Job Discussion Forums

[dawnbuckley]

Hi,

I`m doing the CELTA course at the moment and have my first teachng practice next week. Im extremely nervous about it. The class are upper intermediate and i`ve never taught above beginner level so i`m worried that I won`t be able to engage them.
I was wonderng if anyone has any ideas for a short activity to break the ice wth them? Ive been looking on the internet for ages and can`t find anything quite right.

Thanks!

Dawn

[Glenski]

Introduce yourself, show a few pictures (hometown, map, friends). Don't give too much info, but enough to "engage" them.

Then, each student must come up with 3 original questions. All on paper and within 1 minute. Each student can ask you only 1. Make them aware that their questions must be unique enough that by making 3, they will have at least one question that the other students don't. Encourage follow-up questions from ANYONE, not just the question person.

Icebreaker finished.


Then, have them plan a trip to your hometown or home state, and brainstorm why, where, with whom, for how long, etc. with the answers you gave and by brainstorming in groups.

Or just have them compare your answers with their own to similar questions or to their reactions.

[Salam]

Something that I used to love doing with a new class is a simple activity for them to get to know each other and you!

Start by writing on the board the outline for their work. Student will have 5-7 minutes to write down:

Name
Hometown
Favourite hobby
(Pretty boring so far, but this is comfortable for many students as it is easy and something they've done many times before. Now, we shake things up a bit...)
Your choice of -
A funny personal story
An embarrassing personal story (the best one)
A dark secret that no one in the class knows (encourage this one if you have a class that has been together for a while).

Tell your students that if each one does a good job then they can vote on which one (story) they want you to tell them about yourself, so have three ready!

Then it is just a matter of going around the room and hearing what they have to say. You must be very encouraging during the planning process and don't accept any, "but I don't know".

This has led to absolute hillarity in the class before and some students really get into it, especially the dark secret one - something their best friend in the class didn't know! Just remember to keep it very light hearted and loads of laughter. It's hard to be sad when everyone is laughing WITH you.

Hope that helps.