Flexibility and Teaching
Flexibility and Teaching
“Flexibility is a requirement for survival.” – Roger Von Oech
TEACHME TEFL
If we have learned anything from how this year has unfolded it is the need to be flexible.
Teachers have moved from physical classrooms to online learning. The online teaching industry has expanded, new ways for students to learn have been developed. Parents and students are looking to keep their education online.
These few tips will help you to develop flexibility as we continue to navigate these uncertain times.
Just as no two days are the same, no two lessons will be either. You need to prepare well but also maintain a measure of flexibility in your lessons.
Flexibility is your ability to adjust and make each lesson count. Students may not always remember a great lesson, but they will never forget a bad lesson. It is your job to make sure each student leaves with a smile wanting to return.
Change is good
A well-prepared teacher has a lesson plan and endeavours to stick to this throughout the lesson however things do not always go according to plan. When this happens don’t panic, be flexible and ready to adapt to the needs of your students.
If you need to review an already taught topic or re-explain a grammar basic, take the time to do so. If you are not able to move on as the students need more work, go at the pace of your students.
Spend time to lay the groundwork for your students. Remember that the stronger their foundation in English, the higher they will be able to take their language learning.
Remember that change is good.
Set transitions.
Spend the time to review.
Transition Time
In acting a transition is when the actors and set change from one scene to another. In a classroom you can use a transition to quickly change the scene of the classroom and move onto a new topic or a new activity that will be of greater benefit to your students.
You will need to establish this transition from day one. It may be rhythmic clapping, once the class hears your claps they are to follow along. You may choose a phrase or a word, when you repeat this word or phrase a number of times, the students start to join in until all students are repeating this word. It could be as simple as a hand action, if you put your hands on your head silently and patiently wait for all students to do the same.
In an online class environment these techniques can also work, however be sure whatever the action or sound or words chosen will be clear for students to see and respond to on screen.
Once you have a transition established you will be able to use this if things start to change for the worse.
For example if students are distracted and not concentrating, if you feel the language aspect being taught is not being grasped by the students, if you see there is some foundation material missing that needs to be discussed before moving forward you can start a transition.
Students will be aware that this means something is changing.
They will be prepared to take in new information and will be ready to re-focus their energy to what you are presenting next.
Review
If you have been flexible in your lesson and made some changes be sure that you record these changes on your lesson plan. This may also mean you need to review what will be taught next.
A review will also help you to identify common problem areas, perhaps you are re-hashing a specific grammar point almost monthly.
On review you will then be able to identify this area and then plan a specific revision lesson to help students to grasp this grammar point. Also adding an aspect of this into all homework or extension activities will help to concrete the grammar area and help to minimise errors.
Also, on review you may note that some lessons that were interrupted often occurred on a similar day or time of day.
Through knowing your students, you will be able to identify what may be happening on this day or time of day that is disrupting your lessons then adapt to be able to make your lessons successful.
Using these teaching tips your students will be able to benefit from your classes and you will have the satisfaction of seeing results from your teaching.