Table of Contents

The Idea

The Teachers

The Tips

The Thanks

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The Idea
Different teachers, different tips. That's it!
Whether you are new to teaching English, just interested in it or have a
couple of years under your belt, this book will be of interest.
It features a diverse group of teachers who all share tips based on their
years of experience. They are in alphabetical order.
The book was an experiment in ELT publication crowdsourcing to see
how quickly and easily an ebook could be put together. It took about 4
days from start to finish.
We hope you enjoy it!
-Phil

The Teachers
Phil Wade
An educator interested in different ways of teaching and learning who
specialises in Business English.
Laura Adele Soracco
Teacher of EAP. Interested in the use of digital technologies in learning
and corpus-based tools.
Barry Jameson
A teacher with 7 years experience of both general and business English,
currently working in Shanghai.
Noreen Lam
Teacher constantly scouring for new ideas to try out. Interested in getting
into materials and article writing,
Michael Griffin
Teacher and teacher trainer interested in curriculum development and
reflective practice and things beyond best practices.
David Petrie
A teacher and teacher trainer for over 12 years, I spend a lot of time
thinking about language teaching!

CopyrightCROWDSOURCEDTEFLPUBLICATIONS2014
First Published using Papyrus, 2014

The Tips
Avoid burnout
The job can be at times stressful and unrewarding. Take time away if
necessary. Take a hiatus from social networks and return refreshed. Talk
to your colleagues. Help prevent stress before it becomes overwhelming.
Change your environment. Burned out teaching young learners? Try
teaching adults or teaching online. - Barry
Be bold
Just because you are a new teacher or one with little experience doesnt
mean you have nothing to offer! Get connected, ask around, and dont be
afraid to write articles, start a blog, create materials and share your ideas
with the rest of the TEFL community! - Noreen
Be realistic
You wont make millions in TEFL. Contract jobs are not always the norm
and the hourly rate isnt great. My CELTA tutors all advised us to go
abroad to get proper jobs and experience as competition in the UK is
tough. Positions in Asia or UAE can be lucrative and you dont always
need much apart from a degree or MA. Back home though, you might
need a lot more just to get a basic salary. If money and job security are
what you are after, really investigate the industry. - Phil
Be yourself
You are NOT only an English teacher. If you are an aspiring guitarist, an
amateur comedian or a cooking fiend, then incorporate that into your
classes and show your students your passions! They will be delighted to
hear about the real you and probably share some of the same hobbies.
You may get some great outside-the-box lessons this way!
- Noreen
Build instant rapport
You may not always have the luxury of working with the same students
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for an extended period. This means you have to make a connection

almost instantly. The easiest way is to be polite and prepared. If students
can see from the beginning of the lesson that you are obviously
professional, they will respect you. After you speak to them in a friendly
open manner, they will realise that you are on their side. If students
realise you are on their side, they will open up more easily and increase
the chance of a productive lesson. - Barry
Check out private lessons
Be very careful about private lessons. When people approach you and
ask about privates, check that it is ethically and legally OK. For instance, if
you are at a school, ask the DOS if they agree to it. Also look into any
status you need to be on the right side of the law and tax. - Phil
Check your cancellation policy
It is common to have and enforce a 24 hour cancellation fee in schools
and for private clients. Include it in your contract if you make one. If not,
students might not turn up or just pull out before the class. You will have
wasted preparation time, have waited for them and been unable to book
anything else for that slot. If you let this happen a few times, people may
start to think it is OK. Having a 24 hour rule makes you look more
professional. - Phil
Dont get stuck in a rut
Dont be afraid to tweak and change that reliable old lesson. Update it. If
it worked quite well last week, can you change it to make it even better
next time? Its a good feeling to go in knowing your lesson and tasks to
the letter, but that can soon become boring. If you are bored, your
students probably are as well. Keep your teaching fresh. - Barry
Dont stick religiously to books
You dont have to follow everything in the books. Yes, they develop and
skipping parts can become an issue but be a bit creative and try to mix
things up just a bit every week. Pushing yourself out of your safety zone
can really help you expand your abilities. You could begin by doing new
activities, using different materials or taking on a new course or client. Be
careful though! Dont run before you can walk. - Phil
Embrace mixed ability classes
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Mixed ability classes are quite common in some countries. While

language schools can level and group students quite precisely, others
cannot and you could have A1-C2 sat together. So, start thinking about
differentiation and how you can make a lesson appeal to everyone.
- Phil
Find out the goals of the class
If you dont know what your students really want to achieve, you cant
help them achieve it. If they dont know themselves, if they express a sort
of purposeless general sort of 'to improve my English' refuse to accept
it! Force them to think about and to articulate exactly what they want to
learn and why they want to learn it. If they cant articulate it in English, let
them do it in their L1 and translate it (or ask someone to help you). Do a
thorough needs analysis and a diagnostic test and use that information
to help you plan to meet those needs. - David
Get support
Join a local association and sign up for events to build a network of other
teachers who you can share with and build a supportive network. If there
isnt one, Think about starting one online or with people you know.
Otherwise, join online groups on LinkedIn. This helps your development
and gives you support after bad lessons or events. - Phil
Get some reference books
There are lots of great ideas presented in teaching books like the
Cambridge Handbooks for Language Teachers series. Browse through
some of the titles that might be relevant to your teaching context.
Lessons there can be adapted to classes without a main textbook.
- Laura
Help them get better
Remember that the goal of your class is for your learners to get better at
something. So think about where you want your learners to be at the end
of the class, and work backwards from there.
- David
Insist on contracts
No matter what job, hours, students, work etc you are offered, it doesnt
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mean anything without a contract. Ask for one, check it, sign it and copy
it. People change their minds, pull out and cancel all the time. If you are
promised X weekly hours, no contract means you could end up with
none. - Phil
Join a SIG
If you are a member of TESOL, you can join their Interest Sections (IS),
e.g., CALLIS, ESPIS, etc. IATEFL calls them SIGs, e.g., BESIG. Many of them
have newsletters, workshops, and blogs with teaching ideas that could be
relevant to your teaching situation or interest. Better yet, by joining the
email list (adjust settings for frequency) you can have access to a
network of teachers that can help you answer questions or offer
suggestions on issues for which you cannot get answers easily anywhere
else online. - Laura
Learn about language exams
Get to know your language exams: CAE, CPE, IELTS, FCE, PTE, TOEFL iBT,
TOEIC, and many, many, many more! You probably wont need to know
about all of them as different exams are popular in different contexts,
but you will need to know about some! You can download free
handbooks and materials for most of these exams and knowing about
the language level required for these exams, what they test and how they
test them, will stand you in good stead and make sure you know how
best to help your learners when they ask you about them.
- David
Learn about student feedback
Students are customers in the private industry so their feedback is how
you will be assessed. Good responses are fine but bad ones could lose
your job. So, find the right balance of education and enjoyment. Keep
customer satisfaction up. I know many great teachers who focussed too
much on tests and teaching and were never rehired. They were replaced
by young kids who did games. - Phil
Learn acronyms
In the EFL world there are many acronyms, and coming to grips with a
few will help you navigate your way around better. Are you a NQT just
finished a CELTA? Do you know about resources such as ELTchat, TESOL
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and IATEFL? Do you understand the difference between TEFL, ESL EAL and
TESOL? Heard of TTT and STT? How about the BULATS, BEC, IELTS, TOEIC,
TOEFL, FCE and CPE? All these are essential to talk the talk in the
staffroom so start swatting up ASAP! - Noreen
Listen to your students
After you have asked a question, it is only polite to actually listen. Make
eye contact, smile, ask follow up questions. For example, if someone
says they have had a stressful day, its probably better not to respond
with "Oh. Okay, everyone turn to page 15". - Barry
Look at the supplementary resources
Get to know the back of all the teachers books you can find. They often
have excellent additional communicative activities which you can use to
give your lessons a bit more of a zing and to add a useful production
task. Regardless of what book youre actually meant to be using. - David
Manage expectations
These sometimes need to be managed; from the parent who wants to
know why their six-year-old cant negotiate a car rental agreement on
holiday, to the elementary student who needs an IELTS score of 6.5 in the
test they are taking next week to you yourself as you vainly wonder why
the class dont seem to be getting the hang of the present perfect after
the third lesson in a row. Remember to keep things firmly grounded in a
sense of what is realistic to expect and what you can achieve. - David
Never stop learning
Join Professional Development courses. Listen to colleagues. Share
ideas. Even if you have been teaching for two years or twenty, you can
always learn something new. - Barry
Plan your career
Plan out where you want to be in 5/10 years and how you will get there.
Many of us get stuck in one job. This is fine if you like it but you could do
so much more. Look into professional development opportunities,
further courses, promotions and which posts you could apply to in your
school. If you're not at a school, think wider. Maybe you could become
an examiner, a writer or a course manager. - Phil
Put yourself in their shoes
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If you are working in a foreign country, make an effort to learn the

language! It may seem obvious but many teachers get caught up in their
'English-world' and dont have time, energy or interest in learning the
language where they are working. You are missing out on a lot about the
culture, and it can help you really understand your students mistakes!
Plus, you can whinge about the difficulties of conjugating verbs,
memorizing how to write odd symbols/characters and other challenges
of your students L1. They may even sympathize with you and you will be
better able to relate to their gripes about language studies! - Noreen
Set up a blog
Its easy to set up and provides a really great opportunity for you to
engage in some reflective practice and to share your ideas. Plus, writing
for an audience really makes you think about how you are going to
communicate your ideas effectively, which also really helps you clarify
your thinking. - David
Show proof
Try to help students see that they are improving. That is why they are
taking your class, right? Dont be afraid to repeat tasks or assessments
and help students see that they are improving and can do things they
couldnt at the start of class. Recordings can also be a nice option for
collecting and sharing this sort of proof. - Mike
Start connecting
Connect with fellow teachers. Join Twitter, follow blogs, take part in
online discussion on facebook. Ive learned more from Facebook and
Twitter contacts than I have from books. Teaching is dynamic and ever
changing. - Barry
Stop killing trees
More photocopies of worksheets and verb charts doesnt necessarily
mean you are better prepared for class, or are going to have a better
lesson. Relax, allow conversation to develop and go in with a strong idea
that you can work from and improvise a bit. Students will naturally come
up with questions and if you leave time to address these then they will
feel like you are really dealing with their concerns, rather than rush
through the pages you had planned to do! - Noreen
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Tinker
Sometimes teachers are faced with teaching 'the same' lesson to
different groups. Ensure that the lessons are not the same. Seize this
opportunity and make some changes. Maybe, start with the final activity
and end with the warmer. Use different ways of introducing language.
See what happens. Find out what you feel comfortable with and what
works with your students. - Mike
Try honest teaching
You may be tired, you may be bored. Even if you dont feel like teaching,
you have made a commitment to the students. This does not mean every
class will be a success. Sometimes lessons just dont go well. Dont beat
yourself up about it. Students generally appreciate teachers who are
honest in their efforts and give 100%. - Barry

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The Thanks
I would like to thank everyone who participated in this project for
pitching in and sharing valuable tips for with other teachers.
Special thanks to Noreen for the quick proofing.
I pitched this book to one friend as "imagine you are speaking to yourself
at the beginning of your career, what tips would you give yourself". I
think it worked because there are some great ones here.
This book is proof that we all have the same problems and issues and
that sharing and swapping ideas is very helpful.
If you have some tips to share, why not set up your own blog and share
them.
-Phil

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