Creating a top ten list for new teachers

Submitted by Kathy Tracey on Thu, 09/17/2020 - 20:53
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Colleagues, 

If you had to share one tip for a new AEL teacher, what woul it be? What do you wish you would have known when you began teaching? 

Please consider sharing at least one tip for the new teacher. Once our list is completed, I will summarize the tips and create a resource for new teachers. 

Thanks for sharing your ideas! 

Kathy Tracey

Comments

Thanks for the question, Kathy. I'll offer three.

  • Teach thematically
    • It's important to contextualize skills instruction around a topic or theme.
  • Integrate routines into instruction
    • Building meaningful routines into instruction saves the teacher lots of time.
  • Reflect on what happens after each class.
    • What worked well? Plan to do more of that. What didn't work so well? What can you do to revise the plan to make it work better.
      • I've learned that I actually learn the most when things don't work well and then take time to think carefully about how to adjust the plan and try again. Sometimes this cycle gets repeated over and over until I get the plan working well.

I'm looking forward to seeing member contributions to this list!

Susan Finn Miller

Moderator, English Language Acquisition and Teaching & Learning CoP