First lessons are to allow students to experience a lesson with us first hand. They should be energising and motivational. Students should feel satisfied that they have learned something, and inspired to learn more. Our lesson records are to tell them what they have learned, and the assessment is the map they need to navigate on their journey ahead.
The actual trial lesson page is the bare-bones of what you should be doing. It's really just a prompt. The yellow bits on the lesson page are just for us. The student cannot see them.
This is a fuller document of the all the wisdom. Avail yourself of it.
The lesson plan below is too detailed for you to use in the class. Please use the actual lesson page and the prompts there.
You'll also notice that it is timed out for 20 minutes. This is to give you an extra five minutes of leeway if you need it.
First lesson basics
Before we get into the flow of the lesson, there is some basic preparation you need to do for your trial lesson, and some concepts and strategies you should be familiar with.
Preparation
- Have the student's profile open. Also have a new lesson record and assessment ready to fill in as you pick up information.
- If you don't know what textbooks we have, make sure the course page is open too, and then you can drill down to find the book the person needs. You must save a recommended textbook to their profile during the trial class.
- You'll need to add some information to the student's profile. Make sure you know how to do this. Help on student profiles
- Make sure that they know how to see the chat messages in Skype. Explain that Skype chat is like the blackboard, and you will write notes for them in the class. Also assure them that we will send them a record after the lesson with all the words and phrases that they learn.
- Defer any questions about the system if you can. Answer them briefly if you need to, but don't get distracted from the task at hand. Make a note of the question and email support@theenglishfarm with the student's question, and we can answer it for them ("I'll ask our support person to help you by email. Let's continue with the lesson now."). You can also leave the answer in the lesson record at the end of the class ("I can answer that for you after class in the lesson record. Let's continue with the lesson now.").
Administrative stuff
You have to get these things done in and after the class:
- Fill out the student's profile and so get the right information to do that — if you miss something, send them an IM on Skype afterwards, or use the contact link on their profile. The goal is, over the course of the first and subsequent lessons, to get a clear picture of the student's needs and aims so that all teachers are able to teach the student equally well.
- Choose a book that focusses on thier immediate needs, and update their profile (important!) to show this.
- Put in a textbook order. Once it decided which book the student will work with, you will have to order the book for the student.
- Complete an assessment, with a study plan and concrete advice on how to learn and improve.
- Write an awesome lesson record, which should make use of all the aspects of the lesson record: videos, images, recordings, annotations, lots of vocab/phrases etc. and an insightful comment (but don't write too much!). Learn more about how to write good lesson records.
Winning strategies
We want to get prospective students taking classes with us, if we are the right fit for them. Here are some principles for you to remember to increase the chances of success:
- Be friendly and smile. Put your student at ease.
- Focus not on taking lessons or having bettter English (intangible), but instead try to figure out what English will enable them to do or how English will improve their life. Always come back to that fact. Learning English is a means to an end. It is a tool, not an objective in itself. Having better English is in fact the solution to the problem. Understand what those problems are is the key to helping your student.
- Make the practices a little too easy so the student feels like they got it, then make the role-play a little too difficult so the student wants to study more. This is the same principle as an addictive game on your phone: easy rules, challenging to actually do.
- Do the role play! We don’t often do these in a regular lesson, but here they work well, for real.
- Come back to their goals and how they are using English now (or want to in the future). Make it applicable. If you do this right at the start, the goals should be firm and specific. If they have one narrow goal, see if you can figure out what's behind that (more on this below).
- Use the hook you developed at the start in the lesson or closing.
- Pick a lesson that increases motivation. That really depends on their situation. There are lots of options. Check the sample lessons for each book. Pick something and tell them the book it is from, and the page number ("Let's try this lesson about negotiation. It's page 56 of the intermediate business book.") They will have a lesson to look forward to in the book. Make it positive/ fun and related to their goals. Then start them from lesson 1 of the text they choose in their first regular lesson.
- Make sure you communicate passion and care. This will come across in the lesson. Play up the fact that you are a teacher, and you want them to learn quickly and effectively.
- Get the student thinking aspirationally and long-term, and ensure them that you will be there for the duration. It really helps, in combination with a passionate and caring disposition.
- Emphasise that we will always help them to speak politely and professionally. Timing is important. What works (especially if I do this just after they have said to me something like "What?!") is to say, "It's much better to say, 'Excuse me?', or 'I'm sorry, I didn't catch that.' in English [Type these into Skype]. 'What?!' is not polite. I don't mind. I understand your situation, but we want you to speak politely and professionally at all times. We won't let you develop bad habits, because if you said 'What?!' to your client or your boss or your wife's mother, they might not be very happy! You could make a bad impression. We'll always help you to speak polite and professional English."
The lesson
The lesson is in four main parts:
- introduction;
- warm-up;
- language; and
- practice.
This should be the structure of all your lessons, generally, and it is the structure of our conversation lessons.
Introduction
(2 to 3 minutes)
Welcome your student, and introduce yourself. Check that Skype is OK, and maybe ask if they have used it much before. Throughout, you should be energising (not tiring). Some people will be taking classes in the office (that's why they are doing it online after all)—it's downtime from the stress of the day for them. Start with that in mind.
Set the scene:
- What are your goals?
- How do you use English now?
- How do you want to use English in the future?
- What better English will enable you to do?
Remember these four things: profile; textbook; assessment; and lesson record.
Key questions
Start by telling them you need a little information from them. Walk your student quickly through these 4 questions to set the scene (if you can pick up any of these things from their profile, confirm it and move on):
- What are your goals? These have got to be SMART: specific, measurable, acheiveable, relevant and timebound. Pin them down. Give them examples if you need to. If they have a goal in their profile, double check it. If their goal is not SMART, make it SMART. For example, "This is a good goal, but I think you need to make it measurable/give it a deadline/make it more achievable" etc. See digging for goals if you need a strategem for eliciting goals from a student.
- How do you use English now? We have to focus on getting them capable as soon as possible, so this is essential. Make sure you tell them that directly in the class.
- How do you want to use English in the future? Give them something to aspire to and focus on for the medium- to long-term. We need to mix short-term, attainable goals with longer-term thinking so people are more realistic about what they can achieve and how long it will take to get there.
- What better English will enable you to do? This is the crux of it. Ask the student directly. Try to drill down to the heart of it. For example, if they tell you, "Then I can work on international projects" or "I'll be able to get a promotion", push them. These are solutions to other problems. What will international projects or promotions enable you to do? Get more money? Do more interesting work? Move country? The true motivations for learning a language can be two or three steps removed. Find it out, and get it down in their profiles so that you can keep coming back to it in future classes.
Warm-up
(2 minutes)
Build rapport and establish a hook that the you have with the client, and the client has with you. Come back to this point later in the lesson.
A hook is one piece of information that will draw you into conversation. Do you both like action movies? Onsen? Great. You should be able to find something in their profile.
With some people, you may not have anything in common so just try to ask as many “yes” questions as possible. "Were you busy today?" "Are you going to relax on the weekend?" That kind of thing. Get them to tell you more. Ask some open follow up questions, but keep it easy.
A good way to kick off is with a short anecdote, then ask them a question:
I just started playing tennis, and it was lots of fun, but now the muscle on my arm is really sore! I can't shake hands with anyone today! Ha ha. Anyway, how about you? Do you play sports?
You can correct in the warm up, gently, but be wary as this can backfire (some people might shut down). Try not to teach anything new or get too deep into feedback on their English. Save it for the end, or even write a note about it in their lesson record and teach them a bonus point.
Some people prefer to draw a line in the sand, and give no correction until the language part/the sample lesson. You can say at the commencement of the lesson proper "Let's start the lesson!" or something to delineate that the serious business of learning has begun.
You should meanwhile be plotting which lesson you will use for the trial based on what you know by this stage of their profile, needs and level.
Language point
At this point, you should have a good idea of what the student needs. Choose a book and then select a sample lesson you think best suits the student. Trial lessons are available to us and the students under the course menu. You'll find a couple of trial lessons for each book. Send the student a link to the trial lesson through Skype.
If you want to do something different from another part of the book, you can take a screenshot and send that to them through Skype was well.
Make sure they have opened it and can see it OK.
Teach
Teach the chosen lesson as normal:
- teach the differences between the phrases;
- give the student some useful example sentences; and
- get some situations from the student and apply the phrases to his/her life.
Follow the i+1 method. What the student already knows is i, and +1 is to add one new thing. It can be easy or difficult, as long as it’s only one thing. Try to make the one thing super useful, and tie it into what they already know.
Corrections
Make sure you give plenty of feedback. A major gripe from students is that their teachers don't give enough corrections and advice. Be gentle, and type it into Skype as you teach so they can refer to your notes.
Ping them on different aspects of their English if you can. Pull them up for bad grammar, weak vocabulary, bad pronunciation and delivery, mishearing you. Do it gently, and focus on the areas they are most worried about, but help them see the value of learning with a helpful and professional teacher. We want to demonstrate the range of feedback they will get and how they can improve. Do not overdo it as this can decrease motivation. You want them to feel like they are getting better, not tear them down.
Temper corrections with knowledge of their preferences from their profile. If they say, "I don't care about every mistake" on their profile, then tone it down.
If your student is making few mistakes, make suggestions or offer new phrases, idiom or vocabulary:
That's great. Another way you could say it is....
Practice
Run through a role play based on the work you did in the language section. Practice and wow with your acting skills. This should be fun, and feel like the student can deal with the topic for real, but that there is still a challenge and areas for improvement.
Take the +1 from the language section, and practice it till the student feels like they've got it. Later on, you can come back to that. If it is a new phrase, give them a chance to use it towards the end of the lesson.
You're doing really well. Practice this a little more at home so it is nice and smooth.
If it is done right, you'll leave the student feeling satisfied that taking classes is worthwhile in both the sense that they can get something out of it, and that they can cope with the challenge.
Closing
Check if they want homework. Mention that you will give them a study plan in their assessment and a target to hit.
Summarize what you did: "Today you learned how to..." Make sure the value of the time is clear. Get them thinking about the next step: starting from the first page of the book next class.
Mention the hook from the warm-up, have a laugh, and you’re golden. Ask if they had a good time, if they are happy and motivated and if they learned something. It's important to get this into their head right at the end. It's the final impression, and they'll take it away with them, so make it a good one.
Here is a sample conversation between teacher and student.
T: So how was that level? Too easy? Too difficult? Or in the middle?
S: At first it was a little easy, but when I tried to use the phrases it was very difficult!
T: Ok, so I think this textbook is the right level. How do you feel?
S: Yes, I think this is a good level for me.
T: Ok, so next lesson we’ll start at the beginning. Start from lesson one. Please do the reading at home, a little everyday, and you can use the key phrases in your next lesson. Do you have time for a little homework?
S: Yes, a little
J: Ok, please carefully read the article, and the key phrases in lesson 1. We’ll start at lesson 1 next time, so please read it. Don’t worry about the activities. We’ll do them next time. [Comment about hook — "Have fun at the beach on Saturday"]
S: Thanks!
T: So, today you learned how to... We talked about... and... I am going to write you a lesson record and a skills assessment report. You will get an email when they are ready. OK?
S: Yes, thank you.
T: Do you have any questions?
S: Yes, how do I get the book?
T: (You'll need to buy it on Amazon/We will send one to your office). We'll send you a message after this class that explains all this.
S: OK!
T: Great! How was my lesson? Are you happy?
S: Yes! You are a wonderful teacher!
T: Thank you. I am happy to hear that. See you next class!
S: See you!
Things you do NOT need to do
- You don't need to sell them. Leave that to us. We'll remind them to get points and help them with system questions and issues. We send some follow up messages after the trial that are to this effect.
- You don't need to worry about telling them how to get the books. We send books to corporates, and independent students are asked to buy the book from Amazon (we don't get a cut for this). We send out an automatic message after this class telling them about how to get books, so it is essential that you have chosen a course for them and that you have saved that in their profile.
Lesson records
Make sure you keep this brief. Do not overwhelm. Say something encouraging, but hit all the main beats from the lesson:
- cover what you did in class, and include a couple of teaching points;
- fill out every field and do a recording for them.
- goals and how to get there;
- aspirations for English and how better English will solve their problem;
- mention our support email (support@theenglishfarm.com) if they have questions about the system etc.
Assessments
Fill this out after class with strong, material and specific advice for how we can solve their English problems for them: better, faster and more enjoyably.
Profiles
Add anything pertinent, to their Needs section in particular, and save it. Make sure you save the textbook you recommend.
Ordering textbooks
As listed above, you might have to put in a textbook order depending on the course the student chooses to proceed with. In order to do this, go to the student's profile and click "ORDER BOOK":
Select the book that needs to be ordered and leave a comment under the "REMARKS" section explaining why you think this book is a good fit for the student. Then, hit "SAVE" at the very bottom. You will get an email once the book has arrived, so you can let the student know!