New Job! Help Please!!!

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Palmtrees
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Joined: 15 Nov 2013, 16:57
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New Job! Help Please!!!

Unread post by Palmtrees »

Hello,
I've just been contacted by an small English school I dropped my CV off at weeks ago, and they've asked when I can start!!

The job will be teaching adults, where as I have mostly experience teaching children, but I'm up for it, just needing some ideas and any advice you guys have :)

Not sure what the class sizes are like yet.
Are there any things I need to be thinking about especially?

Thanks
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Joe
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Re: New Job! Help Please!!!

Unread post by Joe »

Hi Palmtrees: can you give a few more details - it will help people answer you. For example, what country are you in? If you don't know class sizes yet, you may not know levels, but these are things you really do need to know to allow you to prepare. You also want to know age ranges, why they're studying, is it Business English or conversation, is there a course book or not etc. If they are stuying Business English and their English is up to it you'll often find that you can let them spend the initial lesson telling you about what they do, how their business works etc, while you figure out their needs and lesson planning for the future.
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MartinHejhal
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Re: New Job! Help Please!!!

Unread post by MartinHejhal »

Yep, all the info Josef asked for is really necesssary. However, some general recommendations for teaching adults:
- do a proper needs analysis first. Why do they want to study? Where are they going to use their English? What is their learning style - they would only know if they have studied a foreign language before? How much do they already know?
- teach them only what they need. If you add things they will not consider necessary, they will be on you in a second.
- state clear goals for each session/month/semester and long-term. Explain why you teach each item so they see how it relates to their goals
- use their knowledge and experience as much as possible. Ask them about their opinions, let them discuss things, show them real life examples, use their authentic materials. Never patronize them, it does NOT work. Respect them.
- let them make choices about what you should do and when. Less with beginners, a lot more with more advanced ones. If they have a say in the content of the lessons, they share the responsibility with you and will let you guide the way
Good luck,
Martin @ LiveTEFL/SPEVACEK Languages
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Susan
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Re: New Job! Help Please!!!

Unread post by Susan »

I'll add a comment on the bullet point above

"teach them only what they need. If you add things they will not consider necessary, they will be on you in a second".

I'd just say that students do sometimes need to learn things that they don't consider necessary. It helps if you explain why you are doing things
TomJones
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Joined: 14 Jan 2014, 10:49
Status: Trainee Teacher

Re: New Job! Help Please!!!

Unread post by TomJones »

Generally it is much easier to teach adults because they are more conscious than children. Good luck!
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becki
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Re: New Job! Help Please!!!

Unread post by becki »

I agree with doing a needs analysis. Unlike teaching children, you can ask adults what they need to study. Prepare a list of questions in advance and give them plenty of time to think about their answers. It's best if they do it individually first, because they might just agree with whatever the first person says. After they have written their answers, then you can open it up for discussion.

Sample questions:
Why are you taking this class?
What would you like to study?
What topics are you interested in?
Would you like homework? What kind?
What do you want to do in class?
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