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Hahaha, it sounds like we are kindred spirits… I’ll make sure to keep your advice in mind as I’m a new teacher at the moment who is prone to anxiety. Also, your writing is really entertaining; I found myself grinning and giggling throughout your post. Looking forward to more!
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Hi there April, thanks a lot for taking the time to write, really appreciate it. As for being prone to anxiety, that’s quite normal, mine has never gone away (but it’s nowhere near as bad as it was) A couple more things I didn’t mention, take a few really deep breaths before you walk into the class as this lowers your heart rate. Also, have some water with you in case you get a frog in your throat…and to combat dehydration through sweating!
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I was one of the students….Sooooooooo long ago! I really had a great time.. and I learned a lot of new words…..
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Even though it was soooooo long ago Dominique you look exactly the same!
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Another great post. And the last photo is a keeper.
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Brilliant story John! I read my own first days of teaching through your words! Still, another funny conclusion pops to my mind: the most inexperienced teacher I ever had (and that was you), showed me how great fun teaching is!
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Hi Marco…thanks a lot for leaving the comment and I’m really happy that you enjoyed reading the post.
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Thanks for the comment MC – glad you liked the photo…
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John, great to stumble across you on this website and to see you sharing your zillions of ideas and boundless enthusiasm with new teachers. (John and I are old friends and colleagues but I don’t go as far back as knowing him when he first started teaching. Certainly today, you’d never have suspected nerves – he’s a born natural communicator!) Anyway, your teaching tips reminded me of my early days so maybe you won’t mind me adding a couple more to the list, John? I spent about the first six months of teaching with severe diarrhoea with nerves!! So Tip 6 – build in extra time before class to allow for emergency toilet trips!! (The nerves, believe me, DO gradually go.) My alternative to Tip 4 (Tip 4 ½ or 7?) is to start the same way, ‘That’s a very interesting question. Can you all research into it and bring your answers to class next lesson?’ At the same time, I believe in owning up honestly so why not, ‘I don’t think I’m certain enough of the answer to tell you so give me till next class and I’ll come back to you.’ I’ve always needed those tactics a lot, as students tend to confuse EFL/ESL teacher with ‘font of all general knowledge’. Can you answer quickly and clearly ‘How many people live in London/England/the UK?’ or ‘What’s the difference between the UK and Great Britain?’ But all new TEFLers shouldn’t be discouraged – it’s the best fun and rewarding teaching of all and it’s brilliant training for life skills of communicating, empathising and inter-relating with others.
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Hi Sandra
Thanks a lot for taking the time to write and for sharing the tips – and if anyone else has got any and wants to share, that’d be great, that’s the whole point of the blog! I’m sure that newly qualified teachers will find them really useful.
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Wow, that reminded me of several first days teaching diferent groups.
As a student, I would be the one trying to make the teacher feel comfortable and glad to be there, but as a teacher, I learned some lessons from those kids frowning at me too. Wonderful text, when’s next?-
Hi Tania, thanks a lot for the comment. My posts will be going up once every month – but in the meantime, there will be things from the other bloggers posted later this week.
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I’ll never forget when I wore a grey colored shirt on a hot Korean day. Never again. It was….the pits.
*Is thrown from the stage* -
Further to my posting earlier, did you spot my deliberate mistake?
(That’s another great ‘get out of jail/gaol card’ tactic, by the way.) I’ve had sleepless nights over the ‘font/fount’ debate and there’s a 50-50 split on this online but going with Cambridge Dictionaries(what else??), I should have written ‘fount of all knowledge’. Unless of course you think differently….-
Sandra – I think this is going to be a case of grammatical survival of the fittest!!
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Hi John,
Those seem like great tips. Would you recommend Seville as a good city for TESOL?
Thanks!
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Hi Andrew
Hi Andrew,
I’d highly recommend it, Sevilla’s a large, happening, vibrant city with a large student population and there is a lot of demand for teachers.You don’t say where you’re from. If you’re North American then EU visa rules make it a lot more difficult for you – though there are opportunities for ‘North American Language and Culture Assistants in Spain’ – here’s the government link here.
http://www.mecd.gob.es/eeuu/convocatorias-programas/convocatorias-eeuu/auxiliares-conversacion-eeuu.html
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I totally agree with the suggestions, experienced myself and they work!
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Hi Flavia
Thanks for the comment – by the way, a beautiful part of the world you live in.
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hi JOHN,
it is really an interesting and helpful experience you have shared with all upcoming teachers.honestly you have reminded me the very first day of my teaching in a class.waiting for your next article. -
Hi Saima
I’m glad that you enjoyed reading the post and thanks a lot for taking time to leave a comment!
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Dear John,
I stumbled upon your page and I am so glad I did! Not only was I laughing quite heartily at every point you made for a good 5 mins, I could actually feel your anxiety through the screen lol. Well I will be starting my first esl teaching (to adults) pretty soon and I am so nervous, but your experience has given me some hope of surviving (we shall see). Thank you for sharing your story with us, it was quite funny and insightful.-
Hi Tia Thanks for taking the trouble to write and I’m really glad you enjoyed the piece. I remember my first day as if it were yesterday…it was baptism by fire with the older teenagers – though I think you’re going to be fine with adults, they’re usually a lot more forgiving!
Just so you know, the feeling of being nervous never goes away, I still get it now when I have a new class – though I spend more time with teachers than students (who are even more critical)Anyway, good luck with your classes fingers crossed it all goes swimmingly well!
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Standing up in front of class in my CELTA course remains one of the most nerve-wracking things I have ever done – it all comes flooding back reading this. Great photo too!
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PS It does get easier and these tips will certainly put you on the right track:)
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You’re right Dave – it does get easier (though I still get a bit apprehensive when I’ve got a new class)
I was lucky that during my CELTA interview, my course tutor advised me to get a job in a summer school (it didn’t turn out quite as planned – see previous post http://www.teachinghouse.com/blog/my-first-day-of-teaching-how-i-almost-caused-a-diplomatic-incident/) but at least by the time I did my CELTA, I’d had some practice speaking to groups of non-native speakers and had learnt how to grade my language which was a great confidence booster.
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