Classroom Management

One of the big issues with teaching at a university in Korea is motivating your students. I teach at a lower level uni and so most of my students just don't care about English. The course that I teach, Freshman English is required. And I can't really blame them for not caring. They'll never use English again, outside of this class that they just have to pass to get their degree. So the challenge is how to make my class interesting and engaging enough so that they'll actually pick up a bit of English, despite their reluctance.

One thing that I found that has worked extremely well is using a stamp and ink pad. Kind of like back in elementary school. I give them a stamp in their book for each time they do their homework. If we play a game, I'll give a stamp to the winners. If someone volunteers to speak in front of the class, I'll give out a stamp. If the students are doing paired conversation practice, I'll give out a stamp or two to encourage those who are speaking English and not Korean. These stamps count for %35 of their final grade and each stamp is worth 2%. The best students will have 15-20 stamps in a semester, so they'll end up with all 35 of the points. Even the students who don't really participate in class can get a "B" or so for doing their homework every week.

What do you think? What are you ideas?