So, you’re qualified as a TEFL teacher, you’ve landed your dream job, and you’re ready to get started in the classroom. There’s only one problem – you’re terrified.
Nerves are common among new teachers and your first lesson can be a daunting experience, but trust me when I say it these jitters are something that you can conquer. With a little planning and preparation, and a dash of determination, you can come out of your first lesson smiling. Here are my top tips..
1. Review Your TEFL Teacher Training
If you completed a TEFL training course, you should have been offered plenty of advice and resources on how to handle certain situations. Before your lesson, it’s well worth taking a look over these modules or guides again so that you’re as well equipped as you can be.
Looking at advice on how to deal with bad behaviour or large classes, for example, will help you to feel more confident about dealing with these issues should they arise in your first lesson. Chances are that you won’t encounter problems, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.
2. Create An Out-Of-This-World Lesson Plan
Speaking of being prepared, making sure that your lesson plan is as watertight as it can be will go a long way to ensuring that your first lesson goes well. This is your chance to grab the attention of your students, so try to incorporate plenty of fun games and icebreakers so that you can all get to know one another.
Dave Sperling, of Dave’s ESL Café, is famous in the TEFL community (if you’re looking for your next teaching post, his job board is a great place to start), and his website is a fantastic resource for lesson plans. Barry O’Leary has also collected a great list of websites that offer lesson plan resources (many for free) on his blog, Teaching English in a Foreign Land.
It’s also well worth planning a couple of back-up activities in case your students steam through what you’ve prepared, or anything goes wrong with your resources.
3. Practice With Friends
If you’re really nervous about getting up there and leading your first lesson, it might help to practice your planned activities with a few friends or fellow TEFL teachers beforehand. Not only will this help to iron out any possible timing issues or flag up potential problems, but it will also help you to feel more prepared and confident when the big day arrives.
4. Look After Yourself
You work best when you’re well-nourished, well-rested and well-hydrated. Sleeping soundly might be a little tricky if you’re feeling nervous, but try to do all you can to ensure that you’re taking good care of yourself.
If you’re having trouble sleeping the night before your first lesson, try some meditation techniques, or calm yourself down by reminding yourself that by this time tomorrow, you’ll have finished your first day – and no matter what you think right now, it won’t have been as scary as you imagined.
5. Give Yourself Extra Time On The Day
Nothing will make you feel more flustered than arriving at school late, or having to rush in the morning, so make sure that you give yourself plenty of time to make the journey and prepare your resources before your students are due to arrive.
6. Take A Deep Breath And Smile
Before your students arrive, just take a moment to remember that they are probably as nervous about meeting you, as you are about meeting them. Remember how privileged and lucky you are to have this opportunity; and if that doesn’t put a grin on your face, then plaster one on by force.
A natural smile will probably come a little later when you feel more relaxed, but if you have to, fake it until you make it, as they say. Greet your students with a smile, and they will most likely greet you with one, too – which will help you to feel calmer.
7. Enjoy Your First Lesson
Yes, it may be nerve-wracking at first. Yes, you may realise that you brought the wrong resources to class with you (aren’t you glad you prepared those back-up activities?). Yes, you may be shattered from barely sleeping, but believe it or not, this lesson can also be fantastically fun.
Once you have completed a couple of icebreaker activities, you will probably find yourself starting to relax, and – gasp – enjoy the experience. Your nerves and anxieties about things going wrong will be a distant memory, and you can pat yourself on the back.
Conclusion
The best piece of advice that I can offer is to try to be flexible during your first lesson, and indeed throughout your teaching career. Being well-prepared with back up plans helps with this; but it’s also important to be flexible with your expectations, both of your class and of yourself.
Sometimes, your class will do brilliantly, but there will be concepts that they’ll struggle with. The same goes for you. Try to do the best that you can, but don’t be too hard on yourself. You can’t be perfect 100% of the time.
If you’ve got friends who are about to teach their first TEFL lesson, please feel free to share this advice with them. Are you a TEFL teacher yourself? What advice would you add? Let me know in the comments – I’d love to hear your thoughts!
About the Author
Mark is a TEFL enthusiast and a language lover. He has experience of teaching in Thailand and Malaysia and also loves learning other languages – he speaks French and Spanish. He is now working for ICAL TEFL who offer various online TEFL courses.
