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sheepgirl · Joined: 15 Feb 2005 Posts: 15 Location: Quebec Canada

I'm not even a newbie - I'm a pre-newbie! I took a TEFL course and am waiting to finish my masters degree (in agriculture not english) before taking off to travel and teach. One thing that terrifies me even after the course is the idea of coming into a classroom on your first day where no-one speaks English and you don't speak much of the native language. How do you start everything off? I'm sure after the first day things would be fine. Does anyone have ideas, suggestions or stories about their experiences?

Sara

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

Hi...welcome to it all!

Remember, your new students will be just as nervous as you are. It's always good to start with introductions. Perhaps you could try to find out what/how your students feel about being in class.

denise · Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Posts: 3419 Location: finally home-ish

If your students don't already know each other, you could have them interview and then introduce each other. If they do already know each other, you could have them interview you.

I agree with Guy--your students will be nervous, too. And they will probably also be curious about their new teacher. Introductions would address both of those issues.

Good luck!

d

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

I still remember my first lesson many years ago. Or rather I remember the fear. I have no recollection of the content of the lesson. But after you get the first one out of the way it can only get better.

sigmoid · Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 1276

Well, actually at least some of your students will speak/understand English unless they're very small children. Most classes are not absolute beginners. As others have mentioned start off with introductions.

I usually have one student write on the board a list like: name, age, hobbies, favorite food, pets, school/job, etc. The students write down this info in their notebooks. Then I send students up to the board to write the questions: What's your name? How old are you?, etc. so the questions are on the board and they have the answers in their notebooks. You should walk around and check while they're writing.

Then I demonstrate the conversation with a student in front of the class, then maybe student with student before they talk in pairs or small groups, changing partners when they finish.

After that I usually have Interview with a Teacher. The students write down maybe 5 questions they want to ask me [depends on the level of the class]. I walk around and check these questions for accuracy. Then each student can tell me their name and ask one question.

By the way, you say you took a TEFl course. Wasn't this kind of thing covered in the course?

Ben Round de Bloc · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1946

Wow! You guys must have some good beginning students! Although we don't have many 100% true beginners in our program, few students who start out in our Elementary 1 level, either by their own choice or via a placement exam, would know adequate vocabulary or how to form questions sufficiently to interview each other or do introductions.

Ariadne · Joined: 16 Jul 2004 Posts: 960

Why not try 10 or 15 minutes of TPR? It will get everyone moving and feeling more at ease.

dyak · Joined: 25 Jun 2003 Posts: 630

Something heavily student centred will divert the focus away from any nerves you have.

I like those activities where they take turns interviewing each other, both ending up with a sheet of one or two word answers. They then try to reform the questions while discussing each other's answers. It forms the basis of a good getting to know you chat, and to truly milk the activity you can have them talk to everyone in turn. After this they'll have the, 'wow, i've spoken a lot of English', look, aka the, 'moneys worth', look. Jot down any errors you hear on the white board and correct those too.

For you: Retain an air of mystery about yourself. Give nothing away; after a week or so they'll be chomping at the bit to ask you personal questions. So much so that they may even be grammatically correct. If not, insist that they be so. Mwah ha ha.

dajiang · Joined: 13 May 2004 Posts: 663 Location: Guilin!

Hiya,

my first lesson went like a breeze, it was the second one that went a little more difficult.

A more experienced colleague at the time told me something I always remembered: 'It good to be nervous before going in, it makes you try your best. If you're not nervous anymore, it might be time to try something else.'
Anyway, obviously introductions are essential, and you need a few lessons to really gauge the level of your students.

There were a few activities that worked well for some 'first classes' I had.
(I got the first one from the idea cookbook btw, there's good stuff there eh)

One was writing down some words or numbers randomly in a circle you'd drawn on the board. 5 or 7 words or numbers that had something to do with your life: for instance I'd write down 'coffee (favourite drink), 2000 (year I graduated), 19 (age when I left home), guitar (hobby)...'
Students then start guessing (in groups or individually) what the words or numbers mean. They could do this in pairs/groups as well as a follow-up.

Another thing I did was divide the class into groups, and give them each a picture of some of my travels. Then the groups will try and figure out the 'where/what/who/why/when' of the pictures. They will show the picture to the class and tell them what they thought about it and why they tought so. Then you could say how close they got to the truth.
It's a nice introduction of yourself, and gives you a good idea of their level, provided they're not absolute beginners.

End the lesson with some fun activities like 'hot seat' or 'x-games'.
Most important thing: have fun and enjoy yourself.

Good luck,
Dajiang