TEFL & Teens: How To Keep Sane In The Classroom

Classes with teen learners split the TEFL teacher population. Many teachers look forward to their teenage classes and find that they provide the most interesting lessons, whilst others just don’t know where to start. If you fall in to the latter camp here are some tips to help you keep sane in the classroom:

Show an Interest. During speaking activities show an interest in all of your students’ answers. Even if your students respond with a disinterested scowl or blank glare to your questions, keep your enthusiasm up. Over time, showing respect and interest in what they have to say will encourage them to speak out in class (making your job a lot easier).

Group Tasks. Working in groups can be a great way to enhance class interaction, bonding and engagement. However, with teenage classes this should be treated carefully.  When you first start teaching a class of adolescents, take a few weeks to observe the existing relationships. Use this time to work out who would work well together and how they could complement each other’s strengths. Shy students tend to pair well with confident and helpful students, whilst excitable students benefit from a calm partner.

Fact Find. Teenagers, like the rest of the human race, just want to feel important! Show that you value them and see them as individuals by finding out a small fact about each member of your class. Perhaps Ji Won likes to wrestle in his free time, or Ana is a member of a garage rock band. Once you’ve gathered this information,  you can casually drop it into conversation with the students and use it to tailor class lessons to them.

Be a Teacher, Not a Friend. Whilst it’s extremely important to make your class feel valued, it’s equally important to make sure they respect you as a teacher. Set clear boundaries and, if they are broken, have a set of consequences. If you want to encourage student ‘buy in’ then agree appropriate punishments through a class vote.

The Golden Rules. The worst thing you can do in the TEFL classroom is to present your students with a complicated list of rules. They won’t be remembered and will make you look pedantic.  If you’re struggling to decide, ‘respect your classmates’ and ‘respect your teacher’ should cover everything.

Motivating the Students

Introduction

Keeping your students motivated to learn is one of the biggest challenges any teacher faces. There’s nothing worse than going into a class full of people who don’t really want to be there.
As an EFL teacher most of us have the chance to work with a variety of age groups. Adults are usually in your classroom because they have made the choice to be there and in most cases they have made a financial commitment towards their learning and they know exactly what they want to achieve by improving their language skills.

However, children and teenagers often haven’t made their own decision to attend the English class and they are obliged either by their parents or school to do so. It is sometimes appropriate for teachers to take an active role in trying to improve the motivation levels of a group. A highly motivated group of students is generally a lot easier and more fun to teach. Obviously there’s only so much you can do, but most teachers have come across de-motivated students at some time in their careers and it’s often worth addressing the problem when you recognise it before it escalates further. Don’t however feel personally responsible for a student’s lack of motivation. There are often many factors that contribute towards a lack of motivation and these should be taken into account. Here are some ideas that I’ve put together which may go some way towards increasing motivation levels in a group or at least addressing the problems and bringing them out into the open.

Star charts and effort charts
Star charts are a simple way to acknowledge the effort students make in your class. If your students are too grown up to get stars think up another point system. Draw up a chart with all the students’ names down one side and at the end of each class mark a smiley face or an A, B, C or D for effort. Introduce the idea at the beginning of the class and explain your marking system. Try to get the students to endorse the idea of the chart before you implement it. You could work with the group to decide how they would like their effort to be recorded. When they get used to the idea of this sort of evaluation you can ask the students to rate themselves on their performance in the class.

Set goals
Try to negotiate some realistic goals with the group. What do they want to be able to do in English by the end of the course? Find out, and think of ways of achieving those goals together. Achieving the goals will take effort on both parts, it’s not only up to you; so be sure they accept their part of the bargain and take some responsibility for their own learning goals.

Progress markers
All language learners know that there are times when you seem to be getting nowhere and making no progress. You reach a plateau and there seems to be no way to get better. If this is the case for some of your students take a snap shot of where the learners are. By this I mean gather some evidence of their level by keeping a piece of their written work, recording them on tape or keeping the results of a test. Then set a date in the future (end of term or Easter holidays) and tell them they will redo the piece of work at the future date. When they have done this, give them back the old piece of work and look for evidence of improvement. Did they make less mistakes or use a bigger range of vocabulary the second time? Usually this helps students to ‘see’ their improvement in a more tangible way.

Questionnaires
How do your students feel about learning English? How do they feel about it becoming an ‘international language’? Some students resent the widespread use of English and can even see it as a threat to their mother tongue. Designing a questionnaire about the student’s attitudes towards English may be a nice way to bring their feelings out into the open.

Feedback sheets
Asking for feedback on your classes can be a daunting thought! You leave yourself open to both positive and negative comments. However, it is one way to show that you are thinking about your learners. Simple questions such as which activities they enjoy and feel they benefit most from will help you to plan the classes and select activities for each group. Remember that you will never please all your students all the time!

Personalise
Find out what your students are into and base your lesson around their interests. If you discover that a few members of the class like a certain group or singer you could ask them to bring in the CD and make an activity out of the lyrics. Or if there are several members who support the same football team you could get some information from the internet or some pictures of the team and base an activity around that.

Personalising classes is also about giving the students to find out about you. Obviously it’s up to you to decide how much you want to give away but you will be a lot more interesting to the class than the photo of Billy in their text book! If you haven’t already, bring in some photos of friends and family from home to show them. Most students will be fascinated.

Look outside the classroom
Encourage your students to look at how English is used outside the classroom and exploit any examples you can find. The internet is an obvious source of authentic English, but also advertising, tourist information, menus, original version films etc. This should remind students that learning English can be useful in all sorts of areas of their lives. If you have any students who have travelled to an English speaking country use their experiences with the group.

Think to the future
Do your students think they will ever need to use English in the future? Will they have more job opportunities with a higher level of English? If it is the case that some of your students may answer yes to these questions it may be worth while reminding students of this. Find some local job advertisements where English is required. You could base a lesson around jobs and offer help with writing CVs. For some of the students this may make students think of English as more than just another subject and more as a tool to help them achieve their future goals.

These are just a few ideas of how to keep motivation levels up. If you have any other ideas to share, why not write to the discussion list for other language assistants to read and benefit from?

5 Ways To Make New Students Comfortable In The Classroom

The first day of school for any child can be a moment of anxiety and confusion. The transition from home to the outside world is filled with new experiences, some rewarding and others frightful. Educational professionals, whether in kindergarten, preschool, first grade or other child care environments can find it especially challenging to put children at ease in a classroom environment. It is not difficult to make children safe, secure and attentive in their first school setting. Teachers only have to keep some helpful tips in mind in easing the transition and making the learning experience a thrilling adventure for children.

Program Activities

Teachers should have an outlined program of activities developmentally structured and age appropriate for the children in their class. Classroom activities should be easy enough to grasp so children understand the concepts and instructions. Simple group activities work well in this vein, such as coloring and painting, story reading, toy identification and other simple activities. Decorating activities such as applying colorful window clings allows children to personalize their environment, letting them think the classroom is part of their property. Any task provoking interest will comfort children and let them have some control in the creative process.

Individualized Attention

Every child is different in needs and expectations. Teachers should spend time with each individual child in an effort to learn about their personal views and needs. This is the time to learn about certain phobias and things that make a child uncomfortable. Fears and apprehension are especially magnified when children are away from their home setting for the first time and such fears should be addressed in a soothing but reassuring manner. Children who are quiet or unusually non-social should be gently encouraged to join activities and make friends with other students. Teachers should spend added instructional time with students who might be slow or hesitant in accomplishing tasks. Positive reinforcement will go a long way in helping a child to adjust and gain confidence.

Familiarization with the Environment

Children are naturally curious when it comes to a new environment. The classroom can be a strange and mysterious place, but outside, the hallways, other rooms, additional children and strange adults can leave children wondering what else is happening around them. This is when an orientation can be the perfect icebreaker. When parents and children attend an orientation, there is a certain camaraderie between all the children and their parents. A teacher can explain the curriculum and meet the parents, providing an opportunity for parents to discuss their children’s habits and special needs. A simple guided tour around the school helps to demystify the environment. Children in the company of their parents, will feel comfortable and protected as well as receptive to any positive signs shown by the parents. A parent’s seal of approval of an establishment often gets the same reaction from the child.

Safety

An emphasis on safety cannot be stressed enough. Heavy objects should be removed from high shelving to avoid spills and injury. Pathways in the classroom should be routinely cleared for easy walking, while toys that may prove injurious or harmful should be removed. Teachers need to be mindful of keeping sharp or pointed objects away from children and discouraging any type of aggressive behavior that involves objects that might cause injury. Fights and disagreements between children should be quelled immediately, giving timeout or verbal discipline for aggressive acts against others. Teachers should stress safety during any and all activities, especially in outside exercise and game times.

That Home Feeling

Teachers who allow and encourage home photos of family and parents into their classrooms encourage sharing and open discussion. Photos of loved ones, and even pets, can be pinned to a large cork board for all the children to see and visit each day. As a permanent fixture, this sharing activity imparts that “home” feeling where a parent, family member or pet is now part of the classroom. Children should be encouraged to bring and share items of cultural significance, such as crafted Native American items or possessions that have ethnic importance. Such displays help children to understand and respect others who are new or different.

9 Wrong And 8 Right Ways Students Should Use Technology

Technology is a tool. It’s not a learning outcome. Too often do we get distracted by all the activities and action we can perform with an iPad or some other device. We can post to Edmodo! Make a Prezi! Post to Facebook! All exciting things, to be sure. But these are not actually learning outcomes. You could have a 1:1 iPad classroom where your students create a bazillion (it’s a word, I swear) presentations all about how much they’re learning.

But they’re not really learning. They’re using a device.

That’s the idea behind the fabulous visual I saw on George Couros’ blog (great read!) who found it from Bill Ferriter on Twitter all about ways students should use technology. It asks a simple question: what do you want kids to do with technology? The answer(s) are divided into two columns and it’s pretty obvious what the goal of the visual is: to show you that technology is a tool in the classroom and not meant to be the focus of attention. It’s meant to enable, not overwhelm. It’s meant to enhance learning, not box it in.

Don’t get me wrong, you can do a lot of good with technology in the classroom. That’s the whole reason Edudemic and the other edtech sites exist. But technology is a tool that’s meant to be added to your toolbox just like anything else. It may be a powerful tool, but it’s a tool nonetheless. Are you sick of me saying the word ‘tool’ yet?

4 Important Tips For Any College Student

We’re told that our college years will be the best of our lives, for many of us they’re over before they’ve begun. America has the highest college drop-out rate in the world, with 54 percent of scholars leaving before they receive their degree. No one’s pretending that completing college is easy, but employing these handy tips can make it simpler to earn your degree.

Get Credit For What You Already Know

You can often earn instant credits and skip the classes if you prove your knowledge in key subject areas. Ask your academic adviser if your university offers College Level Examination Program tests or similar programs. Taking these exams might seem expensive at first, but they’re usually much cheaper than the fees for the corresponding courses. If you’re confident with the material, they’re a great way to save money in the long run and lighten your workload.

Sign Up For Online Learning

With many contemporary universities and other accredited schools offering online classes, virtual learning is a legitimate way to get a degree. This flexible option is ideal for anyone feeling stressed by the demands of the traditional classroom. Online schools don’t have structured class times, so students can juggle their lessons with professional and personal obligations. This allows students to hold down the jobs they need to chip away at their student loans and achieve a greater work-life balance.

On average, online courses also tend to be shorter and more affordable than their traditional equivalents. No wonder 38 percent of adult learners say they prefer online study! Critics argue that online degrees don’t support students as traditional universities do, but virtual educators like Bryant & Stratton College challenge this assumption. Its online degree tour helps prospective students learn what they can expect when they enroll.

Don’t Push Yourself Too Hard

No one’s suggesting you should be complacent about your studies, but it is important to be realistic. If you’re working full-time or taking care of a family, studying full-time might be too much. There’s no shame in that. Part-time study might take longer, but it’ll ease your finances and stress levels.

Just make sure that in cutting your hours, you keep your eye on the prize. The statistics are against part-time students, with only 25.6 percent getting their bachelor’s degree within eight years compared to 60.6 percent of full-timers. Of course with the right motivation, you can reach your goal on time!

Look for Extra Credit Opportunities

Seeking out additional activities might seem like it’d make your life more difficult, but it’s actually a great way to help you get your degree faster and improve your employment prospects. Some colleges will reward their students’ life experiences with extra credits. Put together a portfolio documenting your employment history, including volunteer positions, and community involvement to plead your case.

You could also score extra credit for internship roles, work experience positions, or even relevant paid employment. If you already hold a position in your desired field, and considering the importance of industry connections you probably should, the credits will come just from doing what you’ve already been doing!

So don’t let college stress get on top of you. With these simple tips, you can easily earn the degree that you deserve.

This Is What 5 Motivated Students Can Accomplish

The majority of people try to become perfect in their professional fields and careers. We all want to be successful, and we all do what we can. Some of us succeed during our adulthood, but others are so unusual and talented, that they become famous during childhood. These 5 motivated students  know what education means, and how important it is for the future, but they should not worry about getting a diploma, because they’ve already succeeded in different professional fields.

Please, meet top 5 wunderkinds that can easily impress all professors and gurus of their fields.

Taylor Wilson

Taylor has become the youngest man in the world who built a fuzor. You may not know what a fuzor is. We didn’t know as well, but it appeared to be a special device that created a nuclear fusion. When he was 10, Taylor constructed a bomb! His radiation detector has brought him the 1st prize of the Intel International Science Fair. Mr. Wilson is not going to stop here. In February 2013 he took part in the TED conference, where he spoke about his ideas concerning underground fission reactors. His nuclear reactor is able to generate 50 megawatts of power, though it is needed to be refueled once 30 years only.

Tanishq Mathew Abraham

This genius is the youngest member of MENSA, as he joined it when he was just 4 years old. His result was 99,9% on the Mensa standard IQ test.
When Tahishq was 5, he finished 5 math courses of Stanford University in just 6 months! He entered a high school when he was 6, and his average grade point has never been below 4.0. This cute boy also publishes his essays on NASA’s website. What will you say to that, huh? Maybe it’s time to try paper writing as well?

Priyanshi Somani

This Indian girl is a real mental calculator! When she was 11, Priyanshi took part in Mental Calculation World Cup and… (You will not believe it!) She won. 36 competitors from 16 different countries had nothing to do but just give up, when Priyanshi solved the square root of ten 6-digit numbers in just 6,51 minutes. Moreover, this girl has become the only participant in the history of this competition, who didn’t make any mistakes during her calculation. In January 2012, Priyanshi needed only 2,43 minutes to solve a square root of ten 6-digit numbers. This is the world’s new record, by the way.

Jacob Barnett

This young man is a mathematician from America. When he was 3, he had answered the question of the presenter in a planetarium as for why the moons of Mars had such a strange shape. He entered the University of Indiana when she was 10. Working on his dissertation, Jacob promised to disprove Einstein’s Theory of Relativity one day. Now he is working on PhD in Physics.

Cameron Thompson

Cameron is a math genius as well, though he lives in North Wales, not America. When he was 4, he corrected his teacher who claimed a zero being the lowest number. Cameron said that she had forgotten about negative numbers. In the age of 11 he got a math degree in the British Open University, and BBC had featured his as one of the most genius teenagers. Unfortunately, it’s not easy for Cameron to study now because of his Asperger’s Syndrome, but he is still one of the best math geniuses in the world.

Activities for Teaching Vocabulary: How Can You Teach (or Learn) New Words?

First of all, when using activities for teaching vocabulary there are two key points we must remember:

1. The student has to actually USE the new words. He must understand the new word's meaning, and then he must practice using it.
   
2. Each word has several aspects to it. The first and most important is the word's meaning.
   After that you have: pictures, word's usage, pronunciation and spelling.

For each of those aspects you can use different activities.

Example:

Let's say you teach (or learn) the word "exhilaration".

First you clearly define its meaning: "excitement and happiness".

You can use a good and simple English dictionary for the meanings of words.

Then you can show one or more pictures that express "exhilaration". It can really help understanding. And it is definitely much more interesting that way! Funny pictures take it one step further, since they are usually more fun.

Next: how is this word used? Make some example sentences: 

• "After winning the lottery she felt an incredible exhilaration."
  
• "Climbing that mountain was really hard, but in the end we all felt exhilaration."
  
• "The bride and groom left the church in exhilaration."

Have the students make up sentences of their own.

Of course, merely reading the word is not enough. You need to know how to pronounce it properly too!

Teach the correct pronunciation of the word. How come it is pronounced that way? For example, the word "cake", is pronounced with a long A sound because of the silent E in the end. (English pronunciation may appear disorganized at times, but actually, there are some helpful rules on the subject. 

Finally, you can't really claim you know a word, if you cannot use it in writing. Therefore you must know its spelling.

Dictations can be used to make the students memorize the new words' spelling. The problem with a dictation is that after it is over, it is very easy to forget all about it…

So it is in no way a replacement for the actual and repeated usage of the word in reading and writing.

So here is an example lesson plan to teach some new words:

1. Make a list of the new words you want to teach. Make sure they are right for your students' level: not too difficult, not too easy.
   
2. Prepare for yourself the words' meanings as well as some pictures/illustrations.
   
3. Prepare some games with the new words (see below).
   
4. Go over the new words with your students, and see that they get them.
   
5. Play some games with the new words. For example: flashcards, playing cards, etc. You can use or invent whatever games you like.
   
6. Read a story/stories with the new words. The more those words repeat in the text, the better. Make sure the stories do not contain hard words that the students do not know yet.
   
7. After that, make some more activities.
   Do exercises, questions, and so forth, to further practice the new words.
   
8. On the next lesson, study some new words, but don't forget the "old" ones! They do require repeating.
   

Activities for Teaching
Vocabulary – Final Words

And no matter which activity you use, keep this key question in front of you: 
Does it make the students USE and REPEAT the new words?

The next main thing is to make it fun. Make a game out of it. Involve some points, some winners, etc. Learning new words doesn't have to be boring. When done nicely, it can be a lot of fun!

Teaching English Conversation

There is more to teaching English conversation than going into a class and "chatting" with students.

If students wanted to chat with English-speaking people they could do that in many other, cheaper situations. 

What is conversation?

English conversation classes need to have structure. 

Think about conversation for a moment. What does it mean? Try to remember a conversation you heard recently. 

Did the people involved talk an equal amount? Did they seem interested? How did they show this? Did they ask each other questions? What was their body language like? What was their intonation like when they spoke?

Whilst many students of English can speak well, they lack some of the essential conversation skills, including:

• Showing interest by verbal and non-verbal means
  
• Using tag questions
  
• Using echo questions and asking other appropriate questions
  
• Using appropriate intonation
  
• Using a wide range of vocabulary

How can you teach these skills?

Many teachers who are teaching English conversation classes merely give students subjects to talk about and then listen, occasionally correcting mistakes in grammar or pronunciation. 

But does this really help students? It can sometimes actually make them hesitate more when they speak because they become nervous about makingmistakes. 

An alternative approach is to focus on the skills mentioned above.

Showing interest

Walk into the class, sit down and tell the students some (untrue) bad news. 

For example, "My cat died yesterday." This works better if you can act sad. 

Elicit suitable responses from the students, for example, "I'm sorry", "oh no!", "That's a pity!", etc. 

Then tell them that it wasn't true, as you don't want them to worry! 

Then tell them some good news such as "I won the lottery!" 

Again, elicit suitable responses. 

Explain that these expressions can show someone you are interested in what they are saying. 

You could also prepare two sets of cards, one with situations on (good news, bad news and neutral news), and the other set with responses on and get the students to match them. 

Tag questions (Isn't it? Wasn't it? Didn't they?) are difficult for some students to get right but they help conversation sound much more natural.
 
For example: "It's cold today, isn't it?" sounds more natural and more friendly than "It's cold today."

Echo questions are also another conversation skill you can teach and practice with your students.

Some examples:

A: John has got married.
B: Has he?
A: Yes, it was last week.
B: Was it?
A: Yeah.
B: These are great news.


A: I'm quitting school.
B: You're quitting school?
A: That's right.
B: That's an interesting thing to do . . .


A: I met Brad Pitt.
B: You met who?
A: Brad Pitt.
B: You don't say!


A: Janet bought a yacht.
B: Janet did what?
A: She bought herself a yacht.
B: Well, good for her.


A: Why did you come so late?
B: Why did I come so late? I was stuck in a traffic jam.
A: I see.

Echo questions are very useful and can make students sound like native speakers.

Filming your students' conversations is also great as they can see their body language too, and discuss how that affects their communication.

Vocabulary

If you are focusing on a particular kind of conversation, let's say agreeing and disagreeing, then you may need to provide your students with useful vocabulary. 

If you don't give them the vocabulary to work with, their conversations will be repetitive and they will not push themselves to improve.

Intonation

Find recordings of conversations. 

Ask students to listen for stressed words, and for when the voices go up and down. 

It is also helpful to model sentences and questions for them to repeat. 

Putting it all together

After you have taught and practiced one of the above conversation skills with your students you can set them role plays. 

Some students are nervous about giving their own opinions and if this is the case it is a good idea to pre-prepare some role cards to use, so they are using the opinions you give them rather than their own.

Teaching English conversation can be great fun, but remember to keep it structured and actually teach some skills so your students get maximum benefit from the lessons.

How to Become an English Teacher

So, you want to know how to become an English teacher. Here you can read some great advice to help you.

Teaching English as a foreign language is a great career, whether you see it as a long-term prospect, or a way to travel the world. 

There are a lot of people who take courses to teach English every year, and even though it is an expanding market, they don't all find jobs. 

So what can you do to maximize your chances?

Top five pieces of advice if you want to become an English teacher

1. Choose the right qualification

The most commonly recognized qualifications worldwide are the Cambridge CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) and the Trinity TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) qualification. 

With either of these, your chances of finding work in this field are dramatically increased.

Courses can be done worldwide, full time or part time, and now there is also a distance learning CELTA qualification available.

If you decide to do a course that is not CELTA or TESOL, make sure it has an element of teaching practice as many employers will not consider newly qualified teachers unless they have had assessed teaching sessions as part of their course. 

(Assessed teaching sessions are lessons that the student teacher teaches, which a supervisor or trainer assesses.)

Many employers, particularly in the Far East, also require a college degree. It isn't always necessary, but it will help your chances of finding work. A major in English, education, or linguistics will improve your prospects even further.

2. Take a grammar course

Most teaching courses cover some grammar, but they don't teach grammar extensively. You will need a lot more grammar than you think when you teach, and it's unlikely you'll know it all. 

If you can't find a grammar course, there are many books you can buy that will help you study it yourself, and there are also online grammar courses you can take. 

3. Get some experience

It's not easy to get experience without the qualification but it is possible.

Try volunteering, or teach some private individual students for free if you can. 

This will be invaluable in the classroom once you qualify, and it will also make you more employable as a teacher.

4. Read

This may be an unusual piece of advice but it will really help. 

Read newspapers, magazines and books. Try to look at the different kinds of English used and think about them critically. 

When you come to teach classes, this will really help you, as you will have a bank of resources to draw on.

5. Learn another language

It is not necessary to know another language to teach English to speakers of other languages, but it can help. Even if it is only to help you integrate in the country you are working in, it can make a huge difference.

Learning a language also helps you realize what your students are experiencing, and some of the problems they face. 

It can also help in the classroom if your students are asking each other questions in their language. Sometimes you can understand them and reply in English. 

Even if you follow this advice on how to become an English teacher, it is not a guarantee of a job, but it will make you more employable, and it will help you once you do start working. 

Good luck!

Best English Lesson Plans

Every teacher wants to know how to write the best English lesson plans so here are some simple tips for you.

What do the best English lesson plans need?

An aim

When I started teaching, I found this tough. The aim is the ‘why’ of the lesson and without it you can plan nothing. Start at the aim and work back. For example if your aim is to provide speaking practice in a particular situation then make sure you give your students the grammar, vocabulary and background information they need before they can talk to each other. Tell your students what the aim is, and then they will stay focused too. It is also good to recap the aim at the end of the lesson so the students leave knowing what they have achieved.

Relevance

Keep the lessons relevant to the class. There is no point doing a lesson based on politics for a class of elementary school age kids, and a lesson about the current teen star won’t be of much interest to most adults! Find subjects the class will be interested in and base your lessons around these. If possible, get your students to choose the subjects themselves.

Variety

Make sure you vary your tasks so your students don’t get bored. Try and include different activities for students with different learning styles. For example, some visual tasks (try using picture activities), some physical tasks (try getting your students to act things or move round the class), some audio tasks (music is great if you use it in the right way), and some old-fashioned reading and writing tasks. Even adults start to lose interest after about 30 minutes so keep each stage short.

Plan B

I don’t mean you need to write two lesson plans, but it’s a good idea to have some extra activities you can use if something doesn’t work, or if students finish too soon. If you did a reading activity and they finished too early, get them write comprehension questions for a partner, or give them dictation on part of the text. Having extra activities prepared means you don’t panic if you finish early and gives students extra practice.

Interest and personality

Don’t become a teaching machine. Put something of your own personality into your lessons. Your students will appreciate this. If you like music, write a lesson plan around a particular song. If you are a keen sports person then use that to create fun games and activities. Your enthusiasm for the subject will be clear and your students will also be enthusiastic about learning. Humor is also important in lessons and can be used at any level.

Warm up

Warm up activities are essential. If you exercise then you need to warm up first so your body can get the full benefit of your training. It’s the same with mental training. If you give your students challenging work to do before they have tuned into English, it may be too difficult for them and they will lose motivation. A 5 minute word game or a quick conversation with a partner is all you need. Try and keep it relevant to your lesson to maximize learning. 

There are lots of things to think about but these tips will help you write the best English lesson plans possible.