Mice in the cookie jar

[Brian Lehmann]

Dear colleague,

If you are a teacher of Russian in the public schools and have had half baked
native speakers (of both Russian and Ukrainian descent) thrown into your
classes, then you know what I am struggling with and I would appreciate any
advice you might have.

In my Russian I class (mostly freshmen), I have 22 students, two of which are
from Russian speaking families.  They are not fluent nor very literate, but
have a considerable knowledge of the language.

In my Russian II class (mostly sophmores), I have 27 students, two of which
are from Russian families and 2 from Ukrainian.  They are fairly fluent and
can read newspaper level texts, but have trouble writing correctly.

Many of these students are put off by the elementary nature of the work that
we do in class.  When I ask them to do group work with other students, they
often withdraw, preferring to study by themselves.  Some of them can't be
bothered with learning the grammar of their language and are overconfident
and smug about their abilities.  Some seem interested mostly in an easy
grade, which is not always happening because of non-participation, excessive
abscences, and non-completion of homework assignments.

Regular students sometimes feel inferior/intimidated because of the superiour
knowledge of the "natives" and are reluctant to participate.  I do not have
the time and energy to create a separate program for these kids. Maybe there
is something out there written for them???

Does this sound familiar to anyone??

Brian Lehmann
uchityel at aol.com