Job Discussion Forums

[ClanDestine]

hi all.

have just started tefl and i have my first assignment this wednesday. eeek!
would appreciate it if some of you guys (with your experience and all) can give me some advice or know of any site.

im teaching an intermiediate class and the subject is "Hotel Booking"

my outline methodology is:
1. Lead-in (contextualise)
2. Illustrate meaning to elcicit vocabulary (lexis)
3. Elicit, model, drill and concept check
4. Give student the opportunity to practise the language. Make up/design activities which give the practice in the acquired vocab.
Gap-fill
Matching.
Information exchange.
These activities should be both oral and written.

Any advice plz?

i'm thinking of using role play. one person being a reception desk and the other the customer booking in? Not quite sure what im gonna do for points 1. 2. and 3.

[Iam]

Hi,

I'm thinking you mean you're just starting your Celta course, so here's my advice - God help you if it's the best you get, btw

Though, saying that, I'm sure you'll do well.

On my Celta they were big on Meaning, Form & Pronunciation. If this is stressed on yours, it might be an idea to pick up on whatever point of grammar the lesson addresses - on my Celta there was always some grammar point or another, even if Speaking was the main lesson focus.

Celtas do seem to vary though, so maybe it's not the same on yours.

If it is though, be sure to put up on the board an example sentence, elicit/demonstrate meaning, do a form grammar breakdown, then drill pronunciation.

Also, do a good lesson plan - but if you're using a course book for for TP classes write pencil notes on the course book & follow that when doing the lesson. It'll allow you to present the lesson referring to just one written source, not switching slowly back & forth between a page long lesson plan & the Student's Book.

It sounds as though this lesson is using materials you created yourself, so maybe that's not an issue.

All the best for your course.

Iam.

[Cdaniels]

If it is CELTA, than very definitely mark Meaning, Form and Pronunciation. Even if you have only a vague idea about what they are- take a guess and Mark them down. Organization was really important in my class. Also, no matter what you do- they'll suggest changes and improvements. Get it done early and make a habit of asking your teacher(s) beforehand what changes you should make. My class teachers were also hooked on positive reinforcement- after your lesson, don't expect them to say directly what was wrong, you'll usually get gentle suggestions about how to improve. You might get told what you did wrong by you're classmates, but I think you must take them with a grain of salt- they're students who don't really know what their talking about. (Remember this when critiquing others' presentations, too. The group is mostly just groping in the dark when it comes to the Celta way) You'll probably have one hell-week of three lessons- once you get over that it'll get easier.
I also felt it was better to get a good night's sleep before teaching, even at the risk of passing in a lousy lesson plan. This might be the wrong approach for you, though.

[Cdaniels]

[ClanDestine]

Thanks for all of your suggestions.

I'm thinking of introducing the words:

Single.
Double.
Check in.
Check out.
Reception.
Room Service.
Reservation.
Accomodation.
Restaurant.
Concierge.
Credit card.
Porter/ Bell boy.

to the intermediate class. all of which i think is essential for when booking into a hotel.

Does anyone know of an online dictionary that provides you with the phonics of the word as well?

much appreciated.

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

Hello ClanDestine

[Iam]

For a written dictionary shwoing each word phonetically with word stress, take a look at the Collins cobuild Learner's Dictionary.

It's about the size of a large, thick paperback, not too heavy to go in your pack.

Iam.

[Cdaniels]

[Guy Courchesne]

CDaniels, in your CELTA course, did you have a mixed group of students, or were they all Spanish-speakers? The OP didn't say where they are teaching/studying, but in Mexico, that list would be fairly easy. Cognates make up almost half the list.

Good idea with Mastercard and Visa though. Easily recognizable.

[Cdaniels]

The teacher trainees were from various countries, but all the students in the Playa del Carmen course were Spanish-speaking Mexicans. Our teachers said that we should teach as though we knew no Spanish, but it was hard to resist sometimes. I gave a lesson on word stress in English, and couldn't resist confirming a student's comment that, in Spanish, word stress is usually only at the beginning of sentences. This was helpful to me in part because I thought word stress examples from the book/audiotape were sometimes just plain Wrong.
Mastercard/Visa come from experience in getting around in Mexico!
Tarjeta de credito(?) is a little awkward.

[ClanDestine]

Hi guys, you've all been most helpful. Class is tonight!!! Eeeek!

With regards to the words, in our brief it states that we have to use 6 or 8 words. And its a 30 min lesson. Anyways this is what i have so far, would appreciate any comments/criticism/advice etc. The class is at an intermediate level, i dunno, my program sounds kinda stupid. le sigh.


1. LEAD IN:
So we have all picked our destinations on where we would like to go on holiday.
/ask a couple of students where they are going.


2. LEXIS & DRILLING:
But where will we be staying? We can�t go on holiday and sleep in the streets now can we? We need a hotel.
/show transparency of hotel.

And where do we go once inside the hotel? Do we go straight to our rooms? We need to go to RECEPTION.
/show transparency of reception.

And from there we ask for a room. Now the lady at RECEPTION, will ask you if you would like a SINGLE or DOUBLE ROOM.
/ask students if they are taking a single or double room.
/show transparency of hotel room.

The RECEPTIONIST, will then ask you for how many nights you will be staying. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Nights? She will then tell you that CHECKOUT time is 12:00.
/show transparency of CHECKOUT.

How are we going to pay for all of this? We are going to use your CREDIT CARD.
/show transparency of CREDIT CARD.

Great. So we have now CHECKED IN into the Hotel.
/show transparency of CHECKING IN.

Oh one more thing, early tomorrow morning we are going on a city tour, so we need to be up at 7 in the morning. So what we can do is ask the lady to give us a WAKE-UP CALL.
/show transparency of wake-up.

Right, now we have settled into our room and we are a bit hungry, it has been a long trip. So we pick up the phone, call the RECEPTION and ask for ROOM SERVICE. Or we can ask if there is a RESTAURANT in the hotel.

3. DRILLING:
Drill the words RECEPTION. SINGLE. DOUBLE. CHECKOUT. CHECK IN. CREDIT CARD. WAKE-UP CALL. ROOM SERVICE. RESTAURANT.

4. ACTIVITY:
Provide students with one of the activities. eg. Role playing.

[Cdaniels]

[dajiang]

Advice? Relax, keep smiling, be confident in your qualities.
You'll be fine.

Besides it's a CELTA course, and like in any school you learn by doing. So of course the lesson is not going to go perfect, but you can't expect that of yourself, and neither can others. So don't expect too much of yourself, nor the students, and enjoy the ride.

Good luck,
Dajiang

[Cdaniels]

I'm curious to know how things went. One thing that surprised me was I expected all mistakes would happen in the first class or two, then classes would get increasingly better, but most teachers seemed to have a real mix of good days and bad days.

[ClanDestine]

hey hey.

Things went okay. Couple of things i need to learn is eye contact. i need to distribute that equally. they also felt that my lesson was a bit vague theye werent too share what i was teaching, to be honest i wasnt too sure what i was suppose to be teaching. the subject was: hotel booking.

the whole theme is travelling. but otherwise it went okay, more practise makes perfect. thanks all for your help!