You need to get them interested and use a wide variety of readings and activities (and testing methods) to keep students engaged.
http://a4esl.org/
In addition to the grammar and vocabulary ideas here, use crossword puzzles and other links below that. Don't pass up the podcasts and videos that are linked.
http://www.eslcafe.com/
Make especially good use of Stuff for Teachers and Stuff for Students here.
http://stickyball.net/
Make use of everything you can find here -- both academic things and the GAMES and Jokes and riddles.
http://www.manythings.org/
Go through EVERYTHING here -- there's wonderful variety. And don't pass up the section on songs.
http://www.rong-chang.com/
Amazing variety of activities here.
http://www.everythingesl.net/
Not everything here is intended to be used with students, but there are a few, including the vocabulary development ideas (scroll down).
1) As I know you are a retired teacher, I'd like to know your opinion on that.
I really need your help.
The headmaster keeps giving me classes with a very poor knowledge of the language and my students don't like my method of teaching. What do you think I should do? It has never happened to me before and I don't know how to cope with my students' requests.
He sides with the students without considering my difficulty.
2 answers
Find out what THEY want out of the class. Do they want to waste a year or do they want to actually learn something? Once you know what THEY want out of the class, then you figure out how to give it to them WHILE you are teaching!
I did a lot of work in groups. Once you know their grades, you pick one high grade with 2 low grade and then 1 or 2 in the middle, depending upon the numbers of students. TOT is all I had to put on the board. (Time On Task) Knowing that they got a GROUP score, they quickly pulled the poorer student up. YOU don't pick the leader; they will and they are going to pick the brightest in the group.
At first it's noisy but you will get used to that when you see that they ARE spending Time On the Task. I also gave penalty points to those who were NOT on task and then every once in a while those students had to do something "silly" in front of the class. Actually the students made up the "penalities" which of course you go through, throwing away the "not nice" ones.
They need to know that you are there for THEM.
Sra
I did a lot of work in groups. Once you know their grades, you pick one high grade with 2 low grade and then 1 or 2 in the middle, depending upon the numbers of students. TOT is all I had to put on the board. (Time On Task) Knowing that they got a GROUP score, they quickly pulled the poorer student up. YOU don't pick the leader; they will and they are going to pick the brightest in the group.
At first it's noisy but you will get used to that when you see that they ARE spending Time On the Task. I also gave penalty points to those who were NOT on task and then every once in a while those students had to do something "silly" in front of the class. Actually the students made up the "penalities" which of course you go through, throwing away the "not nice" ones.
They need to know that you are there for THEM.
Sra