Helpful Hints

Teaching English overseas provides a unique opportunity to live and travel abroad while getting paid to do so. It can be a very rewarding experience but it is important to be ready for the experience. TEFL International‘s TESOL Certificate Course provides an excellent foundation for learning how to teach English abroad while opening the door to TEFL Jobs around the world.

Here are some helpful hints to consider as you embark on your opportunity to teach English overseas.

1. Always be on time for your TEFL job. Better still, make sure you arrive in the classroom well before the students arrive.
2. Establish an entry routine: calm and orderly. This will ensure that you TEFL lesson gets off to a good start.
3. Make sure you get the students into the TEFL classroom as soon as possible.
4. Establish a routine to start the lesson and stick with it: welcome, register, game, etc
5. Establish a seating plan and consider seat changes (rows, tables). Remember, students like sitting by their friends!
6. Make sure you have everything you need for your TEFL lesson: chalk, mark book, exercise books, paper, pens and worksheets
7. Never leave the TEFL classroom “to get and get something from the office.”
8. Test all electrical equipment before the lesson starts. It doesn’t matter how good your OHT’s are if the projector doesn’t work.
9. Preparation is vital – without it TEFL lesson plans will be a disaster and you will be failing to give the students in your care the education that they require and deserve.
10. Clear and precise instructions are vital, without them lessons will fail to get underway. Can everybody see the words on the blackboard/worksheet? Can the partially deaf student at the back of the class hear you?
11. “Teacher, I’ve forgotten my book!” or “I haven’t any markers!” Be prepared for all eventualities. Respond quickly and decisively.
12. Know your TEFL students names. If you can’t remember, make a seating plan.
13. Make sure you are aware of any medical conditions form which your student may suffer.
14. What activities should you do during the teaching English lesson? Remember the key elements: timing, pace, and variation.
15. Get the students involved in your TEFL lesson! Remember, it is just as much their lesson as it is yours!
16. Praise “positive” behavior and don’t be tempted to pounce on “negative” behavior.
17. Make sure you have a teaching English classroom discipline plan and teach it: rules, rewards, and consequences.
18. The weather has a considerable effect on the students’ behavior and motivation. Consequently, lessons may have to change as a result of the weather.
19. The time of day may also have an effect on the students’ behavior and motivation. Just before lunch, hunger may start to set in.
20. Be fully aware of the strengths and the limitation of the students’ in your care. There will be problems, if the work is either too easy or too difficult.
21. Be informed about possible “planned” visits to your classroom in advance: inspections, Head Teacher, etc
22. Carry out a risk assessment: leads, electrical equipment, etc.
23. Ensure an orderly, clean exit from your TEFL classroom. Remember this is the last thing the students will remember about your English lesson.
24. Ensure lessons start on time and end on time. Over-running will only have a knock-on effect on other lessons.
25. Create colorful and stimulation learning atmosphere for your students with a variety of foreign language material, posters, wall charts, maps, flags, etc.

Perhaps the most important hint of all is to enjoy yourself while you are Teaching English Abroad. This will bring an energy to your TEFL classroom that will encourage a much better learning environment for all.