CONTENTS

WHERE TO START 19 How To: How To Test Teaching One On One

Your ESL Students: Best
4 Remember: What You Practices 38-39 Tips: Business English
Need to Know to Obtain Lessons: Successful
Your ESL Teacher Degree 20 How To: How to Correct Activities
Mistakes
5 Remember: Becoming A 40-41 How To: How To Teach
Teacher: What Makes A 21 How To: How To Provide an Amazing Observed
Good Teacher Quality Feedback In The Lesson
ESL Classroom
6 Guide: The Ultimate 42 How To: How to Be a
Guide To ESL 22 How To: How to Turn a Great Teaching Assistant
Employment Disaster ESL Lesson into
a Triumph 43 How To: How to Teach
7-8 Remember: ESL Job Review Lessons:
Interview: What To Be 23 Guide: Pair Work vs. Success Strategies
Prepared For Group Work: What’s
Better For The Learner? 44-45 Tips: 8 Tips On
Becoming A Successful
BECOMING A BETTER TEACHER 24 How To: 7 Best Ways to Corporate Teacher
End a Lesson
9 Avoid: 5 Worst Mistakes 46 How To: How To Teach
All Beginner ESL 25 Remember: 4 Great Large Groups: The More
Teachers Make Textbooks for General The Merrier?
English Students
10 Secrets: Becoming A 47-48 How To: How To Teach
Super ESL High School TOEFL: Top 10 Tips That
Teacher: 8 Secrets TIPS FOR SUCCESS Work

11 Secrets: How To Be A 26 Tips: Staying Positive: 49-50 How To: Teaching

Better Teacher: Secret Tips and Tricks to Keep IELTS: 9 Vital Tips And
Recipe Every Pro Knows That Smile on Your Face Tricks

12 Misconceptions: 5 Most 27-28 Guide: ESL Teacher’s
Common Misconceptions Meltdown: Problems &
Beginner ESL Teachers Solutions
Have
29 How To: Surefire Ways
13 Avoid: 5 Dreadful for ESL Teachers to Cut
Teacher Types You Down on Stress
Should Avoid Turning Into
30 Tips: What Motivates ESL 54 Avoid: 5 Mistakes All
14 Clothes: ESL Dress Code Teachers? Some Ideas to
Get You Fired Up!
15 Fellow Teachers: 8 Typical
ESL Characters You’re 31 Guide: Limited
Sharing Your Teacher’s Resources: Tough
Room With Challenge Or Useful
Experience
ESL TEACHING BASICS 32 How To: Teacher
Supplies: Getting Ready
16 Remember: 9 Five-Minute for School on a Tight
Activities That Will Save Budget
Your Lesson One Day
33 Tips: Team Teaching:
17 Secrets: 5 Secrets of Tips for Success
Writing Great Lesson
Plans 34-35 Tips: Teaching ESL
One-on-One: Tips and
18 Remember: Little Things Tricks for a Perfect
That Make Your Lesson a Lesson
Success
36-37 How To: How-To:
51-52 Tips: Teaching English
Online – What You Need
to Know
53 How To: How to Teach
Online Lessons - And Be
Proud Of Them
Online Teachers Make -
And How To Avoid Them
WHERE TEACHING CAN TAKE YOU
55 Dream: 5 Ideas for the
Next Step in Your ESL
Career
56 Dream: Top 5 Dream
Destinations for ESL
Teachers
57-58 Dream: Top 5
Countries with Best ESL
Salaries
59-60 Dream: Teaching
English Overseas – What
You Need to Know
 What You Need to Know to
Obtain Your ESL Teacher Degree
IF YOU’VE CHOSEN A CAREER IN
ESL TEACHING, CONGRATULATIONS!
You’ll have one of the most reward-
ing jobs out there. You’ll enjoy going
to work in the morning, and go to bed
feeling immensely satisfied with what
you’ve accomplished throughout the
day. But, before you can start teach-
ing and enjoying your work, you have
to decide where you’ll get your teach-
er’s degree and what type of teach-
er certification you want to obtain.
1
ESL OR TESOL?
ESL stands for English as a Sec-
ond Language, and ESL teachers usu-
ally teach students who have moved
or will move to English-speaking
countries. Your job is to not only teach
them the language, but also educate
them on several aspects, like cul-
ture, customs, holiday traditions, etc.
TESOL stands for Teaching English to
Speakers of Other Languages. TESOL
teachers usually teach English over-
seas in far-off locations in Asia, Europe,
or Latin America. If you wish to teach
English overseas, you will most likely
be required to have a bachelor’s de-
gree in any discipline (not necessarily
teaching, as an online masters could
work), as well as TESOL certification.
There are countless schools that of-
fer a variety of options, like for ex-
ample 4-week programs, and they
even help you find a teaching posi-
tion abroad upon completion of the
course. If you’re not interested in
teaching abroad, however, but do
wish to become an ESL teacher, you
still need a bachelor’s degree (pref-
erably a teaching degree) and spe-
cific ESL training, in the form of a
teacher degree or certificate program.
2 WHAT WILL YOU BE ABLE
TO DO WITH AN ESL
TEACHER DEGREE?
You will be qualified to work as an ESL
teacher, most often in classroom set-
tings, but possibly in companies for
in-house training. You will be able to
apply for teaching positions in public
high schools, community colleges, or
4
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
ESL schools. Some teacher educa-
tion programs qualify you to work in
primary schools or adult education.
Private tutoring is also a career op-
tion. In your teacher education pro-
gram, you will learn things like teach-
ing methodology, English literature,
grammar, and linguistic standards,
as well as how to select material and
evaluate students, just to name a few.
ESL teacher for primary schools
ESL teachers that teach children
under 10 have the unique opportu-
nity to teach students that are better-
equipped to learn a second language.
But you must also bear in mind that
you must be very well-trained to tap
into this potential and meet your young
learners’ needs. ESL teachers for pri-
mary levels are in high demand in ar-
eas of rapid growth, so job opportuni-
ties abound in this level of teaching.
ESL teacher for adult learning
You may choose to teach foreigners
who barely speak English, or don’t
speak it at all. Once again, it is es-
sential to have specialized training
as these adult learners have different
learning needs. It is absolutely essen-
tial to bear in mind that learning a sec-
ond language may not be as simple
and easy for them as it is for a young
child, so teaching adults may be a
somewhat more challenging. How-
ever, the main advantage of teach-
ing adult learners is that there is little
or no need for classroom discipline.
ESL private tutoring
This is a tremendously popular choice
with business executives who have
relocated to an English-speaking
country and need more tailor-made
private lessons to learn faster. As a
private tutor you may work for a tu-
toring service or be self-employed.
3 TOP TEACHER EDUCATION
PROGRAMS
Grand Canyon University offers
several online teacher education pro-
grams, including Master’s degrees
in Teaching English and Teacher
Leadership, and three Bachelor’s
degrees in Elementary Education -
English, Secondary Education - Eng-
lish, and Early Childhood Education.
The University of Phoenix of-
fers both campus-based and online
teacher training programs, including
a Master of Arts in Education/Curricu-
lum and Instruction – ESL, as well as
a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary
Education – English Language Arts.
Ashford University provides you with
the opportunity to obtain a teacher de-
gree online with its Bachelor of Arts
– English Language Learner Studies
and its Master of Arts – Education:
English Language Learner programs.
Walden University also offers on-
line teacher training programs
and teacher degrees that include
a Master of Science in Educa-
tion and a Bachelor’s degree in In-
structional Design and Technology.
Keiser University offers two online
Master’s degrees: a Master of Science
– Education and a Master of Science
– Education: Teaching and Learning.
Argosy University offers campus-
based programs including a Master
in Education Specialist in Teach-
ing and Learning, Master of Arts in
Education in Teaching and Learn-
ing, and a Master of Arts in Educa-
tion in Adult Education and Training.
Make sure you consult each universi-
ty’s website for eligibility requirements.
Most require at least a high school di-
ploma or completed GED, but others
require you to be at least 22 or 24.
SO, IF YOU WISH TO GO BACK TO
SCHOOL TO GET YOUR TEACH-
ING CERTIFICATE OR DEGREE, YOU
HAVE PLENTY OF OPTIONS THAT
ALLOW YOU TO DO SO IN A WAY
THAT IS BOTH COMFORTABLE AND
AFFORDABLE. PURSUE A CAREER
IN TEACHING ESL AND YOU WILL BE
REWARDED BEYOND YOUR DREAMS,
PERHAPS NOT FINANCIALLY, BUT
WITH A WEALTH OF EXPERIENCES
YOU’LL NEVER FORGET.
Becoming A Teacher:
What Makes A Good Teacher
SOME PEOPLE ARE BORN TO TEACH,
WHILST OTHERS MUST CONSTANTLY
STRIVE TO REINVENT THEMSELVES
AND RECREATE THEIR LESSONS
IN THE PERPETUAL PURSUIT OF
PERFECTION.
It is an ever evolving yet challenging
and lifelong learning environment of
which we are an integral part. This ar-
ticle attempts to summarize top quali-
ties of a good teacher, looks into what
makes a good teacher, and provides
ideas on becoming a better teacher.
Hope you find it interesting and make
another step on the road to even bet-
ter teaching!
W
HAT MAKES A GOOD
TEACHER?
• Creating a positive learning
atmosphere and developing a
good rapport without show-
ing favoritism. Having the abil-
ity to engage and involve stu-
dents with your personality.
• Being patient – for slow learners,
‘needy’ students requiring atten-
tion and those lacking motivation.
• Clarity – answering questions
in a clear and concise way.
• Organized – punctual, pro-
ducing well-planned les-
sons with suitable material.
• Sense of humor – miming and
body language often require this
quality, without resorting to circus
antics.
• Adaptable – being resourceful.
• Imaginative – in creating and
adapting teaching materi-
als and also empathising with
students in building rapport.
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
B ECOMING A TEACHER.
ONE TEACHER = MANY
ROLES
Controller - the person in control of
class management.
Assessor – checking and deciding
the method of giving feedback, e.g.
error correction.
A Resource – this is especial-
ly the case in developing coun-
tries, where there are limitations.
Coach – encouraging class partici-
pation, especially for shyer students.
Tutor – in one-to-one teaching.
Organizer – instruction of students
for activities and providing feedback.
Facilitator – for student interactive
communication.
Counsellor – solving any language
learning problems.
An instructor – in the traditional
sense on language points such as pro-
nunciation, vocabulary or grammar.
A provider of experiences – in or-
der for students to practise the four
skills they require, as many language
examples as possible are needed.
A model – particularly for pronuncia-
tion.
A motivator – balancing activities to
achieve language targets and student
interest.
An authority – students rely heav-
ily on teacher pronouncements
and so generalizations should
be avoided/explained as such.
An arbiter – balancing fluency with ac-
curacy in assessing error correction.
An examiner – continuous monitor-
ing and testing.
A disciplinarian – essential to main-
tain class control.
A balancer – a sliding scale which
constantly changes.
A mentor – giving language insight to
another culture.
A prompter – without taking away
the initiative from the student, e.g.
role-play activity vocabulary support.
A participant – e.g. discussion.
A performer – with suit-
able behavior according to
the activity being undertaken.
Rapport builder – recogniz-
ing, listening to, respecting and
being even-handed with stu-
dents, in a professional manner.
W
HAT OTHER
ATTRIBUTES MUST
A GOOD TEACHER HAVE?
• The teacher has to exploit his/her
talents as a visual teaching aid to
incorporate mime, gesture and
expression to convey meaning
and atmosphere in the classroom.
• Language modeling is important as
students may find video and audio
recordings difficult to understand.
• Teacher Talking Time (TTT)
should be used productive-
ly and the importance of our
voices never under-estimated.
• Observation skills in assess-
ing student performance
and progress are also vital.
• Teachers must be culturally
aware, e.g. Japan has a mas-
culine collective culture, virtu-
ally all classes are monolingual,
long-term oriented with a high
degree of uncertainty avoidance.
5
 The Ultimate Guide To ESL
Employment
Having worked around the ESL traps
for a while, I often hear stories of peo-
ple who find it near-impossible finding
a job. Whereas, in my own experi-
ence, I have walked in, been given a
40-second interview, and ended up
teaching the next day. Here’s just a
few of the well-kept secrets on ESL
employments I managed to find out:
HOW TO PROCEED
1 RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME
When it comes to finding a job,
the key is to be in the right place at the
right time. In many cases, schools will
hire only when they need a teacher –
generally within the next 24 hours. So,
if you have handed in your resume the
day before, you may be lucky enough
that it may be still on their desk, and
not used by a children’s class to co-
lour pretty pictures. If you pass around
your resume to as many language cen-
tres, schools, universities, etc, you will
have the biggest chance of getting a
call back, and subsequently a job. Be-
ing in the right place at the right time
means being on the ground, in the
country where you intend to teach.
2 QUALIFICATIONS
Very much a hotly debated ques-
tion in the ESL industry is the neces-
sary qualifications for various jobs.
The industry standard is a 120-hour
Certificate in Teaching that includes
practical experience, in addition to a
Bachelors Degree. If countries don’t
ask for a degree at the present mo-
ment, it is highly likely that it will be-
come a requirement in the future.
3
ACADEMIC MANAGERS
HAVE A PROFILE OF
WHAT THEY WANT
It’s all well and good to say that we live
in a politically correct society where ev-
eryone is equal. This is not the case
in ESL teaching. You will find that the
Academic Managers have already
made their mind up as to whether they
want a young teacher, old, male, fe-
male, British, American, Australian,
6
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
etc. So if you believe that you are a
shoe-in for a job, and you don’t get
it, it’s probably because you did not
fit the profile that the AM had in mind.
4 COVER LETTER
When applying for a job as an
ESL teacher, it’s important to remem-
ber that you are sending your ap-
plication to an English teacher who
is in charge of English teachers!
Ah yes, recalling the times we have all
sat around the teachers room laugh-
ing at hideous grammar and spelling
of cover letters brings a wry smile to
my face. Proof read it, and then get
someone else to proof read it for you.
Also, do not send out a stock standard
cover letter, this is likely to lose the at-
tention of the Academic Manager who
will then shuffle your papers far down
the list. Include a nicely tailored letter
that includes information that is rel-
evant to the ESL job you are applying
for. If you are applying for a kindergar-
ten position, they won’t want to know
how you taught English for Sales and
Marketing to the director of a bank.
5 THE CV/RESUME
This if the well-presented little
document that contains where you
worked, for how long, what your re-
sponsibilities and tasks involved and
other things relevant to your career.
Most Academic Managers advise
that it should fit on no more than two
pages. Academic Managers have a lot
of distractions, with friend requests,
pokes and wall posts, so to grab their
attention, keep all of the information
relevant to your teaching career. That
means you can scrap the Paperboy
position from 1991 off the resume.
6
THE WAITING GAME
After you send all of your docs
off to your prospective employer, you
then often wait, and wait, and wait. Of
course you get a few desperados who
seem to call up within minutes of click-
ing the ‘send’ button, but sometimes
you could be waiting a matter of weeks.
7 THE DEMO CLASS
You’ve had a brief chat with the
Academic Manager, told you how won-
derful the school was and totally avoid-
ed the subject of salary, and he’s in-
vited you in for the incredibly awkward
and nerve-wracking demo class. Al-
most every teacher has had to conduct
a demo class at some point, and these
can be quite stressful, given that while
they are supposed to replicate a class,
the fact that four English teachers are
sitting in front of you instead of keen,
learning students, makes for quite an
off-putting experience. The whole point
of the demo class is to make sure that
you get up in front of a class, show
off some grammar, use that wonder-
ful charm that you have, and voila.
They’ll call you back within two weeks.
8 GETTING OFFERED
THE JOB, ABOUT TIME
So after all that time and effort that
you’ve put into the job application step
so far, you have been offered a job
with a reputable and well-known lan-
guage centre. Don’t be too desperate
when signing the contract. Take a read
of it, and even tell them that you are
interested and that you will let them
know in 24 hours. This gives you the
chance to talk shop with others and
find out whether the price is right. If it
is, by all means, go for it. If not, try and
squeeze a few more dollars or head
back into to the cycle of interviews
and demo classes. Ultimately, the big-
gest factor that influences the need for
ESL teachers is supply and demand.
If the destination is renowned around
the world as a holiday island in the
tropics, then chances are that the sup-
ply of teachers will long outweigh the
demand. But for a market where the
demand for English teachers is high,
but the teachers aren’t there, then of
course, it’s easier to become employed.
If you find that you are not easily
able to find employment, set your
sights on some part time work
to see you through, until that big
12-month contract comes in.
ESL Job Interview:
What To Be Prepared For
A GOOD WAY TO VIEW THE ESL JOB
INTERVIEW IS TO COMPARE THEM
WITH CLOTHES. THEY COME IN ALL
SHAPES, SIZES, LENGTHS, FITTINGS,
COLOURS.
I could go on forever really. But fact
of the matter is that you never re-
ally know how it’s going to be until
you go. Sometimes ESL interviews
can really surprise you. That fancy
language centre with the fancy Ikea-
like furniture and billboards plas-
tered throughout the city do the two-
question, 40-second job interview.
- ‘Can you teach kids?’ and
- ‘So, when can you start?’
Whereas, the run down, grubby little
language school, situated next to a
cheap massage parlour may ask you
for the whole shebang - lesson plan,
a demo lesson, to see originals of
your TESOL certs, degrees, pass-
port, to give several in-depth expla-
nations as to the difference between
Present Perfect and Present Perfect
Continuous, see your grade 8 report
card and a letter from your mother
saying that you are a very good boy.
Ok, well maybe not the last few.
While you can never 100% prepare
for the ESL job interview, this guide
will give you some of the usual sus-
pects as well as some of the curly
questions that seem to rear their
ugly head at an ESL job interview.
THE EASY ONES:
1 SO, TELL ME ABOUT
YOUR TEACHING CAREER?
Ahhh yes, this is the most com-
mon question of the lot. This is the
time to pull out the big guns, name
the big companies you’re taught at,
use all the abbreviations and acro-
nyms that you can. IELTS, TOEFL,
TOEIC, IB, TESOL, TEFL, ESL, etc.
All jokes aside, at an ESL job inter-
view, it’s your job to sell yourself,
just as if you are selling a used car.
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
2 WHY DO YOU ENJOY
TEACHING?
A) I don’t. B) Because I love com-
municating, I love speaking with new
people and have always enjoyed
speaking with new people. Hmmm,
can you pick the right answer? If
you use your common sense and
give a vaguely positive answer, you
will answer this question correctly.
3
WHY DID YOU LEAVE
YOUR LAST JOB/WHY
ARE YOU PLANNING TO LEAVE
YOUR CURRENT JOB?
This is a tricky one that is always
good to prepare for. A common, non-
offensive answer that won’t see your
job prospects flying out the window is
to answer along the lines of new ex-
perience. A good example answer is:
‘I left my last job as my contract
with the school ended and it is
time for me to experience a new
teaching environment.’
It’s also a good idea to pump up the
ego of the interviewer by comment-
ing on the fine reputation his school
has. You should never, ever, ever
slag off your previous workplace.
4 HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH
NAUGHTY CHILDREN?
A typical question that is frequently
asked by the academic managers in
language centres. A not-so-good an-
swer would be to give them a whop-
ping back hander. This question is an
attempt to delve into your teaching
methodology, specifically with class-
room management. What the inter-
viewer is looking for is a) you’re not
a psychopath, and b) you have some
knowledge on classroom manage-
ment. An ideal answer would most
likely make reference to positive re-
inforcement and various approaches
to discipline such as removing privi-
leges from the misbehaving students.
5 WHAT WOULD YOU SAY
YOU DO BEST
AS A TEACHER?
‘Well duh! Everything!’
As true as that may be, you can’t
exactly say that. More diplomat-
ic language is needed to gain the
trust of the interviewer. While this
question isn’t a toughie, it still has
a tendency to cause headaches.
One of the rules with the interview
questions, is that you should provide
as much information as possible, even
if it is not directly asked for in the ques-
tion. This allows you to put forward as
many of your positive points as possi-
ble, and proves to the interviewer that
you are an effective communicator.
THE TOUGHIES:
1 WHAT DID YOU LEARN
FROM YOUR TESOL /
CELTA?
Arghhhhh! This question often leaves
many teachers clinging on to whatev-
er they can get the hands on. In many
cases, teachers have completely for-
gotten about everything in their TE-
SOL course and replaced it with some
of the things that they have learnt
on when thrown in the deep end. It’s
good to have a technical answer about
lesson plans or an answer about
grammatical awareness on hand.
2 WHAT WOULD YOU
DESCRIBE AS
YOUR WEAKNESSES?
- Erm... None? Of course not! =
Bad answer (although very true!)
- It’s difficult to say, as I am the
sort of person who is always en-
deavouring to improve all aspects
of life, whether it be personal or
work related. = Good answer.
7
 3 A LARGE NUMBER OF STUDENTS ARE USING THEIR MOBILE PHONES IN CLASS, WHAT WOULD
YOU DO?
Wow, this one is a tricky one as you want to answer in a way that would be appropriate for the new job. While your old
methods may have been perfectly acceptable, e.g., letting the students be, and not disrupting the flow of the class, your
new school may actually involve a little more disciplinary action to be taken in such an event. It’s a bit of a gamble as to
whether to be honest or not, I would generally tend to go with the honest answer in this situation, but back it up with reasons.

4 SO WHY DID YOU COME TO WORK IN ___?

Mmmmm, personal questions are always the toughest to answer. And no, cheap booze is never a good answer.
Try to show a strong interest in the country where you intend to work. One good way of doing this is to say that you have
loved the country for a long time and decided one day that you would like to experience the culture on a long-term basis.

5 TELL ME, WHY DID YOU BECOME A TEACHER?

In other words, why the hell would you give up a six-figure salary to come and do this lowly paid job? A few
good ways to handle this sometimes-curly question is to deal with it by saying that a time in your life was reached
where you simply woke up and felt that it was time to make the change. I always make sure to mention that my fa-
ther gave me the idea that ESL teaching is a valid career that allows me to reside in a foreign country (true story!).

SO, THE BEST WAY TO HANDLE AN ESL INTERVIEW IS ALWAYS GIVE ANSWERS THAT ARE POSITIVE, BE STRONG
AND BELIEVABLE WITH YOUR RESPONSES, AND IF YOU EVER COME ACROSS A DIFFICULT QUESTION THAT YOU
NEED TO THINK ABOUT, SIMPLY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT IT IS A DIFFICULT QUESTION AND TAKE YOUR TIME IN
ANSWERING.

Also, remember you are selling yourself, so give as much detail as possible and don’t be afraid to use the hard sell!

8
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
5 Worst Mistakes All
Beginner ESL Teachers Make
Oscar Wilde once said, “Experience is
simply the name we give our mistakes”.
This holds true for everyone starting
out in a new career, and ESL teachers
are no exception. But one thing is ac-
cepting we’ll make mistakes as we go
and chalk it up to a lack of experience,
and another is completely ignoring the
worst kind of mistakes you could make.
Since anyone can learn from their
mistakes, then we can certain-
ly learn from the five worst mis-
takes beginner ESL teachers make.
5 WORST ESL MISTAKES
1 TAKING UP ALL OF
THE TALKING TIME
In an ESL class, what is the most com-
mon reason students are enrolled?
They want to SPEAK English! And what
happens when the teacher speaks most
of the time? They don’t have enough
chances to actually practice their
speaking skills. Those who are new to
ESL teaching often make this very cru-
cial mistake: They take up too much of
the talking time, either because they
feel uncomfortable around silence or
long pauses, or because they are over-
enthusiastic to share their knowledge.
So clearly, hogging most of the talking
time is out of the question. But, how to
find the right balance between student
talking time and teacher talking time?
As a general rule of thumb, students
should speak for 70% of the class time,
while teachers speak for the remain-
ing 30%. These percentages could be
tweaked in cases where students are
absolute beginners (50-50), or at the oth-
er end of the spectrum, very advanced
learners in need of intensive speaking
practice (90-10). This means that in
most cases, your participation should
be limited to giving instructions and ex-
plaining essential points, but above all to
eliciting response from students and fa-
cilitating all types of speaking activities.
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
2 IGNORING BOUNDARIES
BETWEEN TEACHER
AND STUDENTS
ESL teachers should be friendly and
strive to bond with students in order to
achieve the best learning outcomes.
But there’s a line between being friend-
ly and being a friend. A teacher is meant
to be an authority figure, one that is
most definitely not on equal terms
with students. This is a very common
mistake in young teachers, especially
because they might be the same age
as their students. It’s all right to share
some personal things and talk about
family, pets, interests or hobbies. But
you must never let it get too personal.
Any personal information shared must
be supplied to give students context
when they are learning something new.
It is not meant to be shared so you
may be accepted by students. This is
when the lines become blurred and
students get confused. You lose all au-
thority - and any effective classroom
management is severely compromised.
Be on friendly terms, talk about your
dog or what you did last weekend,
but make sure students feel there
is a boundary that can’t be crossed.
3 POOR OR INCONSISTENT
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
This is one of the mistakes that is of-
ten made due to a lack of experience.
Classroom management is not an ex-
act science. It’s not like teaching the
past simple tense. Each group of stu-
dent is different and rules must be set
as a group. The problem stems from
the fact that new teachers may not
have a clearly defined teaching style.
So, they either become too strict or too
lax. There are plenty of articles you can
read on effective classroom manage-
ment. You may agree with some of the
techniques, you may disagree with oth-
ers and choose to implement your own.
For example, you may choose to forego
stickers as a means of rewarding stu-
dents, and choose another method. It’s
not about being stricter, but rather being
consistent. There’s nothing worse for a
group of students than empty promises
or weak threats. Once you define how
you’ll manage your class, stick to it!
4
FORGETTING CULTURAL
DIFFERENCES
Some teachers are so focused on teach-
ing things about the English culture,
they completely ignore their students’.
Some gestures ESL teachers common-
ly use in the classroom, like the gesture
for OK, may be very rude in other cul-
tures. In some countries, students may
be used to lecturing, and may not react
positively when you propose a game.
This is a mistake ESL teachers make
above all in foreign countries where the
culture is very different from Western
culture, like Arabic or Oriental cultures.
Learn about their customs, especially
greetings, and use this information to
create a positive learning environment.
5 NOT GATHERING ENOUGH
INFORMATION
ON STUDENTS’ BACKGROUNDS
AND NEEDS
How many beginner ESL teachers start
a lesson with a new group and don’t even
find out where they’ve studied English
before, how long, and with which results?
What if you have a student who has
studied English countless times, off
and on, over the last 20 years, but is
still at an intermediate level? It doesn’t
matter if you obtain this information
from your department head or from the
students themselves. This is essential
information to have if you want your
students to advance, to make prog-
ress in their English language skills.
DON’T BE AFRAID OF MAKING MIS-
TAKES, FOR MISTAKES WILL SURELY
BE MADE. THERE ARE VALUABLE
LESSONS TO BE LEARNED FROM
EACH AND EVERY ONE. START BY
AVOIDING THE ONES LISTED ABOVE,
AND YOU’LL START YOUR TEACHING
CAREER OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT.
We’d love to hear from all of the expe-
rienced teachers out there! If you’ve
made any mistakes you’d like to share
with us, please send them to us.
9
 Becoming A Super ESL High
School Teacher: 8 Secrets
Any teacher who has spent some time
teaching in schools (especially in Asia)
soon realises that small class sizes
are somewhat of a distant mirage - a
myth that only a fortunate few who
work at international schools have
the opportunity to experience. Many
government schools often have class
sizes that regularly exceed 50 students!
Imagine teaching 50 fifteen year-olds
who have no interest in English. What
would you do to capture their attention
and get them interested in English?
Teachers should draw on their own
experience as a learner and recall the
teachers who had an impact on them
when they were the age of their stu-
dents. The boring French teacher, who
droned on and on about masculine
and feminine words, was not really
awe inspiring and generally sent stu-
dents to sleep quicker than you could
say ‘bonjour’. It is the teacher who is
a little eccentric, unpredictable and,
ultimately, inspiring who manages to
capture the attention of the students.
Here’s How You Can Become A ‘Pro’
High School ESL Teacher:
1 in the favour of the teacher, as most
GIVE THEM
WHAT THEY WANT
If you want the best result from stubborn
high school students, the most effective
technique is to give them exactly what
they want. If they want games, then
give them games! The great part about
giving students what they want is that
this can be used as a bargaining tool in
order for you to get them to complete
work. Senior high school students can
be difficult to enforce discipline, so one
fantastic way is to negotiate with them.
If they complete the required exercises,
then they can play a game at the end
of class! When it comes to exercises
that can be a little ‘dry’, edit them so
they can talk about things that your stu-
dents are interested in. Find out about
some of their favourite pop stars, movie
stars and base the exercises on that.
2
IF POSSIBLE, STAY AWAY
FROM THE GRAMMAR!
10 In many cases, it is the task of a local Eng-
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
lish teacher to teach the grammar. Your
task as a native speaker should be en-
couraging students to use the language.
Don’t focus on grammar, keep the em-
phasis on communication. Of course,
if a student makes a grammatical er-
ror on a regular basis, do correct them.
However, provide usable examples of
the grammar within context that the stu-
dent could use, not out of a textbook.
3 DON’T BE PREDICTABLE
Predictable teaching means that
students very quickly switch off and con-
tinue with their own thing. Keep them fo-
cused on what is happening in the class-
room by being a little unpredictable. Try
asking ‘trick’ questions or saying ‘Good
Afternoon’ in the morning. This tests
their English and checks that they are
tuned in. Speak loudly, speak softly,
just don’t be boring and monotonous.
4 HAVE A LAUGH!
Be prepared to laugh at them
and laugh at yourself. Students gen-
erally respect a teacher who they can
have a joke with. Generally, this works
ESL/EFL teachers cannot speak the L1
of the student. If the student can joke
to the teacher using English, well hey!
They are using English! When you have
a laugh and a joke with them (in Eng-
lish), then you are providing them with
English, albeit in the form of a joke.
5
MAKE IT REAL
One thing that we find works re-
ally well is to throw away the gram-
mar books and get the students to
work on a skill that they could use
later in life or with their further educa-
tion at university. Some projects that
help build on real life English include:
• Work as a group to plan a company,
then present.
• Research and report on what’s
happening in another country.
• Devise an advertising campaign for
a produce.
• Work as a group and plan a
travel itinerary around the world
– decide as a group where you
would go and what you would do.
6 THE PSYCHOLOGY
OF A FUN CLASS
Starting off with a game and ending
with a game is what we refer to as a
‘Sandwich of Fun’. By starting with an
activity and ending with an activity, stu-
dents generally forget about the ‘boring’
grammar exercises or reading activities.
7
SET FAIR RULES
WITH THEIR INPUT
When you set the rules with the students,
you create a fair environment where the
students can voice their expectations of
the teacher. If all of the students agree to
the rules of both teacher and students,
cooperation should be easy to main-
tain. Also set some fun rules as well, for
example, make it a rule that students
should answer the question ‘How are
you?’ with anything other than ‘I’m Fine’.
8
FOCUS ON STUDENTS
WHO WANT TO LEARN
Often when faced with classes where 46
out of 54 students don’t want to learn,
it’s a good idea to put the activity on the
board and then focus on assisting those
students who want to learn. Without
totally neglecting the needs of all stu-
dents in the class, simply assist those
students who really want it. Focusing on
a student who doesn’t want your help
takes valuable teaching time away that
could be used on providing assistance
to a student who truly appreciates and
wants to further their English skills.
Practically any teacher has the abil-
ity to become an inspiring teacher to
senior high school students. It is sim-
ply a matter of walking into the class-
room with the right attitude and by
following the above tips and tricks.
Even with more difficult classes,
teachers can still be an inspiration
to their students and provide them
with a set of useful language skills
that will stay with them forever.
How To Be A Better Teacher:
Secret Recipe Every Pro Knows
QUALITIES OF A GOOD TEACHER -
WHAT ARE THEY?
This article attempts to look into the
practical side of being a good teacher by
reviewing the various aspects of a ‘suc-
cessful teacher’ strategy that contains
both internal and external teaching tools.
H
OW CAN YOU BE
A GOOD TEACHER?
• Voice – Speak in a normal native
speed. Do not slow further for un-
derstanding when giving key direc-
tions. Use language clarification.
• Attitude – Natural, attentive, exigent,
assertive, challenging, energetic,
personable, at times uses humor.
• Lesson Preparation – Announce
objectives topically/functionally.
Have a lesson outline on the board.
Lesson should proceed from pre-
sentation/checking for understand-
ing to practice, to application stag-
es. Summarize lesson at the end.
Material selection is appropriate.
• Classroom management – Set
time limits. Use pairs. Moni-
tor and modify behavior. Call on
students randomly. Switch part-
ners, Create accountability. Hur-
ry students along. Take charge
of seating. Efficient switching of
partners i.e. student on one end
has to move to the other end.
• Materials management – Give
directives clearly, efficiently and
concretely. Modify text lesson to
improve communication and rele-
vance. Use writing as a springboard
for production. Use brainstorm-
ing as a prelude to presentation.
• Break management – Assign min-
gling. Check on a few students after
the break to create accountability.
• Vocabulary/Grammar Presen-
tation – Present grammar induc-
tively. Pre-teach and brainstorm
needed vocabulary. Explain vo-
cabulary through context, para-
phrase, gestures etc. Lead stu-
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
dents with cues, hints, silent
pauses. Challenge students.
• Pacing/Variety – Activities may
include pair/writing/review/gram-
mar awareness/info gap/gram-
mar correction /presentation/
fluency. Aim for a good variety.
• Student speaking time – 60%
of class time in pairs is ideal.
• Lesson relevance – lesson is consis-
tently applied to the student’s world.
• Error correction – Correct directly/
anonymous indirect teacher cor-
rection. Use peer/self correction.
• Student empowerment – Al-
low the students the opportunity
for using language clarification.
Students should cooperate and
peer correct. Compliment stu-
dents for desirable SE behaviors.
• Behavior modification – Com-
pliment for correct responses/
emphatic behavior modification.
• Props/Visual aids - gestures/
handouts/mime/student’s imagi-
nation/facial expressions, etc.
W
HAT ABOUT SPECIAL
TEACHING SITUATIONS?
A ‘good teacher’ should fo-
cus on particular needs:
• 1) Young Learners – It is important
to consider how children learn, so
classes should be child-initiated,
creating a need to learn and then
filling it. To get a child involved emo-
tionally and psychologically requires
skilled judgment and imagination.
• 2) Senior Learners – You must
pace the lesson according to the
students and appreciate that knowl-
edge may not be retained or quickly
forgotten. Patience and understand-
ing and sometimes socially thera-
peutic talents are called into play.
• 3) Large Classes – This is so chal-
lenging as you must cater for in-
dividual learning styles, different
levels and interests, activate qui-
eter students, delegate responsi-
bilities and manipulate group activi-
ties to ensure maximum potential.
• 4) Limited Resources – This re-
ally tests your resourcefulness
without the dependence upon
technical equipment or support-
ing materials, as you commu-
nicate and interact directly and
creatively by generating your
own ideas as situations demand.
• 5) One-to-One – This requires
the ability to ‘tailor-make’ lessons
based on a preliminary needs anal-
ysis and then streamline or modify
your course as necessary, whilst
performing a variety of roles includ-
ing participation as a fellow student.
• 6) Business English – Commer-
ciality necessitates a high level of
focus on customer service and per-
sonalization of course design and
delivery to client needs. Language
trainers should desirably bring their
own corporate background to class
and be able to understand, analyze
and produce results in a highly de-
manding environment, to ensure
repeat contracts. Sensitivity, nego-
tiation skills and a genuine inter-
est in business are also important.
• 8) On-line teaching – this may be
the future format for many teachers
and you really need to be up-to-date
with the latest developments-and
creative in composing materials.
Follow this simple formula:
• Be presentable and professional in
your approach.
• Always have a lesson plan, but be
flexible as required.
• Be enthusiastic, positive, challeng-
ing and motivating.
• Create fun and give that added value.
WHAT MAKES A ‘GOOD TEACHER?
YOU DO. 11
 5 Most Common Misconceptions
Beginner ESL Teachers Have
MANY ESL TEACHERS THAT ARE
NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS HAVE
LITTLE TO NO TEACHING EXPERI-
ENCE BEFORE BEING PLACED IN A
CLASSROOM.
This may be true for recent graduates
who have degrees in education, too.
For these beginning teachers there
are a lot of things that may come as
a surprise. Teachers with more train-
ing are less likely to have these mis-
conceptions but some may still apply.
MISCONCEPTIONS AND WHAT TO DO
ABOUT THEM
1
ESL MISCONCEPTION 1:
TEACHING IS EASY
How this idea ever got started is un-
clear. Teaching is a very challenging
career choice. Teachers are responsi-
ble for planning, teaching and grading
possibly hundreds of students a week,
often participate in at least one extra
curricular activity, and may act as pri-
vate tutor or counselor to students who
seek or need more individual attention.
The number of hours in the classroom
does not even come close to repre-
senting how many hours a teacher
works. Teachers, especially those just
starting out, will find themselves plan-
ning lessons or thinking about classes
even outside of school. It can be diffi-
cult to separate your work and person-
al lives when you devote so much time
and energy to helping your students.
2 MISCONCEPTION 2:
IF YOU SPEAK ENGLISH,
YOU CAN TEACH ENGLISH
While native English speakers bring a
lot to ESL classrooms, especially when
it comes to pronunciation, they often
cannot explain grammar rules clearly.
Native English speakers can often
tell when something is wrong based
on how it sounds rather than on what
rules are being broken. Without any
12
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
experience in the classroom, these
teachers can struggle with classroom
management and lesson planning,
too. It takes more than just a handle on
the material to be an efficient teacher.
With experience, research, and train-
ing, you can succeed in ESL class-
rooms and having some good resource
materials on hand will definitely help.
3
MISCONCEPTION 3:
YOU DON’T HAVE
TO SPEAK ANOTHER LANGUAGE
If you have students with different
native languages in the same class,
knowing one other language is not go-
ing to be especially useful. However, if
you are teaching a class in Korea with
only Korean students, knowing some
Korean can only help you. Knowing
simple commands and encourag-
ing phrases can help build a rapport
with the students. They will appreci-
ate your efforts and may be eager to
help you improve your vocabulary.
On the other hand, learning the lan-
guage fluently may hurt you because
once students know that you can
communicate with them in another
language, it may become more dif-
ficult to get them to use English.
4
MISCONCEPTION 4:
STUDENTS WANT
TO LEARN ENGLISH
This really depends on what kind of
school you teach at and who your stu-
dents are. Most likely your students
will have different reasons for learn-
ing English and it is almost never
for the love of the language itself.
Not all students are self motivated
or well behaved, so, giving encour-
agement, providing positive feed-
back, and classroom management
become as important as being able
to plan and give lessons effectively.
Students who feel that they will never
have the opportunity to speak Eng-
lish are often challenging to motivate,
so, try to provide them with some real
life experiences where their knowl-
edge of English will be useful. When
teaching directions for instance, tell
students that if you were an Austra-
lian tourist visiting their city, you might
ask them for directions and it would
be so great if they could help you.
5
MISCONCEPTION 5:
IF STUDENTS PERFORM
POORLY, IT IS THEIR FAULT
In most places teachers are held ac-
countable for the performance of
their students. The thinking is that
if a teacher develops good lessons
and motivates students to work hard
in class, students will do well. This
means that you should be prepared
to devote extra time and energy
to helping students who struggle in
your classes. Be sure to plan activi-
ties that appeal to different types of
learners. How much students study on
their own time will impact their scores
but if the majority of your students
are struggling, you should probably
reevaluate your teaching methods.
These are just some of the mis-
conceptions teachers might have.
KNOWING THE TRUTH CAN HELP
YOU DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT
ESL EDUCATION IS RIGHT FOR YOU
AND ADJUST YOUR IMAGE OF BEING
A TEACHER TO MATCH REALITY.
IT WILL HELP YOU BE MORE PRE-
PARED FOR STEPPING INTO THE
CLASSROOM.
5 Dreadful Teacher Types
You Should Avoid Turning Into
DURING THE COURSE OF YOUR OWN
STUDIES, YOU HAVE PROBABLY
ENCOUNTERED NUMEROUS TEACH-
ERS WHOSE TEACHING STYLES DID
NOT SERVE YOU, THE STUDENT,
WELL OR THAT YOU SIMPLY DID
NOT APPRECIATE.
Obviously these are not the peo-
ple who inspired you to teach
or who had the most impact on
your academic development.
With this in mind, let’s look at
some dreadful teacher types
that no one wants to become.
5 TYPES OF ESL TEACHERS THAT
YOU SHOULD AVOID TURNING INTO
1 THE DISCIPLINARIAN
The Disciplinarian is very strict
and loud. He may lash out with an
angry command when frustrated, up-
set, or disappointed with students.
Talking out of turn and being late
are completely unacceptable in
his classroom even if there might
be a reasonable excuse. Noth-
ing is ever his fault even when stu-
dents are unclear on directions and
he is reluctant to repeat himself.
Students tend to be afraid of The
Disciplinarian and therefore are less
likely to speak up in class. He all
but shatters their confidence even
when covering basic material that
students are familiar with. In his
classes students have to pay atten-
tion and avoid attracting attention.
2 THE FRIEND
The Friend is easygoing and
lenient. His lesson plans are de-
signed to be fun and active so that
students can enjoy the learning pro-
cess. He tries to relate to students
and sometimes even succeeds. He
will never challenge students to step
outside their comfort zones or embar-
rass them by asking them to repeat,
develop, or change their answers.
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
Students really enjoy having The
Friend as their teacher but are often
less productive than their peers due
to lack of discipline and focus. Stu-
dents are not driven to work hard be-
cause they meet endless praise in the
classroom regardless of performance.
3
THE SHY GUY
The Shy Guy (or Gal) is too
timid to be put in front of a class-
room. He often speaks so softly that
students sitting in the back of the
room must ask for things to be re-
peated. This teacher lacks the self
confidence to assert his authority and
therefore students are unwilling to
give him the respect a teacher de-
serves and disregard instructions.
This teacher lacks even the most
basic classroom management skills
and cannot keep students in check.
The Shy Guy leaves class each
day feeling defeated and students
prey on his weakness by further in-
sulting him. Even generally well be-
haved students will act poorly in this
teacher’s classroom because there is
no real consequence for their actions.
4
THE LECTURER
The Lecturer believes that if he
repeats something enough times,
students will understand what they
are being told. Rather than rephrase
or test comprehension, the teacher
requires that students just repeat
exactly what he said. If this teach-
er is a non-native English speaker,
it is likely that he will lecture almost
exclusively in his native language.
When students struggle with material,
The Lecturer will start speaking more
loudly as if this will somehow help the
situation. ESL students with this type of
instructor will suffer from lack of speak-
ing practice and will often not compre-
hend the meaning behind their words.
5
THE TIMEWASTER
The Timewaster likes to domi-
nate speaking time and regularly
holds one-sided discussions about
topics completely unrelated to the
lesson. He will half-heartedly at-
tempt to engage students in material
that is neither relevant nor interest-
ing to them and upon failing will sim-
ply continue along the same path.
As classes with The Timewaster often
end without getting to the main point
of the lesson, students will feel as
if they are not gaining anything
by attending classes and become
frustrated with how their time is being
spent. Particularly driven individuals
will do well through self study while
the rest of the class will be sorely
deprived of the education they need.
HAVING THOUGHT ABOUT THESE
FIVE DREADFUL TEACHER TYPES,
PLEASE DO YOUR BEST TO AVOID
BECOMING ONE OF THEM.
TEACHERS WHO ARE UNDERSTAND-
ING, RESPECTABLE, AND ASSERTIVE
THAT INCLUDE A VARIETY OF ACTIV-
ITIES IN THEIR LESSONS AND MAXI-
MIZE STUDENT TALKING TIME WILL
SET HIGH BUT REASONABLE EXPEC-
TATIONS FOR THEIR STUDENTS.
Students will then meet those goals
through the continued support and en-
couragement they are given every day
by their teacher. Good teachers learn
something from every class and grow
throughout the course of their careers
always striving to be a better instructor.
See more on ESL teacher types
in our other article, ‘8 Most Typi-
cal ESL Characters You’re Proba-
bly Sharing Your Teacher’s Room
With’.
13
 ESL Dress Code:
What Smart Teachers Wear
WHAT YOU WEAR AS A TEACHER
DEPENDS A LOT ON WHERE YOU
WORK, WHO YOU WORK FOR, AND
YOUR STUDENTS.
Regardless of what the require-
ments are, you need to be com-
fortable. Since you are active and
stand for long periods of time in
the classroom, shoes that you can
move around in are a must, too.
5 ESL DRESSCODE TIPS
1 GROUND RULES
If you work in a public or pri-
vate school, you can dress the way
your coworkers do. Different coun-
tries, schools, and even weather af-
fect your choice of clothing. Gener-
ally clothes that are not too formal
and not too casual are safe for work.
This is obviously a broad range but
here are some things to keep in mind.
• Women should not wear skirts
that are shorter than knee
length, need to be aware of ac-
ceptable necklines, and should
make conservative choic-
es when it comes to jewelry.
• For men, a dress shirt and
pants may be just fine while
some schools require suits.
Jeans and T-shirts are not of-
ten seen as acceptable for work.
2
DON’T BE AFRAID TO ASK
In some cases teachers are hired
not by the school districts they serve
but through another company which
may have certain expectations regard-
ing their work attire. If this is the case,
these rules or guidelines should be
outlined for you. If anything is unclear
you can always contact the com-
pany with your specific questions.
If your company expects you to dress
14
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
quite differently from the other teachers If you choose to wear a dress
at your school, you may want to find a shirt and pajama bottoms that
middle ground so that you can please is fine as long as what students
both your school, by fitting in, and your can see reflects well on you.
company, by looking professional.
When teaching online, you also need
3 TEACHERS =
BUSINESSMEN?
to take a look at your background.
Try to find a neutral space that does
not give away a lot of personal in-
If you work at a conversation school, formation. If students can see your
business attire is highly recommend- bed or see through the hallway into
ed. This gives you a very professional the bathroom, you need to recon-
appearance and students, especially sider your workspace. Additionally
students of Business English, will you may want to think about wear-
see this as a reflection of the school. ing clothes that stand out against
Since schools are aware of this, they your background. This may seem like
may have strict rules regarding a minor point but if you wear black
clothes, accessories, and even hair
styles. Employers in many countries
may ask you to cover tattoos when
against a black background, stu-
dents will see what appears to be a
floating, talking head during their les-
sons and that could be distracting.
interacting with students so take this
into consideration when applying for
While teaching online lessons is
positions and attending interviews.
drastically different from teach-
4
ing in a classroom, you should
SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE
still dress and act professionally.
IS BEST
You will probably wear different
HOW YOU DRESS AFFECTS HOW
clothes depending on the age of
PEOPLE VIEW YOU.
your students and the country you
work in as well. If you teach young-
er students and do lots of arts and
Regardless of location or employer,
crafts, you can hardly be expected
you should look professional be-
to wear a suit while high schools
cause people base their opinions
may require teachers to wear one.
on appearance as well as behavior.
Students may respect you more if
In some countries, such as Ja-
you dress appropriately and this will
pan, teachers tend to dress more
help your classes run more smoothly.
formally while in others, like Cam-
bodia, they do not. You should be
In most cases you can simply con-
aware of what clothes are so-
tact your employer or someone at
cially acceptable for teachers and
your school for guidelines if you
ask your employer what is recom-
are unsure of what is expected
mended if you have any concerns.
of you. Keep in mind that being
5
comfortable is important and will
DRESSCODE also boost your self confidence.
FOR TEACHING ONLINE
When using a webcam to teach on-
line, your appearance is still im-
portant but dressing for online
classes is slightly different. You
do not need to worry about comfort-
able shoes or coworkers but you
should still dress professionally.
8 Typical ESL Characters You’re
Sharing Your Teacher’s Room With
ESL teachers would have to be one
of the biggest motley crew of around.
As a whole, they are people who gen-
erally know exactly what they want
in life, and are incredibly determined
to get what they want. But, as like all
jobs, ESL teaching has a cross sec-
tion of individuals who are all teach-
ing for their own private reason.
Throughout our time playing the game,
we’ve come across a few characters.
DO YOU RECOGNIZE ANY OF THESE
ESL CHARACTERS?
1 THE SPOILT RICH GIRL
The Spoilt Rich Girl is generally on
her first escape from mummy and daddy.
This is the kind of girl that would let out
an ear-piercing scream and run away as
fast as she can at the mere suspicion of
the presence of a cockroach. The Spoilt
Rich Girl is always constantly on the
verge of finishing her contract, packing
up her backs and going home – in pre-
mium economy, courtesy of her parents.
2 THE GUY
WHO’S ONLY TEACHING
BECAUSE HIS WIFE’S LOCAL
This guy couldn’t really give a stuff
about what’s happening at the school,
because he’s only working there for
the visa and a source of income. He’s
generally a very friendly guy, quite
stable at the school and often joins
for after-work drinks when he wants
time away from the ‘trouble-and-strife’.
Generally a very pleasant guy and
has quite a good personality, although
his heart may not lie with teaching.
3
THE BROKE-POOR
BACKPACKER
Ah yes, this guy or gal has signed up to
become a teacher because their bank
account balance has dropped to the
point where even toothpaste and sham-
poo is an expensive purchase. Mum
and dad’s last Western Union transfer
ran out a few days ago, and things are
looking desperate for him. So, he’s on
his last legs, and taken his final pos-
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
sible step to sweep him out of destitu-
tion – by becoming an ESL teacher!
The ‘broke-poor backpacker’ is gener-
ally a vibrant and positive member of
the staff and participates in all activi-
ties. You may even find him dating the
Spoilt Rich Girl! Never loan this fellow
any money, you will never see it again!
4 THE LIFETIME EFLER
One of the most annoying people
you could ever meet. The Lifetime EFLer
generally has a black-or-white perspec-
tive on life and will force their opinion on
anyone who cares to listen. The Lifetime
EFLer has taught on every continent,
has notched up double-digits in coun-
tries and probably triple-digits in the
number of schools! This guy will slowly
begin to annoy everyone in the office
by his stories of teaching in the back-
waters of Columbia and how his teach-
ing methodology is better than anyone
else’s. Stay clear at all costs, when he’s
talking about how great he is or how
the school could be better run, just nod
your head and agree, while looking for
a way to get out of the conversation.
5 THE RUNAWAY CRIM
More of a common employee
at your small independent language
school rather than large international
schools, The Runaway Crim is a mys-
terious fellow, who we never quite seem
to know everything about. When you
ask him about his past, he will usually
answer something so general or vague,
that you quickly lose interest or you just
accept the fact that you don’t want to
know about his past. Covered in tattoos,
the Runaway Crim looks like the kind of
guy who you want to steer well-clear of
in a dark alley, and litters his sentenc-
es with some quite creative profanity.
However, he is actually a big softie, and
gets the best feedback from students!
6
THE CHE GUEVARA
El Che is one of the main plotters
who intends to take down the person in
charge, while planning to launch their
own Viva la Revolution for the teach-
ers. Che is always on the war path over
low pay, excessive-teaching hours,
work conditions, cleanliness of the toi-
let, and practically anything else he
can take an opposing side on. His futile
mission against the head teachers will
often see him as the target by manage-
ment who accuse him of contributing to
a negative vibe. El Che probably won’t
be seeing a second year at the school.
7 THE ALCOHOLIC
Ahhhh yes. The Alcoholic. He’s
good mates with the Lifetime ESLer,
but doesn’t associate with the rest of
the group. This guy generally has his
own favourite drinking spot away from
the other teachers. The Alcoholic is
generally uber qualified and probably
possesses the skills to work at an inter-
national school. However, he works at
the language centre because he can’t
hold a job at any of the international
schools - that, and the fact that class-
es don’t start until 3pm! He’s the one
who always complains about having no
money after one-week of receiving his
monthly salary, and is always the first to
ask the boss for an advance of his pay.
Remarkably, this guy has managed to
keep his job at the language school as
is a grammar whiz and receives some
of the best feedback from students!
8 THE WANNABE LOCAL
A bit of a loner in the teacher’s
room, the Wannabe Local generally
can be seen sitting at the rather unhy-
gienic looking food stall down the street
or chatting and laughing with the local
staff. He is generally fluent in the local
language, has a local wife, wears typi-
cal local clothing and serves as a com-
mon go-to person for advice on cultural
differences or translations. The Wan-
nabe Local is great for the school, as
he generally keeps out of office politics
and is quite a conscientious employee.
Have you ever worked with any of
these people or have some other
characters that often grace the
teacher’s room with their presence?
Please send us your comments,
we’d love to hear from you.
15
 9 Five-Minute Activities That Will
Save Your Lesson One Day
TEACHERS ALWAYS NEED TO
HAVE AN ACTIVITY OR TWO ON
HAND IN CASE A LESSON TAKES
A LITTLE BIT LESS TIME THAN
EXPECTED OR DOES NOT WORK
OUT EXACTLY AS PLANNED.
Some activities that work well in one
class totally flop in another so you will
have to be flexible with your lesson
plan and able to adapt when necessary.
HOW TO PROCEED
1 SHORT
READING ACTIVITIES
With a reading passage, you can con-
duct this short reading race to give
students some more pronunciation,
speaking, and even listening prac-
tice. Have students stand up and tell
them that each column of students is
a team. For this activity the first stu-
dent should read the first sentence,
the second student should read the
next one, and students should con-
tinue reading sentences until the en-
tire passage is complete and then sit
down. The first team to read all the
sentences and sit down wins. You can
play again using the same passage
starting with the student in the back
or make each row a team instead.
To help students make their reading
sound more natural, introduce slash
reading. To do slash reading, simply
read the passage aloud to the class
pausing when it is natural to do so
while students repeat after you and
make slashes or breaks in their text.
2 SHORT
WRITING ACTIVITIES
Shiritori is a Japanese game that has
been adapted for ESL classrooms. For
this game make each column of stu-
dents a team and give them space on
the board to write. You should write one
word on the board and a member from
each team should rush to the board to
write a word that starts with the last let-
ter of your word. The next team mem-
ber then has to think of a word that
16
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
starts with the last letter of the word
his team member wrote. Students
continue taking turns writing words on
the board until you stop the game. It
should be very fast paced. You can
stop when groups start running out of
space to write and decide the winner
based on number of words or points.
One point for 1-4 letter words and two
points for 5 letters or more seems to
work well but words with spelling er-
rors and duplicates do not count.
Boggle is another activity students
can do in groups. Give each group a
piece of scrap paper, draw a boggle
letter grid on the board, and have
students find as many words as they
can within the time limit. You can cre-
ate your own grids but be sure that
there are enough word possibilities
for your students to find. Give stu-
dents a scoring system, ask them to
score their papers and hand them in.
In the next class you can announce
the winning team and the best word.
Another popular favorite is Hang-
man, but it is best to avoid the hang-
ing imagery in the classroom so
a scoring system would be better.
You can choose the sentences and
have students work in groups, tak-
ing turns, to figure out the answer.
3 SHORT
SPEAKING ACTIVITIES
Crisscross is a great warm up game.
Ask students to stand up and start by
asking a question, the student who
answers correctly can choose his row
or column to sit down, continue by
asking another question. The game
ends when everyone is sitting down.
You can add a twist if there are a lot
of questions you want to review with
the class. Have just the first row of
students stand up and when a student
gives the correct answer, have him sit
down and ask his team member, the
student sitting directly behind him, to
stand up. For this activity teams should
be even or you will have to work in a
way of making them even and you
can draw this activity out by keeping
the teams neck and neck. Fruit Bas-
ket is another speaking game where
students sit in a circle with one less
chair than participant. One student
stands in the middle of the circle and
makes a sentence. After the sentence
has been said everyone that the sen-
tence applies to must switch seats
leaving another student in the center.
Sentences such as “I am a student.”
are sure to get everyone moving.
Chinese Whispers is another speak-
ing activity that can be done in the
classroom. Think of some sentences
to use, form teams, and ask the first
student in each column to come to
the front of the classroom or into the
hallway to be given the sentence.
The first team who writes a sen-
tence on the board should receive
points but the most points should
go to the team that has the sen-
tence most similar to the original.
4 SHORT
LISTENING ACTIVITIES
Bingo is a classic game that you can
use not only in numbers lessons but
also when talking about letters or even
words and phrases. If you have noticed
that students struggle with the pronun-
ciation of numbers such as thirteen
and thirty, you can have a short Bingo
session using only these numbers.
Rather than make Bingo cards, have
students fill in the grids themselves.
Karuta is another Japanese game.
Have students sit in groups and
spread vocabulary cards face up
on the desks. When you say a word
aloud, the student who grabs the cor-
rect card first gets to read it aloud and
keep it. The student with the most
cards at the end of the game wins.
This can help students with spell-
ing, listening, and pronunciation.
THESE ARE JUST SOME OF THE MANY
EXCELLENT FIVE TO TEN MINUTE
ACTIVITIES YOU CAN USE AS WARM
UPS OR WHEN THINGS DO NOT GO
EXACTLY AS PLANNED. SEE MORE
OF BUSYTEACHER’S WARMERS, ICE-
BREAKERS AND FILLERS ONLINE.
5 Secrets of Writing
Great Lesson Plans
WRITING A LESSON PLAN WILL
ENSURE THAT YOU ARE PREPARED
FOR YOUR CLASS AND WILL MAKE
IT RUN MORE SMOOTHLY.
It is important to break the mate-
rial up into several sections and
choose activities suitable for each.
Knowing approximately how much
time an activity will take is important,
but after the first lesson you may
need to adjust things accordingly. It
is best to be flexible seeing as dif-
ferent classes will respond to mate-
rial differently. If at any point students
struggle, you will have to dedicate
more time to instruction or drilling be-
fore moving on to practice activities.
For the purposes of this exam-
ple let’s assume that an English
class is forty-five minutes long.
HOW TO PROCEED
1 WARM UP
A warm up activity can be
used in a number of ways. It can
get your students thinking about
material that will be used later on
in the class, review material from a
previous class, or simply get your
students thinking in English, mov-
ing around, or awake. This activity
should only take up a small portion of
your lesson, perhaps five minutes.
2 INTRODUCTION
A good introduction will cre-
ate a need for students to learn the
material you are going to present
and get them interested in the day’s
topic. This is the part of the lesson
where the teacher does the most
talking, so, try to get students in-
volved and use choral repetition to
keep students talking about half the
time. Depending on how complex the
topic is or how much new vocabulary
there is, the introduction could take
some time but in most cases, about
ten minutes should be sufficient.
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
3 PRACTICE
The practice activity would nor-
mally be about ten minutes and
have students working individually or
in pairs. Practicing model dialogues,
completing worksheets, and doing
short activities would be appropri-
ate. This may take about ten minutes
including going over the answers
or having some demonstrations.
4
PRODUCTION
In the production activity stu-
dents should have to produce mate-
rial on their own. Rather than read-
ing sentences, perhaps they have to
answer questions or make their own
sentences. Longer activities such as
board games, which can be played
in groups, or activities for the whole
class, where students work in teams,
would be best. The remaining class
time can be devoted to this activity.
5 REVIEW
It is a good idea to plan another
five minute activity that can be done
at the end of class as a review or used
as the warm up in the following les-
son. If the production activity does not
take up the remaining portion of the
class period, you have a backup plan.
IMPORTANT
When writing lesson plans, be sure
to include what part of the textbook
you are covering in the lesson, the
target structure, new vocabulary, di-
rections for all the activities you in-
tend to use, and the approximate
time each section of your lesson will
take. The idea behind a lesson plan
is that another teacher could pick
it up and successfully teach your
class without further instructions.
If there is an activity where you plan
to ask the students questions so that
they use the past tense in their re-
sponses, write down the questions
you plan to ask. It is more difficult to
think of appropriate questions on the
spot and you are more likely to ask
them a question using vocabulary they
are unfamiliar with as well. If there is a
group activity in the lesson, write down
about how many students should be
in each group because two to four stu-
dents is a lot different than five to ten.
Writing out your lesson plan can
also help you figure out what mate-
rial you must prepare for a lesson
because if your production activity will
only take about ten minutes, then you
are obviously going to need an ad-
ditional activity to end the class with.
Not all lessons will be conducted the
same. In some instances, the intro-
duction of new material may take an
entire lesson or the production activity
may be an entire lesson. It is always
good to have familiar activities to
fall back on in case something doesn’t
work quite the way you had planned. If
students are playing the board game
without actually speaking, in other
words just moving their pieces around
the board, they are not getting the
necessary practice so you may have
to either join the group having difficul-
ties or change activities altogether.
AT ANY RATE, LESSON PLANS ARE
ENORMOUSLY HELPFUL AND IF
THE FOLLOWING YEAR YOU FIND
YOURSELF TEACHING THE SAME
MATERIAL, PREPARATION WILL BE
A BREEZE.
Do you have any advice on how to
write lesson plans? Please share
your best practices with us online!
17
 Little Things That Make
Your Lesson a Success
When we think about teaching
a new class, the first things that
come to mind are all of the curricu-
lar aspects: the grammar, struc-
tures and vocabulary we’ll cover
throughout the course.
Our teaching goals are most often
aligned with these things we wish our
students to master upon completion
of the course. However, consider this:
most teachers are able to teach the
grammar... but how can you make a
difference? What can you do to truly
make your lesson a complete and ut-
ter success? These “little things” will
work wonders... be sure to try them!
LITTLE THINGS THAT MAKE YOUR
LESSON A SUCCESS
1
TEACHING IN CONTEXT
AND WITH REAL-LIFE
EXAMPLES
We all have to use a course book,
that’s true. But the problem with
course books is that they are filled
with fictional characters students may
have a hard time relating to. Why
would they care about a fictional “Mr.
Thompson” and how he did in his job
interview? Or worse yet - why would
they be interested in reading about
a town that doesn’t exist, when they
can read about a real one, one they
could possibly even visit some time?
Say you’d like to read about two cities
and practice comparatives and super-
latives. Use real maps and accurate
information you can easily find on the
Internet. Use your students’ resumes
to practice interview questions, not
“Mr. Thompson’s”. With the huge royal
wedding that made the news of year
2011, wouldn’t your students love to
know more about Prince William and
Kate Middleton? Whenever possible
skip the fictional characters and
use real people, real places - and
don’t forget to include some realia!
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ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
2 CATERING TO YOUR
STUDENTS’ NEEDS
Sometimes the course book sets
out activities that are not really ap-
propriate to the group you’re teach-
ing. This is frequently the case with
teenagers, when some of the mate-
rial may be either too childish, or too
adult. Don’t be afraid to make some
minor adjustments to make the ma-
terial work for your students’ needs.
This is also particularly useful to re-
member with students who have really
specific needs, for example a group
who wishes to improve their Busi-
ness English writing skills. Imagine
you’ve just covered a chapter where
the topic was “Hotel English”. Ask your
students to write an email to inquire
about a hotel’s conference facilities
for homework, and you’ll have them
practicing their email writing skills.
3 BOOSTING
THEIR SELF-ESTEEM
Students, particularly adult learners,
are often self-conscious, insecure
and feel frustrated with their efforts.
Corrections are an essential part of
the lesson, but don’t forget to praise
their efforts, as well, no matter how
small their achievements may seem.
One great way to give them instant
boosts of self-esteem is to end each
lesson with a “What have you learned
today?” This simple question is a great
way for them to review the day’s ac-
tivities and see just how much they’ve
accomplished. Even if their answer is
“We learned the alphabet today”, this
is something they should be proud of.
4
TAKING ADVANTAGE
OF LEARNING STYLES
OR SPECIAL ABILITIES
How many times have you met stu-
dents with amazing talent and unusual
abilities? Whether it is incredible musi-
cal or artistic talent, exceptional writing
or speaking skills, another wonderful
way to make a lesson a huge success
is by incorporating some of this talent.
Why play a CD when you have a stu-
dent who can play the song on his
guitar? If you have a group of very
artistic youngsters, give them crafts
to engage them in their learning.
5
USING THEIR LIKES
AND PREFERENCES
Related to the above, but only slightly
different, is to use their interests to in-
crease motivation and participation. If
most of the class has read the Twilight
books, use the characters to practice
physical descriptions, talk about the
weather in the small town of Forks,
practice conditionals – would you be-
come a vampire if you had the choice?,
compare different types of supernatu-
ral beings, etc. Besides, just know-
ing who Bella and Edward are will
definitely give you some street cred!
6 TEACHING CULTURE
Learning English as a second
language is not all about the gram-
mar, structures and vocabulary. It’s
also about why, how and where it’s
spoken. What is Thanksgiving and
how did it originate? This is something
that will surely interest your students.
Compare the way things are done
in different cultures. Students who
are accustomed to having dinner at
8 p.m. might be surprised to find out
that Americans usually dine at 6 p.m.
It will take a little bit more of your time
to prepare, and you might be tempted
to go with the course book materials.
But any extra time spent will be well
worth it once you see your students
fully engaged in the lesson and putting
to practice everything they’ve learned.
We’re not saying you should throw the
course book out the window! Just make
these “little” adjustments here and
there and you’ll see big differences.
Don’t forget that BusyTeacher.org
has hundreds of ready-made work-
sheets available for you to down-
load and use with your class.
Which will you use today?
How To Test Your ESL Students:
Best Practices
You may have horrible memories
of taking tests as a student but
now that you are teaching, it is
important to test your students on
the material you cover in class.
Tests are essential because they al-
low both you and your students to
evaluate their performance. You
will discover what areas they are
struggling with and they will find out
where they need to focus their at-
tention. Here are some things to
remember when testing students.
HOW TO PROCEED
1 FREQUENCY
Rather than save material from
the whole year to include in one mas-
sive exam, consider quizzing stu-
dents at the end of each chapter
and then every quarter or semester
to break material up into more rea-
sonable amounts. It may seem like
students are always preparing for
a quiz or test but as long as they
have clear goals and material is cov-
ered thoroughly, they should adapt
to the routine easily. Another ben-
efit is that with more tests, each one
is a lower percentage of the overall
grade so there is less anxiety about
performance on individual tests.
2 CONTENT
Sometimes tests should fo-
cus on very specific material while
others should be more compre-
hensive. It is important to check
that students are retaining in-
formation in the long term and
not just memorizing information.
Use questions or question types that
students have already seen in class.
Springing a new type of question or
activity on them during an exam can
be incredibility confusing while includ-
ing the exact questions from the study
guide can be too easy. Take the middle
ground here. Use familiar formats
and ask different questions or vari-
ants of questions. This will give stu-
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
dents the opportunity to demonstrate
what they have learned without getting
bogged down in reading directions.
3
VARIETY
If possible try to include a va-
riety of exercises in your tests. Not
every school is able to do this but in-
terview tests can be very effective be-
cause students have to demonstrate
their ability to listen and speak as well
as read and write. Since the first two
are critical for students who will have
the opportunity to speak English out-
side the classroom, they are also very
important in the evaluation process.
You can also use projects to grade
students if you are willing to attempt
something new. Perhaps for one se-
mester skits can be the primary factor
in determining overall grades. While
these can be a challenge to evaluate
compared to multiple choice ques-
tions, they also give students who do
not perform well on tests the chance to
more fully demonstrate their abilities.
4
PREPARATION
It is important to help stu-
dents prepare for exams so that
they can feel confident going in to
them. By creating a study guide, re-
viewing material in class, giving stu-
dents information about the test, and
answering any questions students
have, you will help them immensely.
Stress can reduce student perfor-
mance so simply encourage them to
study the material and do their best.
By reducing their anxiety, you have en-
sured that they will be more successful.
5 INCENTIVE
You can also set goals for your
students when it comes to exams
so that they have something specific
to work towards. Depending on your
students, you should consider indi-
vidual and class goals. Make these
reasonable but challenging and do
not reveal individual test scores
to the class as this might cause
some students some embarrassment.
You may decide the goal should be
a class average of 85%. Assuming
that students performed about this
well on past exams, this should be
a reasonable and attainable goal.
The incentive might be that you
will not assign homework for one
week which will help motivate stu-
dents to achieve their target score.
6
REVIEW
After returning the graded tests
to students, go over the answers
so that students can figure out what
they did incorrectly. Simply telling
them the answers will not help them
understand their mistakes. You can
mark the papers without correct-
ing them and then go over each
and every question in class so that
students can correct their answers
and ask questions. While students
really should take advantage of this
opportunity to correct their mistakes
so that they have correct mate-
rial to review another time, you may
need to use an incentive to encour-
age students to make corrections.
In most courses, you will have
to give your students tests on
the material you cover in class.
WHILE THEY ARE ACTUALLY GREAT
TOOLS TO GAUGE HOW WELL
STUDENTS ARE DOING, TESTS
ALSO CAUSE LEARNERS A LOT OF
ANXIETY SO TRY TO MAKE THEM
AS PAINLESS AS POSSIBLE. YOU
ARE NOT OUT TO MAKE STUDENTS
MISERABLE SO AVOID TRICK QUES-
TIONS. APPROACH THE MATERIAL
DIRECTLY AND IN FAMILIAR WAYS
SO THAT STUDENTS CAN SUCCEED.
19
 How to Correct Mistakes
THROUGHOUT THEIR STUDIES, STU-
DENTS WILL MAKE LOTS OF MIS-
TAKES. IT IS AN IMPORTANT PART
OF THE LEARNING PROCESS.
If they are not making mistakes then
they are not being given difficult
enough topics and structures to work
with. You have to choose material that
is challenging but manageable for your
class and correct mistakes in posi-
tive ways. Singling out students who
make errors will make students feel
self conscious and shy so some tact
when correcting mistakes is important.
HOW TO PROCEED
1 PRACTICE
When introducing new vocabu-
lary, emphasize correct pronuncia-
tion and during the drilling exercises
have students practice using choral
repetition. This means students are
not immediately singled out to pro-
nounce new and unfamiliar words
and they can become accustomed
to the sound of the words together.
The next step is generally to call on
students or have students volunteer
to pronounce words or phrases. It is
an important step to check pronuncia-
tion on an individual basis however it
means that a student is being singled
out to perform independently in front
of the entire class. Correcting mis-
takes at this level is the most chal-
lenging but you can use the same pro-
cess to correct errors in any situation.
2 SELF- CORRECTION
The best way to correct mis-
takes is to have students correct
themselves.
Ideally a student will realize a mistake
has been made and fix it automati-
cally but that is not always the case.
20
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
If a student answers a question incor-
rectly you can gently prompt them to
revisit their answer. One of the ways
to do this is to repeat what the stu-
dent said placing emphasis on
the incorrect portion, for instance
“I have play baseball.”
and saying it in a question-
ing way. At this point the student
has an opportunity to think about
and revise his initial response.
You may have your own method of
prompting students with a facial ex-
pression or phrase which they as-
sociate with being incorrect but
avoid saying words such as wrong,
incorrect, or no in response to
mistakes. They are negative and
will have ill effects on your stu-
dents’ confidence in the classroom.
3 PEER CORRECTION
When a student is unable to
self correct, peer correction might
be appropriate. If a student raises
his hand while you are waiting for a
student to self correct, you may want
to call on that student for the cor-
rect answer or, after waiting a short
time for a student to self correct, you
could ask the whole class the same
question and encourage a choral re-
sponse. Especially with challenging
questions, this is a good method be-
cause then it is unknown who in the
class has the right answer and who
does not. Just repeat and emphasize
the correct answer by writing it on the
board and explaining why it is correct.
This is a good method of correct-
ing mistakes because it shifts fo-
cus away from the student that pro-
vided the original incorrect answer.
4 PROVIDING THE ANSWER:
LAST RESORT
Sometimes individual students as
well as entire classes have no idea
what the answer to your question is.
If providing hints and examples does
not lead them to the correct answer,
you will have to provide it. Generally
this is a last resort and means that a
lot of review activities may be in or-
der but keeping a positive attitude and
explaining the answer good-naturedly
will do a lot to keep your students pos-
itive about learning English. Asking
similar questions in a simpler form will
build student confidence again so that
the lesson can continue smoothly.
At every stage of an activ-
ity, praise should be given. If a
student volunteers to answer a
question, you can thank him im-
mediately for volunteering which
will boost his self confidence.
At that point if the student provides
an incorrect answer you can cor-
rect in an encouraging way by say-
ing “Almost.” If the student gives
the correct answer, be sure to say
“Good job!” or “Excellent work!”
AS LONG AS YOU ARE POSITIVE IN
YOUR METHOD OF CORRECTING
ERRORS, REASSURE YOUR STU-
DENTS THAT THEY ARE DOING WELL,
AND DO NOT GET UPSET WITH THEM
FOR MAKING MISTAKES, THEY WILL
CONTINUE TO VOLUNTEER AND TRY
THEIR BEST BECAUSE MAKING MIS-
TAKES IS OK.
That is how learning should be. If stu-
dents never take risks, they will not
improve.
How To Provide Quality
Feedback In The ESL Classroom
PROVIDING FEEDBACK THROUGH-
OUT LESSONS IS IMPORTANT.
It is something that will become
second nature with just a little bit of
practice. Feedback should be used
to encourage students to work hard
and indicate what they need to focus
on when they are having difficulty.
Feedback often takes one of three
forms: verbal, visual, or written.
In this article we’ll take a look at
how teachers can use these dif-
ferent methods to provide feed-
back in the ESL/EFL classroom.
WAYS TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK
1 VERBAL FEEDBACK
STRATEGIES
During lessons, teachers use a lot of
verbal feedback to let students know
how they are doing and also to tran-
sition from one section to another.
Short expressions such as “Great!”
or “Good job!” can be used to praise
students for correct answers. Rather
than tell students directly they are in-
correct, it is better to ask them to try
again or reconsider their answers.
The goal is to elicit the correct an-
swer from the class and students
should not be afraid of being wrong
so keep your reactions positive.
You can summarize how stu-
dents did and introduce the next
topic for transitions by saying
“Alright! You did so well talking
about food. Now let’s move on to
~.”
This will reinforce the fact that stu-
dents should keep up the good
work. If student responses are a
little lackluster, you can point that
out in your comments too. By saying
“I know it’s Friday but I need a bit
more energy in this next section,
OK? *wait for student response*
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
OK! Great, now we’re going to
talk about ~.”
you show that you empathize with stu-
dents while still pushing them to do their
best. It is easy to include verbal feed-
back in every stage of your lesson.
2 VISUAL FEEDBACK
Visual feedback can come in
two forms. The first is any expres-
sion or gesture you use with or
without verbal feedback that indi-
cates how students are doing in
class. A smile or thumbs up would
be one form of visual feedback.
When using visual feedback, it is not
always necessary to add verbal feed-
back and could save you time when
working through an activity quickly.
You can also prompt students to re-
consider their answers and self cor-
rect using visual feedback. If you
use the same expression each time
students say the incorrect answer,
they will pick up on that. This visual
feedback allows you to give stu-
dents another chance without ver-
bally telling them they are wrong.
Another form of visual feedback can
accompany written evaluations. This
may take the form of stickers, stamps,
or even charts that reflect student ac-
complishments. You may choose to
have a display in the classroom that
visually represents how well the class
is doing in reaching their goals so that
students can see how much progress
they have made and stay motivated.
3 WRITTEN FEEDBACK
Teachers often have the oppor-
tunity to give students written feed-
back on homework assignments, on
exams, and at the end of each term.
These are great opportunities to point
out what students did well and what
areas they still need to work on.
You should provide students with some
suggestions of what they could do to
improve and offer to assist them by
meeting with them for tutorials or pro-
viding them with extra study material.
You can also allow students to pro-
vide feedback for each other. Doing
this during role play exercises, for
example, means that students who
are not performing still have to pay
attention. Categories could include
pronunciation, creativity, and perfor-
mance so that the presenting stu-
dents are marked on how well they
were understood, the quality of their
script, and the quality of their acting.
Students could be graded as a
group or individually. Student evalu-
ations should not have any bear-
ing on the grades that you give stu-
dents but you might want to use the
information to say which skit was the
best and who the best actor was.
Regardless of how often you use
these different types of feedback, it
is important that students are given
a clear image of their performance
as well as their goals. This will help
them focus of what is most important.
GIVING CONSTRUCTIVE CRITI-
CISM AND PROVIDING STUDENTS
WITH BOTH THE MATERIALS AND
SUPPORT THEY NEED TO SUCCEED
ARE IMPORTANT.
Doing these things will help students
excel in their studies and maintain a
positive attitude towards education.
21
 How to Turn a Disaster
ESL Lesson into a Triumph
IT HAPPENS TO EVEN THE BEST
TEACHERS: A WELL THOUGHT OUT,
CAREFULLY PLANNED LESSON
GOES HORRIBLY WRONG AND YOU
ARE STUCK IN THE MIDDLE OF CLASS
WITH CONFUSED, FRUSTRATED,
rences especially for new teachers
who assume that students clear-
ly understand material after just a
short introduction and are still learn-
ing about student behavior, les-
son plans, and time management.
they walk out your door for the day.
Students will forgive failed ac-
tivities from time to time if you do
not force them to suffer through
them for long and come back
strong after realizing your mistake.

AND DISENGAGED LEARNERS.
Students can react to material in dif-
ferent ways than you anticipated and
new activities may take less time,
be more challenging, or not work
out quite the way you expected.
Never continue following a lesson
plan that is failing.
This will only waste everyone’s time
and students will not get the most out
of their lesson with you. It is hard to
think of new ideas and come up with
an alternate plan during a lesson
but this is the best course of action.
HOW TO TURN A DISASTER LESSON
INTO A WELL-DESERVED VICTORY
2
CHANGE COURSE
You are going to have to fin-
ish the class and maximize the class
time you have with your learners,
so, decide how to proceed. Often it
takes only about five minutes to re-
alize something is wrong, decide to
change course, and transition into an-
other activity. The longer you have
been teaching, the more backup
activities you will have stored in
your memory, so, draw on your
past experiences for inspiration.
Thinking on your feet in front of an
audience, regardless of its size, is
stressful but remain calm and remem-
ber that whatever you choose also has
to require no real preparation and only
the materials you have in your class-
room. By keeping this in mind you will
BY TURNING A DISASTER LESSON
AROUND, YOU ARE SAVING
YOURSELF AND HELPING YOUR
STUDENTS.
This is a skill and as such requires a
lot of time and experience to improve.
One way to help you prepare for this
unfortunate yet inevitable situation is
to plan an extra activity for each les-
son (this is where BusyTeacher.org is
your best friend). This can be some-
thing short and should function as a
review. It will be easier to transition if
you already have a back up plan and
you can simply expand on it or repeat
it several times if you have more time
that you expected. If you do not use the
activity at the end of your class period,

W HAT WENT WRONG?

Identify what went wrong
automatically focus on simpler exer-
cises. Once you have thought of an-
other activity you can relate to the top-
you can use it as a review in the next
lesson. It is just that easy. Good luck!

so that you will not repeat the mis-
take with another class. This will also
help you determine if it is the les-
son or activity itself or the particular
students you are working with that
led to this issue in the first place.
If students do not understand the
material you are covering, rephrase
your introduction with mini com-
prehension checks throughout.
Ask students to explain to you what
you are teaching and even trans-
late it if necessary to ensure that
everyone has a more thorough un-
derstanding of the lesson material.
If an activity did not work out the
way you planned or finished ear-
lier than expected, you can stall a
little by asking students to demon-
strate their knowledge of the mate-
rial while you decide what to do next.
These are two very common occur-
22
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
ic you have been talking about, segue
into it as if it were a planned part of the
lesson. You can say something like
“OK, I think we have had
enough of the board game for
today, now I’d like you to ~.”
An activity that was finished too
soon or was uninteresting to stu-
dents has effectively been pushed
aside with this brief sentence
and the class can move forward.
3 END ON A HIGH NOTE
Finish the class with a short,
fun activity that you know students
enjoy. This can be a familiar warm
up activity like ESL Shiritori or an
exercise like Crisscross which can
be adapted to any topic. Your lesson
can then end on a positive note and
this will be the most recent memory
students have of your class when
Pair Work vs. Group Work:
What’s Better For The Learner?
BOTH PAIR WORK AND GROUP
WORK HAVE A PLACE IN ESL
CLASSES.
Using a variety of seating arrange-
If you are in a large class and
want all the groups to present ma-
terial at the end of the lesson,
larger groups may be necessary
but limit group size to about six.
is easy especially if seating arrange-
ments change throughout the year.
If your class size is under thirty, you
may be able to group students by row
or column for activities. You can also
tell students sitting near each other to

ments and groupings of students
is important as it allows learners to
practice different types of things.
Working with others gives students
the opportunity to interact with a va-
riety of people and learn from one
another. It also encourages coop-
eration which will help students get
along in class and could reduce the
number of student outbursts, too.
THE PERFECT BALANCE BETWEEN
PAIR WORK AND GROUP WORK
2
MONITORING
Pair work is harder to monitor
than group work because there are
going to be many more pairs of stu-
dents than groups of students. Be
sure that everyone has a very clear
understanding of the material before
beginning any activity. The best way
to monitor students working in pairs or
groups is to walk around the class-
room during the activity correcting
students who make mistakes and
answering questions. You can gauge
the effectiveness of the activity by do-
ing comprehension tests afterwards.
form groups or have students count
off for example from one to five and
then ask students who said the same
number to form a group. In order to
better facilitate this method of forming
groups, direct students who said each
number to different areas of the room.
Keep in mind that if students count
off from one to five, there will be only
five groups so you need to determine
which number will divide your stu-
dents into appropriately sized groups.
Besides pair work and group work,
students can also complete ac-
tivities individually and as a class.

1 APPROPRIATE ACTIVITIES
& BENEFITS
Pair work is great for practicing model
dialogues, playing games such as
battleship, conducting vocabulary
checks, and completing worksheets.
Working in pairs gives individual
students a lot of speaking time. If
working together, students will often
have more confidence than when
completing exercises individually. If
students are competing with their part-
ners, they will be more motivated.
Students can work in groups or form
teams for role plays, races, games
such as board games or card games,
and discussions. Groups give stu-
dents the opportunity to create more
complex dialogues, explore rela-
tionships between characters, pool
knowledge together, and have a more
social learning environment. Addition-
ally there is a better chance for self
correction or peer correction and
for a discussion on a wider range of
thoughts and opinions with larger
group sizes. On the other hand, in-
dividual speaking time is limited
when working in groups. You can
increase the amount of speaking time
students have by decreasing the size
of groups to three or four people.
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
If students are having difficulty with
material after completing an activity,
it is likely that they practiced incorrect
structures during the exercise. This is MIXING UP THE STRUCTURE OF
unfortunate and highlights why it is so YOUR ACTIVITIES WILL KEEP
important to ensure that students un- CLASSES INTERESTING BUT BE
derstand material by completing prac- SURE NOT TO WASTE A LOT OF TIME
tice exercises as a class before ask- REARRANGING THE CLASSROOM. IF
ing them to work in pairs or groups. If YOU MAKE GROUPS FOR AN ACTIV-
you find that students have practiced ITY AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS, IT
incorrect material, you have to review MAY BE BEST TO STICK WITH THAT
the key points of the target struc- ARRANGEMENT FOR THE DURATION
ture again and be sure to explain ev- OF THE LESSON.
erything more thoroughly before using
the same activity with another class.
3 PAIRING/GROUPING
STUDENTS
If students sit in the same seats for
the entire year, they are likely to be
paired with the same person through-
out the course. For pairs that work
well together, this is a good thing but
usually not everyone benefits from
having the same partner for a long
period of time. Try to change the
assigned seating regularly so that
everyone can maximize the amount
they learn in class and have an op-
portunity to work with different people.
Creating different groups of students
23
 7 Best Ways
to End a Lesson
Who among ESL teachers does not un-
derstand the purpose behind a warm up
activity? We all agree that it’s important
to get students focused, to introduce a
task or topic, to break the ice, or simply
place your students in “English mode”.
But what about cool
Many teachers are not aware of
the importance of a cool down.
downs?
Many teachers just play a game or let
students work on an activity till the bell
rings. When you do this you neglect to
give your students closure on what they
have learned for the day. You’re not capi-
talizing on your unique opportunity to ef-
fectively wrap things up in a way that
will benefit your students’ learning.
THE WARM UP AND THE COOL DOWN
ARE LIKE THE INTRODUCTION AND
THE CONCLUSION OF AN ESSAY.
An essay with no conclusion has a
very abrupt ending. If you just let stu-
dents work on an activity till it’s time
to go home, you are not only giv-
ing them a sudden and abrupt end-
ing to the lesson, you may also come
across as disorganized and impro-
vised. The cool down, however, clearly
shows students that this is the way you
planned for the lesson to end and that
you’re ending it like this for a reason.
7 EFFECTIVE WAYS TO END A LES-
SON – BECAUSE THOSE LAST MIN-
UTES MATTER!
W HAT HAVE YOU LEARNED
TODAY?
It goes without saying that you should
never end a lesson by introducing some-
thing new, just to leave your students
hanging till the next class. The best way
to end a lesson is to give students some
kind of review activity, so that they
may see the progress they’ve made in
just one lesson. One of the most com-
mon and easiest to implement is simply
taking the last 5 minutes of class to ask
your students, “What have you learned
today?” Notice, here, that you’re
not the one telling them what they’ve
learned. They may give you a list of new
words, or say they learned to speak
about what they did in the past or what
24
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
they will do in the future, etc... Also, it’s
important to speak in functional ways,
for example not say they learned to
use the “simple present” but rather that
they learned to speak about their hab-
its, schedules, and everyday activities.
P ERFORMANCE
CORRECTION & FEEDBACK
Right before the last 5 minutes of class
you can have some sort of performance
activity, for instance a role play. Usu-
ally we don’t correct students during
the role play so we don’t interrupt the
flow, but when they’re done you can
end the class with corrections of words
or expressions they used incorrectly,
things they forgot to say, etc., and your
students will go home with these cor-
rections fresh on their minds. Students
may also give their opinion or feed-
back on their classmates’ performance.
60
SECONDS
Choose a few students and
give each 60 seconds to speak about
something you’ve covered that day:
what they did yesterday if you worked
on simple past, talk about Halloween,
professions, or animals, older learn-
ers may even give a “how to” lesson,
they may also summarize a story
they heard, or place themselves in
another person’s shoes, like a celeb-
rity, profession, or even animal. But
they must speak for a full minute. To
motivate students to speak, you may
choose to reward the student who
says the most, or includes the most
information, with a reward sticker.
W
RITE AN EMAIL
Ask students to imagine they
have to write an email to a friend or fam-
ily member and tell them what they did
today in their ESL class. Students have
a chance to summarize what they’ve
learned in written form. This writing ac-
tivity may be tailored to any topic. If you
talked about farm animals, ask students
to write about their favorite animal and
why it’s their favorite. And the same
goes for foods, sports, celebrities. Adult
learners may write a business email with
the new vocabulary they’ve learned.
S AY GOODBYE
For very young ESL learners
the best way to wrap up a lesson is
with a goodbye song or saying good-
bye to a puppet. The puppet may “ask”
them questions about something they
learned, and even give them a short
“review” by asking, “What’s this?” or
“What’s that?” or any other question or
expression they may have learned. You
may set aside this special time with the
puppet every day at the end of the class,
so children know what to expect, and
even though they may be very young,
they will still have this sense of closure.
T
IDYING UP
After a special holiday class, or
right after a lesson packed with arts
and crafts, ask students to help you tidy
up the classroom. Make sure you fac-
tor in this tidy up time when you plan
crafts. Letting students run off with their
art work just to leave you in a class-
room littered with papers and art sup-
plies gives them the wrong message.
S HARING WITH THE CLASS
Another great way to end your
class is by asking your students to
share whatever it is that you worked
on that day: a fall collage, a paint-
ing, they may read something they’ve
written. The important thing here is
to give them a space to share some-
thing they’ve produced with the lan-
guage elements they’ve learned.
You can do anything you want
to wrap up your lesson and be
as creative as you want to be.
However, it is essential that you provide
these three things:
• a time for students to cool down af-
ter an activity-filled class
• some sort of review of what they’ve
learned
• the proper closure to the day’s tasks
Keep these three essential points in mind,
and you’ll come up with great, effective
ways to end your lessons every time!
4 Great Textbooks for
General English Students
One of the most important neces-
sities in ESL teaching is, of course,
the textbook.
To put it simply, after many years
of teaching, you instantly develop a
sense of knowing that there are three
types of textbooks. There’s ‘The good,
the bad, and the downright ugly.”
Having said this, there’s a saying. A
good tradesman never blames his tools.
While there is a mix of textbooks out
there, some very much a lot better than
others, teachers should never rely
on the book to make or break the
class. If you are lumped with a textbook
that you could describe as a four-letter
synonym beginning with the letter ‘S’,
then you need to supplement the book
with entertaining and up-to-date ac-
tivities that truly inspire your students.
If you have been assigned a textbook
that is perfect, that shouldn’t mean that
you can take your foot off the accelera-
tor and rely on the book drive the class.
At most ESL learning institutions, teach-
ers don’t usually have the power to
choose books for their students. But
for those in a position of power to do
so, or teachers who need to choose
books for their private students,
here’s a list of what we believe are
some of the best books of all time.
TOP 4 GENERAL ENGLISH TEXT-
BOOKS
1 HEADWAY
Headway is one of the books
which I personally love to teach from as
I find it really gives the students a thor-
ough and easy guide to meeting people,
while building students’ confidence at
beginning a conversation. It also cov-
ers some really interesting topics that
the students will face in day-to-day life.
Each topic throughout the Head-
way series gives students an excel-
lent grounding in the four skills of
listening, reading, writing and speak-
ing, while the activities throughout
the books are varied enough for
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
the learner to maintain interest as
they progress through the book.
One of the best of the Headway se-
ries is the Elementary level, which is
very useful in enabling students to
talk about themselves, a great topic
to start off with for students who still
need to unlock their confidence. As the
book advances, students cover coun-
tries, food and clothing, while gram-
mar covers essential structures, such
as present, past and future tenses.
2
FACE2FACE
Have you ever flipped open a book,
scanned through the topics, and just let
out a frustrated sigh due to boring topics
and images of people from the early 90s
wearing “New Kids on the Block” t-shirts?
Well, English language textbooks
have moved into the future with
Face2Face. Aimed at slightly older
teenagers, Face2Face provides an
edgy and modern alternative that
keeps students interested. As with
some textbooks, you can find yourself
dealing with the same topics for what
feels like weeks on end. Unless you
work through the book at snail’s pace,
topics change every two pages, giv-
ing the students a feeling as though
they are covering a lot at a fast pace.
Face2Face also provides a number
of extras, including audio, DVD and
teachers supplementary book, with a
complete section containing handouts
that correlate with the topics, gram-
mar and structures learnt in the books.
3
INTRODUCTION
TO ACADEMIC WRITING
Not so much a general English book,
however this book deserves a very spe-
cial mention for its ability at building
students’ writing from the ground up,
setting solid foundations in this all-im-
portant skill. It starts off with basic prin-
ciples of writing, such as paragraphs,
while adding layers as it goes along.
Students are faced with a wide range
of activities and grammar that moves at
a pace that is reasonable for most stu-
dents, while covering a number of top-
ics that tests the student’s vocabulary.
What I personally love about Introduc-
tion to Academic Writing is the broad
scope for the teacher to cut in and out
of the book as required. In many cas-
es, the entire book would be too long
to complete in one course, so I have
found that this textbook is ideal for
taking the material which is needed.
4 CUTTING EDGE
Probably one of the best books of
the 2000’s is the Cutting Edge series.
These books are intelligently com-
piled to draw students actively into
the class, with a range of materials
for the teacher to draw from including
a resource book, student’s book, work-
book and class CD’s and cassettes.
Overall, the package provides a com-
plete range of stimulating and excit-
ing materials that a wonderful teacher
can convert into an inspirational class.
The range covers grammar and struc-
tures in a variety of easy-to-teach
methods that are simple enough for
the students to understand. Cutting
Edge is perfect for larger classes,
and full of communicative exer-
cises that are perfect for groups.
While the focus is very much on Brit-
ish English, the listening component
contains a realistic, everyday dialogue.
AS FOR WHICH IS THE BEST,
THEY ALL HAVE THEIR REDEEM-
ING FEATURES. THE BEST BOOK
CAN ONLY BE CHOSEN BASED ON
THE ABILITIES OF THE STUDENTS.
The best way to do this is to perform
a needs analysis and determine the
weaknesses of each student before
deciding on a course book. It is also
vital for teachers to understand that it
is they who makes the class. No mat-
ter how dry and brittle the book is, you
are the one that is the make or break
of the class, the one who students
rely on to inspire and provide them
with the necessary skills to succeed.
25
 Staying Positive: Tips and Tricks
to Keep That Smile on Your Face
TEACHING ESL OR ANYTHING
ELSE FOR THAT MATTER CAN BE A
CHALLENGE.
better than having a student point
something out that you were trying
to gloss over or confusing students
by modeling something incorrectly.
5 HAVE A BACKUP PLAN
When students are not respond-
ing well to the course material or when
things just are not working out the way

Classes do not always go as planned,
students may not behave well, and
planning, teaching, and grading is
a lot of work. In spite of everything,
since your attitude affects your stu-
dents, it is important to remain posi-
tive in the classroom. There are a
number of simple ways you can
make your life easier and deal with
teaching related issues.
HOW TO STAY POSITIVE NO
MATTER WHAT
3
ENCOURAGE
Even if students are struggling,
be sure to provide lots of encour-
agement. Getting upset when stu-
dents are unable to understand new
things is not productive. You can
explain key points again using sim-
plified language and sneak in some
simple comprehension checks. Re-
ally basic questions can help pin-
point where exactly students are
you want them to, be prepared to do
something else. Stumbling through
an exercise that students do not un-
derstand, cannot do, or dislike is only
going to prolong everyone’s suffering.
Be prepared to change activities
when necessary. Having a few reli-
able activities to fall back on will save
you when things are not going well.
You can use these same activities at
the end of class if you have extra time.

1 PREPARE WELL
having difficulties and go a long way
towards building student confidence.
If your students are confident and
have positive attitudes, you will, too.
6 SIMPLE THINGS THAT
MATTER

Doing sufficient preparation be- Even something as simple as your

morning coffee or afternoon snack

fore class will make lessons run more
smoothly and cause you much less
stress than walking into a lesson with-
out a clear plan. Create organized
lesson plans and make copies of
materials well in advance. When cre-
ating a plan, keep in mind that another
teacher should be able to pick it up
and teach your class without any diffi-
culties. You do not need to include ev-
ery single warm up question but hav-
ing some examples will help you get
started especially if you teach many
different levels and classes every day.
While making lesson plans can be time
consuming, they will help you maximize
class time and you can save all your
teaching materials for future use, too.
4
BE A GOOD ACTOR
You will undoubtedly have
plenty of opportunities to act in the
classroom. Being the teacher all
the time is boring for both you and
students, so, take advantage of op-
portunities to be someone else. This
will make your lessons more interest-
ing and break away from your routine.
For instance, use different voices
for each character when demon-
strating model dialogues or a role
play. See our article on how to teach
using gestures and mime. Try to give
your students more opportunities to
act, too. Some classes have one or
two blossoming comedians and as
long as they are practicing English
can help you stay positive. These may
be small comforts but they also give
you energy and make you more alert
during difficult times of the day. If you
realize that your energy hits bottom
at a certain point of the day, sched-
ule a pick me up before that period.
It will help you and your students re-
main focused and engaged in class.
IF YOU ARE NOT IN A POSITIVE
STATE OF MIND BEFORE WALKING
INTO THE CLASSROOM, REMEMBER
TO TAKE DEEP BREATHS AND LEAVE
IT AT THE DOOR.
Going into a class in a negative state
of mind is certainly not going to im-

2 MISTAKES ARE FUN

Do not be afraid to laugh at
yourself especially when you make
mistakes. People make mistakes - it
happens to us all, so, it is alright to
highlight your mistakes. You can use
a mistake as a learning opportunity by
giving students the chance to correct
you as if it were an intentional compre-
hension check. You can also just say
and not a huge distraction, they can
really improve the atmosphere in the
classroom. Acting also gives students
prove your day and your students
will suffer from your lack of ener-
gy, involvement, and cheerfulness.
practice using different tones which
is really important. You wouldn’t say
“Oh, that’s too bad.”
the same way you’d say
“That’s such great news!”

“Oops, that’s not right.” so, make some practice activities

and fix your mistake, too. Owning revolve around acting and tones.
your mistakes and deciding what to Your students may both amaze and
do with them yourself is definitely amuse you with their performances.
26
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
ESL Teacher’s Meltdown:
Problems & Solutions
FOR THE MOST PART, ESL TEACH-
ING IS SURPRISINGLY STRESS-FREE
AND A GREAT WAY TO LIVE A FAN-
TASTIC LIFESTYLE IN A FOREIGN
COUNTRY. BUT THERE ARE TIMES
WHEN THE BLACK DOG PAYS US ALL
A VISIT.
This is often brought on when the
daily challenges that create a posi-
tive amount of stress all accumulate
at once, and the pressure becomes
too much. There are days when many
ESL teachers just want to scream and
explode in a fit of rage due to the pent
up frustrations of a long day where
nothing just seem to go the way it
should. This article will examine some
of the leading problems in the ESL
workplace and try to find a solution.
1
PROBLEM - LOW SALARIES
Always in the number one
spot for ESL teaching gripes. Some
schools offer appalling salaries to de-
cent teachers who always put the ef-
fort into classes. Unfortunately, ESL
teaching isn’t one of the highest-paid
professions out there, but in many
cases, the wages do not suit the job.
Simply compare the different wag-
es throughout different countries. A
first-time ESL teacher at a language
centre in Jakarta, Indonesia makes
around US$750 a month, a teacher
in Korea would be on over US$2000.
Additionally, with most jobs out there,
the rate of pay will go up with infla-
tion, not in ESL teaching. After a
little snooping around, teachers will
generally find that the wages have
been the same for almost eight years
in many cases. This is a cause of
great concern to many teachers.
Solution - Asides from Prozac and
living frugally, one of the best ways
to deal with the low pay is to get out
there and find some extra teach-
ing work. Pick up a few privates
here and there, or look into teach-
ing on the internet. But do it on the
sly, and don’t let your employer find
out as there may be harsh contrac-
tual implications for any outside work.
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
2 PROBLEM – LOW TEACH-
ER’S ROOM MORALE
Yup, we’ve all been there. The har-
monious nature of the staff room that
was present when you first arrived
at the school has all but fizzled out.
It started with one person, then a
few weeks there were three people
whinging and moaning. All of a sud-
den, a month later the entire staff
room is infected with it and there just
seems no way out. This low morale
has an impact on everything, the way
that staff members view their job,
their employer, and even the coun-
try that they have grown to love has
turned into a cesspool of bitter hatred.
Solution – Discreetly bring the mat-
ter up with your academic manager
or HR go-to person. They have been
working in ESL teaching long enough,
and sure enough, the low-morale is-
sue is a common occurrence that
probably happens at even the best of
language centres. Your HR manager
or Academic Coordinator should pro-
vide you with some good advice, while
acting on your concerns by putting an
end to the bad vibes in the staff room.
Once you begin to notice the negativ-
ity beginning to show, try to separate
yourself from it and do your lesson
planning in a classroom or simply
go outside and take a walk. Falling
victim to the low morale is some-
thing that can easily happen to us all.
3 PROBLEM – MANAGEMENT
Always another chief complaint
from teachers that often arises is the
issue of management. The reason for
this is management are ultimately the
ones who are in charge. Whether or
not they’re right or wrong, the man-
agement are the ones who have the
power to make the decisions. In many
cases, language centre manage-
ment has their eyes firmly fixated on
one thing – the almighty dollar. This
is true in most cases, and often this
immense focus on money will have
an impact on you directly. For exam-
ple, a student wants to study IELTS.
They can barely string a sentence
together, but they are insistent on
doing an IELTS course and will not
settle for any other course. You are
the lucky chosen one who is dealt this
cruel hand of teaching this stubborn
student for 60 hours when she can’t
answer the question ‘how are you?’
Other areas which management have
a controlling hand over are contract
negotiations, marketing and course
material.
Solution - Take it easy, it isn’t your prob-
lem. Give the student what they want,
that’s what they paid for. Be honest
with the student and tell them they are
not suited for the class, and maybe,
just maybe! the student will listen to
you. But otherwise, just sit back, dish
out the work, and don’t let the right or
wrong decisions of others get to you.
4 PROBLEM –
LAZY STUDENTS
This one doesn’t usually bother me,
but seems to bother some teach-
ers immensely. Lazy students can
become a real pain in the back-
side, especially after you have gone
through the painstaking effort to
plan a class that is fun, while edu-
cational at the same time. Nothing
can be more frustrating than this, es-
pecially when it takes places on the
busiest day of the week, a Sunday.
Solution - Two solutions, the first – let
them be, it will be their own demise. The
second, bargain with them. Take away
certain privileges for laziness, while
rewarding them with activities and
other treats for completing the work.
5 PROBLEM - ARROGANT
FELLOW-TEACHERS
Sure, we’ve all worked with them.
They are the type of people who
speak in he Queen’s English and
proper British accent, who talk to their
colleagues in an identical manner as
they would address a misbehaving
student. You must look out for these
people, as generally they walk around
with an inflated sense of self-impor-
tance. These are the people who dis- 27
 cipline a teacher because a student left a paper in the room. These are the worst people to deal with in ESL teaching
that can really make your blood boil, especially when they talk to you in a condescending manner as if you were a child.

Solution - Take a note of each of the encounters and think of the reasons why you personally felt it was offensive, for ex-
ample, he spoke in a way that showed total disrespect, or he lectured you in front of a student. Make a note of when the
incidents occurred and some details, and pass it on to the Academic Coordinator. It is their job to address your concerns
directly with the arrogant sod, taking his ego down a few notches.

6 PROBLEM – SCHEDULES
Ah, it’s the time of the week when everyone crowds around as if it were the lottery. There’s a certain sense of dread
and excitement at the same time. After having a number of classes finished this week, you know that either the classes will
be immediately replaced with more, or you could, by some stroke of luck, have a relatively easy week where you can slip off
early and catch a film. But, you know what? It’s a lot worse than that. A teacher’s contract has finished, and it’s your job to
teach a morning class from 9am to 11am, and a new evening class as well! A split shift! Jeez, I’m a teacher, not a bloody chef!

Solution - The golden rule... If you signed the contract that states that you would work those hours, there’s
more chance of that dream wedding with Britney Spears than getting the schedules changed. But, if your week-
ly hours exceed the contracted hours, make sure that you are adequately compensated for the additional work.

7 PROBLEM - TEXTBOOKS NOT BEING RETURNED

A favourite complaint by ESL teachers from over 160 countries, across five continents throughout the world. There
is nothing more annoying than looking for your ‘Introduction to Academic Book Volume 3’, only to discover that the serial
hoarder has stashed it away with 17 other of the schools frequently used textbooks. And the worst part, he’s not around
to unlock his freakin’ locker.

Solution - Make your life easier and photocopy the books yourself. That way you can draw in the books, fill in
the answers, draw funny little moustaches on the people - whatever, really! The second option is to discrete-
ly bring the better to the Academic Manager who will quickly bring about an end to the hoarder’s textbook stash.

AFTER A TOUGH DAY AT THE OFFICE, MANY ESL TEACHERS THINK THAT THEY WOULD RATHER BE DOING ANY-
THING ELSE THAN TEACHING.

However, after the end of a day like this, a new day will bring a completely new set of challenges, some good, and some
bad. Teaching isn’t the only career that boasts stresses, but every job in every field has their its benefits and disadvan-
tages – while many are a lot worse than teaching.

28
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
Surefire Ways for ESL Teachers
to Cut Down on Stress
Some of us are lucky enough to
love what we do.
We cherish our time spent with our stu-
dents, and enjoy all of the energy and en-
thusiasm they bring into our classroom.
Nothing compares to the satisfaction
of having achieved a goal – you have
taught them what you set out to teach.
Still, there are some ESL teachers
who might not be feeling so fortunate.
They have no time to enjoy their les-
sons. They feel stressed out and have
a hard time coping with the many dif-
ficulties they face on a daily basis.
There are, of course, different types
of ESL courses and students. Some
might teach Business and E-mail Eng-
lish to private students in high-rise of-
fices, while others may be teaching
large groups in a rural area in some
remote, foreign location. But no mat-
ter what type of course we teach
or where, each of us feels a little
stressed out at one point or another.
HOW YOU CAN CUT DOWN ON STRESS
1
BEING IN THE SPOTLIGHT
A lot of ESL teachers, particularly
beginners, make the mistake of believ-
ing they must put on a great show - ev-
ery time. This means they try to take
students from one activity to another
seamlessly and with one sole purpose
in mind: they must not get bored. This
poses several problems. First of all,
it’s exhausting! Secondly, everybody
needs some quiet time to work, even
students, and this includes little ones
who may need you to switch activities
every ten minutes. If you only propose
activities that demand high-energy
and a great deal of participation from
you, you’ll wear yourself out, and this
can’t be good for you or your students.
How to cut down on stress: Remember
you’re not a performer who has to put
on a show and keep your students en-
tertained for the duration of the class.
Set realistic expectations from the
start, and make sure students know
you won’t be standing in front of the
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
class doing a juggling act. Plan some How to cut down on stress: Check
quiet activities in between more active out article 9 Cool Classroom Man-
ones (even young learners who can’t agement Tricks and see which ones
write can draw or complete easy work- work best with your students. At
sheets) and give yourself a breather. BusyTeacher.org we have an entire
Just walk around the classroom check- section devoted to Classroom Man-
ing your students’ progress. Plan as agement, so be sure to check it out!
many quiet activities as you can to
make your classes and your day more
relaxed and enjoyable. Remember: SOME OTHER USEFUL TIPS TO FIGHT
you’re not a one-man/woman show! ‘ESL STRESS’:
• Don’t rush to finish everything at the
2
last minute. Plan in advance. Leave
PREPARING AND 15 minutes earlier and get to school
GATHERING MATERIALS with plenty of time to relax and have
a cup of coffee or chat with your col-
A lot of ESL teachers are overwhelmed
leagues before it’s time for class.
at first by the sheer amount of mate-
rials they must prepare for a single
• Schedule activities every week for
group of students, things that include
pure enjoyment. Are you a movie
flashcards, worksheets, photocop-
buff? Go to the movies once a
ies, props, games, etc. If you find
week either on your own or with a
yourself spending every evening after
friend. Have an artistic side? En-
work simply preparing for the follow-
roll in a pottery or ceramics class.
ing day’s class, you probably feel you
Feel you need to exercise to un-
have no time for other things, right?
wind? Get yourself a member-
ship to the local fitness center.
How to cut down on stress: Here at
BusyTeacher.org, we’ve recently pub-
• Sometimes, it’s better if you just
lished some articles in an effort to help
say no. Does the school need vol-
you become more productive. In Top
unteers to decorate the cafeteria
5 Productivity Tips for ESL Teachers,
we recommend that you take at least
for a party? Is someone organizing
a fundraiser? The drama teacher
a couple of hours a week to plan an
needs a few extra pair of hands
entire week’s worth of lessons AND
to sew costumes? If you honestly
gather the materials you will need for
feel you’ve already got too much
them. By concentrating all of you ef-
on your plate, why add more to it?
forts into this special planning session,
you’ll free up the rest of your week!
If you really want to relieve some of
the stress in your life, you will need
Another great way to handle the prepa-
to commit to some serious reflection
ration of materials is to share the bur-
on your part. Which are exactly your
den with other teachers. If you’re all pre-
main stressors? If you’re having a
paring for the same holiday celebration,
hard time coping, try to find a support
divide the tasks: have one buy the dec-
group or start one with the other teach-
orations, another teacher make photo-
ers at your school. On the other hand,
copies, or another cut out the flashcards.
what gives you the greatest pleasure?
3 MANAGING YOUR CLASS
If you’re stressed out because
TRY TO BRING MORE HAPPINESS INTO
YOUR LIFE AND THE BEST WAY TO
ACCOMPLISH THIS IS BY DOING WHAT
you have an unruly group of ill-behaved
MAKES YOU THE HAPPIEST: TEACH-
students, you need to implement some
ING YOUR STUDENTS WITH ALL OF
heavy-duty classroom management
THE FUN AND NONE OF THE STRESS!
strategies. Students may not know what’s
BusyTeacher.org does its part to help
expected of them in an ESL classroom,
relieve some of the burden! Browse
so it is your job to set limits, help them
our astounding variety of ready-to-print
come up with rules they agree to foolow,
worksheets online and take a load off!
and provide the adequate rewards.
29
 What Motivates ESL Teachers?
Some Ideas to Get You Fired Up!
We could go on and on about how re-
warding teaching ESL students is. But
the truth of the matter is, like in any pro-
fession, it’s sometimes hard for ESL
teachers to get up in the morning, too.
We may greet our students with a
great, big smile, each and every
time - but are we really motivated
to teach that class? What moti-
vates ESL teachers and why is
being motivated so important?
Let’s assume that you’re all teach-
ing ESL because it’s your choice,
and it’s what you enjoy doing the
most. Sometimes, that’s not enough.
And although there may be external
factors that contribute to your lack
of motivation, like salary or general
working conditions, here we look
deeper into what motivates you
personally - in other words, what
gets you fired up for a class no
matter where your ESL school is.
Let’s consider the “why” first. If you’re
highly motivated you have better
chances at living a healthy, productive
happy life. And naturally, this healthy
glow and inner happiness will shine
through and pour forth into everything
you do with your students. You want to
give your students the best ESL expe-
rience, right? And of course you want
them to be motivated, but you have
to take care of your motivation first.
Here are some of the things that moti-
vate ESL teachers. If you feel you some-
times need a little nudge or whiff of in-
spiration these might just do the trick.
HOW TO STAY MOTIVATED 24/7
1 ALWAYS REMEMBER
YOUR VISION
Why are you teaching ESL? Do you
believe it’s important for those in your
country who don’t speak English
to be able to? Do you want to help
people bridge communication bar-
riers? How important do you think
your job is? What do you perceive
30
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
your job to be like now, and what
would you like it to be in the future?
These questions should help you de-
fine your vision if you haven’t already
defined one. If you have a vision, you
are in control of your destiny and your
own life. A lack of vision will only
lead to a lack of control and the in-
ability to make your own choices.
That’s not very motivating. It’s also
important to recognize your barriers
to making this vision a reality. What
can you do to overcome these obsta-
cles? Overcoming barriers is tremen-
dously liberating - and motivating!
2
DEFINE GOALS
Making a vision a reality may
seem like a tall order. Which is why
we must take it one step, one day,
at a time. First, you define a major
goal, like something you wish to ac-
complish by the end of this year or
next. A Master’s degree? A research
project? A better paid job? A teach-
ing position in some exotic location?
Surely, you have clearly defined goals
for your class. How do you go about
achieving them? By teaching them
one structure, one set of vocabu-
lary, at a time. The same applies to
your major goals. The best way to
achieve them is to break them up
into smaller, more attainable steps.
For example, if you want to teach
ESL in a foreign country, first you
do your research into places and re-
quirements, then you go about gath-
ering all of the information you need
to supply in order to apply, and so
on... Each step that is checked off
your list brings you one step closer to
your dream, and this keeps you moti-
vated. So, if anything seems to be too
big a task, just break it up into sim-
pler, more reachable goals. Once you
accomplish smaller goals, you are
motivated to tackle the bigger ones.
3
FIND SUPPORT
Nothing is more motivating than
finding a group of like-minded indi-
viduals who share the same dreams
and are dealing with the same frus-
trations. Motivation is contagious.
If you surround yourself with peo-
ple, whether they are ESL teach-
ers or not, who are highly motivated
and visionary, chances are you will
catch the fever and be raring to go!
4
LEARN FROM MISTAKES
The big, fat “F” for failure is
something every student dreads, but
every teacher, as well. What most for-
get is that a failure is an opportunity, a
chance to keep going till we get it right.
The fear of failure sometimes paralyz-
es, it weakens us to the point of pro-
crastination. Instead, we propose you
take each failure as a motivating tool,
something that you can use get it right
the next time. Use your failures to mo-
tivate you, but plan for success. Good
planning, time management skills
and general organization will get you
where you want to go – every time.
ABOVE ALL, REMEMBER THIS:
MOTIVATION IS A LEARNED SKILL.
MOTIVATION IS NOT ABOUT AUTO-
MATICALLY BOUNCING OUT OF BED,
GRABBING BOOKS AND MATERIALS
AND DASHING OFF TO SCHOOL.
It runs much deeper than that –
it’s deeply rooted in your vision,
dreams and goals. Keep yourself
rooted to that, and you will be mo-
tivated to teach any class, any
group of students, at any level.
Hopefully, you will find these little nug-
gets of wisdom helpful. If you have
any nuggets of your own to share,
please do so by sending them to us
online!
Not feeling very motivated to
crank out some worksheets?
We can help in that department!
BusyTeacher.org has got splendid
sets of worksheets for any topic,
any season, as well as handy
puzzle makers. Just see for your-
self!
Limited Resources: Tough
Challenge Or Useful Experience
TEACHING WITH LIMITED
RESOURCES CAN BE BOTH INCREDI-
BLY CHALLENGING AND EXTREMELY
EDUCATIONAL.
Depending on where you teach, you
may be faced with the challenge of
teaching classes with limited resourc-
es. Teachers will define this term dif-
ferently depending on what they are
used to but in developing countries
such as Cambodia, you may have
to do without overhead projectors,
TVs, and CD players which will limit
what you are able to share with stu-
dents. There may not be a printer
or copier available at school either
which will take some getting used to.
Let’s look at the different sides of this
type of experience.
cannot anticipate everything you will
need in a school with limited resourc-
es, but bringing along some basic
things will definitely benefit everyone.
While it may take you a while to
adapt, students can be very patient
especially if they are used to having
teachers change quite often and will
be more flexible than students you
may have worked with before. Since
they are used to using the materials
available in different ways and per-
haps unused to having pieces of tech-
nology used in the classroom, they
will not be frustrated by what they
are lacking whereas you might be.
Once you have had time to settle in, the
initial challenges will give way to op-
portunities for you to grow as a teacher.
limited resources cannot be an effec-
tive learning environment. Once you
have adjusted to your surroundings, it
will be no different teaching there than
in any other location and you will have
learned some new teaching methods.
WHILE TEACHING WITH LIMITED
RESOURCES CAN PRESENT ENOR-
MOUS CHALLENGES FOR ESL
TEACHERS USED TO DIFFERENT
CIRCUMSTANCES, IT CAN ALSO BE A
GREAT LEARNING EXPERIENCE AND
WILL ALLOW YOU TO IMPROVE AS
AN INSTRUCTOR.
Remember to use what is avail-
able to you and cover the same
material you would anywhere else.
Just tap into your creative side

2
and prepare to amaze yourself and
EXPERIENCE
1 CHALLENGE
At first, it may be daunting to
Teaching in a school with lim-
ited resources will cause you to im-
your students with your ingenuity.

teach classes without the materials prove as a teacher because you

you are familiar with. It can be frus-
trating to realize that if you only had a
certain piece of equipment, the class
could be a lot easier to teach, more
fun for students, and more interest-
ing too. When planning to teach in an
area with limited resources consider
taking some materials along to as-
sist you during the transition pe-
riod. Paper, printouts of materials you
have used before, a laptop, an MP3
player, and some portable battery op-
erated speakers as well as spare bat-
teries will help you in class and make
the change more bearable. You will
be able to show students pictures and
videos using your laptop and conduct
listening exercises using your mu-
sic player. It may not be an ideal ar-
rangement but it will allow you to con-
duct listening exercises using songs
and show your students pictures of
your family, friends, and hometown.
Sometimes students in these lo-
cations are also less prepared for
classes than students in other areas,
so, try to bring materials with you
that they might need to use in class
such as pencils and notebooks. You
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
will have to be more resourceful and
find ways to use what is available
at your school in your lessons. This
may mean asking students to prac-
tice writing in the sand instead of
on copy paper but then again doesn’t
everyone love a day at the beach?
There is quite a range of what schools
can provide you with, but asking be-
fore you leave home may help you
prepare better for your placement. By
planning lessons outside of school
hours, you should have the oppor-
tunity to print and copy materials
somewhere else. If you really have
to create everything by hand, stu-
dents may just have to get used to
completing exercises in groups and
this may not be a significant change
from what they are accustomed to.
The most important thing to remem-
ber is that classes should still con-
tain a variety of activities so that all
your students can learn effectively.
Since speaking is the primary focus of
learning a language there is no rea-
son that a school or classroom with
31
 Teacher Supplies: Getting Ready
for School on a Tight Budget
Don’t let the economic downturn
rain on your back to school pa-
rade! C’mon! We all know just
how resourceful teachers can be!
S TRATEGY # 1 - MAKE A LIST
If you hit the stores with no list,
you’ll most likely buy teacher sup-
plies you don’t need, and thus spend
more than you should. Before you
make your shopping list, however, set
a realistic budget for yourself. Don’t
think about how much you’d like
to spend on teaching supplies, but
how much you honestly think you
could afford to spend on them.
Next, draw three columns on a sheet
of paper, and name each: abso-
lute essentials, things you’d like to
buy, things you could do without.
Place each of the educational sup-
plies on your list in one of the three
columns. Now, you’ll clearly see what
your priorities are, and you should be
able to purchase your essential teach-
ing items for sure and at least some of
those you’d like to have, if not all. Re-
member that there will most likely be
some last minute or unexpected ex-
penses you did not factor into your list.
S TRATEGY # 2 – REUSE EX-
ISTING TEACHER SUPPLIES
Seriously and objectively consider
your current inventory of teacher sup-
plies. Which school supplies can be
reused, recycled, or which need not be
replaced just now? We all love to start
school with a shiny new set of fresh
color markers, but if last year’s set is
still in working order, maybe you can
wait till mid-year to buy a fresh pack.
Don’t throw away anything that can be
reused for other purposes:
• Last year’s folders or notebooks
could be used for art this year.
• Broken crayons may have multiple
uses: sharpen them and use the
shavings for art or as a replacement
for glitter, invest in a crayon maker
and make patchwork crayons, melt
32
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
them and cut them into shapes
with cookie cutters for great gifts.
• Sharpen scissors, never throw
them away!
S TRATEGY # 3 – BUY TEACH-
ER SUPPLIES IN BULK
Most school supplies can be bought
in bulk from office or special ‘discount
teaching supplies’ stores, as well as on
the Internet. To obtain the best bulk dis-
counts, get together with several of the
other teachers from your school and try
to put together a group shopping list and
get cheap teacher supplies. Look for
back to school deals while they still last!
DollarDays offers hundreds of
products at wholesale prices.
Besides the basic school supplies, Dol-
larTree also offers great supplies for
teachers like flashcards, activity books,
and teaching aids. Buy a case with an
assortment of Fisher Price Flash Cards
for $ 27 and pay just $1 for each!
S
TRATEGY # 4 – USE FREE
INTERNET RESOURCES
The Internet is just packed with free re-
sources for teachers - all you have to do
is find them. Download printable stick-
ers and print them on Avery label paper.
Don’t invest in classroom manage-
ment software, organizers, etc.,
if you can download some free of
charge. Teacher’s Desk offers several.
Why buy activity books, work-
books, templates, worksheets, and
even posters when you can down-
load them from BusyTeacher.org?
S TRATEGY # 5 - DO
YOUR RESEARCH AND
COMPARE PRICES ON EDUCA-
TIONAL SUPPLIES
At Pricewatch.com you’ll find hundreds
on teacher supplies on sale, and the
site tells you exactly where to buy them.
Pricegrabber.com also has a great
Back-to-School Shopping Guide that
allows you to compare prices from dif-
ferent sellers, thus guaranteeing you’ll
get the lowest price and find back to
school deals. NexTag.com allows you
to create alerts for specific teacher
classroom supplies, and it’s a very use-
ful site if you’re on the lookout for more
expensive things like laptops, overhead
projectors, or other electronic devices.
S TRATEGY # 6 –
SHOP AT DISCOUNT
OR SPECIALTY STORES
Your local supermarket or shops
may be just around the corner, but
if you have to make a longer trip to
reach one of the shops listed be-
low, it’ll definitely be worth your effort:
• Staples has the widest selec-
tion and most of the educational
supplies needed by teachers.
• In addition to their great bargains
in school supplies, Office Depot
offers a Go Back Smarter pro-
gram: sign up to become a Star
Teacher and get more discounts
on already cheap teacher supplies!
• Walmart has by far the best deals
and lowest prices, but you may not
find some of the things you need.
Don’t feel compelled to buy every-
thing in one single store. You could
go to Walmart for basic back to school
supplies and then head on down to
Staples for more teacher supplies.
Don’t forget that several stores, like
Walmart, offer price matching. When
the store with the lowest price is out
of stock, take the ad for this store to
another one that will match this price.
You could also wait till the clearance
sales hit the shops some time af-
ter back to school sales - you’ll have
to wait a bit, but the savings on back
to school stuff are huge at that time.
Apply any of these strategies, or sev-
eral combined for greater savings. But
whatever you do, don’t just blindly shop
at any round the corner store. Not when
you can buy more with your hard-earned
cash. Yes, it does take time and planning,
but the savings will definitely be worth it.
Team Teaching:
Tips for Success
Some countries and schools rely
on team teaching to make their
ESL classes more effective. Team
teaching is where two instructors
work together to teach lessons.
This arrangement usually, but not
always, pairs a native English
speaker with a non-native English
speaker who speaks the local
language.
In Japan, Assistant Language Teach-
ers are the native speakers placed
in schools to work with Japanese
English teachers. In this case the
primary goal of team teaching is to
to make changes to the lesson plan
you discussed. This can happen for a
number of reasons but the most com-
mon one is that students are having
difficulty with the material and continu-
ing along the same course will only
confuse them further. If you are not
the one leading the class, it is impor-
tant to follow the path the other teach-
er decides to take and be prepared to
step in with a new activity if necessary.
More than anything else, team
teachers need to cooperate to en-
sure that students have the best
classes possible.
especially around students. If you feel
that you are only being included in one
aspect of teaching, volunteer to per-
form other tasks such as grading and
planning activities. A teacher who has
never had an assistant before may
not realize the amount of work you are
willing and able to do and might wel-
come your assistance in these areas.
TEAM TEACHING CAN BE VERY
EFFECTIVE. EVERYONE WORKS IN
DIFFERENT WAYS SO THE BEST
THING YOU CAN DO IS CONTRIBUTE
YOUR SKILLS AND ASK THE SAME
OF YOUR PARTNER.

improve student pronunciation by
having a native speaker available to
model words and phrases for them.
In other countries large class sizes
are the reason behind team teaching
as this allows students to have more
one on one time with an instructor.
Working as part of a team can be a
challenge, so, here are some things
to think about when team teaching.
TEAM TEACHING DO’S AND DONT’S
2
DON’T
Team teaching will not be suc- Collaborating can reduce the amount
cessful when there is no team. If teach- of work you need to do individu-
ers do not actually work together, they ally and lead to better lessons while
will not lead classes effectively and acting separately will not benefit
the materials each person prepared anyone least of all your students.
may not complement one another.
There is nothing worse than learning
on the way to the classroom that your
partner, without telling you, expected
you to prepare the lesson that day.
Students cannot learn in a setting
this disorganized no matter how well
you manage to salvage the class time

1 DO
For a successful team teaching
with some brilliant, last-minute plan.

Some other things to keep in mind

relationship, it is important to com-
municate with one another. Talking
about lesson plans, sharing ideas,
and editing exams together out-
side the classroom will help you de-
velop a good working relationship.
Meeting on a daily or weekly basis
and knowing who is responsible for
what during the lesson can increase
are not to interrupt when the oth-
er teacher is speaking and not to
undermine each other’s author-
ity. The two go hand in hand - mak-
ing the other teacher look bad will
not improve your situation. Students
will lose respect for both of you and
that is not a good classroom situation.

the quality of your classes and your
overall confidence as a teacher.
You will be able to learn from one
another and increase your under-
standing of each other’s experience
and teaching methods. This will help
you work together better in the class-
room, too, because you will have the
same goals, expectations, and plans.
In class it is important to be flexible
and adapt when your partner decides
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
3
ASSISTANT TEACHERS
If you are a teaching assistant
who is expected to team teach, start
off by asking what the teacher you are
assisting expects of you. Once you
have mastered those things, try to en-
courage more collaboration and make
suggestions about lesson plans and
activities. Some teachers will be more
open to your ideas than others so pro-
ceed with caution and be respectful
of their role as the primary instructor
33
 Teaching ESL One-on-One: Tips
and Tricks for a Perfect Lesson
TEACHING ENGLISH ONE ON ONE
OFFERS NUMEROUS BENEFITS TO
BOTH TEACHER AND STUDENT.
Teachers have the chance to custom-
ize each lesson to his or her student’s
needs, and the possibility to target
activities to a student’s strengths
and weaknesses is a huge plus.
But the greatest benefits are for
the ESL student. The student has
the unique opportunity for inten-
sive practice. If the student speaks
for most of the lesson, he or she
will make progress faster. And the
same goes for other skills. Still, the
teacher is the one responsible for
maximizing their time with the stu-
dent. Here are some practical tips
for effective one on one lessons.
T IP # 1:
USE LOTS OF REALIA
The use of real-life objects works in
any type of class, whether they are
lessons one on one or large groups.
But it works exceptionally well in one
on one lessons because you have
closer contact with the student. For
example, if you work with real city
maps, you can sit next to your stu-
dent while he or she gives you direc-
tions to a specific location and both
of you follow the route on the map.
Realia also makes the class more
fun in general, and if you have a
student who is a bit shy or reluc-
tant to speak, real objects come in
handy to break the ice or motivate
the student. Needless to say, realia
is absolutely essential in a one on
one lesson with a child. If you have
an adult student who wants to polish
his or her business English, ask your
student to bring brochures or print
pages from the company’s website.
T IP # 2: USE YOUR
STUDENT’S BACKGROUND
Do you have a student who comes
from a foreign country? Say you know
34
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
nothing about the country and ask him
or her to tell you about it: what it’s like
to live there, who the most popular ce-
lebrities are, customs and traditions.
For example, when talking about
Christmas you can compare the way
the holiday is celebrated in the US
and in your student’s country. If your
student works in a particular industry,
say advertising, ask them to tell you
about it: what the job involves, what
the company does, who their clients
are. In any case, your student will
feel proud to share this information
about something they do know.
T
IP # 3: USE INTERNET
RESOURCES
Using the Internet effectively in a
large class can be a bit of a chal-
lenge - students may have to share
computers and they usually wander
to other sites, check their email, etc...
But the Internet is absolutely per-
fect for teaching one on one. You
can do reading activities with real
websites, play an online game, listen
to a podcast or watch a video, and
even have your students take a test
online. The possibilities are endless.
But remember that proper lesson
planning is still essential. Make sure
you check all links and websites be-
fore your lesson.
T
IP # 4: ALLOW
SOME QUIET TIME
It all depends on your student’s level,
of course, and although some ad-
vanced students are willing to talk
for hours, most find it hard to speak
for a full 10 minutes. Make sure you
follow a very active speaking ac-
tivity or game with a more relaxed
and quiet exercise: a young learner
may draw a picture of the story they
heard, a business English student
may write an email, any student may
complete a writing assignment or
written exercise for a few minutes.
Don’t be afraid of silence. Remem-
ber your students need some quiet
time to gather their thoughts and relax.
T
IP # 5: PLAN
MULTIMEDIA LESSONS
Remember that the greatest benefit
for students taking lessons one on
one is that they have more time to
speak. A great way to spark discus-
sion is with video and audio. Show
your student a video, check for listen-
ing comprehension, then discuss what
you saw. The same can be done with
any audio file. Keep in mind that there
is a large variety of audio and video
files available on the Internet, most
of which are very easy to download.
T
IP # 6: ASK
YOUR STUDENT TO GIVE
PRESENTATIONS
A student who has to give presenta-
tions at work in English will be very
thankful for having the chance to
practice with you first. But chil-
dren can also have a show and tell
session: ask your young learner to
bring his or her favorite toy, book,
or stuffed animal, and tell you all
about it (who they got it from or
where, why it’s their favorite, etc.)
T
IP # 7: SPEAK LESS
IN ROLE PLAYS
Naturally, the teacher is at an advan-
tage because you manage the most
words and expressions. But what if
you “play dumb”? Pretend you are
lost, don’t understand, ask lots
of questions, and you’ll have your
students not only speaking more in
the role play, but also laughing a lot!
This works great when you reverse
roles: you are the student, and your
student is the teacher, and he or she
has to explain something to you.
T
IP # 8: HOW TO HANDLE
GAMES
Playing games one on one can be
little tricky and sometimes no fun for
the student (he’s playing against the
teacher!). So, here’s what you can do:

• Give your student a head start of 30 seconds,

• Give your student bonus points when you start the game,

• Give your student 3 or 5 points for every one of yours,

• Lose deliberately by making mistakes, being slow, pretending you got distracted, etc.

ABOVE ALL, NO MATTER IF YOU’RE TEACHING A CHILD OR AN ADULT, MAKE YOUR LESSONS FUN!

Many students feel uncomfortable at first, they may not be used to being the center of attention! And al-
though they learn a lot faster, they may also get tired faster. So, variety is key. Use a variety of teach-
ing strategies and practice different skills, and you’ll see your student progress by leaps and bounds.

35
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
 How-To:
Teaching One On One
It is of paramount importance
to make a good first and lasting
impression through your physical
presentation and behavior. After
that the one-to-one methodol-
ogy will largely depend on the
student’s requirements following
initial contact.
Explain the differences between
one-to-one teaching and group les-
sons and especially how adopting
this format will enhance communi-
cative ability and boost self-confi-
dence. The relationship will involve
two-way interaction only - the trainer
may have to provide stimulus if the
student ideas are lacking, but she/
he must be made aware and appre-
ciate that there should be no risk of
embarrassment and this facilitates the
golden opportunity to speak openly.
HOW TO PROCEED
1 THE FIRST LESSON
AND FUTURE PLANNING
You should first determine whether
your student wants to improve her/
his general command of English, or
if she/he has specific Business Eng-
lish course objectives. In this case
suitable texts should be utilized.
It is recommended to complete a
‘needs analysis’ / diagnostic test-
ing prior to the first lesson, but if
this is impractical, use the initial
‘get to know you stage’ to break the
ice, as it also incorporates some
questions about specific needs.
Here are just a few examples, but this
should be an in-depth planning exer-
cise:
• How long have you been learning
English and why do you want to
learn it?
• What does your job involve?
• Do you use English in your work-
place, e.g. memos, email, tele-
36
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
phone calls, meeting or dealing
with native speakers?
• Do you need to study for any Eng-
lish exams e.g. IELTS or TOEIC?
• Do you wish to improve your Eng-
lish skills for traveling abroad or
communication with people from
other countries?
• What do you find interesting about
Business?
• What other topics do you find in-
teresting or enjoyable e.g. sport,
news, fashion, entertainment?
• What do you want to focus on in
our lessons?
• Do you want to study grammar in
class or concentrate on communi-
cation skills?
• Do you want to listen to tape re-
cordings or CDs in our lessons?
• Do you have any particular text-
books or materials you want to
study?
• Do you have a preferred learn-
ing style? For example do you
process information more eas-
ily through seeing or hearing or
through physical / emotional feel-
ings?
• Do you want to be given home-
work?
• How much time can you spend on
learning English?
• What do you expect to achieve
from this course?
The next step is to match teaching
to the student’s preferred learn-
ing style. Then describe the teach-
ing methods that will be used and
provide a rationale for the student,
so that nothing is misunderstood.
Lesson plans should show awareness
and sensitivity to the characteristics,
expectations and motivation of the
learner. Also, consider all of the fol-
lowing:
• Following the diagnostic testing,
teaching consultation should en-
gage forethought and planning.
Think about the one-to-one attach-
ment, and continually gauge the
effectiveness of meeting needs.
• Create a trusting relationship so
that you can discuss her/his per-
sonal and professional attitudes
and values. One-to-one teach-
ing has unlimited potential and
facilitates opportunistic teaching.
We must tackle current, changing
and future student requirements,
by linking prior knowledge with
new challenging experiences,
whilst promoting self-autono-
my and self directed learning.
• Customize the programme to
match the learning experience to
•
her/him.
Influence the student by creating
opportunities in authentic settings
whilst modeling desirable attri-
butes.
• Ensure that the initially agreed
ground rules are maintained so
there is no confusion as to the
amount of time spent in teaching,
observing, giving sensitive and
private feedback and what is ex-
pected in return.
• Encourage reflective study and
identify deficiencies early.
• Acknowledge fundamental differ-
ences and optimize transferable
and modify less importable tech-
niques from group teaching.
• Switch thinking from language
teacher to language coach and
acquire the key skills of coaching:
rapport, deep listening, intuition,
questioning and feedback.
• Maximize the unique existing op-
portunities, whilst changing the
pace and style of your teaching to
work on the difficulties of the indi-
vidual. Deal with persistent gram-
mar problems in a remedial way
whether focusing on ‘accuracy’
or ‘fluency’. Fill in the gaps in the
student’s knowledge of grammar,
focus on pronunciation problems
and give intensive practice in ap-
parent areas of weakness such
as listening.
As one-to-one lessons may be
very intense for the student and
trainer alike activities should be
carefully planned and breaks
timed appropriately. Seating ar-
rangements/venue should also be
varied.
Always have extra backup material
ready at all times, in case the lesson
proceeds faster than anticipated, or
the chosen tasks are unsuitable. En-
courage and praise the student, as
they do not have another person to
compare their progress with. Don’t
be afraid of silence, as it can be pro-
ductive. Allow psychological space
to think/reflect, etc. Focus on real-
life communication, but don’t forget
the lexis, grammar work. Don’t let
your student practice listening/read-
ing your next lesson before class, as
this will negate guessing from con-
text, answering prediction questions.
Show you are interested in the topic
and the student – minimal eye con-
tact, body language, etc. Slavish ad-
herence to a method (such as PPP,
TPR, task-based learning) is unac-
ceptable and mutually unrewarding.
2
THE CLASS ENVIRONMENT
• language competence is the
starting point.
• employ a holistic approach.
• make the learning process easier
and more enjoyable.
• create grammatical awareness/
Task Based Learning, etc.
• produce/extend the language.
• motivate/engage/entertain.
• use prompts, gestures, etc. to
elicit vocabulary.
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
• recycle grammar/ encourage stu-
dents to ‘notice’ language.
• bring personality/background into
the class.
• content and language integrated
learning (CLIL).
• feel more confident without the
pressure of accuracy.
• skill based lessons/ instill a ‘can
do ‘ attitude.
• student-centred.
• use lessons and time to the best
extent.
• self-monitoring.
• organize learning aids – vocabu-
lary notebook/time-lines for verb
tenses.
• learning styles – visual, auditory,
kinaesthetic or tactile.
• work together in a collaborative
style.
3
TASKS
• provide realistic (authentic) ex-
amples of language.
• role plays/info-gap exercises/
skits. Be prepared to take on dif-
ferent roles as a teacher and for
pair work with the student.
• productive skills – writing/speak-
ing.
• receptive skills – reading/listen-
ing.
• take notes as the student is
monologuing, but pre-explain why
you are doing it.
• tape activities/play back conver-
sations. Student corrects mis-
takes or reformulates difficult
items.
• send e-mails for homework.
• recommend English practice
websites.
• telephone and speak to each oth-
er for a few minutes – variety of
scenarios.
• follow the news and get her/him to
give news bulletins at the begin-
ning of class.
• 2 minutes presentations of auto-
biographical topics – useful link
with IELTS.
• newspaper headlines – students
tell you what they know about
these stories.
• learner autonomy – becoming
less dependent on the teacher
and being able to access many
learning opportunities.
• communicate not just in the class-
room environment.
• do drills, games, etc. just as
you would in a group lesson.
• motivation / commitment / take
learning seriously outside the
classroom.
• push the student, to compensate
for the lack of group dynamics.
• maximize the type of input to ben-
efit the student.
4
POST-CLASS
SELF-ASSESSMENT
Following this and every lesson you
should undertake an honest self-ap-
praisal to consider whether you have
succeeded in creating a rich learn-
ing environment for your student.
DID YOU ENDEAVOR TO GUIDE,
SUPPORT, SUGGEST, EXPAND,
EXTEND AND RECYCLE VARIOUS
LANGUAGE ELEMENTS IN THE
CLASS? ARE YOU ABLE TO CREATE
A FOCUSED, SYSTEMATIC SKILL-
DEVELOPING SYLLABUS AND
ADHERE TO IT?
37
 Business English Lessons:
Successful Activities
STUDENTS FROM ACROSS THE
GLOBE ARE TAKING BUSINESS
ENGLISH LESSONS AND THE
REASONS ARE OBVIOUS. IN TODAY’S
GLOBALIZED WORLD, ENGLISH IS
THE LANGUAGE OF CHOICE WHEN IT
COMES TO CONDUCTING BUSINESS.
Moreover, those who speak English,
and speak it well, often have a com-
petitive advantage over their business
rivals. And those who seek better job
opportunities also turn to Business
English courses to increase their
chances of success in today’s tough
job market. These Business English
students are very different from
other ESL learners. You’ll find they
are highly motivated and will embrace
the activities you set forth with great
enthusiasm, as long as these activi-
ties are targeted to help them meet
their communication goals.
So, without further ado, here are
some great activities for the Business
English class.
SPEAKING ACTIVITIES
The best type of speaking activity
for students who wish to polish their
Business English involves role plays.
All you have to do is place your stu-
dents in real-life situations and roles.
1 THE JOB INTERVIEW
First have students come up
with a list of some of the most com-
mon job interview questions. These
may include any of the following:
• What can you tell me about your-
self?
• Why do you want to work for us?
• What were your responsibilities at
your last job?
• What is your biggest strength?
• What is your biggest weakness?
• Which skills and abilities do you
38
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
possess?
• What are your qualifications?
• What motivates you to do a good
job?
• Why should we hire you?
Ask students to brainstorm possible
answers to each of these questions.
Remind them of the usual interview
strategies, like presenting a weak-
ness that is actually a strength.
Have students pair up and take
turns being interviewer and job
applicant. Walk around the class-
room to offer assistance as needed.
2
COMPANY RUNDOWN
For this activity, you’ll need to
use real-life, original materials. Ask
students to bring in brochures, leaf-
lets, or any type of sales literature from
their companies, or bring some mate-
rial yourself (you can print Web pages
that clearly list a company’s services
and products). Discuss with students
what visitors to the company might
want to know, what information they
might seek, etc... With the help of the
brochures and sales copy, students
brainstorm different ways in which
to present the company’s services:
• We supply quality Web design.
• We adhere to the industry’s high-
est standards of quality.
• We provide IT solutions and offer
live assistance 24/7.
Students take turns playing the roles
of visitor and company employee. You
may download the complete procedure
for this role play at Busyteacher.org.
WRITING ACTIVITIES
The most successful writing ac-
tivities for students of Business
English center on email writing,
naturally, because it’s the type of
writing that most students are ex-
pected to handle on a daily basis.
Fortunately, there are several work-
sheets available at BusyTeacher.org,
from sample emails to email writing
exercises. Also, a very useful work-
sheet to share with students is the
one that presents the 32 Most Impor-
tant Email Etiquette Tips. And don’t
forget to assign email for homework!
READING AND VOCABULARY
BUILDING
Students of Business English need a
great deal of vocabulary to feel con-
fident enough to conduct business
in English. You can supply them with
endless vocabulary lists, but they need
to practice these words in context.
And there’s no better context than
the current business events we read
about in the newspaper every day.
1 NEWSPAPER
OR MAGAZINE CLIPPINGS
Choose short newspaper or maga-
zine articles, or extracts. Give each
student one short article or ex-
tract, with 3 or 4 questions they
must answer. Students read and
answer the comprehension ques-
tions. Students then ask each other:
“Have you heard the latest about
ABC Telecom?”
And proceed to summarize the news.
2 WIKIPEDIA ENTRIES
AND BUSINESS BLOGS
There are countless reading re-
sources available on the Internet,
from Wikipedia entries to business
blog posts. If the texts are too com-
plex or too difficult for your students,
you may choose to give them your
own simplified version. Whatever
you choose to have students read,
each reading exercise must be ac-
companied by a series of steps,
for a successful learning experience.
P RESENTATION SKILLS
Whether they already give presentations or not on a daily basis, it is essential for your students to be prepared
to give them. It’s also a great way to practice key vocabulary. In the following example, the teacher introduces the lan-
guage of charts and graphs.

Charts and graphs

First go over the differences between a pie chart, bar graph, and line graph, and provide examples. Then introduce the
language of charts: increase, decrease, go up, go down, rise, fall, jump, slump, improve, decline, slight, gradual, sharp,
dramatic, major, etc. Present students two charts, for example, figures for the first and second quarter, and give them
examples: “There was a gradual increase in sales” or “Sales increased gradually in the second quarter”. Students prac-
tice presenting the information on other charts, which may include market share comparison (Blackberry has captured
a greater share of the market, while Palm has lost market share in the second quarter), sales figures, profits, taxes, etc.

TO PROVIDE SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS ENGLISH LESSONS ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS FOCUS ON YOUR STUDENTS’
NEEDS.

Do they need to write in English? Speak English on the telephone? General business vocabulary or more specific ter
ms? If you cater to their needs, you’ll not only be preparing them to face the business world with the right English skills,
but also helping them on the road to success!

39
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
 How To Teach an Amazing
Observed Lesson
BE POSITIVE AND CONSIDER YOUR-
SELF FORTUNATE. YOU ARE LUCKY
ENOUGH TO BE IN THE PRIVILEGED
POSITION OF NOT ONLY KNOWING
WHEN THE OBSERVATION WILL
TAKE PLACE, BUT HAVE ADVANCE
WARNING OF THE TIMING AND CAN
PREPARE BEFOREHAND.
HOW TO PROCEED
1 TREAT IT AS PART
OF YOUR CPD
The observer will assess whether you
follow certain criteria to a satisfactory
standard and comment upon, giving
advice and recommendations accord-
ingly. This will give you an indepen-
dent appraisal of your teaching meth-
odology and provide you with positive/
negative feedback on your role as a
teacher. But remember this exercise
is to benefit all concerned – you, your
students and the educational sys-
tem of which you are an integral part.
2 TAKE A MOMENT
TO APPRAISE YOURSELF
If you were ineffective or doing a bad
job this would have already come to
light and remedial or disciplinary ac-
tion been taken. So this is all about
your future in teaching, rather than
the past. So ask yourself the question
‘where are you in teaching THIS class?’
Focus on this particular class only for
the time allotted for your observation,
prioritizing your planning/teaching ap-
propriately. Some schools/institutions
may ask you to complete a pre-ob-
servation form, which gives you a
further insight to what particular for-
mat the observation is going to follow,
so you can react in a suitable manner.
So let’s think what will the observer
generally be looking for? It’s usu-
ally 3 criteria, which makes things
pretty simple:
• Planning – are you as a teacher
aware of your student’s knowl-
40
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
edge and development and do
you plan your lessons with this
in mind, taking into account the
diversity of learners and the suit-
ability of resources, so that out-
comes can be identified in your
class?
• Instruction – do you provide en-
gaging, challenging and relevant
classes?
• Classroom Environment – is it
conducive to learning? Are you
supportive? Do you manage the
classroom well and maintain high
expectations from your students?
Of course you answered a resounding
YES to all the above, but let’s check if
you really are ready for the BIG DAY.
These are suggestions in addition to
the desirable qualities outlined in arti-
cle ‘How to be a better teacher’ earlier
in this eBook. You may have to pro-
duce a specific lesson plan in advance
for your observer, but you must have
this ready as a matter of course in
many teaching situations, so there is
no real excuse for being ill-prepared.
LESSON PREPARATION.
You should have an appropriate
use of target language, linking with
the previous lesson. Explain your
tasks clearly and effectively and
check for understanding. Ensure
you close the session positively and
clearly having achieved your aims.
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
Make sure you know all the students’
names. Maybe you don’t always call
upon them in such a fashion, but this
creates a good impression during the
observation. Use the room effectively
to compliment your lesson and the en-
visaged activities. Encourage and han-
dle questions effectively and be appre-
ciative of your student contributions.
LESSON RELEVANCE / MATERIALS
MANAGEMENT
Modify your text/lesson to improve
communication by making it relevant
to students’ lives and culture.
LISTENING/READING
MANAGEMENT
Clarify understanding and ask con-
cept questions.
BREAKTIME MANAGEMENT
If there is a break during your obser-
vation, keep students continually in-
volved in English speaking activities,
e.g. ‘Find someone who...’
VOICE
It is important to be very clear and con-
cise, pitching at an appropriate level.
Emphasize key points and structures.
Manipulate your articulation speed.
ATTITUDE
Be enthusiastic, professional, respon-
sive and flexible. Establish your pres-
ence.
VOCABULARY/GRAMMAR
PRESENTATION
Show your skills in eliciting vocabu-
lary. This is an area where you must
be thoroughly prepared.
PACING/VARIETY
This is your chance to soar during
the assessment. Use numerous ac-
tivities that are appropriate to the
length of your lesson time e.g. dia-
logues, cloze questions, matching,
roleplays and skits, accuracy work.
Don’t overdo it. A balance and va-
riety of activities is sufficient. Don’t
overwhelm your students and pres-
surize them to perform too much
without pre-practice in prior classes,
as otherwise it will be very apparent
that this is a break from the norm.
ERROR CORRECTION
Correct generally and exploit for ac-
curacy opportunities, while giving par-
ticular focus to pronunciation.
PROPS/VISUAL AIDS
Eye contact and clarity of body lan-
guage is essential, as you are being
observed and possibly videoed for the
post-evaluation. Be aware of negative
gestures. If using OHP, etc., ensure it
is set up properly. Don’t let your equip-
ment fail you or be over ambitious in
your presentation.

BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION
Make sure you restrain the dominant students. Give direct feedback and compliment desirable behavior. Encourage
rapport amongst students and ensure you are creating and maintaining a conducive class atmosphere at all times.

STUDENT EMPOWERMENT
Maybe you usually allow dictionaries, but it should be discouraged on observation day, as your teaching skills are pri-
marily in focus. Let your students become involved in other ways e.g. you might ask them to write some sentences on
the whiteboard during the various class exercises.

STUDENT/TEACHER SPEAKING TIME

This is a crucial area. The TT should have these features – quality, quantity, appropriacy and competency in English.

The observation day should be a showcase for your teaching. So make sure you use your strongest artillery.
A good relevant warmer or ice-breaker at the start of class will set the scene nicely, or show continuity from the last
class by checking homework, etc. Work with your most active learners on more difficult tasks and don’t ask hesitant or
reluctant speakers to initiate. Make sure you achieve high levels of interaction in whole class, pair work, group work and
individual situations. Show your manipulative skills in controlling the direction of the lesson, the time proportioned to task
work and the balance between TTT/STT.

Finally don’t let sloppy writing or work on the board undo all your other good work. Plan your grammar timelines, substi-
tution tables, vocabulary lists, etc., methodically. You can’t anticipate everything and your plans may go adrift for numer-
ous reasons, e.g. change in number of students anticipated, tasks over-running, etc. But the observer is not looking for
perfection and criticism will be constructive.

BE PROUD OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND TAKE THE POST-LESSON FEEDBACK AS A MANDATE FOR YOUR
CONTINUING CAREER IN YOUR CHOSEN PROFESSION.

41
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
 How to Be a Great
Teaching Assistant
TEACHING ASSISTANTS ARE AN
ENORMOUS HELP BOTH INSIDE AND
OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM.
With another set of eyes in class,
things often run more smoothly while
having some extra input can make les-
son plans and worksheets even better.
Here are some things teaching assis-
tants can do to maximize their useful-
ness.
HOW TO BE A SUPER TA
1 INSIDE THE CLASSROOM
Helping with classroom man-
agement during lessons is the most
important role of a teaching assis-
tant. When the teacher is busy work-
ing with a student, you – the assis-
tant - should answer questions other
students have, assist students with
their work, and give feedback or en-
couragement when needed. While
the teacher is giving instructions or
lecturing, you can help maintain or-
der by breaking up student conver-
sations and minimizing distractions.
You can also help when students form
groups or move desks in between
activities to shorten the amount of
time these things take and thus en-
sure that students have more time
to practice English. With a teach-
ing assistant in the classroom, the
primary instructor will not have to
disrupt the flow of the lesson by
trying to be in two places at once.
2 HOW THEY SEE YOU
It can be difficult to establish a
good rapport with students. Some
students may not respect teaching
assistants because they are not “real”
teachers in their eyes, or because TAs’
perceived or actual power is minimal.
At the same time, you are in an ex-
cellent position to assist students
who are struggling because you have
more time to monitor them. For in-
42
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
stance, the class clown who sits at
the very back of the room and con-
sistently interrupts may have little in-
terest in the lesson, difficulty under-
standing the material, or just want
some attention. Whatever the case
may be, you can help by working with
him one on one to keep him focused,
answer questions, and obviously ful-
fill the need for attention without be-
ing disruptive to the rest of class. The
student may still be reluctant to focus
on the lesson material but will appre-
ciate the teaching assistant’s atten-
tiveness and the rest of the class will
benefit by having the undivided and
uninterrupted attention of the teacher.
How students see you and your role in
the classroom depends heavily on how
you are treated by the teacher you as-
sist. It is beneficial to talk about your
responsibilities during particular les-
sons before heading into the class-
room and to develop strong respectful
working relationships with teachers.
3
OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
Depending on the teach-
er, a teaching assistant may be
responsible for any number of
tasks outside the classroom.
Teaching assistants are commonly
asked to mark papers and grade
exams. You may be asked to cre-
ate and edit worksheets, handouts,
and exams and will most likely have
to make copies of these items. You
are free to express your ideas about
lessons but they will not always be
taken into consideration. The extent
to which you are involved in any and
all activities depends on who you are
assisting and may vary from teacher
to teacher within the same school.
Remember that you are a teaching
assistant and not a personal as-
sistant, so that you can remind your
teachers of that if required.
4
TEAM TEACHING
In an environment that encour-
ages team teaching, you as a teach-
ing assistant may, on occasion, have
the opportunity to plan activities or
entire lessons. This is especially com-
mon if you are a native English speak-
er teaching abroad with a non-native
English speaker. In this situation, your
activities should focus on pronuncia-
tion and speaking while your lesson
plans should revolve around cultural
topics such as holidays. When you
are teaching, do not expect a full
role reversal. While it would be nice
for the other teacher to assist you,
that is not always how things work
out, so you should be prepared to do
everything on your own just in case.
Every teacher should be lucky
enough to have a teaching assistant.
If the teacher you work with is not
used to having an assistant it might
take a while for him to get used to
having your help. You should feel
free to offer your thoughts and
services if you feel that you are not
being given enough tasks. It may
simply take a little while to adjust to
having a helping hand. Assisting oth-
ers can give you some great experi-
ence in a classroom and help you
form teaching methods of your own.
BEING A TEACHING ASSISTANT IS AN
EXCELLENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
WHETHER YOU ADMIRE THE WORK
OF YOUR TEACHER(S) OR NOT.
Have you even worked as a
Teaching Assistant? What was it
like? Please send us your com-
ments online!
How to Teach Review Lessons:
Success Strategies
IT IS BEST TO REVIEW OFTEN
THROUGHOUT THE COURSE TO KEEP
MATERIAL FRESH IN STUDENTS’
MIND AND ESPECIALLY BEFORE
MAJOR EXAMS WHICH COVER A LOT
OF TOPICS.
Reviewing will help students feel more
comfortable with old material and give
you the opportunity to combine topics
which may have been studied sepa-
rately.
If there is a particular warm up ac-
tivity that you always use to start
your lessons, you can do that but
there is generally so much material
to cover during a review lesson that
a warm up activity is not necessary.
For certain classes a study guide
may be appropriate.
In this case, provide students with a
study guide which summarizes what
they have learned and what will be
covered in the exams. Include the
target structures and key vocabu-
lary from each chapter and any dia-
grams or maps that they should be
familiar with. This does a lot to build
student confidence because they
have a hard copy of what they should
review and what sections of the
course you feel are most important.
The study guide should include every
type of question students will encoun-
ter on the exam, all directions such
as “Circle the correct answer”, and
any additional material you would like
them to review but may not necessar-
ily be on the exam. Sometimes sim-
ply the format of the exam confuses
and frustrates students, so this guide
will help them with that and they will
be better equipped to perform well.
When using a study guide as the ba-
sis for your review lesson, ensure
that it is interactive. Have students
translate the vocabulary words on the
sheet, leave blanks in target struc-
tures for students to fill in, and list only
the questions of a model dialogue
so students have to write down their
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
answers. This way, the study guide you and students in these major re-
can serve the purpose of helping view lessons. Larger writing activities
students with their individual review allow students to draw upon all their
as well as structuring the review les- English education to complete the ex-
son. Have students speak as often as ercise, games such as the Quiz Game
possible throughout the lesson as the described above can give students
exam will most likely be a test of their a break from learning new material
writing, listening, and reading skills. halfway through the term to review
what has already been covered, and
short quizzes on older material can
highlight what points need special
Some classes may be very confident attention during a big review lesson.
with the material on an exam or per-
haps you have set aside two class pe- If students enjoyed playing a particular
riods for review activities so, if there is game or doing a specific activity for a
time, you can conduct a Quiz Game topic when it was introduced, conduct-
as a fun review activity which will ing the same game or activity as a re-
take an entire thirty to forty-five min- view later on would be appropriate too.
ute period. To conduct this activity,
prepare five categories with five to
six questions each. The categories, THERE ARE SO MANY METHODS
for example, may be “Vocabulary, OF CONDUCTING BOTH LONG AND
Translation, Classroom English, An- SHORT REVIEW ACTIVITIES AND
swers, Questions” where students USING A VARIETY OF THEM WILL
have to translate words or phrases for GO A LONG WAY TOWARDS AS-
the first two categories, explain or act SISTING ALL YOUR STUDENTS WITH
out classroom English phrases for the THEIR ENGLISH ACQUISITION.
third, answer questions for the fourth,
and provide the question for the an-
swer that was provided for the fifth. How do you teach review les-
For scoring you may choose to award sons? Tell us when you happen to
only one point for correct answers for be online!
the first category but five for correct
answers for the fifth category. To play,
have students form groups of three to
five, explain the categories and scor-
ing, choose the first category, and
the first group to correctly answer the
question gets the points and is allowed
to choose the next category. The game
ends when all the questions have
been answered or the class ends and
the group with the most points wins.
As an incentive the winners might
receive a couple extra credit points
on the exam or something similar.
Conducting a review lesson or
two before every exam will give
students a better idea of what to
expect on the test and make them
more confident with that material. Re-
viewing topics frequently throughout
the course will put less pressure on
43
 8 Tips On Becoming
A Successful Corporate Teacher
AS AN ESL TEACHER, ONE OF THE
BEST WAYS TO GROW AND EXPAND
IS TO SINK YOUR TEETH INTO NEW
FACETS OF TEACHING.
A common path for the career teach-
er is in-house corporate language
training. Corporate teaching in-
volves teaching company employ-
ees, generally at the company’s of-
fices. This kind of teaching provides
instructors with a greater set of chal-
lenges, as many firms pay top dol-
lar and expect only the best, de-
manding to see a demonstrated
improvement in the student’s ability.
Corporate trainers can expect to
teach complete range of students’ of
differing ages, levels and job descrip-
tions within a company, ranging from
security staff to managers at execu-
tive level. While this can be somewhat
daunting for a new teacher, corpo-
rate teaching can be incredibly fun.
Your students would have most likely
worked a long day, and want a fun and
light-hearted time in the classroom.
One of the biggest drawcards for
the teacher is a bigger pay packet
at the end of the day, as corporate
language tuition often pays better
than schools and language cen-
ters. It’s also a great way to make
contacts. Who knows, the quiet
woman sitting down the back may
be in charge of HR and may need a
full-time English teacher in the future.
This article aims to provide 8 nifty
tips and tricks to help you succeed
as a corporate language trainer.
HOW TO BE A SUCCESSFUL
CORPORATE TEACHER
1 MAKE THEM THINK
IT’S FUN!
Start with fun and finish with fun! By
using a fun activity at the start and
the end of a class, you give the stu-
dents a positive memory of the class.
44
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
It is generally the start and the end
of the class that is mostly remem-
bered by students, leaving them
with an impression that is happy and
fun, making up for the dry chunk of
grammar and writing in the middle.
Games and activities are just
as important for corporate stu-
dents as they are for children, as
most classes are held after work,
and the student’s concentration lev-
els can sometimes waver. They also
help reinforce the grammar point
and give the students the chance to
present the skills learnt class, while
competing with their colleagues.
Many successful corporate teach-
ers can teach amazing kids classes!
2
GETTING TO KNOW
EACH OTHER
On the first lesson, the students some-
times tend to be shy when speaking
in front of you and their colleagues.
It may have been quite a long time
since they have used English and
they may be quite low on confidence.
To best deal with this, the entire first
lesson should be aimed at build-
ing a positive and constructive
learning environment that is fun and
open. One of the best ways to do this
is to start with an activity where the
students get to know you (see Busy-
Teacher’s Getting To Know You activi-
ties) and build a strong rapport at the
same time. As the teacher, you will
be spending quite a lot of time with
the students, so it is in their best in-
terests to get to know you. Instead of
introducing yourself, simply write a big
question mark on the board, and get
them to do the hard work by asking the
questions. Use your immense charm
and personality while doing this, and
make them guess certain things
about you, such as your nationality,
age, etc. Personality, charm and a
nice smile go a long, long way, as well.
Another fun lesson idea that works
out well for the initial class is an ac-
tivity called “Two Truths, One Lie.”
This is a great little rapport builder
that gives the teacher an idea of the
level of the students ability of writ-
ing, speaking and structure. The
teacher writes three sentences
about him or her on the board, with
one of the sentences being a lie. Be-
low are some example sentences.
Make it fun and try not to be too ob-
vious. (BTW, I hate Britney Spears!)
I can fly planes.
I am in love with Britney Spears.
I like to eat Durian.
The students must then ask questions
about the topics, and then the teacher
should lie and try to trick the students
into believing the wrong one. A fun
guessing game can be had where the
students play the role of a lie detec-
tor. Once finished, the students can
write their own three sentences, and
a game can be held such as “Teacher
vs. The Class” with the teacher must
guess the “lie” of the student. If the
teacher correctly guesses the lie, 1
point will be scored by the teacher. If
the students successfully deceive the
teacher, the class wins a point.
3 FIND OUT
WHAT THEY REALLY WANT
When it comes to corporate classes,
student feedback about you and the
course will most likely be given to the
company’s HR manager and whoever
it is who pays your wage. One way to
keep the students happy is to give them
what they want. In the first couple of
lessons, a needs analysis should be
done to compile a list of their wants,
needs, strengths and weaknesses.
This can be done by asking each indi-
vidual student the following questions:
What do you find difficult about
English?
What do you want to improve?
How do you use English in your
job?
With this information, you can plan
supplementary activities, projects and
various other tasks that are not in the book with the aim of keeping your class fresh and interesting.

4 DRESS THE PART

As a corporate teacher, you will be teaching in conference rooms, meeting rooms or even boardrooms. Working
in this environment takes you into the realm of the company’s big wigs, and dressing to impress helps your image. It
may also help gain further work in the future. As a corporate teacher, you should dress like a corporate individual.

5 GO WITH THE FLOW

If you find that your planned lesson on business writing is putting them to sleep, a quick change of tactics has
never gone astray. The students have generally worked a long day, and giving them the task of writing an email makes
them feel like they are continuing their work. If you notice their attention span beginning to falter, start a classroom con-
versation. Get them talking about things they are interested in, such as their hobbies, families, life outside work. This
also shows that you are a caring teacher, with a genuine interest into the wellbeing of your students.

6 THEY’RE ADULTS, NOT CHILDREN

Never reprimand or discipline an adult student for arriving late or not doing homework. They are adults and
can make up their own minds.. They probably had a good excuse for not doing the homework, or came late to class due
to a work meeting. Always remember that you can lead a horse to water, but not make it drink. The same rule applies
for adult students.

7 GIVE THEM SOMETHING THEY CAN USE

When it comes to using material from a book, skip the parts that are not relevant to them. If you’re teaching a
group of accountants, focus on money related topics, rather than irrelevant topics, such as ‘booking a hotel room’. If
your students don’t need to know about presentations, don’t teach them it. The best approach is to replace the redun-
dant task with a fun activity, such as a team project that gets the students working together.

8 KEEP IT PERSONAL
Give out your email address and let them know that you are always there for any help or assistance if they need
any help with English in their job. This creates a personal bond, meaning good feedback for you, and a way for them to
improve their English skills, which directly relate to their job.

ESL corporate teaching is a great place to meet some unique characters while building contacts that may prove to be
handy in years to come.

THE BEST ADVICE TO ANYONE CONSIDERING CORPORATE TEACHING IS TO KEEP IT LIGHT, BRIGHT AND INFOR-
MATIVE. BY FOLLOWING THESE STEPS ANYONE CAN BE A SUCCESSFUL TRAINER WHEN GRACING THE BOARD-
ROOM OR MEETING ROOM OF A COMPANY.

45
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
 How To Teach Large Groups:
The More The Merrier?
DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU TEACH,
YOU COULD FACE CLASSES OF 30 OR
40 STUDENTS.
In some countries even larger class-
es are not uncommon. With only one
teacher and maybe one assistant,
teaching such a large group of stu-
dents can be a challenge. Here are
some strategies you can use in differ-
ent stages of the lesson to encourage
everyone to participate and make the
most out of your time with students.
HOW TO TEACH LARGE GROUPS
1 ALWAYS WARM THEM UP
FIRST
Plan activities that encourage students
to volunteer answers, work together
in teams, or in some other way par-
ticipate in the lesson. The most impor-
tant thing is to get them thinking and
speaking in English. If it is a particu-
larly sluggish class, plan to have stu-
dents out of their chairs and moving
around the classroom (see our article
‘TPR Tricks: 5 Fabulous Ways to Use
Total Physical Response in the ESL
Classroom’). Fast paced activities will
increase student talking time and en-
gage more students in the exercise.
2 INTRODUCE
WHILE ELICITING
Your introduction should not be a time
for students to passively acknowl-
edge information. This is a time for
you to see what they already know
related to the topic while giving
them the necessary bits of informa-
tion they will need to complete activi-
ties later on in class. Elicit information
such as vocabulary from students.
You can call on students if you are
asking them to recall something you
have already covered but should rely
on volunteers if you are fishing for
something new. Students in classes
this size are usually at a couple dif-
ferent levels depending on their inter-
46
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
est in English so eliciting material is a
great way to see what information stu-
dents can provide on specific topics.
3 FIRST PRACTICE
AS A CLASS
The first practice activity should be
done as a class so that students can
get an idea of what the target mate-
rial is and hear you model everything
correctly. Further practice can often be
done individually, in pairs, or in groups.
The main challenge while students
are working on something is monitor-
ing them. It is impossible to listen to
more than one conversation at a time,
so walk through the class during the
practice time to ensure that students
are doing the activity, answer ques-
tions, and correct the mistakes you
are fortunate enough to catch. After
students have completed the activ-
ity is when you will have the oppor-
tunity to check their understanding of
the material. Cover everything in the
practice activity as a class and call on
students who have not yet spoken.
Quieter students may simply be shy
but usually, students who do not vol-
unteer do not feel confident about their
answers and may need extra help.
4
PRODUCTION STAGE:
ENCOURAGE PAIRWORK &
GROUPWORK
Pairs and groups are good for
production exercises unless you
want students to do a writing activ-
ity, in which case you should consider
having students work individually.
It is important that students work with
one another because they can help
each other while you are busy assist-
ing different groups whereas individu-
als have only their knowledge to draw
on and thus are less likely to notice
their own mistakes. Just like with the
practice activities above, be sure to
have students present their mate-
rial from this part of the lesson to the
class. This gives you the chance to
deliver individualized feedback and
allows students to hear some more
examples. This is kind of late in the
class for students to realize they have
been practicing something incorrectly,
but it is better late than never and you
can always encourage students to
ask questions about anything they
are uncertain about. Students are
often hesitant to ask questions but
by creating an open, friendly, and
constructive learning environment,
you will have gone a long way to-
wards setting your students at ease.
5 REVISION IS FUN
Review activities are very simi-
lar to warm ups. Something fun and
fast paced will help you end class
on a positive note while reinforcing
what you talked about during the les-
son. Here you should definitely call
on students who have not spoken up
during the rest of the lesson to see if
they are following along. This is an-
other great time for you to assess
how students are doing and think
about what you might want to review
at the beginning of the next lesson.
WHILE LARGE GROUPS OF STU-
DENTS CAN MAKE CLASSROOM
MANAGEMENT AND DISCIPLINE
ESPECIALLY CHALLENGING, YOU
ARE ALSO ABLE TO DO A LOT OF FUN
ACTIVITIES WITH SIZABLE CLASSES
THAT ARE NOT APPROPRIATE FOR
SMALLER CLASS SIZES.
For example, Chinese Whispers
is a fun team game that should
be done with at least two or three
teams with several members each.
In a class with about ten to fifteen
students, you would have to adapt
the game to be a class exercise in-
stead of a team one. With practice,
you will be able to manage even ex-
tremely large class sizes with ease.
What size classes do you teach?
How To Teach TOEFL:
Top 10 Tips That Work
TEACHERS THROUGHOUT THE
WORLD GENERALLY SHUDDER IN
FEAR AT THE THOUGHT OF TEACH-
ING TOEFL, AND WITH GOOD
REASON.
Possibly the most alarming thing
about TOEFL are the massive text-
books, often resembling a phone
book and coming with 12 CDs. Many
first-time TOEFL teachers think ‘what
the hell am I going to do with this?’ It
is in the teacher’s best interest to
know how to teach TOEFL, as this
is one of the money subjects of ESL,
plus some of the topics in the reading
and listening can be quite fascinating.
The exam is generally conducted on
computer and covers all four key ar-
eas, including speaking, reading, writ-
ing and listening. Teaching TOEFL is
like teaching anything else really, ex-
cept the biggest differences are that
you will be emphasising the struc-
ture of the exam and dealing with
integrated activities. The integrated
activities require the use of different
skills, such as a spoken response to
a reading passage followed by a lis-
tening passage. No matter what, with
a little bit of preparation and some
guidance, any teacher can weave
a little magic in the classroom and
become a terrific TOEFL teacher!
HOW TO TEACH TOEFL
1 PREPARATION
In your first class, to give your
students a feel for what they are aim-
ing for, a practice test is a good
idea. This should set the tone for the
remainder of the course and show
them that the TOEFL test is not a
walk in the park. You should tell your
students that learning TOEFL is not
easy, and that they must do an incred-
ible amount of work in order for them
to get the score that they require.
If you strongly doubt a student’s abil-
ity, you should do the right thing and
be honest with the student, informing
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
them that perhaps a lower level of Eng-
lish course may be beneficial to them
to prep them for the TOEFL exam.
2
PLAN YOUR LESSON
BACKWARDS!
An alternative method of lesson plan-
ning, this little gem often comes up (but
not often remembered) from various
ESL courses. Planning your TOEFL
class backwards means that you can
effectively go through the class,
work from the aims, and then work
the necessary steps, activities and
exercises in order for the students to
reach those aims and objectives. This
is especially helpful when it comes to
a subject like TOEFL, which involves a
great deal of structure in the lessons.
3
KNOW YOUR SUBJECT!
If you can, try to take a few
practice TOEFL tests on either the in-
ternet or even your language centre
may have a copy of the software that
you can use in a demo mode. This al-
lows you to get an understanding as
to how the test is structured and
learn the different steps involved.
Even old hands at TOEFL should regu-
larly undertake a practice on the com-
puterised test to help learn of differ-
ent pointers that will help the students
and how they can make the most of
the timing in between the questions.
4 RECORD THE STUDENTS
WHEN THEY SPEAK
When you get your students to com-
plete a spoken activity, for example,
where they must speak for 45 sec-
onds on a given topic, record them!
This is important, as they have to
become used to speaking on a mi-
crophone while being recorded. The
recording places the additional pres-
sure on the student that they will find
during the exam, as well as giving you
and the student the chance to review
and look for errors with their work.
5 NOTE TAKING
Successful TOEFL students are
good note takers. Questions in the
listening do not allow the students to
answer them as they hear them, but
encourage the students to take notes,
with the questions appearing on the
screen after the passage. The teacher
needs to teach the students some
methods on how to take effective
notes and to organise information in
a way that they can understand and
refer to later on. They shouldn’t need
to write down everything they here,
but only take down what’s relevant.
6
INTEGRATED MAYHEM
This is a unique point for both
teacher and student, as English lan-
guage training is generally broken
down into the four parts of speak-
ing, reading, writing and listening.
The TOEFL examination is unique
as it forces the students to use
multiple skills when answering a
single question. More than just us-
ing the two skills, it involves effec-
tive note taking skills and structure.
The unfortunate aspect of the inte-
grated components is if a student
is weak in one area, their score on
the overall question will be lower. To
teach the integrated task effectively to
students, teachers must start simple.
The best way to introduce students
to the integrated task is to give them
news articles to read, then watch a
TV news bulletin on the same sub-
ject and then get them to use their
notes to give a quick talk about it. It
is quite likely that the students have
never done any exercises like this,
so start them off on sometime simple
and then slowly increase in difficulty.
7
STRUCTURE IS KING!
Like all English proficiency ex-
aminations, students must be aware
of the structure that must be given
in their answers. For example, in
terms of the TOEFL writing, they
must know to include all the essential
47
 tidbits that an examiner looks for, such as a thesis statement, topic sentences and the supporting sentences.

8 FOCUS ON THE TIME ASPECT

No matter whether it’s reading, writing, speaking or listening – all of these are strongly bound by time restrictions.
After students become aware of the structure of the test, they should then focus on achieving the structural require-
ments within the appropriate time limits. If they can’t finish the tasks within the required period of time, then this is
something that you, as a teacher, must begin to focus on to give the students the best chances at achieving their goal
for the TOEFL examination.

9 TEACH THEM TO USE THEIR PSYCHIC ABILITIES

One nifty tip for making the most of the timing of the TOEFL test is to get the students to use their pow-
er of prediction. As the TOEFL test is run on computerised software, there are numerous slides and imag-
es that allow the student some extra time for planning and to predict some of the vocabulary of the topic coming
up. During the reading and the listening, students are often shown an image that will be related to the topic. After
knowing the topic, and seeing an image, it could be about stars for example, they will know that that the upcom-
ing listening passage will be a lecture by a professor about stars. By predicting the vocab, this puts them in a bet-
ter position to know what they could be listening out for, such as a comparison between two constellations, etc.

10 PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!

The teacher should give writing tasks to be completed for homework. This task should be done with-
in a time limit and submitted to the teacher, with appropriate feedback given. If students don’t do the work, don’t
get angry – remind them that it is simply in their best interests to complete set work. Homework doesn’t al-
ways need to be TOEFL related, encourage the students to watch English TV shows, read English lan-
guage current affairs online and even listen online to some news broadcasts. This is a great way to take a
break from the dryness of TOEFL and still gain the necessary skills using other resources and materials.

WHILE TOEFL IS NOT THE EASIEST SUBJECT IN ESL TO TEACH, IT IS DEFINITELY A CHALLENGE THAT MANY ENJOY.

Some of the reading and lectures can be interesting to listen to, and provide a great alternative for those who
have had enough of general English topics like shopping, the weather and hobbies. Try following the few
rules above - these are just a few pointers that should get you in the right direction for TOEFL teaching success!

48
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
Teaching IELTS:
9 Vital Tips And Tricks
MANY FIRST TIME TEACHERS AND
THOSE WHO HAVEN’T TAUGHT IELTS
OFTEN SHUDDER IN FEAR AT THE
FIRST MENTION OF THE ACRONYM.
Most view it as a highly technical as-
pect of ESL teaching of an exam that
they would probably fail if they took
the exam! That couldn’t be further
from the truth. Yes, IELTS is a highly
technical exam that rewards students
with a higher score for those who ad-
here to structure. But by learning a
few tips and tricks about the exam and
methods to help the students, you will
give help your students move in the
right direction when it comes to get-
ting the required grade they need, and
provide them while building your own
skills in teaching it at the same time.
Teachers should also remember
that specialist ESL subjects, such
as IELTS, TOEFL and TOEIC of-
ten pay a lot higher than gen-
eral English, so EFLer’s who want
to make a bit of extra cash should
take some time out and jump in the
deep end when it comes to teach-
ing international exam preparation.
HOW TO TEACH IELTS
1
SHOW THEM
WHAT THEY’RE IN FOR!
At the beginning of the course, in
order to give them a taste of what
they’re aiming for, start with a prac-
tice exam. This demonstrates the
structure, timing implication and the
serious nature of study that they
need to undertake until the time of
their exam. You should tell the stu-
dents that IELTS is no walk in the
park, and if they seriously want to
improve their score, then they really
need to put in the effort and knuckle
down to get the grade they desire.
Students should also be given honest
feedback as to what their levels are.
Don’t give them false hope. If the
student is at a basic level, don’t prom-
ise them a 6.5 IELTS grade. Be hon-
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
est with them. IELTS examiners say
that the average improvement for a
typical student who studies on a regu-
lar basis will achieve an increase of
0.5 for every six months of studying.
2
FOCUS
ON THEIR WEAK POINTS
After the practice test, you should have
a good idea of their weak points. The
IELTS test is broken down into four
parts: reading, speaking, listening and
writing. While you should be teaching
all aspects of the test, focus on the
weak points of the students and pro-
vide them with extra activities. Bring it
all the way back to basics for them if
need be, and get them writing simple
sentences if they make simple errors.
3 STRUCTURE, STRUCTURE,
STRUCTURE!
One of the great things about teach-
ing IELTS is that most of the questions
are similar, and even though they in-
crease in level of difficulty throughout,
they can all be written to a structure.
With the writing tasks, ensure that
students include all the necessary
information in an essay, such as
thesis statement, topic sentences,
supporting ideas, well-constructed
paragraphs and a conclusion with no
new information. Achieving this for-
mula is the half-way point to achiev-
ing a decent score. For writing, one of
our favourite tasks is what we call a
‘Mini-Essay’. A Mini-Essay builds the
students skills by focusing on the
structure rather than the overall
content. The student must write an
introduction, body paragraph and a
conclusion. This can be done towards
the end of an IELTS class and the
students can read out their answers.
4
TIMING IS EVERYTHING!
After students have learnt the
structure of the questions, it is im-
portant that they learn to complete
the tasks within the set time lim-
its. As the questions in the reading
become more difficult, the students
should spend an increasing length
of time on the questions. For exam-
ple, the IELTS reading task contains
three passages that become increas-
ingly difficult. Instead of spending 20
minutes on each, they should spend
15 minutes on the first, 20 on the
second and 25 minutes on the third.
5
PPP – PLAN, PRODUCE,
PROOF
Plan, Produce, Proof - these are
the keys to the writing section.
Students must be made aware of the
structural implications that their work
has on their overall IELTS score. By
planning, the student will lessen the
risk of writing any word that pops into
their mind and sticking to a structure
as set out in the plan. Proof reading
is also important, as students will lose
marks on silly grammar and spelling
errors – one easy way to lose marks.
6
LISTENING TRICKS
AND TIPS
Well, not strictly cheat codes,
but some methods to help the
students with the listening.
Students can look ahead at the
questions during the 1 minute and
30 second gap in the listening exer-
cises. This should give the students
a brief outline of what they are lis-
tening out for, such as the topic and
the possible vocabulary involved.
This should enable the students
to use their power of prediction.
Also with the listening, the students
should listen out very carefully to
‘misspoken’ words. An example
of this is where the day, date or lo-
cation is corrected by the speaker.
For example, the speaker may say
‘So, we shall meet on Tuesday, oh
no.. Wednesday’.
Students need to be careful to put the
correct information down, as some-
times they are distracted by the first
49
 answer and don’t hear the correction.

7 SPEAKING – IT’S WHAT’S NOT ASKED THAT COUNTS

In speaking task one, students should provide as much information as possible. This allows for the stu-
dent to demonstrate their speaking skills using a wide amount of vocabulary. Below is an example.

Bad Example

Examiner: Where do you come from?

Student: Melbourne.

Good Example

Examiner: Where do you come from?

Student: Well, I originally come from Melbourne, Australia, which is the capital of the state of Victoria. It is
home to a population of 3,000,000 citizens and is home to a number of well known sporting events.

Even for closed questions, the student should still provide as much information as possible.

Bad Example

Examiner: Do you have a part-time job?

Student: Nope.

Good Example

Examiner: Do you have a part-time job?

Student: No, but I used to help my uncle at his seafood restaurant during school holidays. It was quite busy
and I used to have to show guests to their tables.

8 SKIM ‘N’ SCAN

When it comes to reading, timing plays a vital role. If the student loses track of time, they can find that they
have five minutes to complete a whole reading exercise. One of the best ways to keep timing to a minimum is to
skim and scan for the reading. Skimming and scanning involves looking for particular information, such as dates,
opinions, quotes, comparisons or anything that may be important to the article. Students should have a quick
look at the questions, skim the text for any important information, then go back and scan for the specific informa-
tion as they answer the questions. If a student read a reading passage word-for-word, they would never complete
the reading task in time, so skimming and scanning are essential for a high score for the reading section of the test.

9 PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!

The final tip about the IELTS test that the students must do to succeed is to practice as often as they can. Doing
exercises and practice tests is helpful, but can lead to burnout over time. Students can also gain a strong understand-
ing of grammatical structures, speaking and listening from a wide range of media sources. Watching the news should
be able to help students with vocabulary relating to science that may come up on the reading test, while providing them
with a range of different accents. Reading magazine or news articles is a great way to improve the pace of reading.

SO THERE YOU HAVE IT, NINE VITAL TIPS AND TRICKS THAT YOU CAN PASS ON TO YOUR STUDENTS TAKING THE
IELTS TEST. BY FOLLOWING THESE STEPS AND USING SOME TOP MATERIALS, THERE IS NO REASON WHY ANY
ESL TEACHER COULDN’T HELP THEIR STUDENT ACHIEVE THEIR GOAL FOR THE EXAM.

Do you have any experience teaching IELTS preparation classes? What is/was it like? We’d love to hear
from you online!

50
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
Teaching English Online –
What You Need to Know
HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHAT
IT WOULD BE LIKE TO WORK FROM
THE COMFORT OF YOUR OWN
HOME?
Although more and more ESL teach-
ers are becoming less reluctant to
use technology in the classroom, go-
ing completely online is a big step,
one that most have never even con-
sidered. Some can’t even imagine
what it would be like to teach a class
and not have your students sitting in
front of you. Still, teaching English
online is a very attractive possibil-
ity for many these days, and it’s a
choice that is gaining popularity fast
among ESL teachers and students,
mostly because of the advantages.
THE ADVANTAGES
• Firstly, you have all of the ben-
efits that come with working
from home. You save money on
commuting costs, mothers can
stay home with their kids, you
set your own schedule, hours,
etc., you work within the com-
fort and privacy of your home,
in your pajamas or sweats, you
have greater freedom and in-
dependence... among others.
• Thanks to the advances in tele-
communications technology and
devices, you have the possibility
to reach students from across
the globe, students who may not
have the time to take a regular
course, or don’t usually have na-
tive English speakers to talk to.
THE PITFALLS
• Working at home while you care
for your children can be both
an advantage and a complete
nightmare. It’s great for a mother
who has recently had a baby to
be able to work from home, but
you must be professional and
reliable at all times. This means
that if you have a student who is
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
paying good money to talk to you
for one hour, you’d better be pre-
pared to give your student his or
her full hour - you can’t run off to
see to a crying baby in the mid-
dle of your lesson. Nor can you
have kids running around with
noisy pets in the background.
• Dealing with time zone differ-
ences can be a little tricky, partic-
ularly if you have Asian students.
• Some online payment sys-
tems are not available in some
countries, so you’ll have to of-
fer students other alternatives.
• Although it may be great to get up
from bed and get to teach English
online without having to shave or
change, there’s the inherent risk
of spending far too many hours
at home and not enough outside
socializing. It’s important to go out
once in a while, maybe at least
once a day, to do some shop-
ping, go to gym, have lunch with
friends, play some tennis, etc.
While the pitfalls may seem numer-
ous, if you’re able to handle the is-
sues that may arise when you work
from home, you’ll find that the ben-
efits of teaching English online far
outweigh the disadvantages.
THINGS TO CONSIDER
1
ONLINE SCHOOL
OR ON YOUR OWN?
The very first decision you’ll have
to make is whether you will work
for an online school, tutoring ser-
vice, or run your own website.
If you want to teach at an online
school, you’ll have to go through
the application process just as you
would for any other school. You’ll
most likely be required to have TEFL
certification and experience. There
are websites where all you have to
do is sign up and create a profile to
attract students, which is very easy
to do, but you must realize that your
profile may compete with hundreds
of others. If you want to have more
freedom and ultimately higher prof-
its, then running your own website is
clearly the best choice, but you must
be prepared to work hard to promote
your services and find students.
2
WHAT ARE YOU
PREPARED TO OFFER?
Will you help students build vo-
cabulary, answer grammar ques-
tions and clarify doubts, or mere-
ly offer students the chance to
speak to a native English speaker?
Whatever you choose to do, you
must be absolutely clear on what
it is you will offer, and provide
some form of structure, like les-
sons plans or at the very least some
guidelines in reference to what you
will help your students accomplish.
Although you may come across stu-
dents who only want to talk (and have
you just sit there and listen), this may
not be what the majority wants. It is
important that you offer what you
know best. Are you great with idi-
oms, slang, or specific vocabulary?
It’s important to identify your niche.
3
WHAT TECHNOLOGIES
WILL YOU USE?
Online schools usually have their own
online platform, usually in some form
of chat room. But if you work on your
own, you’ll need to have an instant
messaging service, like MSN Mes-
senger, Yahoo Messenger, or Skype,
but also Internet VoIP service for the
calls you’ll need to make to practice
listening and speaking.
Don’t forget that there are video con-
ferencing platforms that are very
easy to use like MSN Messenger’s
where all you need is a Web cam and
a microphone to deliver lessons that
are just as real as face-to-face class-
es. You may also choose to record
51
 podcasts or audio files in MP3 format. Explore the possibilities and make use of all of the technological resources avail-
able on the Internet.

4 HOW MUCH WILL YOU CHARGE AND HOW WILL YOU RECEIVE PAYMENT?
Online schools usually transfer payments to your bank account, PayPal account, or use some sort of payment
processor. Some may even send you a check. For those who run their own online business, PayPal offers some very
useful services, but you may also choose to accept payments through other means like credit cards. As for rates, online
English teachers charge anywhere between $15 and $50. Do a bit of research and find out what your competitors are
charging. The lowest rates are usually for conversation, with no grammar teaching or lessons.

5 HOW WILL YOU PROMOTE YOUR SERVICES?

If you decide to start your own online business teaching English, you won’t find any students unless you promote
it. Fortunately, there are lots of ways to do this online:

• Advertise on websites with a lot of English learners (for example, on Englishtips.org)

• Find online tutor databases, like TutorAgent, sign up, and create an engaging profile to attract students.

• Actively participate in ESL forums and always leave your signature.

• Promote your business on several social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

• Drive traffic to your website with SEO strategies, PayPerClick campaigns, and other forms of Internet marketing,
add a blog to your site and provide useful tips and advice for students.

There has never been a better time to teach English online.

YOU CAN SET UP YOUR OWN ONLINE BUSINESS TEACHING ENGLISH ONLINE WITH A MINIMUM INVESTMENT
AND WATCH IT GROW. OR WORK FOR AN ESTABLISHED ONLINE SCHOOL. THE CHOICE IS YOURS, BUT THE IMPOR-
TANT THING HERE IS THAT TEACHING ONLINE IS NO LONGER THE FUTURE. IT IS A REALITY.

52
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
How to Teach Online Lessons -
And Be Proud Of Them
Earlier in this eBook we looked
into teaching English online and
discussed the advantages and pit-
falls of it. Today we’ll take a look
at different types of online English
lessons.
The content of online English lessons
varies greatly but the focus should al-
ways be on student speaking. Try to
minimize the amount of time you
talk (TTT) by having students read di-
rections for exercises aloud or by do-
ing the same types of activities often,
so that less explanation is necessary.
Try to provide both oral and writ-
ten feedback for students, so
they can review certain correc-
tions on their own. If students are
able to record classes, that can be
very beneficial for self study, too.
HOW TO PROCEED
1 GENERAL ENGLISH
If you are following a cer-
tain textbook or curriculum, you
can structure your lessons around
new topics and grammar points.
Start lessons off with a bit of conver-
sational English since this is important
for students who will have the opportu-
nity to speak English outside of class.
You can elicit what students already
know about the topic and go over spe-
cific vocabulary words. Explain any
new words to students and ask them
to make sentences with or provide
synonyms for several to test their com-
prehension. You can also introduce
any grammar points or idioms at this
time. Be sure to give students some
example sentences and have them
complete some practice activities.
The majority of the lesson could then
be spent having students respond to
questions about the topic, practice
a certain structure, or even role play
a situation. Depending on how you
teach your classes, you may share
material in different ways and this will
affect how you organize your lessons.
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
Without any special software it can be
challenging to highlight certain things
and share materials but you can
send students relevant files or links
to websites before and during class.
2
BUSINESS ENGLISH
Business English classes can
be the most challenging classes to
teach because students are some-
times quite advanced English lan-
guage learners. For these lessons,
it is imperative to prepare very well
and be able to research items when
students ask challenging questions.
It is fine to have a student move for-
ward in the lesson while you look
for a proper answer to the question
and then discuss the answer later
or include it in the written feedback.
Other students in these classes may
be surprisingly good at speaking
about their jobs, but have difficulty
speaking about other topics. It is im-
portant to focus on business mate-
rial while still giving these students
the opportunity to practice basic skills.
General English can be just as impor-
tant in the business world as deliver-
ing clear and concise presentations
especially if students are expected
to answer questions afterwards.
Another key topic in these courses
is numbers. Students will need some
practice reading a variety of num-
bers and speaking about currency.
Business English classes need to
cover a broad range of material to
ensure that your students are confi-
dent in a variety of situations. What
you include in your lessons will vary
drastically from student to student.
3
CONVERSATION CLASSES
These classes can be enjoyable
because students often just want to
practice speaking English with a native
speaker. This creates a very relaxed
teaching environment and allows you
to get to know your students well.
Be sure to talk about what topics
they are interested in and what they
want to get out of their lessons. Once
you have a better understanding of
why they are studying English, you
will be able to create better individual-
ized lesson plans. It is great to be flex-
ible for these classes but if students
would like more structure, you can
focus lessons on specific topics and
include some activities such as intro-
ducing new vocabulary and idioms
just like in general English classes.
4
DISCUSSION LESSONS
For advanced students who
are not taking business classes, dis-
cussion lessons may provide them
with excellent reading, pronuncia-
tion, and speaking practice while
covering a range of different top-
ics. These lessons can focus on
two or three paragraph articles.
In the first lesson students can start
by reading the article aloud. Be
sure to discuss any new words or
phrases and have students com-
plete some short activities focus-
ing on vocabulary and content.
Use the second class to discuss the
article by asking the student ten to
twenty related questions. It would
be best to cover actual content, per-
sonal experience and opinions, and
some tangential topics in these dis-
cussions. Feel free to insert your own
thoughts from time to time to lead the
discussion and challenge students to
defend their arguments.
Online lessons vary so much.
BE SURE TO INCLUDE SOME CON-
VERSATIONAL ENGLISH IN ALL
YOUR LESSONS SINCE THIS IS
MOST LIKELY WHAT STUDENTS
WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO
USE AND TAILOR YOUR LESSONS
TO THE INTERESTS AND NEEDS
OF YOUR STUDENTS AS MUCH AS
POSSIBLE.
53
 5 Mistakes Online Teachers
Make - And How To Avoid Them
ONLINE TEACHERS ARE LUCKY IN
THAT THEY CAN WORK FROM HOME
ALMOST ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD
BUT THEY ALSO ENCOUNTER A
UNIQUE SET OF PROBLEMS.
Of course some issues are similar to
problems experienced in classrooms
however online teachers will have to
deal with them differently.
5 MOST COMMON MISTAKES WHEN
TEACHING ONLINE
1 CAMERA
If you use a webcam for your
classes, please give some consid-
eration to your appearance and
background. Just because you
work at home does not mean that
you can wear your pajamas during
classes. Dressing appropriately, in a
professional manner, will help earn
your students’ respect and set the
tone for your interactions with them.
Keep in mind that students will not
only see you but also everything be-
hind you. Beds and bathrooms should
not be seen in the background. Find a
quiet, neutral place that reveals little
personal information. It is great getting
to know students but they should not
see certain parts of your house, family
members walking behind you, or pets.
You need to show that you have a pro-
fessional approach to your work and
take their education seriously.
2 MICROPHONE PLACEMENT
Microphone placement is also
another important thing that teachers
need to think about. Online teachers
must use a headset. If you do not, stu-
dents will be distracted by your typing,
clicking, and other sounds, but using
a headset reduces the amount of oth-
er noises they hear and allows them
to focus more on what you are say-
ing. Microphone placement is impor-
tant because it will affect the sound
quality of your classes. If it is directly
in front of your mouth, your breath-
54
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
ing and speaking will cause students
to hear sounds like those you would
expect to hear if a caller is outside
on a windy day. You should test your
microphone placement by recording
yourself speaking into it or by ask-
ing a friend or family member to test
it out with you using a program like
Skype or Google Voice. This will give
you some insight as to where it should
be placed. Generally the microphone
should be off to one side and either a
little above or below your mouth.
3 OVER TALKING
Online teachers often spend
too much time speaking during les-
sons especially if they are not used to
teaching one-on-one lessons. Since
online classes are generally short,
teachers should really maximize stu-
dent talking time.
If you use certain teaching material,
allow students to read directions and
anything else you may be tempted
to read for them. Use your speaking
time to ask questions, prompt longer
responses, give feedback, and model
pronunciation. Encourage students to
ask questions. For example, instead
of having a student say each word on
a vocabulary list after you, have him
read the words aloud, practice the
pronunciation of any words he had
difficulty with, and ask if there are any
new words on the list. This saves a
lot of time because you only have to
focus on what the student needs help
with.
4 LACK OF VARIETY
Online teachers focus most of
their attention on speaking and listen-
ing. These are very important skills
but in order to learn English, students
should focus on all aspects of the
language which includes reading and
writing.
In order to make the best use of your
time, you can ask students to read
materials before class to prepare
them for lessons and assign writ-
ten work occasionally as homework.
Some students may not be interested
in improving their writing skills but be
sure to establish what they want to
get out of their lessons so that you
can plan classes appropriately. En-
courage students to consider the im-
portance of these skills and explain
how including them in lessons will not
take significant time away from other
activities.
5 NOT ENOUGH FEEDBACK
It is important to provide stu-
dents with written feedback and eval-
uations. It can be hard to structure
this without homework assignments
or tests but students should have a
record of their progress and be able
to review their mistakes on their own
time.
Online learners must do some self
study activities in addition to taking
online classes but without direction it
may be challenging for them to know
what to focus on. Providing students
with feedback will help you both iden-
tify which areas they struggle with
and you can recommend additional
practice exercises to help them.
These are just some of the things
that online teachers should be aware
of.
BONUS TIP:
It is nice to know what time of day it
is for your students. This is a very
simple thing but the class you teach in
the morning might be in the evening
for your student, so you should adjust
your greeting accordingly. This can be
a challenge but it lets students know
that you are invested in them enough
to know what time and day your class
is in their country. It just personalizes
your experience a little more. Good
luck!
Do you teach online? Please
share you experience, problems,
or tips and tricks with us online!
We’d love to hear from you!
5 Ideas for the Next Step
in Your ESL Career
While many ESL teachers only spend
a year on the job before heading back
to their home country, many others fall
in love with their new career, the life-
style or the country where they work.
After a year of sinking your teeth into
grammar and finding your feet in devel-
oping your own unique teaching style,
it’s time to take your teaching career up
a notch. After a successful year in the
classroom, teachers will find a vast new
array of jobs available to them or in a
more senior position with more money.
HERE’S WHAT YOUR NEXT STEP CAN
BE
firing teachers. Any candidate for a
Director of Studies must possess the
highest knowledge of grammar, keep
track of various educational content on
the market, as well as cover sick teach-
ers and find replacements at short no-
tice. The Director of Studies is generally
given the freedom to run the academic
department as they see fit, on the con-
dition that at the end of the day, stu-
dent numbers still remain strong and
the business side of the school still
brings in the big bucks for the owners.
3 FROM CELTA TO DELTA!
Okay, so you’ve got a degree
4 EXPERIENCE A NEW
COUNTRY AND CULTURE
After a year of teaching in one country
and experiencing its unique food, cul-
ture and way of life, another option for
teachers is to pack their suitcase and get
on a plane – but not on a flight heading
home! To stay fresh in the classroom,
a change in surroundings provides a
stimulating experience that many use
to avoid lapsing deep into a comfort
zone. Moving to a new country presents
a completely new set of challenges
faced when teaching students from
a different background, such as their
own unique quirks and bad habits that

1 SENIOR TEACHER and you’ve completed a CELTA (The

Certificate in English Language Teach-
you need to fix with their English skills.

Becoming a senior teacher is a
great opportunity to take your career
to the next level. While the role of a
senior teacher is still predominately
classroom-based, it provides an insight
into the managerial side and adminis-
tration behind the scenes. The role of a
senior teacher is generally to provide
assistance and guidance to first-
time teachers by reviewing their les-
son plans and offering helpful hints and
ideas to make their classes top notch.
Senior teachers play a vital role in
any language centre, taking the pres-
sure off the Director of Studies or
Academic Manager, while becoming
a part of the management structure.
5
ing to Adults). ESL qualifications don’t
just end there – the next step for the
CHANGE YOUR
super-serious teacher with the high- WORK ENVIRONMENT
est levels of passion for the tech-
If you’ve done a year in a language
nical side of teaching is a DELTA.
centre, a good way to keep your class
fresh is to change the setting and the
A DELTA (the Diploma in English Lan-
focus of your career. For example,
guage Teaching to Adults) is the next
if you taught in a language centre, it
level up from CELTA certification,
may be a worthwhile finding a job at
and is generally a three-to-six month,
a school or to explore one of the end-
full-time course that educates all about
less choices of niche avenues of ESL
the more gristly points of teaching. A
teaching. If you enjoy teaching young
DELTA course has a high-failure rate
children, find a job at a kindergarten. If
and takes up a significant amount
you come from a business background
of your life, therefore it is nothing to
and enjoy teaching adults, it might be
be taken lightly. Many teachers who
worthwhile considering a path in busi-
have completed the course often talk
ness or corporate language training.
about the high workload and incred-
ible amount of effort that it involves.

2
DOS: BE THE BOSS!
Not so much a move in a teach-
er’s second year, but hey, our industry
can be highly unpredictable and posi-
tions could arise at incredibly short no-
tice. While it may seem like an easy,
office-bound job, the Director of Stud-
ies does, in fact, have serious job that
at times can be stressful. The DOS is
usually the middle-man who has the
tough roll of dealing with the man-
agement and owners, while man-
aging and dealing with the needs
and requirements of teachers.
The Director of Studies receives the
full brunt of management when things
aren’t going well, while being respon-
sible for the stressful task of hiring and
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
No matter what you do in your sec-
ond year, it is important to remem-
When ESL teachers get together and
ber the phrase ‘a change is as
talk shop, the vast majority would agree
good as a holiday’. This couldn’t be
that while a DELTA looks impressive
more true when it comes to keep-
on a resume, it is not a useful tool in
ing your ESL career on the front foot.
getting a job. Many say that further ex-
panding one’s tertiary education or ob-
A CHANGE OF WORKPLACE, ENVI-
taining a Master’s Degree would be the
RONMENT OR CULTURE CAN CREATE
best bet at improving one’s work pros-
A WHOLE NEW ARRAY OF CHAL-
pects. However, teachers who would
LENGES FOR YOU IN THE CLASS-
benefit most from a DELTA course are
ROOM AND GIVE YOU A REWARD-
those with the intent on climbing the
ING TEACHING EXPERIENCE THAT IS
ladder of the British Council or who
FULL OF VARIETY AND KEEPS YOU ON
want a job in management in a presti-
YOUR TOES.
gious and well-known language centre.
A career in ESL is not just a gap-year
But for those who take the live, breath
activity, but can become a lifelong
and have dedicated their lives to ESL
career that gives you the live that
teaching, a DELTA would provide a
many people could only dream of.
thorough insight unlike anything else.
55
 Top 5 Dream Destinations
for ESL Teachers
YUP, IT’S WHY WE ALL DO IT - TO GET
OUT THERE AND SEE THE WORLD.
When salary is taken out of the equa-
tion, we are left with an incredible and
generally stress-free career that allows
us to see the best of what the world
has to offer. We never have to worry
about heading back to the dreary, grey
skies, traffic and the horrible desk-
bound job with even more horrible col-
leagues. The days of post-holiday de-
pression are over. We are very lucky
to do what we do, as there are many
others out there who simply haven’t
had the confidence to leave their com-
fort zone and explore the world. Com-
ing up with a list of the best places to
live and work as an ESL teacher is a
purely subjective task, however this
article will look at some of the options
and give you some ideas where you
could be searching for your dream job.
ESL DREAM DESTINATIONS
1 BALI, INDONESIA
Wow, Bali? Yup! Known as the is-
land of the gods, Bali offers quite a lot
of opportunities for ESL teachers.
Although most first-timers may have a
little difficulty finding jobs there, those
with a year or two under their belt could
easily find work at the various language
centres scattered around the island.
For those with the right quals, there are
two international schools on the island,
which provide a fully-furnished house,
car, driver, maid, and all the trim-
mings that you could possibly imagine.
The salary at language centres in Bali
is a little more basic, but if you aren’t
tempted by the world-class restau-
rants while being prepared to eat ‘nasi
goreng’ from a street side vendor, you
should have no problems living off the
salary. A motorbike is needed to get
around Bali, but for even those with no
experience on a bike, the traffic on Bali’s
roads goes practically at snails pace.
For anyone who’s looking for a job in
Bali, there is a rather prominent lan-
guage centre based on Jalan Sunset,
56
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
just a five minute motorbike ride away
from the world-renowned Kuta Beach.
2 KOH SAMUI, THAILAND
Koh Samui is located in the south
of Thailand and is a quiet, island para-
dise. The island is a world away from the
hustle and bustle of downtown Bang-
kok and is where some of the country’s
best beaches are located. While a long
way from Bangkok, the island still pro-
vides all the modern amenities that
one would come to expect in the West.
ESL teaching opportunities on Koh
Samui are really slim pickings, as this
is where many want to be. Teachers
can find a few high schools and primary
schools, all of which employ a native
speaker, while a handful of language
centres are located in the built up areas.
The ultimate job for the ESL teacher in
Koh Samui is language training at ho-
tels. Teachers who train at hotels are of-
ten paid top dollar and have their accom-
modation and food paid for – What a life!
3 DUBAI,
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Probably not the best place in the world
for those who like to have the sly drink
after class, Dubai is rapidly becoming
a hub for expats, who absolutely love
to spend money. Shopping in Dubai
competes with the likes of Paris these
days, and there is an incredible amount
of things to see and do. Dubai is also
one of the more relaxed cities in the
Middle East, which makes it a great
place for westerners to live and work.
Asides from the usual international
schools, teachers who have the best
wages are generally teaching English
at companies, either for ESL providers
or on their own. Some of these teachers
are making up to $4000 with a bonus
and flights! Dubai also probably has
one of the best party scenes in the Mid-
dle East, while not on par with the west
many visitors from across the region
come here to indulge on some forbidden
fruits, unavailable in their own country.
4 MAURITIUS
Situated in the centre of the heart
of the Indian Ocean, the former French
colony of Mauritius provides a great little
tropical setting for the ESL teacher who
wants to work and truly live the life.
Most of the ESL jobs are in and around
Port Louis, which is located to the north
of the island. Like anywhere in the world
of ESL teaching, international schools
provide the best jobs. Very much like
Koh Samui, for those lucky enough to
be involved in training at luxury resorts,
accommodation and food is generally
provided. But for those who really want
to find a job, a number of language cen-
tres can be found around the capital.
5 BANGKOK, THAILAND
‘Bangkok – Oriental setting, and
the city don’t know that the city is get-
ting’ as the 80s song from Murray Head
goes. While Bangkok is a large, chaotic
city, there is something about the place
that attracts many to leave their high
paying jobs back at home and pack
up for a 30,000 baht a month lifestyle.
What makes Bangkok an ideal place
for foreign teachers is that it takes the
best of the east and combines it with
the west. Plus it has a party scene to
boot! Many ESLers living in Bangkok
describe the accessibility of the place as
one of its many advantages. Delicious
and cheap food is practically every-
where, and if you need to buy your gro-
ceries in the middle of the night, but you
can’t see a 7/11, then you’re probably
not in Bangkok. ESL opportunities are
endless and the jobs just keep on com-
ing. While wages are low and conditions
are sometimes not the best, Bangkok
provides a great place to live and work.
SO, FOR THOSE WHO ARE STUCK IN A
COLD, DREARY DESTINATION SOME-
WHERE IN THE WORLD AND SEEKING
A CHANGE, MAYBE THIS COULD GIVE
YOU A FEW IDEAS WHEN IT COMES
TO CHOOSING A DESTINATION FOR
YOUR NEXT JOB!
Have taught in one of these countries?
We’d love to hear from you online!
Top 5 Countries
with Best ESL Salaries
Teaching English abroad is never
usually regarded as a top paying job.
In fact, when it comes to the expat
community in many cities throughout
the world, ESL teachers are probably
at the bottom of the barrel when it
comes to wages. Playing a little game
of ‘Spot the English teacher’ in the
CBD is like shooting fish in a barrel,
as the expats working at large finan-
cial institutions wear neatly-pressed
suits and matching ties. On the other
hand, English teachers stand out with
their bargain-basement shirts and
generally world-weary look on their
faces. Having said this, ESL teaching
can be a lucrative industry for those
with a B.A and a CELTA or TESOL,
can make a nice little pay-packet to
afford luxuries like a flashy pad, holi-
days and even a brand-spankin’ new
motorbike. What it all boils down to
is: ‘Location! Location! Location!’
This article will provide a guide to the
top paying countries for ESL teachers.
ESL TEACHERS MAKE MORE $$$
IN...
5 VIETNAM
How much would I get? Be-
tween US$1000 and US$3000 per
month.
Do I get insurance? No.
Is my flight paid? No.
Do you guys provide me with
a pad? No, but most places will
help with finding a place to stay.
What about a bonus? Some compa-
nies will pay up to 1 month’s salary.
Vietnam is a relatively newcomer
to the world of high-paying ESL
jobs, recently knocking off Thailand
for the fifth position. As the coun-
try opens up to the outside world,
a greater need for English speak-
ers has arisen in the past 10 years.
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
ESL teachers will find that schools
are in remarkably high demand, as
there is an ESL centre on practi-
cally every corner of the two major
cities, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.
Schools and universities are also
great places to work in Vietnam and
generally have the best work condi-
tions and salaries. Language centres
can pay up to US$20 per hour for
qualified teachers who can teach spe-
cialist subjects like IELTS and TOEFL.
The downside of things in Viet-
nam, if you want to live like a west-
erner and enjoy a cool western-
style apartment, you will need to
pay at least US$500 per month.
4 JAPAN
How much would I get? Around
the US$2000 mark.
Do I get insurance? Sometimes,
check your contract.
Is my flight paid? Yes, return airfare
is usually included.
Do you guys provide me with a
pad? Sometimes. If not, your employ-
er should assist you in finding a place.
What about a bonus? A small bonus
that is less than a one month.
Note: Ever since the earthquake
and tsunami have affected Japan,
teachers have been reportedly leav-
ing in record numbers. The next few
months will be an interesting time
for those who want to work in Ja-
pan in terms of benefits and salary.
Japan has long been a favourite for
‘gappys’ who take the year off their
studies between school and university
to spend a year discovering the world
before heading back to do four years
of study. This has since changed in
recent times as countries crack down
on qualifications, and Japan is now
a common place for those who have
recently obtained their degree. The
ESL culture in Japan is quite interest-
ing, the majority of English teaching
takes place after school, with many
institutes offering classes as an ex-
tracurricular activity. This is an ideal
option for many of those who want
their mornings free (although the oc-
casional private student may come
along, and turn your mostly-free day
into a horrible split shift). Japan is also
a great place for those who want to
sink their teeth into business English.
3 KOREA
How much would I get? On av-
erage, US$2000-US$3000 a month.
Do I get insurance? Yes.
Is my flight paid? Yes, return airfare.
Do you guys provide me with a
pad? Usually a furnished apartment.
What about a bonus? Most ESL jobs
offer a bonus of 1 month’s salary.
Long been considered as being one
of the best destinations to teach,
Korea comes in at third sport as the
highest-paying ESL country. With
a slightly lower salary than Taiwan,
the extras are absolutely spectacu-
lar! The usual ESL job in Korea
comes with the lot, insurance,
apartment and bonus. For those
who want to sink their teeth into a job
with a kickass salary, Korea is defi-
nitely the place. South Korea, that is
(even though Pyong Yang in North
Korea has a British Institute with for-
eign teachers, apparently!). Teaching
at language centres seems to be the
way to go, but many teachers living in
the capital (Seoul) make a very good
living off teaching private students.
2
TAIWAN
How much would I get? Ap-
proximately US$3000 – US$4000 a
month.
Do I get insurance? No, the teacher
must cover it themselves.
57
 Is my flight paid? NO! It seems that’s just the way it is with ESL teachers in Taiwan.

Do you guys provide me with a pad? Yes, but without furniture.

What about a bonus? No return flights, no bonus. Just a high salary.

Taiwan comes in at number two spot on the list for salary although additional benefits are slim. With no insurance, no
bonus or no flights, teachers may have to dip into their incredibly-high salary to fund those extras. Teachers have the
option of schools or language centres, while some great local holiday spots can be found to the south of the island.

1 DUBAI
How much would I get? Between US$3,200 and US$5,000 per month.

Do I get insurance? Nope! With $5,000 a month, you can pay for it yourself!

Is my flight paid? Yes, many companies include a yearly return airfare to your home country.

Do you guys provide me with a pad? Yes. In Dubai, most companies include free, furnished accommodation.

What about a bonus? Nope! Unless you count your return fare as a bonus.

In the first position, it’s no surprise that Dubai takes the cake when it comes to the highest paying salaries for ESL
teachers. The oil rich nation has enough to splurge on the world’s tallest residential tower, an indoor skiing centre
that’s located in the middle of a desert, and the world’s only 7-star hotel – the Burj al Arab. The phenomena of learning
English amongst those living in Dubai are a rather recent trend that has soared in the past decade or so. Many resi-
dents of Dubai, including the vast number of Pakistanis and Indians living in the oil-rich nation, have been spurred on
to improve their English skills by the number of international corporations that have set up their base there. The ESL
setting in Dubai is quite competitive, and teachers are paid according to experience. Most teachers who work in
Dubai generally come with years of experience and have worked at other countries, especially throughout the Middle
East. Language centres are the most common ESL learning institute, which mostly cater for the booming hospitality and
finance industries.

Have you worked in any of these countries? How was it? Please share your experience with us online!

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ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
Teaching English Overseas –
What You Need to Know
THINKING ABOUT TEACHING
ENGLISH OVERSEAS? HERE’S WHAT
YOU NEED TO KNOW.
Teaching English overseas turns out
to be an attractive possibility for any-
one who enjoys traveling and learning
about foreign cultures. Also, teach-
ing English abroad can be tre-
mendously rewarding. The people
you meet, the moments shared with
your students, and experiences lived
(whether good or bad) are things you’ll
carry with you for the rest of your life.
Besides, it’s not that hard
to teach English abroad.
English is probably the easiest lan-
guage to teach to foreigners, most
English grammar and structures have
clear cut rules, and none of the compli-
cations other languages have like plu-
ral or singular, masculine or feminine
nouns and adjectives. In fact, teach-
ing English as a second language will
most likely be easier than learning a
second language of your own!
However, there are a number of things
you must know before you embark on
this adventure that is teaching English
overseas.
FIRST, LET’S CONSIDER THE
ISSUE OF QUALIFICATIONS AND
REQUIREMENTS.
There are requirements that are
specific to each country, and natu-
rally, these must be consulted, but
besides these, there are some basic
requirements that apply to all of those
who wish to teach English abroad:
• You must be a native English
speaker.
• You must have a bachelor’s de-
gree in any discipline, not neces-
sarily education.
• You must have TESOL (Teach-
ing English to Speakers of Other
Languages) or TESL (Teaching
English as a Second Language)
certification.
ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG
Previous teaching experience is usu-
ally not a requirement, but it does
come in handy. Having a teaching
degree will also greatly improve your
chances, and the better the degree
the better your chances of getting a
higher paid position. Keep in mind
that there are places where English
teachers are in high demand, and
they may overlook some require-
ments, but most work visas are not
issued without TESOL certification. All
in all, these are the qualifications you
need to look into for each country or
school when you apply for a teaching
position.
There are a number of TESOL certifi-
cation courses, from intensive 4 week
programs, to longer part time courses,
as well as online or distance courses.
Considering the wide variety of cours-
es available, in countless locations,
it’s very easy to find one that will suit
your needs.
Most schools will accept any type of
certification, while there may be oth-
ers that require specific certificates.
In any case, whether it is a require-
ment or not, any TESOL course will
help you prepare and develop teach-
ing skills that will be useful once you
arrive to your foreign location. Also,
many TESOL certification programs
help you find a job teaching English
overseas.
So, the best course of action is to de-
cide where you want to teach English
abroad and then take a look at their
requirements.
THE RISKS OF TEACHING ENGLISH
OVERSEAS
Working conditions and salaries
vary greatly from country to coun-
try, so you may encounter anything
from what may be considered great
pay to sheer exploitation. Keep in
mind that the labor laws you are ac-
customed to in your country may not
exist in a foreign place, or may not be
applicable to foreigners. Fortunately,
there are sites you can go to for con-
sultation, like TEFL School Reviews
or TEFL Blacklist, which list employ-
ers who have ignored contract provi-
sions or provided negative working
conditions.
This is a reality. Most teachers go
overseas, filled with enthusiasm and
bursting with excitement at the thought
of living in an exotic location and get-
ting paid to teach English to a group
of rosy-cheeked grade schoolers. But
there are those who come home af-
ter going through something that was
more akin to a living nightmare than a
rewarding teaching experience.
Some are lured by the sheer exotic-
ness of the location, and jump at the
first job offer they get.
Here are some of the questions
you should ask your employer to
ensure you’ll be signing a good
contract, and not selling your soul
to the devil:
• How many hours am I expected to
teach on a daily or weekly basis?
• How many hours am I expected to
spend at the school?
• Are there mandatory extracurricu-
lar activities, like excursions or
field trips?
• Are teachers monitored, super-
vised, or even observed?
• Which days will I have off?
• What kind of training or orienta-
tion do you provide?
• How many days of sick leave do I
have and are they paid?
• May I have some references from
current teachers? (Request con-
tact information.)
The last point is the most important
and the one that may sway your deci-
sion one way or another. It is abso-
lutely essential that you speak to for-
59
 eigners who are working at the school you are considering. If this simple request is refused, it may give you an indication
that this employer is keeping things from you. Moreover, they may not have been completely honest in answering your
questions, so you must contact teachers who will either confirm the information they’ve supplied or fill you in on
the real story.

Teacher forums are also a wonderful source of school reviews or opinions, great places to read about any problems
teachers may have had with a particular school.

The best you can do is take your time to compare offers.

WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT WHEN YOU TEACH ENGLISH ABROAD?

Expectations vary depending on the country or region: the further away you go, the more difficult it may be for you
to adapt to the culture and setting. So, it stands to reason that teaching English in Europe may be a little easier than
in Asia, namely for cultural reasons.

If you’re lucky enough to secure a teaching position with a good contract, you can expect to have a great time
teaching English overseas. You can expect to be surprised and amazed by the warmth of the students you teach.
You can expect to see and experience things you never imagined before. You can expect to live an experience you’ll
remember and cherish for the rest of your life.

Have you ever done any teaching abroad? What was it like? Please share your experince with us online!

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ESL SURVIVAL SECRETS: PUBLISHED BY BUSYTEACHER.ORG