Little Things That Make Your Lesson a Success

When we think about teaching a new class, the first things that come to mind are all of the curricular aspects: the grammar, structures and vocabulary we’ll cover throughout the course. 

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Our teaching goals are most often aligned with these things we wish our students to master upon completion of the course. However, consider this: most teachers are able to teach the grammar... but how can you make a difference?What can you do to truly make your lesson a complete and utter success? These “little things” will work wonders…be sure to try them!

Little Things That Make Your Lesson A Success

1. 1
   Teaching in Context and with Real-Life Examples
   We all have to use a course book, that’s true. But the problem with course books is that they are filled with fictional characters students may have a hard time relating to. Why would they care about a fictional “Mr. Thompson” and how he did in his job interview? Or worse yet…why would they be interested in reading about a town that doesn't exist, when they can read about a real one, one they could possibly even visit some time?
   Say you'd like to read about two cities and practice comparatives and superlatives. Use real maps and accurate information you can easily find on the Internet. Use your students' resumes to practice interview questions, not “Mr. Thompson’s”. With the huge royal wedding coming up, wouldn’t your students love to know more about Prince William and Kate Middleton? Whenever possible skip the fictional characters and use real people, real places - and don’t forget toinclude some realia!
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   Catering to Your Students’ Needs
   Sometimes the course book sets out activities that are not really appropriate to the group you’re teaching. This is frequently the case with teenagers, when some of the material may be either too childish, or too adult. Don't be afraid to make some minor adjustments to make the material work for your students' needs.
   This is also particularly useful to remember with students who have really specific needs, for example a group who wishes to improve their Business English writing skills. Imagine you’ve just covered a chapter where the topic was “Hotel English”. Ask your students to write an email to inquire about a hotel's conference facilities for homework, and you’ll have them practicing their email writing skills.
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   Boosting Their Self-Esteem
   Students, particularly adult learners, are often self-conscious, insecure and feel frustrated with their efforts. Corrections are an essential part of the lesson, but don't forget to praise their efforts, as well, no matter how small their achievements may seem.
   One great way to give them instant boosts of self-esteem is to end each lesson with a “What have you learned today?” This simple question is a great way for them to review the day’s activities and see just how much they've accomplished. Even if their answer is “We learned the alphabet today”, this is something they should be proud of.
4. 4
   Taking Advantage of Learning Styles or Special Abilities
   How many times have you met students with amazing talent and unusual abilities? Whether it is incredible musical or artistic talent, exceptional writing or speaking skills, another wonderful way to make a lesson a huge success is by incorporating some of this talent.
   Why play a CD when you have a student who can play the song on his guitar? If you have a group of very artistic youngsters, give them crafts to engage them in their learning.
5. 5
   Using Their Likes and Preferences
   Related to the above, but only slightly different, is to use their interests to increase motivation and participation. If most of the class has read the Twilight books, use the characters to practice physical descriptions; talk about the weather in the small town of Forks; practice conditionals – would you become a vampire if you had the choice?; compare different types of supernatural beings, etc… Besides, just knowing who Bella and Edward are will definitely give you some street cred!
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   Teaching Culture
   Learning English as a second language is not all about the grammar, structures and vocabulary. It’s also about why, how and where it's spoken. What is Thanksgiving and how did it originate? This is something that will surely interest your students. Compare the way things are done in different cultures. Students who are accustomed to having dinner at 8 p.m. might be surprised to find out that Americans usually dine at 6 p.m.
   It will take a little bit more of your time to prepare, and you might be tempted to go with the course book materials. But any extra time spent will be well worth it once you see your students fully engaged in the lesson and putting to practice everything they’ve learned. We’re not saying you should throw the course book out the window! Just make these “little" adjustments here and there and you'll see big differences.

♂ 10 Reasons Why Men are Better at Teaching Than Women

When it comes to teaching, certain traits in men and women might be useful. Of course, this isn’t to say that men are in total better than women, although they may have certain tendencies which make them better teachers. Of course, at the end of the day, it is down to the teacher, their experience and the methods that they employ.

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On top of this, the knowledge of the language is probably the biggest factor. This article aims to point out the strong points many men will have when it comes to teaching and controlling classes. Of course, both genders can learn from one another and therefore everything needs to be taken into account. You may also want to see our other article, ‘♀ 10 Reasons Why Women Are Better At Teaching Than Men’ for an alternative point of view!

Are Men Really Better At Teaching Than Women?

1. 1
   Discipline
   Men might be seen to make stronger disciplinarians. Of course one cannot totally generalise, although for many people they may appear to be a lot more in control of a class. This is particularly true if one is teaching a class of male adolescents as they might be more likely to listen to the words of an authority figure. Long throughout history, men have been the main authority figures (of course there are exceptions) and therefore many will still regard them as such. Often they can put on an air which will garner more respect.
2. 2
   Dealing With Children
   Whilst women can be more like a mother to children, men can be more like a father. Mothers will tend to appear more caring and involved, and hence will be easier to talk to. When it comes to controlling a class, however, the disciplinarian traits that men have can shine through and help the students to remain in check.
3. 3
   Dealing With Teenagers
   For everyone, teenagers can be notoriously difficult to handle. A lot of people who teach in secondary and high schools will know this. Again, the disciplinarian streak in most men is going to come out here and will help them keep a better hold on what is going on. This in turn will allow the students to become a lot more focused on what is going on.
4. 4
   Logical Approach
   It is often said that men have a tendency to work in a more logical way than women. They tend to be better at subjects such as science and engineering, ones which require a logical thought process. Of course, there are many prominent women in this field but there may be an element of truth in this. Indeed, a man is likely to take a logical, step-by-step approach and this is probably what makes them not so good at multi-tasking. But by doing something logically and methodically, it can also be done a lot more thoroughly and lead to better results.
5. 5
   Grammar Teaching
   This ties in with the whole area of grammar teaching. In essence, grammar is like mathematics but with words rather than numbers. It follows logical rules and steps. Literature, poetry and the other aspects of language are going to require some abstract thought but when it comes to the building blocks, then this is definitely a key issue.
6. 6
   Correction
   Women will be seen to have a more caring nature and will appear to be more approachable. In this spirit, men can sometimes be a little distant. This doesn’t mean they don’t make good teachers, however. In fact, by not helping the students that much, but putting pressure on them to correct their mistakes, they will be more likely to elicit new words and remember old ones buried in their memory.
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   Tried and True Methods
   Again, with regards to the methodical approach, men will be more likely to stick with what is known and tested to be true. This will allow them to produce consistent results. They will be more likely to have a look and see what is the most practical solution.
8. 8
   Students and Independent Learning
   By getting the students to correct their own mistakes and offering help only where it is needed, they can encourage students to learn more independently. Independent learning is highly important especially when it comes to language. One cannot sit down, learn off a few words and then forget about it. It is an on-going process that is going to take time over several years. Becoming fluent in a language is a challenge, and therefore this quality is important to instil in one’s students.
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   Focussing on the Topic
   Men might have more of a tendency to focus on what is at hand. This will allow them to get things done a lot faster, and become more thorough. Students will find that they are increasingly challenged to come up with their own answers and the class won’t go off track.
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      Giving Help Where Its Due
    Again, help where it is due is important. Teaching students is a challenge for anyone, no matter what the gender. It important not to spoon-feed them, as this will result in the student expecting answers from the teacher at all times. Help, however, is going to be needed regularly and therefore it is important to give it where it is needed.

Overall, there are many good qualities in men which might give them an advantage in teaching over women. Controlling a class is definitely going to be one of these issues, but it is important to remember that there are good and bad points to everyone.

Do you agree with the reasons above? Are men really better at teaching than women? We’d love to hear your thoughts. Please let us know in the comments!

Say What? 3 Tips for Perfecting Pronunciation

Pronunciation is an immense issue for every language learner no matter their age or their level.

It is a constant issue that students struggle with, and it is imperative to have focused practice on pronunciation at every stage of the game. Follow these three tips for perfecting pronunciation, and you’ll see wide strides of improvement.

Try These 3 Tips for Perfecting Pronunciation

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   Listening Drills

   Poor pronunciation can be a serious problem because it can negatively disturb understanding. Students by no means have to have native-speaker perfect pronunciation, but it is important for them to be understandable. Many students will request pronunciation help, and it really can provide a great confidence boost.
   Pronunciation is so very closely related to hearing that listening is a vital part of developing this area. Listening to a tape, CD or video, or using your own voice as a model are all outstanding ways for students to get varied exposure to different pronunciation and accents. There are many ways to create drills that are engaging as well as entertaining. Don’t be afraid to try out different drills or warmers to see which ones your students really take to. One example is something of a dictation and listening exercise where students pick out whether what you are saying is the same or different. Create a list of minimal pairs such as: hit/heat, fit/feet, grit/green, etc. Read out one pair to the students and have them say it back to you. Then tell them to spell the word they heard, and write it on the board. Was it the same or different from the one you read? Go through this with multiple pairs and repetition. You can also have them just write down what they heard in their notebooks and then go over the answers. Move the pace along quickly for more challenge and even have the students try leading the activity themselves. You can do many variations of this to get students not just speaking, but listening for subtle differences as well.
   Rhyming games can be a fun type of drill to do which incorporate both speakingand listening. It could be as simple as starting out with one word and the next student has to say a word that rhymes with it. It goes around the room until there are no more possible rhymes. You could choose to try and focus on certain vowel sounds, combinations or just let the students begin randomly. An example might be: blue-flu-glue-do-crew-shoe-moo and so one. You can write the chain on the board as you go or make it a memory game and see if students can remember all the words that were stated.
   Odd one out is another drill-type listening exercise that can be done frequently with minimal prep time. Devise a list of groups of words with the same consonant cluster for example: shoe, cheap, sheep, ship, and read them aloud to students. Students can then repeat what they heard and decide which word is out of place. You can choose any sound to focus on and mix and match in your groups of words. Make it even more challenging by not telling the student what the difference is, and have them determine that as they listen and repeat.
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   Reading Aloud

   Reading aloud is another great way to get lots of solid pronunciation practice. You can use recorded excerpts from the book, have students do the reading or do it yourself. There are many ways to vary this so it doesn’t just become you reading to the group all the time. You can play a recording and ask the students to count how many times they hear a certain vowel combination or consonant cluster. Follow that up with giving the students an opportunity to read the same passage aloud. You could also focus on intonation, and have each student read a sentence or paragraph using different kinds of intonations. You could have them read angrily, happily, sadly, etc. This way they are working on the different ways inflection effects meaning.
   If you choose, you can isolate specific problem areas for learners and focus on them in chunks rather than just reading a lot of varied texts. For example, if students stumble a lot over particular sounds like th or sh, devise reading activities that focus on these sounds and use the readings to show all the different ways those sounds could be produced utilizing particular combinations. Past tense verbs with –edis a good example. When does the ending sound like –ed, -t, -d at the end of the word? You can even create your own readings if you have specific problem areas you want to focus on.
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   Tongue Twisters

   Tongue twisters are the tried and true ESL teacher’s good friend. They are not only fun and silly; they are worthwhile and can be used at every level to challenge students! There are many of them out there for practicing the notoriously difficult sounds, but you can also feel free to create your own to suit your students’ needs. Encourage them to first repeat them all together as a group, and then speed up the pace to make it even more challenging. If students are getting into it, you can ask volunteers to recite one or more of the tongue twisters as fast as they can. This can be quite comical as well as impressive!

Do you students a great service and make sure that you don’t forget about pronunciation.

There are lots of resources to help you if you want to introduce phonics, the phonetic table, or simply get some great ideas for other activities you can do. Listen carefully to the students and stay in tune with the challenges students face with pronunciation.

They Already Read It, But Did They Get It? 10 Ways to Check Reading Comprehension

The process of reading, being able to connect semantic input with the letters on the page, does not mean much if language learners cannot understand what they have read.

The following exercises, modified from Sherrill Flora’s Everyone Reads! will give you and your students some fun ways to make sure the meaning came through the words on the page.

Try These 10 Great Ways to Check Reading Comprehension

1. 1

   Grab Bag Goodies

   After your students have read a story, check their comprehension with this sequencing activity. Write the major points of the story on note cards, put those cards into a grab bag, and shake it up. Each member of a small group should then pull one of the cards from the bag and place in its correct place in a sequence. Once group members have put all the cards in their correct place in the timeline, ask the rest of the class to check if the sequencing is correct. If it is, the group should then retell the story using the cards.
2. 2

   The Funny Papers

   Blank comic panels are a great resource for the reading teacher. Once your students have finished a story selection, give each person a blank comic page in which to retell the story. (You can find dozens of empty templates online.) Your students should then retell the major events in the story by filling in the empty blocks with pictures and dialogue (when appropriate). Once students are finished, you can display the comics on a bulletin board or compile them into a book for students to read during independent reading time. You will know if they understood what they read, and they will enjoy expressing their comprehension in a creative way!
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   Good Book Glimpse

   Your students may enjoy a different creative expression of a book they have recently finished reading, and their classmates may enjoy seeing it as well. So rather than a book report, try this activity with your ESL students. Ask each person to bring in a shoebox for the activity. She should then choose a favorite scene from the book and illustrate it on a piece of paper the same size as a small inside panel of the shoebox. (You can also have your student illustrate the scene and then trim it to fit on the short side of the box.) Once she is done with the illustration, she should glue the picture inside the box, and you should cut a small hole on the opposite side of the box. When she looks through the hole, she sees the illustration. She can also attach items inside the box to give a 3D effect for the viewer. On the top of the box, have each student create an original book cover that includes the title and author of the book she read. If you keep a collection of these peep boxes in a corner of your classroom, you may find that your students are inspired to read the books that their classmates have also read, and then he can create his own peep box on that book for the book box collection.
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   Fan Fiction

   Reading a good story can easily cross over into a writing activity for your ESL students. When your students find a character they love in something you have read, ask them to write about the further adventures of that character. This will not only help them understand what they read, it will give them practice using vocabulary specific to that character found in the piece your class read. You can compile all these short fan fiction pieces into a book for the rest of the class to read at their leisure during independent reading time.
5. 5

   Big Books

   If your students are a fan of big books, this comprehension activity will be perfect for them. As a class, create your own big book for a story you have just read. Prepare 5-8 pieces of poster board for the book and write a description at the bottom of each page retelling each piece of the story. Working in groups, have your students illustrate what is described at the bottom of the page. Once all the pictures are complete, let your students decide what order they should appear in the book. Then secure the pages, read the book back to your class and make it available to your students during independent reading time.
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   Outstanding moments

   Let your students relive their favorite moments from a story you have read with this activity. Ask a student to share his or her favorite moment from the reading selection, and have him write it on a notecard or write it on one yourself. Ask another student and then another to do the same. When you have about a dozen cards completed, ask your students to organize them in any way that is logical. There may be several organizations which are possible.
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   Map it Out

   After finishing a fictional selection, ask your students to create a map of the setting for the story or book. They can either draw the setting or create a three dimensional model of it using cardboard cutouts. Have your students include any characters in the map as well.
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   Class Voting

   Give each of your students two notecards and have him write true on one and false on the other. Then, read aloud a statement about the selection your class read. Make sure some of your statements are true and others are false. Each person should hold up his vote and his card after you read each statement. Have students check each other to make sure all agree. For the false statements, ask your students what they would need to do to make them true.
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   Act Out

   Encourage your students to act out in class with this post reading activity.Ask individuals or groups of students to pose as the characters in the story in a particular scene. Then, take a photo of your students. After printing the pictures out, bring them to class the next day and ask your students to explain what it happening in the book at the moment they are acting out!
10. 10

    Cast the Characters

    After reading a selection as a class, ask pairs of students to write a description of each of the characters in detail. Then, have the pair decide which of their classmates is most like the characters in the story. If you like, you may want to have the students then reenact parts of the story.

Reading is only the start of what reading class is all about. Making sure your students understand what they have read is just as important as the word-by-word process.

Hopefully these comprehension exercises will inspire you and your students not only to read but also to understand and then put that knowledge into practice.

What are some of your favorite comprehension checking activities?