Wednesday, January 31, 2024
A recently conducted unofficial survey about stressful teaching situations turned up the perhaps unsurprising result that one of the most common fears was having to teach a lesson on the fly. That is to say, a lesson in which you, the teacher, have limited or no time at all to prepare a class and are not allowed to simply plonk your students in front of a screen for the duration of the lesson. Whatever the reason for this, be it last minute cover, fewer students than expected or just the vagaries of life, this situation is daunting at the best of times but even more so for inexperienced teachers or those unaccustomed to the level needing to be taught. However, do not despair because help is at hand – this blogpost to be precise! Read on to discover some useful tips to bear in mind the next time you are wondering how to survive an hour (or more) of unplanned teaching time.
Firstly, consider what resources are available. For exam classes and groups that last the whole year, there is usually a set of books consisting of a teacher’s book, a student one and a workbook. And with their powers combined, they may very well be your saviour. Within the teacher’s book you’ll find all the answers and if you’re lucky, even ideas for how to transition from stage to stage such as lead-ins or ways to practise the target language. It is essentially your guide through unchartered territory and eases the way step by step.
But if stalling for time is what you desperately need, don’t forget that buried within the student book are review units and vocabulary pages. Set a few exercises linked to the previous lesson to act as revision and/or some vocabulary activities and while students are beavering away, use that time to get to grips with the rest of the lesson. Moreover, the workbook is another abundant source of exercises that is often underused and usually has incomplete pages so just take advantage of what already exists. And yes, doing this may not feel like your usual standard of teaching but given the circumstances, a lesson can easily be pieced together or salvaged with the help of the books.
A really good way to give yourself time to get on top of things is with simple activities that are easily extendable and that don’t require an interactive whiteboard, hence you can do them anywhere, anytime. As mentioned above, vocabulary lists provide the perfect launchpad for students testing each other taboo style (or via miming or drawing) as well as allowing for some downtime by having to write each word in a sentence. An activity I’ve personally had great success with numerous times in these situations is getting students to write the alphabet (A-Z) vertically and then writing one word for each letter on a given topic for example, sport. This can then be extended by adding other appropriate columns, in this case it could be place, equipment, the player or even an adjective. By the time they’re done you’ll have figured out the next part of the lesson and they’ll have reviewed some language, win-win!
Of course, the more you teach the greater your capacity to deal with unpredictable situations such as a lesson on the fly. As your knowledge and skills grow from actively teaching, this experience essentially becomes an investment which you can call upon when needed. Added to this, I highly recommend having a folder that contains the necessary preprinted handouts of various lessons you know can be done without thinking thanks to your experience. Just whip them out and go, all at a moment’s notice. I promise, this folder will soon be worth its weight in gold.
While walking into a class with essentially no idea what to do can be nerve-wracking, take some deep breaths and zoom out for a moment to try and garner a more holistic perspective. Of all the hundreds, even thousands of lessons taught, these unplanned and perhaps lesser quality lessons will always comprise the minority and does not a bad teacher make. If it goes sideways, it’s vitally important to be able to brush it off and in the immortal words of British merchandise, carry on. Besides, that is the beauty of teaching, there’s always another chance and you will likely be all the better for the experience.
Giving a lesson on the fly is the perfect opportunity to get to know students better and take advantage of all the tangents that come your way. This is likely to mean enlarging your circle of tolerance, however, (never a bad thing) and allowing yourself to go with the flow. Whether that be discussing the latest episode of Temptation Island or debating the merits of teachers being allowed to confiscate phones, once things suddenly become very student-centred the setting is ripe for emergent language (so encourage it!) and the time will absolutely fly by.
In short, don’t sweat the small stuff. A lesson on the fly is obviously not the norm and so shouldn’t be judged according to your usual expectations. However, they are an occasional part of teaching so it is important to be aware of how you might approach one should you happen to be in that situation. I urge anyone reading this to embrace the challenge that these lessons bring with a positive attitude and to always believe in yourself as a teacher. All the very best!
