In the first of a regular new series aimed at new teachers, former teacher Simon Wright offers his teaching advice to those who are just starting out.
It’s hard to have an air of confidence when you first walk into the classroom, because teaching your first classes is a challenge on many levels. But you need to start somewhere. You will find your ability, confidence and enjoyment will very quickly increase with every lesson you teach.
Here are my top tips:
1. Ask your students what they want
This is their lesson, which they are paying for. Don’t be afraid to ask them what they want to get from their classes. It will help you plan your lessons to give them what they need. This works best from a pre-intermediate level upwards.
2. You are also learning
As a teacher you can’t be expected to know everything when you first step into a classroom. It will take time, but after a few months you will be able to answer a huge number of questions. You will come up with better and better examples. It’s a learning curve, so don’t panic.
3. Don’t be afraid to correct students
This sounds silly, and it may just be because I’m very British, but when I started teaching I didn’t want to offend people by pointing out their mistakes. This is why they are studying! They won’t be annoyed, just the opposite. You can do this in a nice way or you can ask the others if this sentence or word sounds correct.
4. Don’t be afraid if you can’t answer a question
The majority of students will be absolutely fine if you say that you will get back to them after the break or in the next class, if you need to look up an answer or ask a fellow teacher. I gave a short answer if I could and said I would give them a better one later.
5. More time teaching, less time preparing
When you first start teaching, you will be spending a similar amount of time planning your lessons as the lessons take to teach! Very soon your preparation time becomes shorter because you know what you are doing. It’s a good idea to build up a portfolio of lessons you have taught by level. This way you will have enough material built up to take on a class at a moment’s notice if a fellow teacher is ill, for example.
6. Think about your audience
How old are they? Where do they live? What do they like doing? Don’t be afraid to ask all about them and think about what will be interesting to them when planning your lessons. This is more important the older you get, as you need to know what teens and younger adults are into, which is a great lesson in itself!
7. ‘That’ difficult student
There will always be one or two students in every single group you teach who make life difficult for everyone. Don’t take it personally. Everyone is different. Be firm if you need to, but go about it in a nice way.
8. The best of the rest
There will also be a huge number of students who are extremely lovely and you love being in the classroom with. This is why I enjoyed teaching, because of the nice people I met from a variety of countries and backgrounds and the fun we had. They will also be genuinely interested in you! They want to know all about you and will respect the job you are doing. Don’t worry if they ask a lot of questions. If you’re a native speaker, you may be one of the first they have met!
9. Professional doesn’t mean boring.
These people are paying to be in the classroom, so make sure you plan your lessons and do the best job you can. Make sure you inject fun into your lessons, however. If students are relaxed and happy, they will open up and communicate more with you and each other. The speaking time you have is very precious to them. A lot of students will be able to write, read and listen well in English as they have done this for years in school, but speaking is always something that they need to work on. Allow time for this.
10. Beginners vs Higher levels
It’s easy to notice the difference you have made when you teach at the beginner levels. When they write their first sentence or say a little bit of information about themselves, you have contributed to making this happen. However, don’t worry if you start with Upper intermediate or advance students and you really don’t see any immediate improvement. What is happening is consolidation. They are coming to class and keeping their knowledge alive and adding to it slowly. When you stop using English, it unfortunately quickly disappears.
The very best of luck to you.
We’ll be back in a few weeks with more advice for new teachers! And if you’d like to share your tips, why not get in touch – simply visit the homepage and select “Write for us”.