by Peter Vahle

How to do well in Teaching Practice

If your students don’t understand the instructions the first time around, explain them again and again until they are certain to understand.

Expose your learners to natural spoken English as often as possible by using Modal Auxiliary Verbs and Conditional structures whenever you can.

When a learner asks a grammar question you don’t know the answer to, tell them whatever comes to mind first. They are not likely to question your native speaker authority.

Always pass around handouts before you tell your learners what to do. They’ll figure it out eventually.

If students are getting too loud or if someone interrupts another student speaking, shush them loudly with your pointer finger over your lips. Look cross to be more effective.

Always clarify simple new vocabulary with more complex terms. For example: “telephone” can be easily described as: a modern technological device invented in the 1800s by Alexander Graham Bell that was created to allow two speakers to converse at far range easily and clearly without shouting.

To avoid favouritism, always direct your attention to the back wall when speaking to your class.

Make all students feel welcome by telling off-colour jokes, especially ones that poke fun at their nationality. “Did you hear about the Catalan who...?”

Learners can be very unpunctual. To ensure students come to class on time, try one of the following: seat latecomers facing the corner at the back of the room. Loudly state, “You’re late!” as they walk in. Ignore the student completely until the last five minutes of class.

In order to provide the best model possible, speak with your best British RP accent in class.

Don’t bother checking if the board pen you are using is permanent. The cleaning people come on Friday, they’ll sort it out.

If you haven’t completed your lesson when your time is up, continue until it is done. The learners are having a great time!

On the other hand, if your 60-minute lesson wraps up in 15, congratulate your learners for being so sharp and send them on their way.

Since ARC, ESA or whatever the lesson acronym du jour is, encourages experimentation, try out whatever you like. Lessons don’t need to have rhyme or reason and shouldn’t be encumbered by it.

If teaching a listening lesson, make sure to give out tapescripts ahead of time to appeal to visual learners.

If you forget to give them the tapescript, no worries, just play the listening once and move on.

On that note, listenings are a bother altogether. Cueing the CD (or god forbid, cassette tape) takes your focus off the lesson. Forget about them and just read the tapescript to the class.

Every class has one student who demands more attention than the others. She asked for it, make sure you give it.

When choosing a lesson topic, pick something you are interested in. The students are sure to pick up on your enthusiasm for the various bacteria found in north-western Utah’s salt flats.

Teachers are usually sloppy dressers. They like to subtly show how they feel about their profession through the clothes they wear so by all means wear your favourite funny T-shirt, cutoffs and flip-flops.

Be sure to laugh at your students’ accents in English. Humour is useful for relaxing students.

If the activity you are currently doing is a hit, forget about the rest of your lesson plan. You can use it another day.

Correct every incorrect utterance you hear your students make. After all, that’s why they’ve come to class! Remember, if you don’t say it that way, it is not correct.