Tips for Teachers

• LEARN YOUR ROLE AND DUTIES: You have to learn your duties, responsibilities and everyday chores. If you’re unsure, speak to the director of the school or language institute you work at. Consult with the more experienced teachers who are working there. Get to know the premises, the equipment and the materials you’re expected to use.

• FOLLOW THE 3 P’S: THE 3 P’S ARE: PLAN AHEAD, PREPARE, PRACTICE: You need to plan ahead and write a lesson plan before every lesson. Consider your students, the available time and the material and resources you have at your disposal. Your teaching practice will be safeguarded and more effective if you plan and prepare carefully. Once you’ve gotten all that sorted out, take the time to rehearse parts of your lesson. Practice by doing a quick read-through of major talking points and estimating how long it’ll take your students to understand.

• BE REALISTIC BUT AMBITIOUS: You always want to be ambitious and get your students to learn even more information. You want challenge them and really push them to do their absolute best. However, you’ll need to strike a careful balance here. Get to know your learners and their ages, backgrounds, skills, English levels and learning styles. From there, try to be realistic.

• MOTIVATE YOUR LEARNERS: Knowing how to really motivate your students is undeniably important for a good classroom experience. Learning anything new, let alone learning something as complex as a foreign language, is a process which demands serious time and effort.

• CREATE A SUPPORTIVE LEARNING CLIMATE: Students need a safe and supportive learning environment, especially when they’re learning a foreign language. Practicing a language out loud might expose their weaknesses to their peers and teachers. This might make them hesitate to speak in front of everyone and really hone their language skills.

• IMPROVE YOUR CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES: Time management and classroom management. Surely, you’re familiar with these two basic notions. It’s important to manage your classes and deal with possible problems of naughtiness or lack of discipline. However, remember that students who are interested in the lesson probably won’t be causing any real problems.

• USE YOUR IMAGINATION, CREATIVITY AND INSTINCTS: Okay, you’ve prepared your lesson plan but the tasks you’ve designed seem a little stiff, inappropriate and unimaginative for your learners’ level or needs. Perhaps they seem too basic or too cliché. This is all too common.

• BE AUTHENTIC: Do your research, visit trusted sites, talk to other colleagues and come up with the best material and resources that you feel will fit your learners in the best possible way.

• FAMILIARIZE YOUR STUDENTS WITH RULES AND EXPECTATIONS: hey need to follow the rules. But first that means that you need to establish hard and fast classroom rules. This is how they’ll come to realize what’s expected of them while being there. Always be clear and explain rules and expectations on the first day of class. Reinforce these rules and expectations when students fall out of line. Assign a different student each day to be your “helper” or “police officer,” who’ll keep an eye on their classmates and encourage positive behaviors and attitudes.

• ALWAYS ASSESS YOUR TEACHING SESSIONS: The lesson has been planned and executed successfully, but has it been assessed? Have you evaluated if your teaching goals were put into practice and effectively met? Have you thought of the way(s) you can assess if your lessons have been effective?