Essay on Teaching English

Make sure you know which lessons / chapters should be covered in a particular month. In conversation classes, find out which month it is (A,B,C or D) and in Semi-Intensive classes, whether it is East or West month. DO NOT teach lessons which are not assigned for that month.

You may not want to teach every activity / lesson in the book, but do make sure that you have covered all the key points and language objectives. Teach all the units for the month in the correct order, as these lessons are sequenced.

Don’t race through something and move onto the next thing until you are sure that your students have fully understood it, retained it, and are able to use it in everyday language. If it occasionally takes a class two days instead of one to cover a point then so be it. You have a couple of review / catch-up days at the end of the session.

It contains vital information and material to photocopy. Many activities cannot be done without the material in the teachers’ guide. All the instructions, answers and tape scripts are in the teachers’ guide.

Many students are weak in listening and need the practice that the tapes provide. In conversation classes, the tapes that accompany the books are often the only practice that the students get; make sure you devote enough time to them.

Don’t worry if a lesson doesn’t fit exactly into a time period. Some classes have less to say on a topic, others have a lot. Conversation lessons, particularly at the higher levels, will vary in the amount of time needed to complete them. Some lessons may even go for two days. Always have a back-up activity in case there is a little time at the end.

Feel free to use your own activities to add to or supplement the activities in the books. Usually a class will need extra practice on something. Don’t ignore the other books in the school library; there are a lot of good materials there. The YBM books are designed to be culture-specific, however the other books in the library also carry a lot of appropriate material.

These are invaluable in helping you decide which students should be promoted to the next level and which should repeat the current level. Don’t hesitate to have a student repeat a level if he or she cannot manage the review lessons.