How Can We Make Our English Class More Interesting

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Ever have someone try to establish rapport with you? When we think about it carefully, the answer is affirmative. You need to build rapport with people to make friends. To do business with establishing rapport, as well as sales. Establishing rapport makes things much easier than you don’t. Imagine meeting someone for the first time and you are not interested in him. What is your next move？Obviously you will end the conversation with him? Let us focus on the importance of building rapport in class. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Jiajia Z. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. In my point of view, the good relationship...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Managing a class involves organizing and controlling a class. It also involves having a relaxed manner and a sense of discipline. The class has to be interesting for the learners. A large class can be fun if managed well by the teacher. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Esther O. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. I would suggest an orderly row arrangement for a large class. This will enable the teacher to move back and forth. This arrangement also enables the teacher to keep eye contact with the learners. A large class requires a confident voice and changes based on the stage of the lesson. Learners can sense a teacher that is...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Teaching Ideas As you have learned during your TEFL certification course, a good lesson starts with an engage, or warm-up phase. This usually consists of a fun and interesting activity to get your students going and speaking in English. For new teachers, it’s often these more casual moments of a class that are a challenge because of their lack of teaching experience. However, these top 5 icebreakers for new TEFL teachers will help you to get your class energized and ready for your lesson. This is a great activity for your very first lesson with a new class. Basically, the students each write down three statements. Two statements are true but one of them is a lie. Next, the students either present the statements to each other or...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences The year was 1992, I was going to my first English class. I was so excited to begin. I’d always wanted to learn that language. The movies, music and everything I loved the most was in English. I was ten years old, my whole class was the same age, but the only thing I didn’t know was they were much ahead of me. The course placed me in a classroom with kids that were already speaking English since they were six years old. They spoke all the time and I couldn’t understand anything. I felt so disappointed and ashamed, I couldn’t even comprehend the difference between him and her. Even my teacher made fun of me. As a result, I got out of the course after lots of swollen eyes and arguments with my parents....  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas It’s my dream to be a teacher since I was a little girl. It’s so lucky, I became an English teacher after I graduated from school. I like my job, I always prepared a lot before my class, such as materials, flashcards, teaching plan and so on. Because I hope my students will enjoy my class and gain knowledge through my class. I heard that a good teacher must be a good actor. I really impressed by this sentence, it always reminds me, no matter how tired you are and how sad you are, once you enter in the classroom, you must be full of energetic and keep a smile. Through my teaching experience, if you want to be a good teacher, I think not only just read books and ask students to do drilling work, but also...  [Read more]

Jon ITTT Alumni Experiences As we all know, motivation is a core aspect of teaching and learning a language. Lack of motivation is perhaps the biggest obstacle that we face as students and teachers. If a student lacks motivation, he/she will not pay attention in the class or will simply find it boring. At the same time if a teacher lacks motivation to teach he/she will be unable to attract students’ attention and give them all they need. Let us be honest and say that intelligent students are those, who always eagerly attend class and enjoy the process. Here we need a highly motivated teacher who is willing help them. In this article I divide students into several categories because different situations require different approaches. This post...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences When starting any class, if you expect that your students will be motivated to learn a new language, at first, you have to be primarily motivated and enthusiastic. We have seen that we can have self-motivated students and also reluctant students, it’s the teacher’s role to make the best to involve providing an interesting and pleasant class when you show passion to the subject that you are teaching, it can be contagious for most students, who will model your positive behavior. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Thamiris M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Your approach and your attitude in class will reflect on the...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Teaching Ideas Learning foreign languages is a very exciting and very responsible deal. A significant role in teaching foreign languages, in particular, English, belongs to games in the classroom. Games enhance students' mental activity, helps them consolidate material of the lesson, therefore it’s a very important activity. The developing value of the game we can find in itself, because where is a game - there is emotion. Where is emotion, there are attention improvisation and imagination. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ivan S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. There can be different usage of the game - it can be entertaining, training aims...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences There are several differences that exist when a teacher is teaching one student only versus teaching a class of students at a given time. For this essay, each difference will be compared against each other to effectively highlight the distinction between the two. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Roxanne C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Firstly, if the student doesn’t show up for class, then that’s it, the class cannot go on as that student is the only person the teacher has teaching for that session. With a group, on the other hand, the lesson will still go on as there is never a time where everybody will be absent...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Teaching Ideas One of the first things you should learn during a TEFL certification course is that delivering interesting lessons goes a long way to keeping your students happy and motivated in the classroom. And, if your students are stimulated by your lessons they are likely to progress quicker, which also makes the teachers job that much more satisfying. So what exactly makes a TEFL lesson interesting? There are many things you can do to make your lessons stand out, but one of the main ways to pique the interest of your students is to focus on things that they can actually relate to in their own lives. In this post we show you 5 great activities based on movies that you can use in the classroom, because everyone loves a good...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I came to China about a year ago now, I left America with just the items in my backpack and enough money to eat for a few days. Coming to China was the biggest change I have had in my life (for the better) and it has opened my eyes to many opportunities I could potentially pursue. I came here alone to meet my best friend and his uncle, who runs an English school with foreign teachers. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate mitchell c. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. My best friend’s uncle suggested I go to college and get my TEFL to become an English teacher for him. All my life I had never imagined I would ever become an English...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The lesson plan is a structure of the course that you will give to your students, a clear guide as to what you want to achieve and how you are going to do it. A good lesson plan generally consists of learner objectives, personal aims, language points, procedure, phase, and interaction, etc. It is of great importance because it can help teachers to have confidence in class, make the class go more smoothly and help to improve the course. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Yanfen G. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Firstly, it can help teachers be full of confidence in class. As is well known to everyone, people will easily get...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Teaching Ideas The present progressive is one of the most important tenses in the English language. As it describes actions currently happening, it's quite an easy tense to teach using a variety of fun and interactive activities. Here are 7 activities for teaching the present progressive for the ESL classroom. Have your class make observations about what’s happening all around in the classroom and outside the windows. Make sure they students use the present progressive when describing what they see. Ask your students to write a letter to a parent, relative or friend describing their life as an ESL student. What are they doing to improve their English? What are they doing right now in class? Also read: 7 Activities for Teaching...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas One of the most important aspects of becoming a great teacher is establishing a positive rapport with students. Even with all the technical knowledge of teaching theory in the world, a class will not be successful without creating beneficial bonds between the teacher and pupils. With a tactful and thoughtful approach to building a deep rapport with the students, these bonds can establish a learning environment in which the students and teachers can thrive. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate James S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. For every class lesson plan there should be an icebreaker to ease the students into the material....  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas English as a global language, very young learners are becoming an increasingly bigger market in China. Children as very young learners are in a golden period of language learning. Relevant research supports children have a natural ability to learn a foreign language in the same way they learned their mother language. That's why most people are aware that children learn a language more quickly and effectively than adults. So when can children start to learn a foreign language? The answer must be the earlier the better. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Sha J. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. For children in the Kindergarten,...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Course materials are the ingredients of the class, that if implemented effectively, make it taste good. A teacher can be amazing at instructing but the materials are what will help the students apply the lecture and know if they understood it. It reminds me of when I was in class, listening to my teacher, oftentimes I was really under the impression that I understood what the teacher was saying. When I did my homework though, I found it difficult to apply that information to the exercises. This was often the case when the teacher explained things well, but the materials weren’t personalized and came from a textbook that has been out of date for the past 5 years. Here we’ll go over how to implement course...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Discipline is an essential part of any classroom. It is the key component to effective classroom management. But how do teachers establish and implement a discipline plan for the class? The answer is simple. We’ve got to teach it! This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Jeande J. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Yes, discipline in the classroom, like all the lessons from the textbook, should be taught to the students from day one no matter what the level is. I remembered doing a “new student” recruitment demonstration class a few years back. There were five new students aged around three to four years old. Most of them haven’t...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas When it comes to learning English, some students already have a strong source of motivation. This could be for many reasons, such as a desire to move to an English-speaking country, to be able to communicate with English-speaking friends, or even simply because they enjoy the language and culture. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Julianna W. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. When teaching adults, it is more common for them to be independently motivated, since they are likely taking the class by their own choice. For children, however, they do not necessarily have a choice in learning English. For this reason, they can easily...  [Read more]

Juan Pedro Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas 5 fantastic ways to motivate students when teaching online One of the keys to success in learning a language is motivation. We have come to believe that students need to come to class motivated. However, we as teachers play a huge role in motivating students. Online teaching might be a little bit daunting when it comes to motivating students. We have no real contact with them, and building rapport could be harder than in a classroom. Yet, there’s nothing a dedicated teacher cannot achieve! In this post, I will share five fantastic ways to motivate students that I have used in my years as an online teacher. Come and discover them with me! One of the best ways to keep your students...  [Read more]

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Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In my opinion, classroom management is the most important part of teaching. Classroom Management does not have only the skill of organizing and managing but also a relaxing manner. It is a critical skill. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Huyen P. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Simply put, classroom management refers to the wide variety of skills and techniques that teachers use to ensure that their classroom runs smoothly, without disruptive behavior from students. According to me, it boils down to having a structured learning environment with clear rules that promote learning as well as consequences that diminish or...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I feel that this is a very important topic and part of the teaching experience, one of my biggest worries is that I won't be good enough at creating a classroom where the students feel encouraged, motivated and comfortable participating, of course, there are a lot of things that go into this, such as the way you teach the material and what you choose to teach, the way you maintain discipline in the classroom, how to create good rapport with all the students in your class, how to make the class "fun" and interesting for the students without trying to be TOO fun and derail from the point of the lesson, so I worry about a lot of these issues. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Marlon J. Please...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Being an aspiring online teacher, I have done some extensive research on how to properly teach online to ensure that my students are learning to the nest of their ability. One of the subjects I was most interested in learning about was what different types of techniques can I utilize while teaching online? While going through the courses and different units, as well as, some online research I have come across five different techniques that I believe online must know. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Danielle C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. One technique that I would recommend online teachers to try is initializing a flipped...  [Read more]

  It is very important that whenever we?re doing an activity that we use the students names wherever possible when we're asking for feedback and so on and so forth. There are a number of benefits to using the students? names and they can include helping to actually organize the class itself, certainly to acknowledge when a student has given the correct answer and so forth, to indicate who should respond, rather than just asking a general question to the whole class. By using the names we can ask an individual to respond to that particular question. One point to note here is that if you are going to ask an individual student it is very useful if you put their name at the end of the question. This is useful because if you start with their name then all of the other students know that...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas A simple definition of motivation can be, the reason why someone is doing something, for example, the reason to be in the class. Why are they taking this class? An adult student can be taking the class because her or his job requires. A young student can be taking the class because their parents are asking for or because it is a subject in school. If this is the case the young student will be not motivated to be in there and learn, this is when the teachers will look for the best way to motivate the student to learn and be present. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Micaela V. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Giving a specific...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Reading is one of the key elements for all English learners. By reading authentic stories and books, not only do we learn reading and understanding the text we are working with, but we also expand our vocabulary by discovering new authentic words you wouldn't be able to find in your course books, and more importantly, you can see it in context which makes it easier to remember and use those words and structures in the future. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Julia P. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. It's important to know which stories to choose based on your student's age and English level. Younger learners would find...  [Read more]

Karah Musani Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Teaching children can be challenging. If you’re teaching an adult, chances are, they’re there because they want to learn. Most children, however, would much rather be watching their favorite TV show, so it’s important to make the class fun and engaging. One of the best ways to do this is with a reward system. Plan a reward system with 4 to 6 rewards and give one to the student periodically throughout the class when they have done a good job. You can use this to reinforce good behavior and to encourage the student to try harder so that they get more rewards. All of my reward systems rely on a whiteboard the students can see. The rewards will be placed on the whiteboard. Here...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences There is no doubt that it is the Information Age people are currently living in. And it is cannot be ignored that online education is one of the fastest growing teaching and learning methods in recent years due to different reasons and needs, which takes the advantages of the Internet and save both teachers' and learners' time and energy that has been spent on the distance and traffic. Among that, ESL online learning gets a great acceptance from the ESL learners. And here is a discussion about the advantage of ESL online education. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Xue L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Compared to...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas As we know, Music affects human life. Music – a subject that is quite interesting for students. Especially, when children aged 0-6 years old, there is 2-6 years old called the period of sensitive music of children. If at that time, parents give children a lot of music, they will receive very well. So, how do the songs affect children, and how are the benefits of using songs in English classes? Two of these problems will explain clearly the reason why the is song important. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Hien Phan Thi D. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Music supports children in the learning process at school. For example,...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In 2019, it is difficult to imagine an ESL lesson without the use of modern technologies. Every tutor, language center or school tries to use audio and video presentations, interactive whiteboards, smart toys and so on. With the help of modern technologies, the learning process becomes more interesting, dynamic and informative. It is promoted by the developing market of educational services, growth of the competition, and also inquiries of students. In this article, we will try to find out how a modern teacher can use technology in his lesson. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Andrei B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. A good...  [Read more]