12 Tips For VES Teachers

1) Well prepared material with a clear theme (“Today’s class is about…”)

2) The lesson is planned as a ‘stand alone’, but also has a sense of progression / freshness for regular students

3) Teaching begins on time with a warm welcome to the class.

4) A way of recording / displaying names so that everybody can see each others names.

5) Some review / repetition of previous material as necessary, but not too much.

6) A variety of activities through the class - these can include - teacher presentation; eliciting answers from students; flashcards; worksheets; small group work; pair work; individual tasks; games; role-play; drilling; freer conversation; listening/watching materials etc… 25 minutes is probably the upper limit for one single activity, so there should be at least 4 different activities in one 90 minute class.

7) Limit TTT - (teacher talking time)! It’s a mistake to explain something with more complicated words and grammar than that which you are explaining! Keep it simple - miming, simple synonyms, and eliciting are your allies!!

8) A drawing in of all students as much as possible.

9) Make use of teaching assistants as much as possible - as ‘model’ students; as coaches for the weaker students; as small ‘breakout’ group leaders.

10) Encourage laughter / light heartedness through the lesson

11) A very healthy dose of encouragement (“Keep going… you are doing so well”)

12) Finished on time with encouragement to continue revising and practicing, and an invitation to the next class.

See a wider view of a good class here - https://croydonvineyard.org.uk/vesteam/what-a-good-ves-class-looks-and-feels-like