30 minute class with Spanish adults - low level

[sunflower]

Hi

This is my first post here, so apologies if it´s in the wrong place. I´m working as a Language Assistant in Spain and I have 30 minute classes with each group. I´m due to change groups next week and I´ll be working with first year intermediate and second year basic levels. I´m a little worried about the classes because their level is quite low and usually the students are reluctant to talk. I don´t want any difficult silences. It´s also difficult for me to remember all the names because I only see my students once a week and there are roughly 22 in each class. I´ve tried asking them to make name cards, but many students forget to bring them the following week.

Can anyone give me any advice?

Thanks.

[jamesdavid]

Hi
I am teaching similar sized classes and found http://www.designerlessons.org to be helpful. It has a lot of material for adults and the lesson plans will help you encourage them to speak. It's good for when I'm stuck for ideas or need something different. the only thing I would say is that 30 mins is a very short time, so you would have to adapt the plans quite a lot.
If the site isn't good for your needs - try looking at onestopenglish.com - it has a lot of variety, but you have to pay for their resources.