Wednesday, 30 July 2008

BEING PRACTICAL

I think, there has been too much of talking on my philosophy. Now let’s head towards the practical ways. So how do you plan to upgrade yourself?

Here are a few tips to empower yourself and enrich your classrooms with variety. Try them out and share your ideas too..

  1. Stay tuned to your T.V channels

Any Programme/song/film in English can be used in the class to teach vocabulary, grammar, conversations, writing etc. Integrate it with your lessons, have debates or discussions on the topics, hold competitions based on it, makes students write reviews and anything that you can think of. Visuals can generate more interest in most of the students.


  1. Go Googling

Spend a couple of hours once in a while (at least weekly) to find out what other teachers round the world are doing in their classes. There are quite a large number of websites that share different teacher experiences and classroom activities. (You can see links to some of those sites in the side bar of this page)

  1. Bond with YOUTUBE

Perhaps, youtube is the best companion for a teacher, if used sensibly. Search for almost any kind of video on www.youtube.com (or www.teachertube.com). Surf it, download it and show it.

  1. Try out Power Point Presentations-

You don’t need to have expertise in computers to do this. Microsoft Office provides enough support and guidance on your computer to create your own Power Point Presentations. Be it grammar or literature, you can try making presentations to make your ideas more specific and precise (and colorful too)

  1. The all-time favorites – Charts and Pens –

We have almost stopped using charts and pens in our classrooms. Remember, how enthusiastically they were welcomed in our practice classes during our training programme. They are always available and give fresh color to the classes.

  1. Believe in your OWN creativity –

Nothing is as worth as things that come out of your own brain. It’s always you and your students. So design and plan every class for them. Create your own ice-breakers, activities, tasks and evaluation techniques. Do make references, when required. Ultimately, it’s YOUR world..

The above tips are too generally listed, I know. I’ll try to detail upon each aspect in detail in the coming posts. Till then, take care. Bye.