Mojang Jajaka Jawa Barat 2012

I had the opportunity to be one of the judges for the MOKA 2012 competition. I found it quite amazing how rich the Sundanese culture is and how proud the representatives of each city and district within West Java were. When Ms. Ida contacted me and invited me to join this event as a mentor and judge, I was so excited as to be part of such an extraordinary occasion. The only thing was that my name was spelled wrong in the newspapers. Instead of putting Ryan Anthony Abraham, they put Ryan Anton Ambraham. I happened to be the only judge that had his name spelled incorrectly, so you can imagine how I felt upon discovering such a terrible thing. I hope I will have another opportunity to be a judge in the future.

Digging Deep for the Teacher Within

We all have those classes that we would rather not have. You know the one I'm talking about. That class with zero personality. I have had quite a few of those actually. I remember wishing that a tsunami or tornado would hit, or even an alien aircraft would come and vaporize everyone. I would pray for anything to cancel the class or at least postpone it. I know you are thinking, oh come on, it couldn't have been that bad. Well I am telling you that it was worse. How can one cope with such classes? How can an ESL teacher survive? When all hope is gone and hangman just doesn't quite cut it anymore...

Remember why you are there

Sometimes we as ESL teachers have to remind ourselves why we wake up each day and put on our good shoes. Sometimes we have to remember the first time our lesson fell into place and everything just clicked. Sometimes we have to dig deep down and search for the teacher within. Remind yourself that you are not responsible for only making entertaining lessons, but for making meaningful and educational lessons as well. I know some teachers that only survive by making their students laugh, but when those teachers get home, they ask themselves "what in the world did I just teach". If you remember that you are there in front of that class to teach English and not to be a clown, you will do just fine!

Plan for the worst and then plan for worse

You know that saying, there's no such thing as a bad plan. Well I disagree. You know when we plan not to plan because we are just that great. That's a bad plan! Never underestimate the power of a well-thought out lesson. It can save you a million times over. It is very easy and quite simple to deviate from a plan if something doesn't go your way, but how do you deviate from a "no plan"? It simply just makes the class or lesson even worse. I normally try to anticipate any and everything that might come up during a class. Sometimes, the best student in the class is absent and you are just left with the unmotivated and untalented individuals. You should plan for that.

Just because they like you doesn't mean they like your class

We all want to be liked and loved by our students. I can't imagine anyone who would want to be hated. Right? It is easy to fall into the cycle of planning lessons and condoning certain undesirable behavior in order to be liked by our students. It is ever so tempting, because we all remember how much fun we had when we were in school and being taught by that teacher who just let us do whatever we wanted. But if we asked ourselves what did we learn from that teacher, the answer would be hard to find. Just remember that students will laugh in your class and smile every time they see you, and then when the student questionnaire gets passed around, they will trash you behind your back. They like you, but they just don't like being taught by you.

Back to zero personality

So, if you have to face that class with no personality, you should consider the following. Are your lessons balanced? Do you spend enough time explaining activities and giving directions? Do your lessons accommodate a wide range of learning styles? Are your lessons both teacher and student led. Are your lessons communicative and interactive? Do you remember to smile? Do you in fact have a personality yourself? Do you know what you are talking about? How much time do you spend planning lessons? Do you teach exactly from the textbook? Would you want to be taught by you?

5 steps on how to handle a large esl class

Group Task at Unpad

As an esl teacher myself, it has been my experience that some teachers get quite nervous when dealing with a large number of students. If one does not know how to effectively convey instuctions and stay calm, a group of 50 esl students can be a nightmare.

Step 1 – Assert yourself and let them know you are there

The first thing you should do when facing a large esl class is simply say in a very clear and assertive voice the appropriate greeting for the time of day such as good morning. Then ask the students how they are doing in order to get them to focus on what you are saying and quiet down. Now you have established your presence.

Step 2- Put the students into small groups of about 4-5

This really works wonders because the teacher can effectively increase the student teacher ratio whenever he/she works with any group in particular. At first, maybe the ratio was 1 to 50, but now when you meet each group of students, the ratio is 1 to 5 at least.

Step 3- Never stand still during group activities

In order to keep the class as a whole under control, it is important that the students feel monitored and not just left to do as they please. The more you interact with each group, the better the students feel. The students will feel like you pay more attention to them as individuals and not just a large class.

Step 4 – Assign jobs within the groups

I usually give students in the group a specific job or responsibility such as timekeeper, recorder, captain, helper, etc. This normally makes the students feel like they are in charge of something thus improving their behaviour , confidence, and focus. Of course the teacher is the monitor.

Step 5- Have fun

Remember that the students look to you as the teacher to set the pace and mood of the class or lesson. So try to stay positive, smile, and have fun while you teach. The students should have fun and be interested if the teacher does as well.