12 Tips for VES Teachers

1) Well prepared material with a clear theme (“Today’s class is about…”)

2) The lesson is planned as a ‘stand alone’, but also has a sense of progression / freshness for regular students

3) Teaching begins on time with a warm welcome to the class.

4) A way of recording / displaying names so that everybody can see each others names.

5) Some review / repetition of previous material as necessary, but not too much.

6) A variety of activities through the class - these can include - teacher presentation; eliciting answers from students; flashcards; worksheets; small group work; pair work; individual tasks; games; role-play; drilling; freer conversation; listening/watching materials etc… 25 minutes is probably the upper limit for one single activity, so there should be at least 4 different activities in one 90 minute class.

7) Limit TTT - (teacher talking time)! It’s a mistake to explain something with more complicated words and grammar than that which you are explaining! Keep it simple - miming, simple synonyms, and eliciting are your allies!!

8) A drawing in of all students as much as possible.

9) Make use of teaching assistants as much as possible - as ‘model’ students; as coaches for the weaker students; as small ‘breakout’ group leaders.

10) Encourage laughter / light heartedness through the lesson

11) A very healthy dose of encouragement (“Keep going… you are doing so well”)

12) Finished on time with encouragement to continue revising and practicing, and an invitation to the next class.