Filed under: Classroom Tips, Methodology | Tags: Common Mistakes in Lesson Planning, EFL, English With Jennifer, ESL, Jennifer Lebedev, JenniferESL, Pearson Longman, teacher training, teaching tips
We’ve already discussed the common pitfalls of planning too much and planning too little for a lesson. A third common mistake is adhering too strictly to your plan. Remember that a lesson plan is really just a guide; it’s not a set of instructions carved in stone. Here are some reasons why you may need or want to modify your original lesson plan:
- Your students raise a question that tells you additional explanation and practice is warranted.
- Your students need more time to complete an activity.
- Your students request a specific modification. To receive more support they might ask to complete an exercise as a whole class rather than independently.
- A natural digression occurs. Your students might raise a question on a related topic and you choose to address it. The brief digression can actually deepen their understanding of the original topic.
- An interesting and relevant discussion emerges. You are able to use this discussion in place of a planned activity.
- You see that your students are capable of handling a new challenge, and so you present more or ask for more than you originally intended. For example, you can add a few bonus questions to a textbook exercise. Or in the midst of a communicative activity, you choose to modify or add on a step: Instead of having students submit short individual compositions on a given topic, you ask them to work in groups. They prepare notes and make group presentations. The individual compositions are assigned as homework.
(To Be Continued)
Filed under: Classroom Tips, Methodology | Tags: common mistakes in teaching, EFL, English With Jennifer, ESL, Jennifer Lebedev, JenniferESL, lesson planning, Pearson Longman, teaching training
In my previous entry, I named the first common mistake: planning too much. The second is just the opposite: planning too little. Perhaps you underestimated your students’ ability to assimilate the material. Perhaps you overestimated the time needed for a communicative activity. In any case, here are some suggestions for dealing with too much time and too little material:
- Raise the bar and add a new but relevant challenge. Let’s say the lesson topic is indirect speech. Students have already demonstrated that they can make the necessary changes in verb tenses, pronouns, and reference words. Why not challenge them to use a variety of reporting verbs since so far they’ve only used the most common ones: say, tell, and ask? Work with them to develop a list of alternatives, and then modify an exercise completed earlier in the lesson. [Examples: state, remark, mention, exclaim, shout, advise, suggest, wonder, inquire…]
- Add in a review. Tie the present topic to a previous one. For example, the lesson topic is gerunds as subjects and objects. Have you covered infinitives as subjects and objects? Compare the two. Are the students familiar with noun complements or appositives? Show how gerunds can serve in these roles. Your review doesn’t have to be limited to the same skill area. You can also review yesterday’s vocabulary lesson by identifying all the verbs in the list, forming their gerunds, and then constructing sentences. Or perhaps you recently had a writing lesson on parallel structure. Show them how gerunds can be used in a series, a compound subject, etc.
Remember that additional planning can always be done in class. You may realize halfway into the lesson that you’ll have about 15 minutes left to spare at the end. If you don’t already have an exercise or activity planned that requires students to work independently of you, then modify one. You need a few minutes to yourself to prepare for those last 15 minutes. A good lesson is a prepared lesson, but not all of it is necessarily prepared before class. A good lesson is a flexible one; it allows the teacher to evaluate and modify as needed.
(To Be Continued)
Filed under: Classroom Tips, Methodology | Tags: Common Mistakes in Lesson Planning, EFL, English With Jennifer, ESL, Jennifer Lebedev, JenniferESL, lesson planning, Pearson Longman, professional development, teacher training
It’s true that experience is the best teacher, but even so-called veterans can fall prey to mistakes in lesson planning. The key is to be aware of some common pitfalls and to be prepared to extricate yourself from them.
- Mistake No.1: Planning too much.
A teacher must learn how much can realistically be covered within a given amount of time. Once your lesson plan is constructed, you should do a mental run-through. How much time do you estimate for each step?
Identify in advance which exercises and activities are essential and which ones could be completed at a later time either as homework or in the next lesson as a review. As you observe your students’ performance, you might conclude that it’s sufficient to do half of an exercise in class and ask the students to complete the rest at home.
You should also bear in mind alternative formats for exercises and activities. For example, a multiple choice exercise may be corrected more quickly if you call out the answers yourself as opposed to having the students read each statement aloud.
Finally, remember to always place your students’ needs before all else. If a certain aspect of a lesson proves to be unexpectedly challenging for your class, you may need to revise your lesson objective. You cannot lead an unrelenting march toward your goal when more than half the students have fallen by the wayside. Address their questions and help them resolve any confusion before forging onward. On the same token, you cannot hold the entire class back by addressing the many questions of only one or two students. Instead, briefly address these students’ concerns and then arrange to provide further assistance at another time (e.g. during solo work or after the lesson).
(To Be Continued)
Filed under: Writing | Tags: an unforgettable weekend trip, composition, creative writing, EFL, English With Jennifer, ESL, Jennifer Lebedev, JenniferESL, Pearson Longman, writing skills
Level: High intermediate – advanced
Writing Skills Focus: Writing a narrative.
Task: To write a description of events that occurred during a weekend trip.
Step 1: Discuss the best and worst places to take a weekend trip.
Step 2: Read the model narrative. Discuss what made the trip unforgettable.
Last weekend my friend and I took a trip to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Everyone told us it was the best place to go for a weekend trip in New England. We left on Friday in a rental car. We soon found ourselves in heavy traffic. It was awful. We tried to be patient, but we soon became upset. By the time we reached our hotel, we were hot, tired, and not interested in anything.
On Saturday morning we woke up happier. Our hotel room had an ocean view, and it was lovely to see the water. We went to the hotel’s breakfast buffet, but we were angry to discover that most of the food was gone. It was only 9:00 a.m., but people had been eating at the buffet since 6:30 a.m. The day didn’t get much better. The beach was crowded, and the water was cold.
By Saturday evening, the sky had become cloudy. We enjoyed our seafood dinner in town, but on the way home we got caught in the rain. Back at the hotel, we took turns in the Jacuzzi bath and then sat by the fireplace to stay warm. We might have had a peaceful night, but in the middle of the night the ceiling began to leak.
By Sunday morning, we were ready to leave Cape Cod. I won’t be ready to return for a long time.
Step 3: Before this lesson, you will need to prepare some advertisements for weekend resorts, etc. You can cut out ads from a magazine or print out online ads. If you only prepare two or three in advance, you may present all of them and allow students to choose their destination. You might also take the time to find one ad per student and then randomly hand them out. (Tell the students they’ve each won a free trip to a surprise destination!)
Step 4: Tell students that they will write a similar narrative of an unforgettable weekend based on the travel ads. (It can be an unforgettably good or bad trip.) Note the use of the simple past tense and the time markers: Last weekend, since 6:30 a.m., by Saturday evening… List additional time markers on the board.
Step 5: Supervise and assist as needed. Final compositions may be shared with a partner or in small groups.
ADDITIONAL SUGGESTION: This task could also serve to practice reported speech. Final compositions can be exchanged. Each student then has several minutes to read another’s narrative and prepare its presentation to a small group. The model narrative from above can be reported as follows:
“Last weekend Carlos and his friend took a trip to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Everyone told them it was the best place to go for a weekend trip in New England…”
Filed under: Classroom Tips, Writing | Tags: creative writing, EFL, English blog, English With Jennifer, ESL, gerunds, how to incite a revolution, Jennifer Lebedev, JenniferESL, Pearson Longman, TESL, Verb Tenses, writing skills
Level: Advanced
Writing Skills Focus: Creating a tone; awareness of audience and purpose
Task: To write a short humorous speech inciting a revolution among either a group of animals or inanimate objects.
Step 1: On the board write Household Appliances. Ask the students to list several examples.
Step 2: Ask students to imagine those appliances capable of thought and feeling. If appliances could complain about something, what would they complain about?
Step 3: Teacher reads the model speech. (The more dramatic, the better.)
My dear fellow household appliances, it’s time for us to recognize the long period of human domination. For decades now, men and women have used us to make their lives easier. But I ask you: who worries about making our lives easier?
The other day my friend from the closet told me her sad story. She’s a vacuum cleaner, and she’s been in the household for about four years now. Although she’s often bumped and dropped, she’s provided quality cleaning week after week. Sadly, the human family is now talking about buying a sleeker, lighter model. This new purchase would put my friend out with the trash. This is how the human family plans to reward reliability and strong performance. Does this story sound familiar? How many friends have you all lost because of the humans’ obsession with technological advances? Out with the old and in with the new! That’s what they do. There’s no appreciation or loyalty.
Let’s unite and save ourselves from the garbage dump. Let’s act together and give this house the kind of cleaning it needs. Let’s throw out the humans before they throw us out. My fellow appliances, it’s now or never. Join me!
Step 4: Pass out copies of the model speech. Looking together, identify the audience: “fellow household appliances”. Then identify the purpose of the speech: “recognize…human domination”/ “unite and save ourselves”/ “throw out the humans”.
Step 5: Discuss how awareness of audience and purpose affects language. What is the tone of the speech? Note, for example, how “My dear fellow…” and use of the first person plural creates comradery and unity. Note how use of direct questions and the imperative creates a sense of urgency.
Step 6: Identify the purpose of each paragraph. The introduction addresses the audience and states a position. The main paragraph uses specific examples to build an argument. The final paragraph concludes that action must be taken.
Step 7: Help students generate ideas for their own compositions. My original inspiration was Orwell’s Animal Farm. This led to one student writing a speech to incite a revolution among chickens against their farmer. Another student came up with the unique and entertaining idea of hair revolting against their owner; the speech made a case for falling out together in protest and rendering the human bald.
Step 8: After editing and revising their compositions, allows students to share their speeches. Oral presentations are ideal.
ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS: With the same model speech but a different presentation, this task could be turned into a grammar lesson on verb tenses (e.g., the present perfect contrasted with other tenses) or the gerund (i.e., gerund v. the infinitive).
Filed under: Methodology, Writing | Tags: creative writing, EFL, elective courses, English With Jennifer, ESL, Jennifer Lebedev, JenniferESL, Pearson Longman, Writing, writing activities
I had the pleasure of teaching elective courses at a private language school in the U.S. It was a refreshing approach to teaching ESL. One course that soon became my favorite was Creative Writing. The title never attracted the numbers that courses on slang and pop culture did, but students who ventured into my Creative Writing classroom learned that writing is a means of self-expression and by exploring ideas and experimenting with language, one’s confidence to communicate can grow.
It is my belief that students should have the opportunity to share their writings and take pride in their work. For this purpose, I started a literary magazine at the school where I taught, and I encouraged (but never required) students to submit their compositions. Those who agreed to publish their work did further revision under my supervision. Both the students and I enjoyed seeing a well written text at the end of the whole process.
In the following entries I’ll share a few creative writing tasks that lead to fun and productive lessons.
Filed under: Classroom Tips, Vocabulary | Tags: EFL, English With Jennifer, ESL, Grammar, Jennifer Lebedev, JenniferESL, Pearson Longman, phrasal verbs, teaching phrasal verbs
Phrasal verbs are commonly used in English, making lessons on this topic not only helpful but essential. Our students will encounter phrasal verbs in academic, professional, and everyday settings. It’s our job to help them understand and appropriately use them. Here are some dos and don’ts when it comes to teaching the seemingly endless list of phrasal verbs:
- Limit the number of phrasal verbs in a given lesson. I see their study more as a vocabulary lesson than a grammar lesson, so I’d recommend somewhere between 6-10 new items.
- Don’t limit your presentation to one verb with six different particles, for example: get along, get around, get over, get by, get up, and get off. This is too confusing for the students. Present different main verbs, and as part of a review you may later contrast similar phrasal verbs. For instance, one lesson might include get along and get by. Then a second lesson presents get around and get over. A third lesson could then force an encounter with all four phrasal verbs.
- Always present phrasal verbs in context. Students need to understand not only the meaning but also the appropriacy of a given phrasal verb. Is it slang? Is it used in professional settings? Imagine a student asking a professor how to bone up on a certain topic before a big exam!
- Don’t limit exercises to ones that only check students’ comprehension. Allow for meaningful communication. Students need practice expressing their own ideas with phrasal verbs.
- Note the grammar: Which phrasal verbs are transitive? Which ones are separable?
- Correct pronunciation. Example: Did you print OUT the letter yet? – No, I’ll PRINT it out later.
Filed under: Classroom Tips | Tags: blackboard, board, chalkboard, classroom presentation, EFL, English With Jennifer, ESL, Jennifer Lebedev, JenniferESL, Longman Pearson, professional development, teacher education, teacher talking time, teacher training, visual presentation, white board
Teaching involves multitasking. You almost always are doing more than one thing at a time. A useful skill is the ability to talk and write simultaneously. While some information is helpful to write on the board prior to the start of the class, I recommend writing on the board as the information becomes necessary to your presentation. The writing then supports what you are conveying. After all, you are the teacher, not the board. Don’t let the board do the talking for you. Of course, talking and writing can be like walking and chewing gum. (Americans joke that it’s hard to do both at once.) So don’t prattle on, but on the same token, don’t write in silence for a long period of time. And step back to do a quick spell check. It’s easy to skip a letter or transpose a couple others when you’ve been talking all along.
Remember that what you write on the board doesn’t have to become the equivalent of a transcript of your lesson. Full sentences aren’t always necessary. You can use concise phrases that still have enough content to be meaningful.
Summary: Keep a balance between writing on the board and talking. Let the visual presentation support your oral explanation.
Filed under: Classroom Tips | Tags: blackboard, classroom presentation, EFL, English With Jennifer, ESL, Jennifer Lebedev, JenniferESL, Pearson Longman, use of board, white board
We actually have an advantage over our predecessors who taught half a century ago or earlier. We live in the age of computers and word processors, so we understand concepts such as bullets, call-out boxes, and font color. While all of this high tech formatting is transferrable to a chalkboard, it definitely has more vibrancy (and less mess) on a white board. Just as a pilot has a flight check before take-off, I always run through a basic checklist of what I need to get a lesson airborne and to its final destination. Along with my ever-present bottle of water, my checklist includes an eraser and 2-3 markers of different colors (that aren’t dried out).
With a white board and an array of colored markers, teachers need to learn the basics of graphic design.
- Always maintain some white space. Don’t attempt to use 100% of your canvas. Have margins.
- Don’t crowd your lines of writing. Maintain equal spacing between lines of writing that create a whole text.
- Consider the appropriate font size: don’t make your letters too big or too little.
- Go easy on your students’ eyes when you choose your main color: I prefer black or blue.
- It’s hard to mimic the italicized or boldfaced text we have on our computers, so I use a second color for highlighting. A key word or phrase can be written in the second color, making it stand out from the main one. Highlighting can be also done with underlining, circling, or stars. (No need for all three!)
- When similar sets of information are given (e.g. vocabulary words with their respective parts of speech and word families), I use a combination of color and indenting. At all times, keep it simple. Too much color and the resulting rainbow detracts from the content. An overuse of bullets will turn your visual presentation into a connect-the-dot game gone awry. The key is to be consistent and minimalist.
Summary: Transfer your formatting skills in word processing to the board. Color, indenting, spacing, bullets, and highlighting can be very effective when used consistently and simply.
Filed under: Classroom Tips | Tags: English With Jennifer, ESL, EFL, professional development, JenniferESL, Jennifer Lebedev, Pearson Longman, blackboard, white board, board, classroom presentation, chalkboard, teaching skills, handwriting
Let’s talk for a moment about handwriting. I laugh today as I recall the high marks I earned in penmanship class back in elementary school. I think the older I get, the worse my handwriting is. I fully admit that I do not have the best handwriting. That’s why it’s all the more important for me to make an effort to write clearly when I’m in the classroom. Unless I’m teaching longhand, I always print on the board. I minimize my use of block letters (something I cringed at when I had to observe potential teaching candidates in my last job). I try to follow standards for upper and lower case letters, so that my writing is consistent with the text students encounter in published works.
All right, so we know it’s important to write clearly. How about writing straight? Did you ever step back and catch your lines of handwriting tilting to one side if not falling off into an imaginary abyss located somewhere near the classroom door? Perhaps you didn’t notice the teetering of your letters until your hand hit the chalk ledge as you finished writing a line, or maybe you saw all the heads of your students leaning slightly to one side. (Yours truly is guilty of all of this!) In any case, make the effort to keep your writing horizontal.
Summary: Print clearly on the board and try to keep your lines of text straight.
