If you are the chatty type, just do so. Weather, news,
gossip. Act like a moderator and a fellow gossip as much as
possible, but encourage them to speak to each other more, instead of
just to you ('What do
you think about that, Ms.
LeFevre?'). Spend your first class finding out what they are
interested in-- hobbies, pastimes, current events, sports-- and then
you can augment your 'free conversation' with authentic materials of
any kind on those topics. Before those dead spots develop, have in mind
a simple word game which 'you just thought of' (I have a Scrabble board
on a top shelf that occasionally comes down when my patience and
imagination are exhausted-- and they love it). Having copies of a
daily comic strip in your file is always handy for
trying to
teach some humour. No formal teaching required-- but they will be
grateful if you slip in a pronciation drill on some minimal-pair that
they are having trouble with, or supplement their vocabulary in a field
of interest.