{"id":1867,"date":"2016-03-29T13:54:50","date_gmt":"2016-03-29T17:54:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/?p=1867"},"modified":"2017-01-12T10:13:27","modified_gmt":"2017-01-12T15:13:27","slug":"four-esl-teaching-tips-for-your-first-classroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/four-esl-teaching-tips-for-your-first-classroom\/","title":{"rendered":"Four ESL Teaching Tips for Your First Classroom"},"content":{"rendered":"

My wife and I are veterans of almost 20 years of teaching overseas in five different countries.\u00a0 I had been teaching in public schools in California for several years before we left for our first overseas adventure (Saudi Arabia<\/a>) so I was pretty well prepared to walk into a classroom with a good degree of confidence.\u00a0 My wife, however, felt differently. As a history major working in a library, she had never taught and had never intended to teach.\u00a0But when I received the job offer, it came with a daunting caveat; she would be expected to teach as well if we were coming as a couple.\u00a0 \u201cNo way!\u201d was her initial reaction. This nearly ended our overseas career before it began, but the lure of this adventure overcame her reluctance, especially when I offered to do a one-on-one teacher training class for her.\u00a0 As it turned out, due to a very short lead time, this took place on our 18-hour flight to Jeddah.\u00a0 What to explain to a total novice that would assure her of at least a good chance of a good first experience?\u00a0 In 18 hours!\u00a0 So I shared what had worked for me and, luckily, it worked for her and we spent 20 years in a very exciting and rewarding career.\u00a0 And for you couples with kids, ours were 6 and 8 when we headed for Saudi Arabia. They loved it! Don\u2019t let this stop you.<\/p>\n

So here are my four most important ESL teaching tips\u00a0for succeeding in your first classroom overseas:<\/p>\n

\"Our<\/a>

Our first encounter with a camel<\/p><\/div>\n

#1: Plan Your Lessons<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the most important.\u00a0 As my favorite philosopher, Yogi Berra<\/a> once said, \u201cIf you don\u2019t know where you\u2019re going, that\u2019s probably where you\u2019ll end up.\u201d So understanding the outcomes (what do these students need to be able to do at the end of the course?) before you begin is essential. You can\u2019t just \u201cstart teaching stuff\u201d and then see where it leads. Students will know immediately when a teacher hasn\u2019t planned well or prepared sufficiently.\u00a0 I have been teaching for a very long time and still spend as much time planning as I do teaching in the classroom.\u00a0 Certainly, many ESL schools have very scripted lesson plans for their teachers, but many don\u2019t and it may be up to you.\u00a0 When you walk into the room, you should know exactly what you will be doing that day and have the materials you need to do it.<\/p>\n

#2: Establish Your Role in the Classroom<\/strong><\/p>\n

The tone you set that first hour is very important.\u00a0 Remember: you are their teacher, not their best friend.\u00a0 You are in charge (no matter how much that frightens you).\u00a0 No matter how intimidating the situation seems to you, don\u2019t let that show. You will need to understand how students in that culture view teachers as well. Setting up classroom expectations that are contrary to their past experience will make your job much more difficult and confuse the students. This isn\u2019t Kansas anymore, Toto!<\/p>\n

#3: Create a Comfortable Learning Environment<\/strong><\/p>\n

Students need to feel comfortable in the environment you set.\u00a0 A good daily routine helps to do this.\u00a0 Most non-American classrooms are very tightly structured. Giving your students a fixed routine at first can be very comforting, especially in the early days or week. They should know what to expect when they walk into class. Later, mix it up a bit.\u00a0 But knowing what is coming next and what they will be expected to do can help create a more relaxed atmosphere for your students. Just because certain goals have to be reached does not mean that it can\u2019t be a pleasant experience – for you and for them.<\/p>\n

#4: Take an Interest in Student Success<\/strong><\/p>\n

Show your students that you care and that you want them to succeed.\u00a0 Their success in your classroom equals your success as an ESL teacher \u2013 in your own eyes and in the eyes your boss.<\/p>\n

Want more ESL teaching tips and classroom strategies from Oxford Seminars<\/a>? Check out the blogs below:<\/p>\n

10 Mistakes Every ESL Teacher Makes in the Classroom<\/a><\/p>\n

3 Ways to Have Classroom Discipline While Teaching English Abroad<\/a><\/p>\n

20 Common English Mistakes not to Pass on to Your Students<\/a><\/p>\n

Written by Roger Frost<\/p>\n

\"Roger<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Roger spent almost 20 years working in schools in Saudi Arabia<\/a>, Sri Lanka, Italy<\/a>, Egypt<\/a>,\u00a0and Portugal<\/a>. Since returning to the USA, he has been teaching ESL classes for international students at the University of Colorado (Boulder) and the University of Oregon (Eugene).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My wife and I are veterans of almost 20 years of teaching overseas in five different countries.\u00a0 I had been teaching in public schools in California for several years before we left for our first overseas adventure (Saudi Arabia) so I was pretty well prepared to walk into a classroom with a good degree of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":1927,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[349,65,344],"tags":[9,87,134,90,116,6],"class_list":["post-1867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-masters-degreephd","category-middle-east","category-teaching-esl","tag-education","tag-esl","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-teaching-english-abroad","tag-tefl","tag-tesol"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1867"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2724,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1867\/revisions\/2724"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}