Page 29 - ELG1810 Oct Issue 461

REVIEWS & RESOURCES

Online options the first part of the lesson around that. By following these guidelines, you can save
But that huge article and grammar time planning lessons and instead focus more
• Build your online profile and begin revision section? I probably won’t need it or on other aspects of teaching and avoid the
interacting with professionals in the same the students can do it at home, and instead late nights.
field. It’s okay to ask for help and ideas, we’ll practise using the language with visuals
but be sure to give something back. and games in class. So think carefully
about what you actually need from your Don't forget
• Identify some reliable sites and use textbook and use it as a base for your lesson,
these as your go-to places when looking rather than a crutch to carry you through • For online resources, get involved in
online to save time searching endlessly. 90 minutes. social media communities with other
Try ISL Collective, Ed.Ted.com, teachers. There’s a weekly #ESLchat
One Stop English and Lingua House. where teachers discuss various topics
Textbook tips relating to our profession. This is a good
• When taking worksheets from the internet, place to begin building your network
use them as a resource and not an entire • Pulling out the best and most relevant and finding blogs that experienced
lesson. Few students enjoy completing parts of textbooks to make lessons teachers share.
worksheet tasks for 90 minutes. interesting and save time creating
new materials. • Most experienced teachers will have
files of activities and materials they
Textbooks are everywhere in English • Remember that you don’t need to reuse, but also think about creating
language teaching, and using them properly complete every task. It’s okay to skip lesson plans you can reuse. It’s worth
can save time lesson planning. During some activities and set other tasks making lesson plans online and saving
observations, I see some teachers going for homework. I often do this with them to use for other occasions. Feel
through textbooks like a good thriller novel, the reading tasks. (exam classes are free to use some of my own lessons
page by page, but I prefer to focus on the a bit different). here: declangeorgecarey.wordpress.com/
best bits and use only the relevant parts. lessonplans
For instance, if I have a 90 minute lesson, • Mix textbook activities with your
I might use the textbook for a lead-in as own resources and games to quickly • There are many textbooks available,
they often come with nice pre-prepared put together a nice interactive lesson so it’s really about finding the right
discussion questions to create interest. After your students will enjoy. ones for you.
that, I often take the listening task and base

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