Free Lesson Worksheets

Here are the four worksheets I created for my 13 year old ESL students. The students completed the work in an hour. The word search is a useful way to have the students return to work mode after a break. The translation exercise allows them to build familiarization between the new words they learnt during the word search with their own language. The third worksheet utilises a drawing exercise to assist students who favour thinking with imagery. The final worksheet has the students use the new vocabulary in correct sentences. To enhance speaking skills I walked around the class and had the students read the words to me as they completed the translation sheet. I also had the students read the sentences on the fourth sheet as a class, and asked some students to read individually. The two most common mistakes were the mispronunciation of "ride" as "rid" and most struggled to pronounce "caught" and "couch" correctly.

To consolidate the lesson I played "word bingo" with the students after they had completed the worksheets. This is such a great game and its fantastic to hear the students calling out the final word they need to win a prize in English.

Observing Other Teachers

     One of the best ways to improve your teaching methodology is to observe other teachers in their classrooms. Whilst you might feel awkward asking a teacher for permission to observe, the reward far outweighs that awkwardness. Recently a casual ESL teacher was sent to our school to replace one of our regular teachers who was suffering from the ill effects of a recent operation. I spoke with him at assembly and discovered that he had been teaching for over ten years. I knew that I had to make a request to observe him as it was an opportunity to learn from such an experienced teacher.

So how do you go about asking permission to observe without putting the teacher under pressure? I just acknowledged his wealth of experience and asked politely if it would be OK to watch him teach a class. I said I had no interest in criticising him and that even if I picked up one technique to improve my teaching then both I and my pupils would be most grateful. So he said OK and at the start of the next lesson I was observing him.

I was so pleased to watch this teacher. I saw the way he used effective warmers to He switch on the minds of his students into speaking English mode. He was warm, funny and positive and soon had the students totally engaged. He proceeded though the lesson radiating confidence and the students were enjoying and contributing to the lesson with great enthusiasm. I noted the way that his confidence gave the students confidence and the students were able to complete the more challenging tasks as the lesson proceeded.

I was able to observe him teach a couple more times before he left our school after four days. I now understand the importance of using just simple warmers to engage the students and get them to speak and understand English before the main body of the lesson begins. His experience with Thai students gave me a greater insight into their psychology and now I enliven my lessons with nursery rhyme recitals and increased use of gesture. He  reinforced the importance of approaching each class with confidence and I now better understand how a confident teacher makes students more confident, ultimately leading to more productive classrooms.

Making Connections with Students

One of the greatest pleasures of teaching occurs when the teacher is able to make meaningful connections with students. Increased motivation is the wonderful outcome that occurs when students connect with teachers.Making a connection with students comes by having a vigilant attitude as you teach and then seizing the opportunity when a student demonstrates an intensity of interest in the subject matter being taught.

I approach the goal of establishing connections with students with a dual strategy. At all times I use every opportunity to impress upon the students that I care for them and that I am trying to make there learning experience as enjoyable as possible. You can never tell when a "connection moment" will occur but by putting in the groundwork of a caring, friendly and positive approach in your pedagogy then you will create a fertile atmosphere to successfully create positive connections.

During last term my course material involved activities that asked students to consider the meanings of words like "ambition", "aspire" and "desire" and the vocabulary was linked to the concept of "a dream job." This topic struck me as being extremely important as a key motivator to get my public school Thai students to gain an appreciation of how the study of English is a key element in making their ambitions a reality. I spent extra time on the topic and whilst the majority of students were unable to give a clear description of their "dream job", I asked the question of each student hoping to plant some seeds of thought concerning their future career ambitions whilst emphasising the importance of English as a bridge that can realise their ambitions.

Advance the time 5 weeks later to today. I went early into my classroom for a Matayom 6 (the final year of public secondary education in Thailand) class which usually has about 40 students to find 6 students waiting even though class did not officially begin for another 15 minutes. Straightaway I engaged them as it was a valuable opportunity to teach them in a small group. I asked them if they remembered our class last term about "ambition" and began asking each of them if the had been thinking about their dream job. I was pleasantly surprised that thy had improved their understanding of the concept regarding ambition. Three of the girls said they were hoping to become nurses, two indicated that they were considering becoming teachers whilst the other student said she would like to work in hospitality. This was a great moment as I could see that they had begun to focus on life after school. As our discussion continued the student who was interested in hospitality described to me how she would like to work on big boats so that she could work and travel at the same time. I explained to her (just as the majority of pupils began to enter the classroom) that the correct term for "big boats" was "cruise ships." She had never heard of this description before and had me repeat it to the group several times before asking me if I though her ambition was a good idea. I emphatically agreed and praised her for having such a great ambition whilst reminding her of the importance of mastering English in order to have a successful career in international hospitality. The other students had entered the classroom by now and I had to get on with the job of teaching the whole class.

When the class ended the student thanked me for the lesson and I happened to notice on the inside of her thumb that she had written the words "cruise ship". I was so pleased to feel that she had discovered a worthy ambition for herself and that I had made a genuine connection with that student who now had an enhanced motivation to study English.

First Day back after the Holidays

I returned to my school for the second term today.
I enjoy teaching and had had enough holiday time so I went to school feeling enthusiastic and pleased to be back in my role of assisting students to improve their conversational English.
After assembly I felt like I was returning to a lovely family. Students were constantly greeting me and speaking to me in both English and Thai. I enjoy walking around the school yards and engaging with students as much as possible and when I could see their smiling faces and see their confidence in approaching me with English then I can't tell you how rewarded I felt for my efforts of the first term.
The teaching vacation is extremely challenging but I really feel that if you are GENUINE in your respect and care for not just your own students but all pupils on campus then you will be viewed positively and can make successful impacts on the learning experiences across a wide spectrum of students.
There are over 2700 pupils in our school at Phutthaisong and I have to declare that the joy I felt on my first day back at school was far greater than any of the pleasantries I experienced on holidays. Working with young people is so refreshing and being involved in education brings so many worthwhile outcomes that are spiritual rather than mercantile.
Buriram Province is situated in one of Thailand's less wealthy areas, the Isaan region. I have taken a lot of time to put myself in the shoes of my students and have come to realize that many of them come from big families and often don't see their parents for long periods as they are away working. That's why I try to give my students as much attention as possible. I have adjusted my teaching persona to provide some sort of fatherly concern for my students. It is tricky to balance the role of teacher and parent together but if you fuel your efforts with compassion then it is possible.
Bring a high energy, super positive attitude to the classroom is a must. The bigger the class and the more the tendency of the students to be off task then the more positive energy and compassion must be brought to the classroom by the teacher. This is especially true if you want to teach in a warm classroom that can sustain learning in a fun atmosphere as opposed to a tough disciplinarian approach that creates a more sterile classroom.
I took three classes today and overall their performance was good. The students having returned from holidays were a bit slow out of the blocks but I was patient and positive and eventually we completed our workbook tasks and had some meaningful English conversation about what they hoped to do next year after school and in identifying their dream jobs.
A useful technique that I employed with success today involved adding a sentence which was associated with their list of vocabulary words for the day. This caught the attention of some students and rather than just repeating the word they were seeing, saying the word in a short phrase or sentence thus assisting the subconscious mind to become more competent with grammar patterns.
So for example we had the word "tiny" with a picture of a small frog in a man's hand. So instead of just repeating the word "tiny" over and over, I wrote some sentences on the board: "He has a small frog", "He had a small frog", "They have a small frog". By having the students repeat the word and then the sentences they are get a sense of how to use tense correctly and when to use 'has' or 'had'. I was able to explain some grammar rules to the more engaged students while the others still had the opportunity to hear and practice saying the word "tiny."
I definitely recommend adding a short sentence or phrase to any word you teach on a vocabulary word list as a way to enhance to enrich the learning advancement of your ESL students.