Job Discussion Forums

[Denim-Maniac]

Probably no one answer to cover all experiences.

Most peoples experience work out OK in fairness. The story quoted here is pretty much the worst case scenario out there (not quite the worst, but kinda getting there).

A colleague and personal friend of mine who I used to teach with in UK summer schools went to China as an experienced, qualified EFL teacher and got it totally wrong with first impressions and demo lesson and as a result didnt get the job he went for, but was 'moved' to another school that was felt to best suit his skills. He didnt need to leave the country, and actually ended up better off and quite happy for his sideways move. Things worked out well for him.

My room-mates from last year both had jobs that fell through/went wrong in China, and they came to my place and volunteered until paid jobs became available. They had the back-up funds to do that and the only leaving China they both did was the Hong Kong visa run. Most of the people I have worked with, have happily worked out their contract, many have re-signed for another year. Or gone back to their lives or other destinations.

The better prepared you are (experience and qualifications) and the better financed you are (money in the bank and usable credit cards) the less likely you are to have unsurmountable problems.

[tangal]

What I was trying to say is that if you're a newbie, fresh off the boat, with little or no "teaching" experience, this forum isn't the best or even a good place to find answers. The best way to learn is by doing it yourself. Of course, I get the irony of my comment and apologize for how stupid and hypocritical it sounded.

If I were giving advice on how to do a sink-or-swim, first-time, I-have-no-idea-what-I'm-doing demo, here it is (some have already alluded to this kind of approach, so I know most of what I'm saying is far from original):
1. Don't play hangman! Start the demo the same way you would as the host of a party; smile, be friendly, be polite, be yourself. Use your common sense and try to make a good first impression. And remember it�s OK to be nervous!

2. Ask questions, and listen to the answers. Remember that follow-up questions are mostly W or Wh Questions, also known as the Five Ws. Talk to students, and wait patiently for their answers. Let them answer as fully as possible. Encourage them to tell you more. Ask "what else?" and "anything else?" a lot.

3. Start the demo. Introduce yourself formally. Confidence and public speaking skills are important. Not too long, about 1-2 minutes. And remember, you're still making that good first impression. Some people are more naturally inclined to this part of teaching, born with better oratory than others. But most people can learn this. It's taken me years to develop this part of my teaching style. Finish your introduction with a topic of your choice, for this demo let's make it "favorites."

4. Write a question on the board, "What's your favorite...? Ask students to finish the question with a vocabulary word. Write the words on the board. Ask one student a question using one of the words. For example, ice cream is on the board (because a student said this, they produced the language) so ask student A, "What's your favorite ice cream and why?" Write the question mark on the board. Remind students to ask "Why?"

5. Student A answers the question, and then you ask student A to ask student B another question. You tell him which student to ask; you�re in charge, so take control of the demo and run it with as much confidence as you can. Go around the room until all students have asked and answered a question.

6. Write "Find Someone Who" on the board. Tell students they are going to ask questions and give answers about the Past. Remind them to give a full answer, which means making complete sentences and adding extra details and information. Bring printed handouts to the class with 10 of these past-tense questions ((Find someone who)�drank tea this week) ready to go. Tell them their answers should be 3 to 5 sentences long. Show them how you want them to do it. Ask one student to stand up and ask them one of your �Find Someone Who� questions. For example, if you ask, �Did you drink tea this week?� The student answers, �Yes.� You say, �Tell me more.� Make the student string at least three sentences together. If the student can�t do it, you model the answer for him/her. Ask the student to ask you the same question. Answer, �Yes, I did. I drink tea every day, especially in the mornings. My favorite tea is Chinese green tea. I like it because it tastes good and it�s also good for my health.� Put students in pairs and tell them to ask and answer questions the same way. Monitor (walk around and listen to them, or help them get started, or work with pairs of students and engage them in conversations. Note: if there are only a few students, sit and down and partner with one student, or work with all students in the class as one group (whole class).

7. Get some conversation questions from the Internet. Here are two oldies but goodies: http://www.esldiscussions.com/ and http://iteslj.org/questions/. Print them and bring them to the demo as readymade handouts. Write the topic on the board. For example: Animals and Pets. Ask students if they know what the words mean. Ask students (individually or whole class is OK) to tell you what they think the words mean. Tell students what they mean. Ask them if they know their form (nouns). Talk about animals and pets, not too much, about 1-2 minutes. Model some good English for them. Give students the handouts. Put them into new pairs (You tell them who to work with). Go over some of the vocabulary from the questions, such as breed, tricks, and animal rights. Tell students to ask each other the questions. Monitor. Note any mistakes or errors (I�m in the �it-doesn�t-matter-what-you call-them� camp) and write a few examples on the board. Let the students talk and help them if needed.

8. Stop the conversations. Go over the errors, and ask students to �correct� them for you. Remind them how to make a full answer. Ask a student to ask you a question from the handout. �Did you grow up with pets in your home? Answer: �Yes, I did. I grew up (use the past tense in your �model� answer) with two brothers and one sister, so we had cats and dogs, goldfish, hamsters, and even rabbits in my home. My favorite pet was our dog Inky.�

9. Avoid talking too much. This is often a default approach for many new teachers who think talking (speaking English) is really all there is to �teaching� English. Also, if they talk a lot they won�t need to do much else. Do a bit of whole class here. If possible, sit down and get comfortable. Ask students one of the questions. �What are some of the animals that live in your country? Pandas will invariably come up. Let students do most of the talking. Students love to talk about Pandas!

10. Wrap it up. Tell students you�re out of time. Thank them. Wish them the best of success in their English studies. Tell them you hope to see them again soon. Smile. Shake hands. Be ready to answer questions and give your time freely and sincerely to any lingerers. Be friendly and easygoing. Go with the flow and wait for the staff person in charge of the demo to tell you the next move.

ESL Conversation Questions:
Do you have a pet?
How old is it?
Where did you get it from?
Who takes care of it?
What does it look like (color, breed, etc.)?
What do you feed it?
Do you play with it?
What is it's name? How did you choose this name?
Does it know any tricks or understand any words?
If you don't have a pet, why not?
Would you ever consider getting a pet?
Did you grow up with pets in your home?
What are the pros and cons of keeping a pet?
What is the best pet to own?
What are some animals that live in your country?

[Denim-Maniac]

Good detailed post tangal - You're absolutely right with regard to my offering. I probably didnt post enough detail to make it of much use to a total newbie

Im not going to comment on everything in your approach. I might PM you if you dont mind chatting further though. But Im still backing Hangman y'know. When I teach German teenagers, it doesnt tend to work. For them its an old and tired game, and if they have experienced it in an English classroom ... its been played for 15 minutes with several rounds. Thats dull, boring and without purpose

But in China, when I teach small classes of adults ... it tends to be very popular (believe it or not!). I tend to push its use with newer teachers simply because I know its successful, and I know its the one thing the new teacher is normally very confident in. They know the game inside out and so it builds the teachers confidence in the early stages of the lesson. My most popular warmers are:
a photo storyboard (3 - 5 photos, a little bit cryptic, and student predict what the lesson will be about based on the photos)
A wordle cloud - key words from the lesson, same as above, a prediction task.
An anagram type word game - 2 minutes to make as many words as you can from the selection on the board (the class topic will be hidden in those words)
And finally Hangman ... just one single game, just to find the lesson topic. Its probably the easiest of my warmers and needs very little prep and its probably / possibly the most popular.

Used sparingly, perhaps twice in every 7 or 8 lessons, its a nice easy warmer. I watched a heck of a lot of lessons last year, and one of the biggest things I noted was a lack of warmers in many lessons. The most common approach was 'Here is todays worksheet / material' which, as an observer, just seemed soooo dry!

(I normally teach adults / young adults at B2 - C1)