New teachers, understandably, want to know 'What should I do in my first class?'.
Here's some simple advice that will ensure you walk in confident your lesson is going to work. Your students will have a great time. They'll leave happy, looking forward to your next class.
The secret is having activities ready to go that get students talking to other students.
(The big mistake is to go in and talk, hoping you can engage students with interesting and funny things you say. Sadly that has about a 1% chance of working partly because your students just won't understand you!)
So walk in, smile, and say 'Hello, I'm (Jemma), and I'm from (England)'. That's it. Straight to the activities! The class will suddenly be buzzing, and you'll look on and and think - 'Wow!'
1. Start with a simple warmer.
Plan an activity that has lots of interaction, but is really easy to instruct Here's one:
- Instruct: 'Stand up!'
- Students stand up.
- Divide students into pairs.
- Instruct: 'Introduce yourself. Then tell your partner one thing about yourself'. Give an example.
- Students talk in pairs.
- Say: 'Now let's work in groups of four'.
- Join pairs together to make groups of four.
- Instruct: 'Now introduce your partner'. Check your instruction: 'So you going to talk about yourself?' (No.) 'Am you going to talk about your friend? (Yes.)
- 'Go!'
- Students talk in groups of four.
- Finally, gather the whole class together.
- Say: 'Tell us about someone you just met'. Don't urge students to speak, or single out individuals. You can even look away to take the pressure off them. They will talk, they just need time!
2. Follow with a questionnaire.
Use a questionnaire, again to get students talking, and also to find out about your students' needs and interests.
Name Why learning English? Good at … Need to work on …
- Tell students you want to know why they're learning English.
- Show students the questionnaire (on a projector or the board).
- Elicit what to say and write. 'What do I write here? 'What question will I ask here?'
- Students mingle and complete the questionnaire.
- Again finish with a brief whole-class discussion. Reassure them you're going to use the information to give them what they need.
3. Introduce the topic for the week
Imagine the topic in the coursebook or the syllabus is 'food'. Introduce the topic in a memorable way, and get students talking about it. (The approach will work for any topic, of course.)
- Show some visuals of food, or, better still, some real food. Ask students what they are. Ask: 'So what topic are we discussing today?' (Food.)
- Divide students into groups. Ask students to discuss what sort of food they like and don't like - and why. (The students should be talking, not you!)
- Students discuss in groups.
- Bring the whole class together.
- Ask: 'Tell us something interesting you heard'. Elicit some responses.
- Move on to a mingling activity like 'find someone who':
Find someone who …
• has eaten something unusual __________
• has cooked something exotic __________
• has tried food from ten different countries __________
• has eaten something by mistake __________
etc
or a 'pyramid discussion' this is where students discuss something in small groups, then larger groups, then the whole class. Tell students at each stage they have to reach agreement. A ranking activity works well:
WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU?
Number 1-6 for best (1) to worst (6).
___ cheese
___ steak
___ rice
___ red wine
___ boiled egg
___ avocado
4. Round off the class
Come together as a whole class again. Ask students for any feedback from the activity challenge them a bit more, for example to justify why they ranked items in a certain order, and what disagreements they had.
Now is the time to say what your plans and expectations for the class are. Also thank them for their hard work and interesting ideas.
Incidentally it's a good idea to have music playing when students enter. It not only relaxes them, but it immediately gives the impression your lessons are 'different'. It shows you care how they feel, and that you're in control of the environment.
I guarantee this approach getting students to talk works with a new class every time.
All the best for a great first lesson!
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Hi Marie
Brilliant question! I've found the same sort of plan works for most levels, but, indeed as you say, you need to tweak it.
For true beginners (which incidentally are rare these days) yes you can use gestures, mime, visuals, real objects. Still get them interacting - even if it's mingling and saying 'hello'. You can teach vocabulary using visuals and real objects, or a simple dialogue using pictures of people and prompts on the board. They can then practise it.
For beginner-level children make everything a short activity - so they learn the names of things as they themselves sort them, then they can draw pictures of the objects and label them etc.
Hi James,
very good ideas for a first timer's first class!
I've only got one thing to add though - does this work for all ages?
I'm guessing, for very young/beginner students you have to tweak this a little. For example, they won't understand you when you instruct them! I'm guessing you have to use gestures? (like, showing four fingers and pointing to 4 people when you're instructing to get into groups of 4), or, keep the language simple/short and sweet? And, I'm guessing for beginner children the questionnaire won't be needed/helpful?
Hi Vic - thank you for the very generous feedback!
A very interesting question. From my experience seeing other people start schools, I'd suggest the two main considerations are (1) knowing there's a market for what you'll deliver (and knowing how you will differentiate your school from the competition) and (2) taking time to build relationships with the people that matter.
Where are you planning to establish your school?
Feel free to email me at james.jenkin@i-to-i.com if you want to discuss in detail!
James
james, Your blog entries contain some great gems. I know this is a big ask. What advice do you have for someone opening their first school?
Hi Hellomoto, let us know how you go, and any advice you have!
I love your photos by the way!
Cheers
James
Hi James,
I have to say this was a great read, very helpful and gave me a good insight into my first class!
Thank you very much!
Hellomoto
It's never good to put students on the spot and if you do you need to show encouragement and give plenty of praise afterwards.
The first class though is very important to set up expectations though... I always teach that my students should try...also believe that students should listen to each other and if i catch a student not listening they are the ones i put on the spot...
At high school i want to keep english fun - but i do have the pressure on me sometimes when its exam time - more so when it's third grades and they are preparing for university and jobs etc :-S
Hi Paul
I *love* the quiz idea!
I know what you mean about students enjoying writing on the board 'most of the time'. Do you think the main thing is students aren't put on the spot out the front? They need to be prepared, for example, after they've compared answers with each other. And it's good to have a few srtudents writing at once - such as one representative from each team.
Cheers
James
I teach low level HS students...when starting a new school you are always nervous but because you are new the students will be excited, nervousm curious and scared...
I never like to give anything away too quickly...of course i want to be friendly but at the same time because they are HS i need to earn respect etc.
At my first ever school it didnt feel like my school and so i was always wondering "is this right?...am i doing good?" etc etc... now if i have to change schools or i get new students i am like "eh?"
But to break the ice, to get students to know you and answer many of their questions - i start with a quiz.
"Hello everyone, today we will have a test - Do your best!"... That's right...i don't say anything about me...and i throw in a surprise test.
Usually its multiple choice - and its about me "Where am I from?" ... "What is my favorite food?"
The reason for this is they practice listening, reading and writing - whilst finding out about me - whilst reviewing English they should know etc.
After, i get them to write the answers on the board (students love the board...most of the time) - after that they then have questions to answer so i can find out about them and then they interview each other - this is key for new 1st graders because many are from different schools...i make sure they stand up and dont ask people next to them
Hi Bradmair, thanks for the comments. Are you planning to teach soon or are you already teaching?
Cheers James
Fantastic, some great and easy ideas, very helpfull.
Fantastic, some great and easy ideas, very helpfull.
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