why i don't teach from the textbook

Because there are lessons like this:


(Bad picture, I know...but there was not too much lighting in the staff room that day. This is one of MANY amusing subjects that the high school text covers.)

Here is an example of a worksheet that I created for the first year English students at my junior high schools:


Basically, the students are to draw their favorite person (cartoon, celebrity, someone they actually know, etc.) and then write five sentences to describe him or her. I really like this format because it encourages them to be creative when practicing new vocabulary words and since all of my students love to draw (even the tech high school kids) it gives them an artistic outlet along with the writing practice. If I have a significant amount of time to work with I usally have the students group together in pairs and describe their drawings to one another. At the end of the class they turn their papers in to me and I make grammar corrections and comments on their pictures (which are always very impressive) before handing them back next class. The drawing above was one of my favorites from yesterday's classes.

(Click on the picture to see a larger version.)