Feeling unable to control the pace of the course? After finishing a class and find out that the course goal was not achieved? These are two problems that many ESL teachers usually encounter when they begin to give English classes. For them, this is like a nightmare.
Therefore, mastering the skills of course pacing and time management so as to teach students English lessons like professionals is necessary for new teachers.
I will introduce these techniques to you in detail. If you just need it, please look down.
1. The Period of Preparation
1) Knowledge
Just as a chef should know the recipe when cooking, ESL teachers also need to know the content of the course and the knowledge that students ought to master before class.
Most of the time, ESL teachers will use slides to show the lessons to students, so you need to demonstrate each slide in advance to estimate how long each slide should be shown. For example, you will give students a 30-minute class, and your teaching file has 28 slides, so the average time you spend on each slide is about 1 minute.
Doing the demonstration of the course in advance allows teachers to complete their teaching goals within a specified time.
2) Practice
Knowledge alone without practice is not enough for an ESL teacher. It is also necessary to take some time to simulate the class before the formal course. Set the timer, find some viewers (no need to find actual students, it can be your pets or dolls), and you can start practicing.
2. The Period of Teaching
1) Regular Teaching Goals
After the preparatory work is completed, it’s time for the teacher to start teaching. The primary purpose of the course is to achieve teaching goals, which requires some teaching strategies. For example, spend a small amount of time reviewing and most of the time on teaching new knowledge, and give students some time to think and avoid the lesson pacing be too fast.
2) Extension and Scaffolding
It is difficult for ESL teachers to determine whether the course is difficult or not for the students before seeing their reaction to the course. Therefore, when students find that the course is too simple or difficult, you need some extensions to help them learn more or understand new knowledge accurately.
It is undeniable that every student has different learning ability which causes some students to need extra time to learn new content. At this time, the teacher should give these students more time to master, and give them some support helping them correct errors in time.
3. The Period of Watching
1) Time
It is easy for many new teachers to ignore time tracking in their teaching, resulting in the inability to achieve the teaching goals within a specific time. However, experienced teachers often stare at the class timer to control the pace of the course and make appropriate adjustments when needed.
2) Emotions
Attentive teachers will always pay attention to students' performance and emotions during the teaching. If some students begin to show confused or frustrated expressions, teacher should give the students extra time to think or give timely help. Remember to be patient.
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