Example of TPR & PROP usage (VITAL FOR A SUCCESSFUL INTERVIEW)

PREPARING YOUR CLASSROOM

• Wear clean, neat, and appropriate clothes without any lettering or distracting pattern.
• Decorate your background with letters, pictures, etc.
• Create an uncluttered, designated area which is optimized for both teaching and learning.
• Maintain an appropriate distance from the camera, make sure the camera angle is front-facing, eye level and that you are clearly and easily visible during class time.
• Make sure the lighting is balanced and allows the student to clearly see the teacher, background, and teaching tools.

Keeps energetic and enthusiastic throughout the class and Keeps smiling and maintains eye contact, engages student with friendly tones and facial expressions, makes good use of props and body language most of the time are always important parts to be a successful online teacher.

1. TPR -Total Physical Response

• Helps to make mind/body connections that students would not be able to make through language alone
• Helps to lower the stress levels of the students. When they are having fun, they are much more likely to want to participate!
• Focused on language acquisition rather that language learning. We want them to understand the words in context rather than memorize a vocabulary list.
• Instructional TPR is used to elicit an action (click, circle, repeat)
• Educational/Content TPR is used to help students understand meaning

2. PROPS

• Used to lower the student’s affective filter and makes the student more comfortable
• Facilitate connections in the student’s mind between current knowledge & new learning can be used to model conversation
• Add fun and interest to the classroom
• Basic Props: White board & marker, Puppet or stuffed animal, flashcards, Star or Reward Item

3. SIMPLE LANGUAGE

• Simple language is NOT: using broken, incorrect language, or “baby talk”
• Simple language IS using level appropriate sentences with minimal unfamiliar words
• It is much less stressful for student confidence to build slowly rather than need to simplify
• Use TPR to help you to limit extra language!

4. STUDENT OUTPUT

• Should always be the #1 priority in the classroom
• Student should be speaking AT LEAST 50% of the time
• High student output increases language acquisition instead of just language learning
• Fun & interesting classrooms makes the student more willing to take risks & try speaking
• Set expectations early in class that the student should be speaking in complete sentences
• Lower Levels: lots of teacher modelling and student repetition
• Upper Levels: Extension questions to encourage conversation and increased student output

5. SPEAK SLOWLY

• Speak slowly and clearly enough so that students who barely know English can understand you, and repeat yourself when necessary.
• You want to speak at a slightly slower speed but still natural (don’t sound like a robot!).
• Break down longer sentences into single words or “chunks” of a few words at a time so students can repeat after you.

6. MODELING

• Use the “I do, We do, You do” strategy. Teacher will do it first, teacher will help student do it second, and then teacher will try and have student do it independently.
• Always demonstrate for the student when they appear confused or are not following directions.
• Use your props and TPR to help you model for the student.

7. POSITIVE CORRECTIONS

• Always make corrections in a positive way. DO NOT say “no” or tell the student they are wrong.
• Praise their efforts and then simply repeat the mistake correctly.
• Praise them again when they repeat the word correctly.
• Steps for Effective Corrections :
  1. Listen carefully when the student speaks
  2. Do not interrupt the student while they are speaking
  3. Zero in on only 1 correction at a time
  4. Have the student repeat the correction a few times
  5. Have the student use the correction in a complete sentence

8. PACING

• Pace yourself so that you spend an appropriate amount on each slide in order to finish the lesson within the allotted time.
• One minute per slide is a good guideline, but you may need to adjust this based on the number of slides in a lesson.
• Find ways to extend or simplify the slides to adjust your time as needed throughout the lesson.
• Find the timing system that works best for you to keep track of your pacing (classroom timer, computer clock, phone clock, kitchen timer, stop watch, etc.).

9. SYNTHETIC PHONICS

• Synthetic phonics is a method of teaching reading where words are broken up into the smallest units of sound (phonemes)
• Students learn and practice the precise sounds for each letter. (the letter M sounds like “mmm” as opposed to “muh”)
• Helps students to read (synthesize) and recognize words much more easily because they are not adding extra letter sounds and struggling to understand (m-a-t as opposed to muh-ah-tuh)
• Synthetic phonics are useful to native and non-native speakers as well as readers of all levels

Please ensure you put all these strategies in place to ensure you give yourself the best shot of being hired by your online company.

If you are still unsure about any of the teaching methods there are a great deal of resources and videos online that you can learn from.

BE PREPARED AND THE VERY BEST OF LUCK WITH YOUR INTERVIEW.