As an online English teacher, I begin my mornings feeling excited because I get to teach students from around the world. It’s a job that can be tough but also fulfilling, combining the skill of teaching with the richness of diverse cultures.
Dealing with different time zones, creating lesson plans that suit various ways of learning, and making an interesting virtual class are just some of the challenges. Every day is like a new story with chances to learn and grow.
My name is Joanne. I am a Qualified ESL Online Teacher. I have been teaching online for nine years. I have written the below article to give you some insight into the daily life of an ESL Online Teacher.
The responsibility of an ESL Teacher
As an ESL teacher, I take my responsibilities very seriously. It is not a profession to be taken lightly.
I believe that like nursing, being a teacher is a calling. It requires a true passion to enrich and mold the minds of students. To instill knowledge that the student understands and can use daily.
A duty to make sure that each student has a fulfilling experience in each class they attend.
- Firstly, your main responsibility is to the student and their parents.
- Maintaining an open line of communication with your student, and their parents.
- Planning each lesson
- Preparing the materials
- Preparing After Class Lesson Reviews or Homework
- A full report of each class, and any additional information that would benefit the student.
- Lastly, a review to assess achievements, and or difficulties.
Planning Lessons
It is essential to plan your lessons in advance. Ensure that you have the correct lesson materials, assess what difficulties your student may face with each lesson, and ensure you have the tools you need to be able to effectively guide your students to ensure they have a clear understanding.
Students are generally set students, so you know what days you have to teach them. Make sure you have booked their lessons for the correct times and dates
When a new student books a class with me, I try to find out as much as I can about the student before the lesson, this allows a smoother transition.
Assessing Student Progress
The benefits of having one-on-one classes allow me to evaluate each student, as each person is different and requires different teaching methods. The ability to adapt your teaching methods to accommodate each student’s needs is essential. This also enables me to build a relationship.
Once a student is comfortable with you, it benefits the learning process. This helps to assess if the student is grasping the concept of each lesson, or if they are facing difficulties, in some situations I suggest that the next lesson be a review of a lesson if I feel that the student has not managed to retain what they have learned.
I give the student a Review and practice of the lesson to complete as homework.
On some occasions the lesson materials need to be changed to another course that would be better suited to the student.
As an ESL teacher, you are constantly assessing your student’s progress, and knowledge retention.
An open line of communication with the parents helps to keep them updated on any achievements or difficulties.
Daily Routine of an ESL Teacher
As an ESL Teacher, my daily routine consists of:
Every day the number of students varies, as well as the number of classes they attend in a day. You could have 5 students that each book two hours lessons, or you can get 13 students booking 25-minute lessons. So, I am basing my routine on an average day. Every day is another adventure, and always a very busy, but rewarding day.
Morning:
- Start my day at 1 pm BJT.
- Checking my messages first thing each morning. Due to the time zone difference, some messages come through during the night.
- Actioning any requests that have come through.
- Checking that all my students are booked (I have a spreadsheet with my schedule which I check against).
- Ensuring that all my students for the day are scheduled at the correct times.
- Checking that the correct materials are downloaded and ready for each class.
- Lesson Reviews / Homework is ready to be sent to the student directly after class. I try to stay ahead of schedule with homework due for each student, I create all the homework materials, adding additional information from what we covered in class to help the students to become more familiar with how they can use the new words and phrases in their everyday life situations, I add questions on the topic to ascertain their level of understanding. I include activities, and pictures with references to help my students understand what is expected of them with each task. I also use this time to download songs from popular children’s movies, as this is the reward that many of my students work so hard for. The videos have the words written underneath, and most of my students have learned them and can sing along word for word.
- Looking for reading materials that will be appropriate for my students’ needs, scanning, and sending these to the parents.
- Final check that everything is as it should be before my first lesson which ranges from 3 pm BJT.
- Check all my equipment is functioning as it should be.
- Have a tea break at around 2:30 pm BJT, and then it is time to log into my first class.
- I am logged in and waiting for my first student at 2:58 pm BJT.
- Delivering effective lessons.
- Keeping detailed records for each class.
Afternoon and Evening:
After I have finished teaching at around 11 pm BJT, then I take a tea break, and continue with the following:
- Completing and sending the reviews for each lesson which I try to be as thorough as possible, so this takes me a while to complete.
- Then I move on to my preparations for the following days’ lessons.
- I generally finish off around 2 am BJT
Teaching Hours
Teaching hours are flexible and driven by the needs of the students. I generally start teaching around 3 pm BJT and finish at 11 pm BJT
Lunch Break
Lunch Breaks are taken when I do not have a student scheduled for a time slot. In the instance when I can see that my schedule is getting too full, then I close a slot to allow myself a half-hour break.
End-of-day reflection
I end my day off with a feeling of achievement, knowing that I have made an impact on my students’ lives. Today, they know more than they did yesterday. A sense of pride in a job well done. Just as I am proud of every one of my students. They are amazing children, and I have gotten to know so many of them, as well as their mothers. They light up my day, and I am so fortunate to be their teacher and to help them on their journey.
Challenges faced by an ESL Teacher
Language Barriers & Different Learning Styles
There is always a solution to every challenge. You just have to find it. As an ESL teacher, we use different methods to bypass language barriers;
Depending on the level of the student I use the following methods in class:
TPR – Total Physical Response: This involves the use of your facial expressions (emotions) hands (to indicate numbers, encourage the student to look or listen, to follow you, to emphasize pronunciation, to show right (✓) or wrong (X). To encourage (thumbs up or high five). These are just some of the few ways to communicate with TPR.
Flashcards – Flashcards are very helpful with trying to show an image or letter that will help the student to understand, a word or letter they are learning.
Props – Props can be almost anything, to show role play, an object, or convey an idea that the student is struggling to grasp.
Repetition – pronunciation, or to help remember a certain word.
Patience – This is very important, if a student is stressed or panicking, the chances of knowledge retention are very low. If a student does not understand something the way I have explained it. I will find another way to explain it until they can grasp the concept. I encourage my students to ask questions in class, this indicates that the student is interested and feels at ease enough to ask me to explain something that they do not understand.
I encourage my students to tell me what they see in a picture, to ensure that they understand what they are learning, or to add new words to the vocabulary.
The student must have a good understanding of what they are learning, learning something in parrot form is not teaching them anything.
Homework – I provide homework for students who would like to practice their English skills. I also recommend each student tries to practice what they have learned in class. This gives them a sense of pride and achievement in what they have learned.
Rewards – It is essential to praise and reward a student for what they have done well, and not just focus on what mistakes they have made.
Rewards of Being an ESL Teacher
Helping Students Improve
To encourage students to improve their English skills, I sometimes give them tasks to do. Lesson Reviews and homework, but also some fun stuff. I send English storybooks, English songs, and games, even though they are doing fun stuff, they are learning at the same time. I encourage their parents to speak with them about what they learned in class today, as repeating what they have learned helps them to retain the information. I give my students Certificates at the end of every month with additional feedback.
Cultural Exchange
This is one of the things I love about being an ESL teacher. My students often tell me about their lives, show me pictures, discuss history, and traditions, and they also ask me about mine. It is a good learning experience for both the student and me.
Personal Skill Development
Beyond the qualifications of being an ESL Teacher. The longer you teach, the more skills you attain. I am constantly looking for ways to improve myself and what I can do to further assist the children I teach. Every day you learn something new.
Conclusion
I have been an ESL teacher for 9 years, and I still learn new things every day. I meet the most amazing people, I get to do what I love most, to teach English. I love being an ESL Teacher, it is the career that I always wanted. I would not change a thing.
Hi my name is JoAnn.
Happy Students + Happy Parent = Happy Teachers
Joanne Burmeister
EDB Classin Puzzle
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