I will begin teaching English for the first time this week. Any tips?
September 27, 2014 12:34 PM Subscribe
I will teach my first class ever this week, am nervous and looking for advice!
I have moved to Spain to teach English as a foreign language. In the past I have tutored children with disabilities from ages 11 - 12 and at first found it difficult; but then grew into and became a far more patient person who got a lot out of the experience (and the children passed all their exams!)
I'm especially nervous because I am going to be teaching infants, primary school age and one secondary school age. I was hoping for maybe one or two different ages ranges and am worried about juggling all three! Have you any tips on how to teach a classroom of the first time? I'm generally a composed person but am feeling nervous about this and suddenly worried that I will be unable to do the job!
I have moved to Spain to teach English as a foreign language. In the past I have tutored children with disabilities from ages 11 - 12 and at first found it difficult; but then grew into and became a far more patient person who got a lot out of the experience (and the children passed all their exams!)
I'm especially nervous because I am going to be teaching infants, primary school age and one secondary school age. I was hoping for maybe one or two different ages ranges and am worried about juggling all three! Have you any tips on how to teach a classroom of the first time? I'm generally a composed person but am feeling nervous about this and suddenly worried that I will be unable to do the job!
I am going to be teaching infants, primary school age and one secondary school age
Are you saying you will be teaching all these ages in one classroom at the same time? If so, that's really not a best practice for teaching, far from it, and I suspect your school administration knows that and is taking advantage of you. I'd recommend telling them you need for them to rearrange the classes so that you don't have such a wide age range to deal with at once. But if you're stuck with it, what I'd do is make the oldest student my assistant, get the primary school students singing songs, playing games, or doing group work, while I'd focus on the infants' needs.
posted by Bentobox Humperdinck at 1:04 PM on September 27, 2014
Are you saying you will be teaching all these ages in one classroom at the same time? If so, that's really not a best practice for teaching, far from it, and I suspect your school administration knows that and is taking advantage of you. I'd recommend telling them you need for them to rearrange the classes so that you don't have such a wide age range to deal with at once. But if you're stuck with it, what I'd do is make the oldest student my assistant, get the primary school students singing songs, playing games, or doing group work, while I'd focus on the infants' needs.
posted by Bentobox Humperdinck at 1:04 PM on September 27, 2014
Are you an American? I moved abroad a few years ago and taught English lit to high schoolers in Colombia and it was the hardest thing I have ever done, for a variety of reasons. I don't mean to deter you or scare you more, since that was probably just my experience, and yours will undoubtedly be very different.
I will say that some of the things that made it hard were cultural differences, and that I was not briefed on these. I had lived abroad before, even been a high school student abroad, but this is very different than teaching! For example, in US culture it is the norm for students to be quiet and face the front when another classmate is presenting. In Colombian culture it is the norm for the presenting students to face the teacher, and for all the other students to do their own thing. There are dozens of other examples, and I think I would have been a lot less stressed out if I had viewed these as not my personal failing to get my classroom to behave but just normal cultural behavior.
So, if you can, maybe try and talk to some teachers at your school and ask them about what to expect in terms of student behavior? I didn't teach elementary so I can't help you there, but I found my 8th graders (ages 12-13ish, I think) the hardest and the 9th graders (more like 14-15) the easiest.
You have previous experience with kids (I did not) so that will help -- but I expect it will still be hard at first because this is not a one-on-one situation. If your experience is anything like mine, classroom management will be the hardest part. Try to reward good behavior rather than punish bad behavior.
Feel free to PM me if you'd like more info!
posted by queens86 at 1:47 PM on September 27, 2014
I will say that some of the things that made it hard were cultural differences, and that I was not briefed on these. I had lived abroad before, even been a high school student abroad, but this is very different than teaching! For example, in US culture it is the norm for students to be quiet and face the front when another classmate is presenting. In Colombian culture it is the norm for the presenting students to face the teacher, and for all the other students to do their own thing. There are dozens of other examples, and I think I would have been a lot less stressed out if I had viewed these as not my personal failing to get my classroom to behave but just normal cultural behavior.
So, if you can, maybe try and talk to some teachers at your school and ask them about what to expect in terms of student behavior? I didn't teach elementary so I can't help you there, but I found my 8th graders (ages 12-13ish, I think) the hardest and the 9th graders (more like 14-15) the easiest.
You have previous experience with kids (I did not) so that will help -- but I expect it will still be hard at first because this is not a one-on-one situation. If your experience is anything like mine, classroom management will be the hardest part. Try to reward good behavior rather than punish bad behavior.
Feel free to PM me if you'd like more info!
posted by queens86 at 1:47 PM on September 27, 2014
Plan out your lessons and then come up with a plan B, C and D (the timing may go faster than you think, one great idea that you had may not turn out not to connect so well with the students, etc). Then think realistically about how much time each task will take. This will help you feel confident and then you will already have part of your next lesson planned if you don't go through it all.
Young children do not have long attention spans. For the younger ages you are going to have to change the activity every 15 min probably. Don't worry about actually "teaching them English". They don't need to be able to make sentences. Focus more on signing English songs, teaching them animals and colors, etc. Memory games are great for this age group.
It's easier to start out as a strict teacher and then loosen up than the other way around.
Try to come up with games for each theme you teach (not necessarily each class, but it is nice and rewarding for the students to end a unit on a review game). There are tons of resources online for this.
Most of all, don't stress too much, you'll be great. I've taught English in the classroom setting abroad, from the really young to university age, and each have their own challenges and rewards. Have fun with it and don't worry if it doesn't always go as planned!
posted by Blissful at 1:53 PM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
Young children do not have long attention spans. For the younger ages you are going to have to change the activity every 15 min probably. Don't worry about actually "teaching them English". They don't need to be able to make sentences. Focus more on signing English songs, teaching them animals and colors, etc. Memory games are great for this age group.
It's easier to start out as a strict teacher and then loosen up than the other way around.
Try to come up with games for each theme you teach (not necessarily each class, but it is nice and rewarding for the students to end a unit on a review game). There are tons of resources online for this.
Most of all, don't stress too much, you'll be great. I've taught English in the classroom setting abroad, from the really young to university age, and each have their own challenges and rewards. Have fun with it and don't worry if it doesn't always go as planned!
posted by Blissful at 1:53 PM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
Introduce yourself, teach the children how to introduce themselves and then go around the room and let them practice on you and on each other, smile smile smile. Then get right to work, immediately.
I assume you have some direction/texts/training from the company you're working for?
Oh! You can also bring along photos of you with your family to show students. Usually students are curious about their teachers and love to hear and see stories from their lives back in the states.
I taught ESL in Japan and was trained by the company I worked for to teach all ages. Teaching children was extraordinarily rewarding--and extraordinarily exhausting. Remember to have fun!
posted by GoLikeHellMachine at 4:56 PM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
I assume you have some direction/texts/training from the company you're working for?
Oh! You can also bring along photos of you with your family to show students. Usually students are curious about their teachers and love to hear and see stories from their lives back in the states.
I taught ESL in Japan and was trained by the company I worked for to teach all ages. Teaching children was extraordinarily rewarding--and extraordinarily exhausting. Remember to have fun!
posted by GoLikeHellMachine at 4:56 PM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
Oh, and--if you don't already know enough Spanish to put the kibosh on inappropriate behavior, learn it now. Even if it's supposed to be an English immersion class, busting out the Spanish on a kid who is about to do something very, very stupid or even dangerous is entirely appropriate.
posted by GoLikeHellMachine at 4:57 PM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by GoLikeHellMachine at 4:57 PM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
Wow, so much to say. I've taught English to kids in Latin America ages 3-12, but definitely not all in the same classroom-- are they all in the same classroom?? How many of them are there? I agree that if they're all in the same class, try to get the secondary student to help you out as an assistant.
Okay, so first of all, I agree with GoLikeHellMachine that if you don't already you need to speak some Spanish for discipline, especially if they don't have much English.
Little kids (like 3-6) are super tough if you haven't worked with them before. Not to scare you--I'm actually saying that if every three year old in your class is going in a different direction and no one is listening, try not to take it personally. We've all been there.
The little ones were the toughest group for me (and all of the teachers). What worked for me was to introduce a sticker reward chart, which they got super into. Then I did a ton of songs and movement games and repeat-after-me chants. With little kids especially, you need to go quick quick quick from activity to activity--as soon as they're losing interest, switch it up. You need to have way more planned than you think you need. I agree with Blissful that you need to have lots of plans, but I wouldn't plan on any activity lasting 15 minutes--more like five. If they're into it for fifteen, great.
The kids I was teaching had very little English-- for the little ones, some of the things I did a lot was a version of the alphabet with actions to go along with the words (A is for apple, and pantomime taking a biiigg bite of an apple.) We did animal charades, we did color drills, we did simple conversations, I made a big die out of cardboard (like the size of a basketball) that had colors, animals and simple questions in English on it and they loved rolling that. We played simplified versions of Simon Says a lot. We read one fish two fish by Dr Seuss and my co teacher (a super goofy fun guy) acted out all of the actions. Etc. Keep it fun.
With the older kids, you'll probably have more ideas since you've worked with them.
If you've only worked with kids one on one classroom management will be tough. Make sure you know all of the kids names right from the start so you can call them out if you need to (and also to build rapport). Physically separate kids who are being obnoxious together and feeding off of each other. Establish relationships with each kid. Pull them aside and speak with them if they're not behaving. Start out a little strict and then loosen up. A lot of that is kind of coming at it from a negative angle, but I think just as important is to make sure you have a positive relationship--try not to bring old grudges into the classroom, try to get to know what kids like and don't like, ask about their soccer game, whatever. Tell them when they're doing well.
whew, that was a novel. Sorry. Hope it's helpful. Good luck and have fun!
posted by geegollygosh at 4:40 PM on September 28, 2014
Okay, so first of all, I agree with GoLikeHellMachine that if you don't already you need to speak some Spanish for discipline, especially if they don't have much English.
Little kids (like 3-6) are super tough if you haven't worked with them before. Not to scare you--I'm actually saying that if every three year old in your class is going in a different direction and no one is listening, try not to take it personally. We've all been there.
The little ones were the toughest group for me (and all of the teachers). What worked for me was to introduce a sticker reward chart, which they got super into. Then I did a ton of songs and movement games and repeat-after-me chants. With little kids especially, you need to go quick quick quick from activity to activity--as soon as they're losing interest, switch it up. You need to have way more planned than you think you need. I agree with Blissful that you need to have lots of plans, but I wouldn't plan on any activity lasting 15 minutes--more like five. If they're into it for fifteen, great.
The kids I was teaching had very little English-- for the little ones, some of the things I did a lot was a version of the alphabet with actions to go along with the words (A is for apple, and pantomime taking a biiigg bite of an apple.) We did animal charades, we did color drills, we did simple conversations, I made a big die out of cardboard (like the size of a basketball) that had colors, animals and simple questions in English on it and they loved rolling that. We played simplified versions of Simon Says a lot. We read one fish two fish by Dr Seuss and my co teacher (a super goofy fun guy) acted out all of the actions. Etc. Keep it fun.
With the older kids, you'll probably have more ideas since you've worked with them.
If you've only worked with kids one on one classroom management will be tough. Make sure you know all of the kids names right from the start so you can call them out if you need to (and also to build rapport). Physically separate kids who are being obnoxious together and feeding off of each other. Establish relationships with each kid. Pull them aside and speak with them if they're not behaving. Start out a little strict and then loosen up. A lot of that is kind of coming at it from a negative angle, but I think just as important is to make sure you have a positive relationship--try not to bring old grudges into the classroom, try to get to know what kids like and don't like, ask about their soccer game, whatever. Tell them when they're doing well.
whew, that was a novel. Sorry. Hope it's helpful. Good luck and have fun!
posted by geegollygosh at 4:40 PM on September 28, 2014
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posted by wittgenstein at 12:42 PM on September 27, 2014 [2 favorites]