Job Discussion Forums

[thunder_god]

[Hod]

It's a bit late now to revamp the lesson. All I would suggest is to remove the gap fill exercise as that alone will take ten (very silent) minutes, is actually very difficult, has no connection with the rest of the lesson and most importantly gives you no opportunity to show what you can do as a teacher.

[thunder_god]

[Hod]

OK, they want past simple.

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First, back to the gap fill:

1. Does it actually teach the student(s)?
2. Does it allow you to show how you can teach? This is a demo aka a job interview.

For 1, no. You’ve gone in cold and assumed they know those regular and irregular verbs already. I said it was a difficult exercise, and you may well spend 40 minutes explaining it.

As for 2, you’ll be sat at the other end of a camera for at least ten minutes in silence watching the student or students. Gap fills have their uses now and then, but never during a demo. In any case, if I did a gap fill, I’d be walking around checking and correcting individual students’ work, quietly. You can’t do it via Skype.

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You’re packing way too much in. Your lesson as is will take at least one hour.

They want past simple. Do it. Nothing else.

As no one else is biting (this is a teachers' forum, shameful), I’ll offer an outline of what I’d do in a 20-minute demo.

http://image.slidesharecdn.com/reward-elementary-141205092517-conversion-gate02/95/reward-elementary-54-638.jpg?cb=1417771826

Poor Fabio is an oft-used past simple exercise for pre-intermediate upwards.

1. Icebreaker (2 minutes)

Show a photo of the Pope and the Coliseum. Ask where this is. (Rome). Ask what country (Italy). How’s the weather? (Quite sunny).

2. Story time – intro (2 minutes)
a) Show picture 1 and ask where Fabio is. (Rome) How do you know? (Sunny, t-shirt weather)
b) Show picture 2 and ask where Fabio is. (Not Rome, not important). How do you know? (Cloudy, pullover weather). What’s he holding? (A book). Why? (Get them to work out he’s a student).
c) Model past simple sentences in the past simple:

Fabio was from Rome.
Fabio studied abroad/overseas/in some cold place.

3. Story time (10 minutes)
Students use the pictures and past simple to tell Fabio’s story. You have the example sentences, but the students only have to loosely follow the plot. You will help with vocab when necessary but take a back seat and let them speak.

4. Recap/Feedback (5 minutes)
Go through Fabio’s story with the class, highlight and correct any errors you heard.

5. Homework (1 minute, why not?)
Write Fabio’s story.

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The above isn’t a lesson. It’s a demo. It will be fun for the student(s) and show how you teach, i.e. a mixture of presentation teacher-centred activities and student-centred work.

[thunder_god]

[nomad soul]

[Hod]

I agree, but in the absence of any training, I thought he'd sort of use something similar to my demo instead of

[spiral78]

[santi84]

Hod's demo is well done. If you compare it to yours, you'll see that it functions logically - icebreaker, vocabulary review (before jumping into grammar), model grammar, use visuals to produce the modeled grammar, consolidation, extension activities.

Your activity doesn't follow a structure that allows for students to do this. Depending on the student, your opening questions could lead to a good 15 minute conversation itself. Did you write that they ask you? That would waste time with you talking.

Fortune teller, fairy tale, disco - these terms would confuse some students and require explanation. If a student is still doing simple past, would they know what a fortune teller is? Maybe.

The rest is just too long. If you don't use Hod's actual plan, I suggest you at least use his format of lesson plan. Good luck.

[santi84]

We all do slightly different plans, but I like this structure:

1. Ice-breaker
2. Presentation

3. Explanation
4. Guided practice/model
5. Independent practice (alone or in groups)
6. Assessment (informal or formal)

7. Closure

[Hod]

[thunder_god]

[thunder_god]

[Hod]

Sounds like a plan. Some part-time entry-level stuff, save some cash and, if you're still interested in teaching in a year or so, splash the cash on a CELTA.

[nomad soul]