(In no particular order)
- Rocking Chair – if you see a student starting to rock in their chair, like a domino effect, the same is sure to happen to the others. This is when you have to spice up what you’re doing or change it altogether.
- 6 Months – once you play a game or activity, do not repeat it again for at least another 6 months. Keep your classes fresh and exciting.
- The holy trinity – use of vocab, speed of speech and TPR. Keep your speaking pace slow like Christopher Walken, keep your vocab limited to your students’ ability, and use plenty of TPR including moving around the classroom on an x, y and z-axis and of course vary your vocal tones.
- Review! In every class, review something the students have previously learnt. If you don’t review previous topics, the students will forget everything.
- Variety – vary what you use in the classroom. Mix between PowerPoints, whiteboard, game boards, toys, real objects, worksheets, computer games – use everything at your disposal.
- No native language – refrain from allowing students to speak in their native tongue unless they are explaining something or translating.
- Classroom Police – assign other students to discipline the class, including punishments such as sit-ups and a prison in the corner of the classroom, but try to include more reward systems than punishments.
- 4 English Skills – incorporate at least 3 of the 4 English skills in each class.
- 100/0 – obviously one cannot achieve a 100/0 student/teacher speaking ratio all the time. Your aim in the class is to work up to your final monologue/dialogue activity in which you say nothing but the children are doing all the work. For the rest of the class, try to maintain a 70/30 or 80/20 speaking ratio.
- Ensure understanding – make sure your students are able and comfortable asking and answering ‘Do you understand?’ ‘Yes, I do’ ‘No I don’t’. Even if all the students answer yes I understand, get one student to explain in their native tongue what to do. Often one student will not understand but still say they do as they are too embarrassed to speak up.
- Enjoy yourself – enjoy the class as the children will react to you. If you are bored and not interested, they will be bored and not interested. If you are excited, motivated and having fun – I promise you your students will be excited, having fun and motivated to learn!
