So You're Not An English Teacher

  So let's have a look at some of the more general issues when using the wipe board. Perhaps the most important thing to start with is that we should start with a clean board. Secondly it's always very useful to make a board plan so that you know where things are going to appear on the board by the end of your lesson. It?s very simple to do a board plan. Just take a sheet of paper, which is similar in shape to the board that you're going to use, and then onto that piece of paper decide where all the information that's going onto your board is going to be by the time that you've finished. So a very simple board plan just to show where the information is going to be. Also it's very useful if you make use of tables and columns to separate different areas of your work and in the same...  [Read more]

Check out tefl tesol about TESOL Jobs China Huanghua and apply today to be certified to teach English abroad. You could also be interested in: This is how our TEFL graduates feel they have gained from their course, and how they plan to put into action what they learned: said: Lesson planning is a really important step to make a class more effective and productive. I insist that as a teacher,you are not only supposed to plan the lesson,the content you're teaching,you need to plan the STUDENTS as well.I mean you have to count them in your plan.For example,knowing them better before class would be very rewarding too.If you know their personality,their English level better,you will find that the lesson plan goes more smoothly in class. When a teacher first start...  [Read more]

  This presentation is going to focus on the section of classroom management. We could start with a definition of classroom management as being the skill of organizing the class individual students within that class and what takes place within the class. Perhaps one of the most important resources for achieving these things is you and in terms of you there are a number of things that you can use to help with the classroom management and they include though they're not limited to the use of your eyes the use of your voice and the use of gesture. So let's take each of these in turn and see how they can be used to help with their management of the classroom. So starting with our eyes. First of all the eyes can be used in a number of ways and they can certainly be used to hold...  [Read more]

  When our answers are not correct then, obviously, they need to be corrected but it is quite important that we go through a process of correction that will help students. Quite often they've made a mistake simply because of something like reading the incorrect answer out or misrepresenting what they've actually written down. So, always give the opportunity when a mistake has been made for the student to self-correct first. We can often do this in a nonverbal way to show them that they're not actually correct. We might repeat back what they've said to us in a questioning manner or we may just make a gesture to make sure that they understand that they're not correct. So, we allow for a process of self-correction. It may be that the student has actually got the answer wrong and so we...  [Read more]

  Just to finish off this particular section on lesson planning, we're going to go through a couple of procedures that should take place during the study phase periods, particularly when we're doing the activities. It is quite important that before we actually go into a study activity that we go through a process of showing how that activity is going to work and one acronym that is often used for this is D-E-GO. The D part of this stands for a demonstration of the activity. Now, it's very important that you don't try to explain how the activity is going to work but rather you actually demonstrate the process. An example of the demonstration of the process of the activity could be something as simple as taking the first question and using it and writing it on the board. This will...  [Read more]

  The next idea we're going to consider is the use of visual aids and visual aids can include some examples such as real, objects, which we call realia, the use of pictures and photographs and also the use of models. So let's consider some of the ideas surrounding the use of visual aids. Well, why are they useful? Well, first of all the use of a visual aid can reduce teacher talk time. It's very much more simple just to show a real object than to try to describe it so that we could just ask the students ?what is this,? and they would say ?this is a pen,? rather than trying to actually describe it. Again if we were trying to show examples of fruit and vegetables rather than to try and describe them why not use an actual model and this is going to be much more visually stimulating...  [Read more]

Check out tefl tesol about TESOL Cuttack and apply today to be certified to teach English abroad. You could also be interested in: This is how our TEFL graduates feel they have gained from their course, and how they plan to put into action what they learned: C.P. - Korea said: This unit covered a bunch of difficult situations that teachers might encounter. I didn't agree with many of the recommendations though. None of the \"warmer\" activities, for example, seemed all that communicative. In hangman, all you do is say letters, and not even very quickly. I much prefer using games from the First Lessons section as a warmers for every class. Pass the ball is great, for example. With a big class, I can set them up in two lines, and they can exchange some sort of pleasantry....  [Read more]

Vietnam is a great choice for anyone who wants to teach English as a foreign language in Southeast Asia. Demand for teachers is high and salaries are sufficient for a comfortable lifestyle.. Increasing levels of tourism and foreign investment mean Vietnam’s economy is one of the healthiest in the region. All this adds up to higher demand for English language skills and a very bright future for teachers. In order to maximize the odds of finding a job teaching in Vietnam, you’ll want to hold an internationally recognized TESOL certificate such as that offered by ITTT. With the help of our lifetime employment assistance, you’ll be able to find jobs in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC, previously Saigon), Hanoi and other cities. In relation to living costs, salaries in urban areas are rather...  [Read more]

  So now we'll consider the actual classroom arrangements themselves in terms of the physical desk layout. There are possibly three main types of arrangements that are used within classrooms and we're going to indicate the desks here as being boxes and the arrangements of the students within those desks will be blue crosses. So here we have the desks ranged in rows and the students sitting within those rows. The second arrangement could be the use of horseshoes or semi circles and finally the use of individual desks. So for each of these arrangements what are the potential advantages and disadvantages of arranging our seating in this way? Let's take the rows first of all. One of the potential advantages is that it does give the teacher the opportunity, if it's arranged correctly,...  [Read more]

Check out tefl tesol about Information TESOL and apply today to be certified to teach English abroad. You could also be interested in: This is how our TEFL graduates feel they have gained from their course, and how they plan to put into action what they learned: K.S. - Japan said: Why Complete a TEFL CourseThere are various reasons for someone to finish a TEFL course. Some of the reasons could be to further your skills in teaching english, have a better understanding of the language, wanting some sort of certificate or qualification, for a better job or have the opportunity to teach a class after finishing the course. These are some of the reasons and it may vary for each individuals. Personally my reason for completing this course pretty much lies with all the...  [Read more]

Check out tefl tesol about Accreditation Recommended TESOL and apply today to be certified to teach English abroad. You could also be interested in: This is how our TEFL graduates feel they have gained from their course, and how they plan to put into action what they learned: H.T. - U.S.A. said: Classroom ManagementThe vital key to good classroom management comes from the ESL teacher's attitude and decision to earn the love and respect of your students. If students like you and respect you they will naturally behave well and pay attention because they want to please you. So how can an ESL teacher make this happen? Save yourself the humiliation of trying to be the students' best buddy, they will probably laugh at you behind your back. Be their mentor. You are someone they...  [Read more]

Discipline in the Classroom Eight out of ten TESOL teachers who do not return after their first year of teaching drop out because they are unable to control their problem in the classroom. According to the researches, that have done recently, discipline ranked as the number one problem in the schools. What is discipline? According to the Webster’s dictionary discipline is the “training that corrects, molds, or perfect the mental faculties or moral character.” How can a teacher maintain discipline in a classroom? There will be many ideas to maintain discipline in the classroom. For sure those suggestions will be helpful, but first of all, teacher should know the main reasons for students’ misbehavior. The students have not learned the behaviors that are expected of them Good...  [Read more]

  We are going to move on to the second of the productive skills, which is writing and, again, we'll have look at the background, too, and create a typical lesson for a writing skills session. One of the things to be aware of in a writing skills lesson is that writing tends to be more formal than spoken English. So, there will be some differences between the two, such as writing very often uses less contracted forms and so on, but having said that there are many similarities between the two particular skills. So, many of the considerations that we had for a speaking skills lesson will also apply here to a writing skills lesson. Within writing skills itself there are some sub-skills that we may want to teach and those sub-skills could include, but are not limited to, hand writing...  [Read more]

If you are interested in teaching English in South Korea, or are already teaching there, it is important that you read on for a few paragraphs... The largest employer of English language teachers in South Korea, the government sponsored EPIK program, is adding a new requirement for the upcoming August 2013 intake. Candidates who wish to work in the EPIK program in Seoul and Busan will now need to have completed a TEFL/TESOL course of at least 100 hours that includes a 20 hour in-class component. Please be aware that the vast majority of the EPIK jobs are located in Seoul and Busan but for all other areas of the country an online 100 or 120-hour TEFL/TESOL certificate is sufficient to meet EPIK requirements. In the past, thousands of our online course graduates have gained employment...  [Read more]

  Our next consideration is going to be building and maintaining rapport. The importance of rapport is that within our communicative activities, we're asking the students to talk to each other. If they feel comfortable with each other and with us, then that interaction is much more likely to be useful. So how do we actually build and maintain rapport? Well, it's easiest if we consider two stages of the course itself. What we can do at the start of the course and what we can do throughout the course to help build and maintain that rapport. So at the start of the course, it's very useful if we ask the students to create a name card and to make that name card visible to everyone. Secondly we need to try to do some ice breaking activities that will allow the students to interact with...  [Read more]

  Situated in the lovely town of Chiapas, you’ll find Mexico’s most professional and affordable TESOL training course. Brought to you by TEFL International, this course will provide you with all the tools you need to begin a bright a prosperous future into the world of TESOL. Our course participants are also eligible to receive our job support assistance. This means that we’ll not only prepare you for the classroom, we’ll also help you locate potential employers and help you land a job that will allow you to live and teach in Mexico. If you’d like to go on to teach in a country other than Mexico, we’ll help you do that too. Because Mexico borders the United States, there is a very large number of TESOL jobs throughout the country. Almost every city and town is in need of...  [Read more]

Whether it is the truly great centre of culture and fashion to be found in Paris, or the verdant countryside in the Dordogne, France is a huge draw for tourists, people spending a year or two abroad, and expatriates who have decided to make France their home. As well as the world-renowned food and wine, it is good to remember that France is a country of seasons. Paris is particularly pleasant in the springtime, but in the hot summer Parisians make for the south or the Côte d'Azur, looking for a good tan and a little of the beach lifestyle. In the winter, skiing in the Pyrenees or the French Alps is very popular. Timing is also important since the large cities tend to empty a little between mid July and the end of August, when many take their annual five-week vacation. Not precisely the...  [Read more]

  Our next consideration is that of giving instructions to our students. In order for those students to effectively carry out an activity, we need to make sure we have given clear and unambiguous instructions. It's also very important to check that the students understand the activity before you start. If you've done that work correctly then the teacher shouldn't need to say anything once an activity has started because the students are very clear about what they're supposed to be doing. So some ideas when giving instructions. As we've mentioned use simple language. Secondly, rather than trying to explain an activity, then do a demonstration which is visual. Thirdly, try to use wherever possible common words that come up within every activity. These would be things like ?look?,...  [Read more]

  Our next main issue is going to be that of giving students individual attention. Here many classroom management and leaving potential discipline problems can be avoided by applying some simple rules to giving your students attention. The first one is to think about the way in which you ask questions. Don't ask questions in a predictable order. If you just go around the class asking questions from one person to the next then the person at the end of the class will know that it's going to be some time before you actually get to them. So try to mix up the way in which you're asking questions. In terms of answers to questions don't allow individual students to dominate all of the answers. One of the things that we can do to help this particular issue is to use the students names as...  [Read more]

  Alveolar sounds get their name from the fact that the alveolar ridge is being used. Again, that ridge is just behind the front top row of teeth. Here the tongue is on or very very near the alveolar ridge. It's typically the tip of the tongue or what's just behind the tip of the tongue, called the blade of the tongue. Here, we're talking about sounds such as ?t? and ?d?. If you say them at home, you can tell the tip of your tongue is on that alveolar ridge. Again, that's ?t? and ?d?, as well as sounds such as ?s? and ?z?. Again, the blade of the tongue is just near that alveolar ridge but it is very near nonetheless. The two other sounds that make it into this category is the ?l? sound, where the tip of the tongue is very clearly touching that alveolar ridge, as well as ?r? or the...  [Read more]