Teach English in Bǎijing Zhen - Yangquan Shi

At this essay I will look at the most common problem situations that teachers can encounter in the classroom. I will list suggested ways of dealing with them based on ITTT courses materials. In each new teaching position a teacher will be faced with meeting a number of new classes for the first time. These classes are vital for the teacher to establish rapport with the students and set the tone for the rest of the course. When faced with a first lesson the experienced teacher will try to use activities that will achieve the following: - Establish rapport between the students. - Find out about the students. This will allow the teacher to be able to plan future lessons to cater to the students' interest. - Find out with students' needs/ aspirations with English. This enables the teacher to tailor the course to meet the needs of the class. - Find out the English level of each individual class member. One of the biggest problem that teachers face is a group where the students are at varying levels. If the school has a competent entrance level testing procedure, the chances of this happening will be reduced but not prevented totally. Some student learn more quickly then others and in classes that started at the same level, gaps can start to appear. There number of ways that the teacher can deal with that: - Use different materials. - Same material. different tasks. Large classes can present the teacher with the number of problems from trying to involve all pupils equally to classroom control. Despite such problems the teacher can employ a number of techniques to create successful classes: - Use worksheets. - Pair/ group work. - Clarity. Voice is audible and board work is visible to the whole class. - Choral repetition. - Appoint group leaders. Use them to make classroom management easier. - Dynamics. Large classes are often more dynamic and dramatic. The use of the students' native tongue can be problematic in monolingual classes. There are a number of things that a teacher can do in such a situation: - Make sure that activities you use are at an appropriate level and that the students have the necessary language to cope. - Make sure your explanations are clear to all class members. They then shouldn't need to clarify or explain to each other in their native language. - Encourage the use of English where appropriate. - Only respond to English. - Constantly remind the students to get them used to using English in the classroom. At some time or another most teachers will come across students who don't seem to want to talk or participate in class. For some it maybe cultural, for others intimidation or confidence issues. Following are some useful ideas: - Use plenty of pair work. - Use controlled practice. - Use role-play. - Use a tape recorder. Difficulties with listening texts seem to be a problem that is common to students of nearly every nationalities. As a result many teachers then avoid using audio materials. This is not acceptable and the teacher should work with the students to help improve their listening skills. Being good certified teachers, we should be ready to face some difficulties or problems at work. Most of the problems supposed to be the same for different teachers, so we have to get more information related to troubleshooting of exact situations from ITTT course material and other teachers online through communities or on-site through staying in touch with co-workers at the same school. They are saying, each problem has two solutions as minimum. I consider it is true. If we are ready to go seek and get solutions, we will definitely succeed.