| My first ESL teaching experience was terrifying and | | | | in an 'adult-only' English class, answered: "I didn't go to |
| humiliating. I was 23, newly certified and had been hired | | | | sleep." Confused by his answer and thinking that |
| at a language school in New York city. I'd been so | | | | perhaps he'd misunderstood, I repeated the question. |
| nervous before my first hour-long lesson, that I'd | | | | "No, teacher," he insisted. "I worked. I don't sleep." |
| prepped for eight hours; writing and rewriting my lesson | | | | Apparently, he'd worked all evening at his janitor job |
| plan, scripting in witty jokes, games and even an art | | | | and then had come straight to class. He'd frequently |
| activity. But as I stood in front of the class sweating | | | | nodded off in the middle of the lesson and until then, I'd |
| through my new suit, I was horrified to realize that | | | | thought that it was because he didn't want to be there. |
| despite all of my preparation, my lesson was bombing | | | | As it turned out, he was just exhausted |
| - big time. 30 adults, most of them twice my age, sat in | | | | After that, I stopped wasting the student's time with |
| stony silence as I blundered through an explanation of | | | | Bingo, word-searches and vocabulary basket ball |
| the past progressive. Worst yet, they stubbornly | | | | tosses. I realized how patronizing these games had |
| refused to participate and then challenged the way I | | | | been - insulting even. I stopped worrying about whether |
| pronounced the word 'Elementary', insisting that I was | | | | or not the lesson would be fun for me to teach, and |
| saying it incorrectly. Somehow in the first 20 minutes | | | | started to think from the learner's perspective instead. I |
| of the lesson, I'd managed to lose all respect and | | | | focused on helping them develop skills that they would |
| authority as a teacher, to the point where even my | | | | need to survive - and thrive - in America. Together we |
| American accent was called into question. The next | | | | worked on decoding slang, practiced phrases needed |
| day, I was brought into the director's office and told | | | | for ordering take-out and drilled vocabulary they could |
| that the students had written a letter of complaint and | | | | use in the post office, subway or school. Perhaps my |
| that I would be assigned a different class, effective | | | | new teaching style was less entertaining, but it certainly |
| immediately. | | | | was better tailored to the students' needs. |
| I was mortified. And as I blotted my tears with a tissue, | | | | Advice: Take the time to ask the students their |
| I wondered in dismay: Where had I gone so wrong? | | | | reasons for studying English. Depending on where you |
| It would be nine months before I'd finally learn the | | | | are in the World and the age of your students, the |
| answer to that question. And below is a description of | | | | reason's will differ. Maybe your students are |
| the three mistakes I made and what you can do to | | | | five-year-old Japanese kindergarteners, in which case |
| avoid making them yourselves. | | | | your lesson's focus would be less on English |
| Mistake Number One: Reinventing the Wheel | | | | proficiency and more on English exposure. You'd |
| Before that fateful first day, I was warned that that | | | | therefore fill your lessons with games, songs and |
| the class would be a tough one to win over. The | | | | chants because your main objective would be to get |
| previous teacher had been incredibly popular and I was | | | | your students excited about learning English. However, |
| advised to model his teaching style if I wanted to | | | | if you're teaching Business English to a group |
| succeed. But I found his 'repeat after me' approach | | | | white-color businessmen in Germany, for example, |
| boring. He taught mostly from the grammar book and | | | | then perhaps a game wouldn't be appropriate. |
| rarely incorporated any games or group activities. And | | | | Remember that rarely will the lessons you love to |
| new teacher though I was, I believed that lessons | | | | teach be the lessons your students need. |
| should be creative and fun. I also felt that I had a lot to | | | | Mistake Number Three: Rushing through the Lesson |
| prove and therefore needed to be innovative; different. | | | | For the first year I taught English, I always made sure |
| In reality, it was very arrogant of me to think that I | | | | to over-plan for each class because that way, I'd |
| knew more about teaching than a school that been in | | | | never end up with 20 minutes left on the clock and |
| operation for over 20 years. While grammar exercises | | | | nothing to do. Pacing was a huge problem of mine. But |
| and dictations weren't my preferred learning method, | | | | instead of relaxing and slowing down, I'd spend four |
| they were obviously what the students liked best | | | | hours lesson planning for every one hour I taught. Soon, |
| because their old teacher would have never become | | | | my part-time job had turned into a full-time, 60 hour a |
| so popular otherwise. | | | | week nightmare. Part of the reason I sped through my |
| Advice: Being a new teacher is stressful enough. Don't | | | | lessons was because I was nervous. In my anxiety |
| add to the stress by trying to be different. Master the | | | | over wanting to be well-liked by my students, I would |
| tried and true method first, gain the students' trust and | | | | find myself cutting activities short or skipping them all |
| then you can experiment with new techniques. | | | | together at even the slightest look of disinterest on my |
| Remember that the only way you can develop your | | | | students' faces. |
| own unique teaching style, is through years of | | | | They're bored! I'd think, panicked any time I'd see a |
| experience and modeling the experts. Take time to | | | | student's eyes begin to wander. And then I'd |
| ask the students' previous teacher and your | | | | self-consciously rush through the end of the |
| supervisors for advice, feedback and ideas first. | | | | homework correction or halt the reading with a curt |
| Mistake Number Two: Not Considering the Needs of | | | | "Well, we can finish that next time...Let's move ahead |
| the Students | | | | to..." So afraid was I of being boring, that I'd overload |
| For those first few months of teaching, I chose to | | | | the students with too much information, far too quickly. |
| ignore the fact that most of the students at my New | | | | My poor students would be so overwhelmed they'd |
| York city language school were overworked, | | | | end up quitting. And not because I was boring but |
| undereducated immigrants. I taught the lessons that I | | | | because the class was moving so fast that they'd |
| favored as a foreign language learner and thus | | | | couldn't keep up and thus became discouraged. |
| incorporated a number of creative writing activities and | | | | I think that half the time, I misinterpreted their glazed |
| role-playing exercises. I neglected to consider that | | | | looks to mean that my lesson was too easy or |
| maybe those activities weren't suitable for the type of | | | | uninteresting. When in actuality they just needed time |
| student that the language school attracted. | | | | to think; to fully process what I'd said. And the times |
| Many of my students were barely literate in their | | | | that they were indeed falling asleep or not paying |
| native language and some even had to be taught how | | | | attention, more than likely had nothing to do with my |
| to hold a pen. It was unrealistic of me to think that they | | | | skills as a teacher at all. The level of concentration it |
| could or would even enjoy writing stories or poems. | | | | takes to listen, process and respond in a foreign |
| They could barely write their names and yet I would | | | | language is enormous. If a student's mind wanders off |
| insist that they write essays entitled "Why I Want to | | | | for a few minutes, it's probably because his brain is |
| Study English". What I failed to see was that these | | | | tired and needs a break. |
| particular students didn't want to study English, they | | | | Advice: Pacing is a common struggle with new |
| had to. They were studying English for survival; either | | | | teachers and something that is usually only resolved |
| for their jobs or for their children or so that didn't have | | | | through practice. But one thing that helps is an |
| struggle to understand street signs or shampoo bottle | | | | organized lesson plan. Bullet point each activity in your |
| labels. | | | | plan and write a realistic estimation of how long each |
| I remember the day it finally dawned on me that | | | | activity will take. Incorporate 30 second pauses into |
| perhaps I needed to change my approach. It was the | | | | your lesson, to give the students a break and to let |
| beginning of class and I asked each student in turn to | | | | what has just been covered sink in. You can use this |
| answer the question "What time did you go to sleep | | | | time to erase the board or organize your supplies. It will |
| last night?" One of my students, a 16-year-old from | | | | also help you catch your breathe and clear your |
| Mexico who'd lied about his age so that he could enroll | | | | thoughts in preparation for the next activity. |