Working within songs

A podcast with tips regarding Conversation Classes with music use.

Top 5 tips for new teachers

1. Be On Time

Punctuality is very important for teachers. If you are late, you will definitely NOT start out on the right foot.

2. Dress Appropriately

The clothes do help lend you an air of authority, especially if you look awfully young. Further, your dress lets the coordinating teacher know of your professionalism and dedication to your assignment. 

3. Be Flexible

If you normally teach only 3 classes and the coordinating teacher asks that you take on extra classes one day because he has an important meeting to attend, look at this as your chance to get even further experience while impressing your dedication to your coordinating teacher. 

4. Follow the School Rules

This might seem obvious to some but it is important that you do not break school rules. For example, if it is against the rules to chew gum in class, then do not chew it yourself. If the campus is 'smoke-free', do not light up during your lunch period. This is definitely not professional and would be a mark against you when it comes time for your coordinating teacher and school to report on your abilities and actions. 

5. Plan Ahead

If you know you will need copies for a lesson, do not wait until the morning of the lesson to get them completed. Always go to class knowing exactly what you have to teach and have alternative activities. Every group reacts in a different way to the activities.

Motivate your students!

Motivating students is one of the greatest challenges teachers face. While it is true that as teachers we have little, if any, control over external factors that influence our students’ behavior and engagement, we do play a vital role in shaping what happens in our classroom. In fact, our choices can make a positive or a negative impact on student motivation.

Some important points instructors should pay attention to in order to keep learners motivated:

Course Design Students respond positively to a well-organized course and meaningful syllabus.

Set the tone early in the semester Your syllabus should clearly state your learning objectives, course goals, and student expectations for the course.

Vary your teaching methods Incorporating problem-based learning, collaborative learning, experiments, and the

Use of technology such as blogs allows for greater student interaction and the opportunity for students to practice newly acquired skills and knowledge.

Give students options in the classroom give them a sense of autonomy and help them develop skills for self-directed learning.

Create assignments that are appropriately challenging It’s important to consider your students interests, background knowledge, and abilities when designing coursework.

Make your lessons relevant Research suggests that students display greater enthusiasm and interest for a course if they can relate the content and course activities to their daily lives.

Intonation

Using the correct intonation, when speaking in English, is a way of showing fluency. It is interesting how the wrong intonation can be a problem for communication.

Linking the words during the speech is another way to ease communication among the teacher and the students. Motivation is the key for a student keep up the study, and if the teacher have the students motivated by their full understanding, the class turns out to be meaningful.

 

Here are some examples and exercises to practice connected speech and intonation: 

Aspiration in the pronunciation of /p, t, k/ 

1. Tom took ten tables at a time.

2. Peter put the pots near the pans.

3. The cat can’t cut the cake.

4. Two times twelve is twenty-four.

5. Tim supposes that Pam caught the key.

6. A tab was attached to each package.

7. You can’t keep a pet in an apartment.

8. Did Paul and Peggy attend class on Tuesday?

9. Come on, Ted! Call Kathy!

10. Everything occurred according to our plans.

11. Pick up your pen.

12. Keep the puppy away from the pepper.

13. Put it on top of the map.

14. Kay called Pat to take her back.

15. Pack your case quickly.

16. Keep cool and call a cab.

17. Tell Tim to pay the teller.

18. Come and take one.

19. Where did you put the cup?

20. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper.

Working on the pronunciation

It is very important for the learning process that the students learn the correct pronunciation of the words since day one, in order to avoid fossilising mistakes.

Most students fail to learn the correct pronunciation of some words and this may cause communication problems in the future.

Adjectives and Adverbs Whose Final –ED Is Pronounced /-Id/ 

There are a few adjectives ending in -ED, derived from verbs or not, whose -ED is also pronounced /-Id/. Following is a list of such adjectives.

Similarly, when we add -LY to some adjectives ending in -ED, whether they are derived from verbs or not, the ending -EDLY is pronounced /-IdlI/. Following is a list of such adverbs, their pronunciation and meaning.

Types of learners

Students are not alike. Thus, each one asks for different techniques. 

Keith Willing, suggested four learners categories:

Converges are students who are by nature solitary, prefer to avoid groups, and who are independent and confident in their own abilities. Most importantly they are analytic and can impose their own structures on learning. They tend to be cool and pragmatic.

Conformists are students who prefer to emphasise the learning “about language” over learning to use it. They tend to be dependent on those in authority and are perfectly happy to work in non-communicative classrooms, doing what they are told. A classroom of conformists is one which prefers to see well-organised teachers.

Concrete learners even being like conformists, they also enjoy the social aspects of learning and like to learn from direct experience. They are interested in language use and language as communication rather than language as a system. They enjoy games and group work in class.

Communicative learners are language use oriented. They are comfortable out of class and show a degree of confidence and a willingness to take risks which their colleagues may lack. They are much more interested in social interaction with other speakers of the language than they are with analysis of how the language works. They are perfectly happy to operate without the guidance of a teacher.

Knowing better the learners you are dealing with will lead you to better outcomes. 

What makes a good teacher?

• A good teacher should be kind and patient;

• A good teacher should really love teaching;

• A good teacher is able to motivate learners;

• A good teacher should be lively and entertaining;

• A good teacher has a good knowledge of his/her subject;

• A good teacher should have good rapport and interaction with the class;

• A good teacher should be able to involve all students equally throughout the lesson;

• A good teacher should be able to correct students without offending them or affecting their motivation;

• A good teacher should know students’ weaknesses and try to give help and individual attention where necessary;

So, what exactly makes a good teacher?

A teacher really cares about his/her teaching, but cares even more about the learning of the students.