What happened to the rat in the end?
 Blank Filling
1.What was the Careers man saying?

He was saying: "Boys, you must not feel that

you are (1)______, just because you are not one
of the (2) _______boys who are good at lessons
and all that sort of thing. No, indeed. Your (3)
________to society will be just as valuable, even
if you are only (4)________or (5) _______of
steel together. Indeed, in my opinion"
 2.What did the boys do while the Careers
man was speaking?
Mike and the speaker wondered whether the
Careers man was wearing a (6)____ because
his hair was certainly very black and (7)______,
which was not natural in a (8)_______ his age
according to Mike. Jack gave a (9)
________and when the headmaster hissed
Ssh from the platform, the speaker
(10)_______.
 3.What was happening at the back of the hall?
There was an (11)______at the back of the hall. A boy shouted
something. Chairs started (12)_________on the floor. Jack was
now awake. He and Mike jumped up and (13)______towards
the back to see what was happening. "Don't (14) ____on him!"
a boy shouted. Mike and Jack stood up on their chairs to have a
look. I stood up, too. I saw boys (15)________and staring
between their legs. And they were pushing towards the
windows. A few fell over. What's up? someone asked. It's
Peter. His rat got out. Someone else answered. Peter was
(16)_____forward, sending chairs (17)_________. Don't (18)
______him! he yelled. Where's he gone?
The hall was in an (19)_____. Boys were pretending to be
scared and jumping up and down. We felt (20)_______ excited.
This was better than an old careers lecture.
 Suggested Answers
(1) failures (2) academic
(3) contribution (4) mixing concrete
(5) screwing bits (6) wig (7) glossy
(8) feller (9) snore (10) groaned
(11) upheaval (12) squeaking (13) peered
(14) tread (15) bending over
(16) charging (17) tipping and crashing
(18) trample (19) uproar (20) terrifically
Reading Comprehension
and Language Activities

1. Pre-reading activity
2. Questions for general
comprehension
3. Summaries
4.Questions for discussion
Pre-reading activities

corporal punishment
Punishment by brutal forces, such
as beating, whipping, smacking,
or any other ways of inflicting pain.

Spare the rod, spoil

the child.

 Pre-reading Task
(1) What kind of student do you
think is a difficult student in the
teachers eyes?
(2) How can society educate a
difficult student?
(3) Should we make corporal
punishment illegal?
 Generally speaking, a difficult
student is a student with a
problem of some sort, such as a
lack of discipline, inability to
study, or anti-social, violent, or
rude behavior.
 back

Understanding the reason for their

behavior, and relating it to their
psychological needs.
Helping them express the cause of their bad
behavior.
Helping them distinguish between right and
wrong;
Letting them look for solutions on their own;
Helping them establish positive life values;
Helping them develop moral judgment;
Meeting their needs of love and respect;
 back

Corporal punishment is harmful to children.

a. It could lead to emotional and physical
problems;
b. Its an abuse of power, which will
encourage a child to do the same later in life;
c. It will lead them into unsatisfying
relationships with others;
d .Beating, humiliating and shaming children
will lower their self-esteem;
e. Being violent toward children will devalue
them in societys eyes;
f. It encourages children to resort to violence.
Unit 14 My first class
 Summarize the whole story.
Miss. Slade, a new teacher, had to take
over a problem class. Her colleague, Mr.
Martin, offered to introduce her to the
class. Upon entering the classroom, they
saw a boy throwing a book at another
student. As usual, Mr. Martin used
corporal punishment, which aroused
hostility among the students. Miss. Slade
was shocked by the brutality of the
teacher and made attempts to remedy
the situation.
 What Mr. Martin did in class:
When finding out who the trouble-
maker was, Mr. Martin taunted him
with sarcastic remarks and
intimidated the other students. He
took the opportunity to show the
new teacher how powerful and
effective he was in putting down
any trouble in class.
What Miss Slade did to save the situation:
First she looked at Riccio sympathetically, noting
his pale look and ill-fitting clothes. Later when
the boy returned to class, she showed her disgust
for Mr. Martin's brutality although she did not say
anything. Then, she made attempts to divert the
students' attention from the incident by asking
them to stop talking, but to no avail. Then, at the
suggestion of a student, she took the roll call to
get the attention of the class and she finally got
the students to listen. All along she was very
friendly and talked humorously, hoping to amuse
them and thus regain their trust.
Comprehension work
Reading Comprehension

1. Why was Miss Slade nervous before she

stepped into the classroom?
Miss Slade was nervous because
she was a new teacher in the first
place. Secondly, the class she was
about to take was not an ordinary
class, but a problem one.
Reading Comprehension
2. What did Mr. Martin offer to do to help
her? How does that reflect Mr. Martins
philosophy on education?
Mr. Martin offered to help her
deal with the trouble-makers in her
class. His method was swift and
painful punishment. This shows
that his idea of education was to
use force to establish the teacher's
dominance in class.
Reading Comprehension

3. What was the classroom like when Mr.

Martin and Miss Slade stepped in?

When they stepped in, the whole

class was in disorder a
boyish pandemonium. A boy
was throwing a book at another
boy.
Reading Comprehension
4. How did Mr. Martin handle the situation?
Was his method commendable?
Why did he behave like that?
Mr. Martin first singled out the culprit
Riccio, and then humiliated him before the
whole class and the new teacher with
sarcastic remarks. He threatened the class
that he would punish anybody who dared to
treat books like that again. Finally, he told
the boy to go out into the corridor where he
beat him to deter other boys from making
trouble. Judging by his behavior, Mr.
Martin was not a good teacher because he
needed force to control the class
Reading Comprehension

5. What kind of change took place in Miss

Slades attitude towards Mr. Martin?
A complete change took place in Miss Slade's
attitude towards Mr. Martin. At first, she
respected him because he looked like an
experienced teacher, warm, kind and ready to
help her in handling a problem class. But Mr.
Martin's behavior towards the boys and their
misbehavior completely changed her mind,
and she worried that he had ruined her
opportunity to win the hearts of her class.
Reading Comprehension
6. How did the class take the fact that Riccio
was physically punished by the teacher?

The class took it badly and were

sympathetic toward Riccio. They talked
about how to retaliate by making Mr.
Martin suffer and worst of all, they
thought all the teachers were their
enemies.
Reading Comprehension

7. What did Miss. Slade do to ease the tense

atmosphere in class?
Her first attempt was to get the students to
listen to her, but she failed. At the suggestion
of a boy in the front, she took the roll-call so
as to get the students' attention. When
tension began to ease a little, she tried to
amuse them with some humorous remarks.
Although her attempts did work completely,
she did change the atmosphere by diverting
their attention from the incident and in the
end brought some of the students' attention
to the text book.
Reading Comprehension
8. What did the narrator mean when she said,
Surely, I did not have to teach them as well?

She meant that she hardly had any

energy left for teaching since she
was so exhausted by her effort to
undo the harm Mr. Martin had done.
Reading Comprehension

9. What did she mean at last by Oh, Lord.

Just pay attention, then?
She was surprised that the students did
not even know what imagery meant.
Obviously the boys had not learned
much with their previous teacher(s).
She was ready to start from scratch and
explain the basics to them. She told the
boy to pay attention to what she was
going to say.
Reading Comprehension
10. Comment on the two teachers. What would
you do as a teacher if you happened to have a
Riccio in your class?
The following opinion and facts may be
of reference. (1) Corporal punishment is
not a humane method of education at
school although punishment is necessary.
(2) Teachers should treat students as
human beings and not try to dominate
them; (3) Children are sometimes
naughty but they will gradually mature if
they are given correct guidance.
Reading Comprehension

(4) Teachers must be patient with their

students. (5) A good teacher is not just a
professional who imparts academic
knowledge to the students, but a friend
for life. (6) In many cases teachers who
are sweet to students will find that the
badly behaved ones take advantage of
them. Sometimes a teacher has to be
cruel to be kind to help students learn.
They may not enjoy it at the time, but
later in life their knowledge and
discipline will be of great use.
Unit 14 My first class

ENTER
 The story is set in a boys high
school. The narrator is going to
teach a problem class which
means that the boys in this class
have serious discipline problems
and perform badly.
 thudding with activityschoolboys
streaming out of the assembly hall:
noisy with all the commotion as the
boys moved out of the assembly hall in
a continuous flow. Thudding
indicating a dull sound which could be
heard even inside the teachers office.
Streaming: originally meaning moving
together in the same direction like
flowing water.
 Punishment is swift and painful: what
Mr. Martin means by punishment is
corporal punishment as will be told
later in the story. This remark reflects
Martins philosophy on education. He
believes that corporal punishment,
administered immediately and
inflicting pain on the trouble-maker is
effective in correcting a boys
misbehavior although it is painful.
 wing of the school: part of the
school building which sticks
out from the main part or which
was built later than the main
part
 Language Points and vocabulary

remote

Back

Many students in our school come from

remote parts of the country.
 The door stood open onto a scene of: from
the open door Miss Slade caught sight of what
was going on inside the classroom. Onto
means to a position on, facingE.g. They
came out of the garden onto a brightly-lit street.
The word scene suggests that there is
something unusual about the situation inside
the classroom. The view is unusual because it
is the narrators first class; furthermore, the
class is not an ordinary one, but a problem
one. She is anticipating something unusual
happening inside.
 stand up, you bastard:
Bastard is an insulting swear word
used to address someone who you
think is mean or vicious, etc. one uses
it when one gets extremely angry. It is
not a suitable word to use before the
students at all. This reflects that Mr.
Martin himself is not polite, and that
he despises the students, showing
them no respect at all.
 the boy got to his feet, in no
special hurry:
the boy stood up slowly. It
suggests that the boy was reluctant
to follow Mr. Martins order as he
must know that it would mean
corporal punishment for him.
 He was long, thin and sallow and the
sleeves of his blazer were too short:
the boy looked ill-nourished and poorly
dressed. Sallow: (of a persons face)
unhealthy, of a pale yellowish color.
The inclusion of this detail points up
Miss Slades sympathy for the students.
She was an entirely different type of
teacher from Mr. Martin.
 Language Points and vocabulary

quiver: to shake
with a slight,
rapid, tremulous
movement.

Back

The little match girl kept

quivering with cold at
Christmas eve .
 Martin allowed a dramatic pause:
Mr. Martin deliberately stopped for
some time to let his authority be felt
more strongly. In fact he was not just
displaying his authority to intimidate
the students but also to impress the
new teacher with how powerful he was.
This description vividly depicts the
personal characteristics of Mr. Martin.
 Language Points and vocabulary

dramatic:
Arresting or
forceful in
appearance or
effect

Back

Landing on the moon was one of the

most dramatic scientific adventures of
the twentieth.
 I felt eager to assure him that it
would not be me:
He felt eager to tell him that he
didnt understand why the boys
should carry scars for life for
just being childish.
 Language Points and vocabulary

assure :
To cause to feel
sure:

Back

The doctor tried to assure the patient

that the medicine was safe.
 a rhetorical question:
It refers to Mr. Martins question,
which does not need an answer. In
saying Is that understood? Mr.
Martin was not questioning the boys
whether they understood or not but was
making a strong statement that they
should understand fully what would be
at stake if they dared to disregard his
order. The boys knew from previous
experience exactly what he meant.
Language Points and vocabulary

keepdown

Back

The child kept his head down in

front of his mother since he had
broken her favorite vase.
 I was left stranded with the damn
thing on my face:
She was left in an embarrassing
situation because her smile was
met with a cold response from the
students. It froze on her face just
like a stranded boat washed to the
shore unable to go back to the sea.
 Language Points and vocabulary

stranded :
to bring into or
leave in a difficult
or helpless
position.

Back

Rusted out boat stranded for

over 50 years during a bad
storm.
 Language Points and vocabulary

be left stranded :
to bring into or
leave in a difficult
or helpless
position.

Back

The old woman was left stranded

in the countryside after her
husband died.
 Language Points and vocabulary

co-operation

Back

He ask for police co-operation in looking

for his lost child.
 Language Points and vocabulary

take over :
to assume the
control or
management of.

Back

They wanted me to take over the job of

editing the magazine when Mr. Smith
left for his holidays.
Language Points and vocabulary

take an interest in

Back

I wish youd take a greater

interest in your work
 The boys straggled to their feet as
he left the room:
To show respect for the teacher,
the students would usually stand
up when the teacher enters or
leaves the room. In this situation,
the boys rose to their feet very
reluctantly, which shows their lack
of respect for Mr. Martin.
 My eyes must have betrayed my
horror at the sight of what
amounted to my first battered
child:
Miss Slade was too horrified by Mr.
Martins brutality to be able to
conceal her anger at him and her
sympathy for Riccio.
 Language Points and vocabulary

betray:
To make known
unintentionally:

Back

Her trembling hands betrayed her

nervousness.
 Language Points and vocabulary

at the sight of

Back

The woman almost fainted at the

sight of the wound to her son's
shoulder.
 Language Points and vocabulary

amount to :
To add up in
number or
quantity

Back

The annual output of the steel

plant amounts to ten million tons.
 My feelings towards Mr. Martin had
suffered a sea-change:
Her feelings towards Mr. Martin went
through very great changes. At the
beginning of the story, Miss Slade
respected him as Mr. Martin looked like
a warmhearted, caring and experienced
teacher. But now, his brutality to the
students made her think otherwise.
 The hostility now rippling
through the class:
the hostility now spreading all
over the class
 Language Points and vocabulary

suggest :
To make evident
indirectly; intimate
or imply:

Back

His changed attitude suggested that

what I had done was rather foolish.
 buggered my chances of capturing the hearts
of 3B:
destroyed all her hopes to make friends with
the students of 3B. Bugger is a slang
expression, here meaning destroy. The word
carries an intense feeling of dislike. Buggery
originally is anal rape. It is exceedingly rude.
One might say it is buggered meaning it
is broken or hes a silly bugger, meaning
hes an idiot. This is quite archaic.
 threatening colourful fates for
Martin:
threatening to retaliate by
making Mr. Martin suffer. Fate,
when used as a countable noun,
means an end or result,
especially death.
 I shall knock a few of their heads
together:
I shall punish them by telling them
off. The speaker is showing
sympathy for the teacher.
 Language Points and vocabulary

establishrapport
with:
Buid up relationship,
especially one of
mutual trust or
emotional affinity.

Back

My sister-in-law has established a

good rapport with my mother.
 take names:
cf. roll-call. While both of the
terms mean the same thing, the
former is more colloquial than
the latter.
 pipe down:
be quiet, a slang expression
 pipe down
Definition:To stop talking; to lower the volume.
Frequently used as a command meaning "Be
quiet!
Example:1) Pipe down! Mom's talking on the
phone.
2) Hey, pipe down in there -- I'm trying to
think!
Etymology:In the old days in the British navy,
musical pipes were used to send messages to
the crew. The last pipe message of the day was
called 'pipe down', and it signalled the time to
be quiet and go to bed.
 All right, you at the back with the
sweet stuck to your collar:
Miss Slade was trying to amuse the
students by deliberately mentioning
the fact that someone had stuck a
sweet onto the boys collar without his
knowing it. She was being friendly and
humorous so as to ease the tension in
class.
 felt for the sweet:
found it by using his hands For
example, She felt in the bag for her
key.
 Surely, I did not have to teach them as
well: Probably the previous teachers did
not do much teaching with this class.
They either spent time punishing those
trouble-makers or playing with the
students. Miss. Slade was exhausted
trying to undo the harm Mr. Martin had
done. She worked so hard to establish a
friendly relationship with her students
that she felt she had no more energy left
to for her teaching.
 This sentence shows some self-pity as
if she were saying to herself, Oh, Ive
done so much already. How could I
have any more energy to teach them as
well? But it is also a little humorous
and light-hearted. Obviously, she
knows she is there to teach!
 Language Points and vocabulary

amuse:
To cause to laugh
or smile by giving
pleasure.

Back

She was amused by the joke I told her.

Fun Time
Racking Your Brains

Try to solve the following riddles.

1. What animal carries two hills

on its back?
Camel

2. What goes up but never

comes down?

Your age
 Part Three: Further Development >> Racking Your Brains

3. What gets wet as it dries?

A towel

4. A bird am I and a male,

On my head there is a crown, A peacock
With many coins on may tail.
 Part Three: Further Development >> Racking Your Brains

5. The longer it stands, 6. Whats the best way

the lower it grows. to catch a fish?

A candle Have someone throw it to you.

Extended Activities

Listen and retell:

The boy and the apple tree
Discussion

What do you think of Mr. Martin

and Miss Slade?
Are they good teacher or bad
teacher, Why?
 In my opinion, Mr. Martin is not a
good teacher.
1. The story shows that he believed in corporal punishment, rather than
a humane method. He said "Punishment is swift and painful."
2. He used indecent language to his students. (Stand up, you bastard.)
3. He used sarcastic language to his students. (Do you throw books at
home ... you're not likely to apprehend the contents any other way.)
4. He threatened his students when he discovered a problem in class.
(If I catch anyone else treating a book like that, that boy will carry the
scars for the rest of his life. Is that understood? )
5. He threatened the class and displayed his unchallenged authority by
telling his students that he would always be there to publish them if
they misbehave. (I will be taking a special interest in seeing how well,
or how badly, you behave under the circumstances. I've told Miss Slade
to send any trouble-makers direct to me.)
He beat Riccio in the corridor with the textbook.
 In my opinion, Miss Slade is a good teacher.
1. Miss Slade disliked Mr. Martin's attitude toward Riccio. She was frightened
by his harshness, and his sarcastic remarks. (As she said, she was "quivering
with fright".)
2. When she heard Mr. Martin's threatening remark carrying scars forlife,
she felt eager to assure him that it would not be me.
3. She was a sympathetic teacher. She noticed the unhealthy look on Riccio's
face and the ill-fitting clothes he wore. Her eyes betrayed her horror at the sight
of what amounted to her first battered child. She felt outraged at having been
exposed to such brutality.
4. My feelings towards Mr. Martin had suffered a sea-change.
5. She tried to capture the hearts of the students by treating them as human
beings, rather than by subduing them by authority or force. E.g. She didn't
make any fuss when she heard what students said in secret.
6. She was friendly to the students. E.g. She tried to amuse them with her sense
of humor. She was grateful to any response shown by her students
 Exercise

Translation
Translation

1. At the sight of the general

walking towards him, he got to his
feet at once and saluted.

2. What is this money for? It's

for helping those children who
have lost the chance of schooling
to return to school again.
Translation

3. The knock at my door last night

sent me quivering with fright.

4. I can assure you that he is

a most reliable person.
Translation

5. Everybody hopes that he will

take over as dean of the
department when Mr. Martin
retires.

6. She tried her best to hide her

feelings, but her eyes betrayed her
longing for the prize.
Translation

7. It is said that people increase

their risk of skin cancer if they
are exposed to the sun too much.