We all have had lessons that fall flat or aren't engaging or they may be good, but a class doesn't get into the activity. This happens. Accept it and move onto the next thing.

When you sense that a lesson isn't working or the students aren't engaged, there are a couple things you can do. First, if it's unsalvageable, as Kenny Rogers says, "You've got to know when to fold 'em." The key is how you handle it, and if you handle this situation with control, your students will feel that control, and you can work with them, and this situation can turn into a positive.

Brainstorm with your students.

One thing you could do to turn a bad lesson into a good lesson is to brainstorm with your class. You could teach ways to give suggestions and elicit suggestions from your students that could have turned your "bad idea" into a "good idea". You might be surprised what students will come into, and on top of that, they are learning and using real natural language.

In your next ESL speaking class, have your students practice more natural conversation with this fun game that will get them speaking, listening to their partner, and responding.

1. Break the students up into pairs or groups of three (or more depending on your way of doing it)
2. Give them a general topic to ask a question about. (ex. What they did last weekend. A movie they've seen recently. Etc)
3. The students are to ask their partner a question and their partner answers.
4. The partner then asks a question based on their answer to continue the conversation moving.
5. The game goes back and forth until one person can't think of anything else to ask or time runs out.

Demonstrate - You should demonstrate the activity first by eliciting responses from the class.

Props - Props always help, even if it's just a tennis themed photo on the screen or bring in tennis balls (the second one could get a little out of hand, so be careful)

Countdowns​ - Countdowns are always your friend to put a bit of pressure on your students to go when it's their turn. Use this to award points.

Community - The students will eventually learn something new about each other you do this often enough.

Conversation Skills - They will build a better feel for how a smooth conversation works which will help them in their own language.

​What else can you find?

Whether you're a beginner teacher or an experienced professional, the main thing that we should be looking to do in our EFL classes is to provide value. Especially if our students are paying us a decent price for our lessons. How can we provide maximum value to our adult students? 

​One way is to provide extra work for them to do on their own. This doesn't have to be extra work for you, and it doesn't have to be annoying work for the student.

If you click on the Superstar Students tab at the top, you'll see a checklist of tasks you can give your students to have small tasks to do in their daily lives, you'll also see a listening and reading worksheet for the students to grasp the content that they are taking in and give them opportunity to review expressions they knew as well as learn new expressions from their listening or reading piece.

When you assign extra work for your students, make it as stress-free as possible. One way is to remind them that anything they enjoy reading, watching, or listening to in their own language probably has an equivalent thing in English. Give them a reminder to do these things in English and give them the worksheets above to give them some guidelines as they're watching.

The important thing is that they are taking in things they genuinely want to hear or learn about. If the desire doesn't come from inside, it really won't be very effective in the end.

Use the Material - Use these materials (including the worksheets) in your private lessons and the students will get to reinforce and check their expressions. Practice them together.

Adults Need A Little Push, Too - Just because your student is a working professional, doesn't mean that they will automatically do your homework. Give them small assignments and tasks to do as homework even if it's just to be regular contact with English. Consistency is Key.

Motivation - Our objective should be to provide intrinsic motivation.

Other Lessons - By looking at interesting articles or watching interesting videos, students will learn new things PLUS they will be learning it in English.

​What else can you find?

Understanding is number one when it comes to classroom management with teens because that's the most important thing to build a healthy relationship with anybody. Being able to see things from their perspective and understanding WHY they may be doing the things they're doing is the first step toward making a difference in his or her life.

If you've been in a teacher training session or meeting, you know that we do pretty much the same things, in that, if something isn't stimulating to us, our minds can wander, we can joke around with our co-workers, jump on our phones 'for a second', or do any of the dozens of things that our students do that drive us absolutely BONKERS.

I think the word is empathy, and that is the biggest key to reaching and connecting with teens.

There are no cookie-cutter teenagers, just like there is no cookie-cutter you. Once we personalize things, and realize that we are all different, we can better understand that this is especially true of teenagers. As much as they want to be accepted by their peers, and all like the same things, and dress the same way, they also want desperately to find their own way and find out who they are, so they can be that person.

​It's not always easy.

​However, if we do have the opportunity to find out exactly what connects with them, it is very rewarding and makes it all worthwhile.

One of the biggest tools we can use in the classroom is something that most teachers fight against.

Their interests!

If your students are really into Fortnite, instead of telling them to put down the controller and go outside or open a book, let's use that insanity for Fortnite to capture their attention in our lessons. If your students are really into John Cena and saying, "You can't see me", use that in your classes to get their attention and get them talking about, writing about, or watching videos in English with John Cena.

The bottom line is we need to be genuinely interested in the students, find out what they are into, and try to create an environment that makes them want to be involved in our classes by working with what they find interesting.

Even if it's doing something small like using their interest in a PowerPoint presentation or adjust a speaking topic to include that.

Going Deeper - Teaching things that interest them will reach a deeper level than just an English lesson.

Trust - They may end up trusting us in ways that we hadn't anticipated.

​What else can you find?

*adapt these according to your style and class*
1. Form your class into teams.
2. Elicit capital cities (or any other themed words)
3. Write a chosen city name vertically from top to bottom on the board for each team.
4. Have the students come up with words beginning with each letter.
5. Award points however you see fit... but make it be known before you start the game
​6. Take the rest of the game wherever you want for your class.

Relate
Only
Measure
Elephant

State Rules Before - Create clear rules and state them clearly before the game starts. If not, chaos will ensue.

Options - After the first round of writing words, build vocabulary with more rounds of work (writing sentences using the words, writing word families for the words they can - ex. Relate -> Relationship)

Award Points - This is magic. Awarding points for each task will get the students enthused and actually trying during the game.

Maintain Control - Have the students remain seated in their groups until they have the marker/chalk to avoid everybody crowded around the board yelling and fighting for the marker the whole time.

Teamwork - Once the students settle in their teams, most of the time, they will work well together to try to win.

Capital Cities - Someone will usually say at least one capital city that other students (or possibly you) won't know. Embrace that!

Learn More About Your Students - In one of my classes, a student insisted on me writing Astana. He eventually said that it was the capital of his birth country.

What else can you find?

Adapt the lesson for your style and your classes. Try different ways of doing it and allow students freedom to try different things.

Pre-approve songs before they start their projects (if you do projects with it).

Demonstrate what you want the students to do first.

Expand Musical Palate - Introduce your students to different kinds of music.

Building creativity - They will get to exercise their creativity with forming their questions and answers.

​What else can you find?

Sometimes it can be difficult to think of different ways to get teens and adults to get creative and speak in class. On a recent episode of the More Than English Podcast, professional English teacher and ELT Consultant, Harry Waters shared a fun game to allow your students to explore their creativity and think on their feet. 

This EFL speaking game is called, "Why is there a monkey in your bag?"

The teacher starts by asking a student why there is a monkey in their bag. 
A flustered student will say whatever answer comes to their mind.
The teacher will give a follow-up reaction based on the student's answer followed by another question.
And the conversation goes back and forth for a few rounds of questions and answers.

After that, the student will choose another partner and start the conversation over again, and they can change the monkey to something else.

Awarding Points Works - Figure out a simple point system to keep interest. (Ex. 1-3 points based on creativity, follow-up responses or questions)

Teach the Language - Take time to explore and correct the language that they use.

Consistency is Key - If you do this on a regular or semi-regular basis, the students will be able to come up with different answers as they get comfortable with the game.

Thinking on their feet - This is always a useful skill to have whether in public speaking or regular conversation.

Building Community - If lead well by the teacher, your students will feel a part of the community in being able to laugh at themselves and get a bit silly during the exercise.

​What else can you find?

One of the best pieces of advice that I would give to a new teacher of young learners is to establish routines and make them fun.

​This will help you:

• manage the class because the kids know what they're supposed to do
  
• help the students learn and use the language more automatically 
  
• have fun with the kids.

Jessica Yip shared some important advice when teaching young learners concerning routines.
​

• Routines start as soon as you see your kids.
• Routines don't mean you have to do the exact same thing.
• Make your routines practical using real life examples.
• Give the students free choice within a set of boundaries.

Watch the video below for even more pro tips!

Use your routines to do typical things that your kids are already doing. Just do it with style.

• The way your kids come in and sit down.
• Greeting the teacher and/or each other.
• Reviewing vocabulary

Confidence - Your kids will eventually feel more confident in your class because they will know your style and what to expect in your lesson.

Teamwork - Your kids will start helping each other and rooting for each other to do the games well.

What else can you find?

You or your students will have guided practice for their reading even on their own! They will:

• Be guided through comprehension questions
• Note new and old vocabulary and expressions to improve fluency

This will give students direction and motivation to read more in English with some guidance. Use this as a part of your private lessons or classes to give the students extra value!

Name: ________________________                                               Date: _______________
I’m reading _________________________________          

1. What type of reading is it? (novel, news/sports article, biography, etc.)


2. How long did you spend reading?

​

CONTENT

1. Write one sentence answering what this text was about?  


2. Write 1-3 sentences details from the text. (What did you understand?)

            a. _____________________________________________________________
            b. _____________________________________________________________
            c. _____________________________________________________________
 
LANGUAGE

1. Write 1-3 OLD expressions that are familiar. (Ones you’ve heard before.)
   1. __________________________________________________________
   2. __________________________________________________________
   3. __________________________________________________________

 

1. Write 1-6 NEW words or expressions (then ask a teacher to confirm.) 
   1. ______________________   d. ______________________________
   2. ______________________   e. ______________________________
   3. ______________________   f. _______________________________

We've come to the realization in language learning that using genuine material that interests us in the best way to truly learn a foreign language. ​

​Listening to fake conversations for exams has its purpose, I guess, but they are not going to teach your students anything about business. Maybe you don't know much about business yourself and the idea of teaching business English intimidates you a bit. No worries!

Ok, this may not be a "business channel", but it is a great resource to learn how to communicate better. They give tips and advice on topics like- starting small talk, dos and don'ts in social situations, using body language effectively, and tricks to add to your sense of humor- to name a few.

These will be useful in business if you have business meetings, dinners, you have to meet with clients, and any social situation you may find. 

One thing to keep in mind, they do talk a bit fast. If you're using this for class, you may have to slow the video down or play it several times to catch some of the details.

The target audience for this channel is web designers and professional development for starting your own web design business. He shows his process in designing a professional quality website, gives business tips and strategy, and he goes through case studies of his and others work.

This will be useful for creatives and entrepreneurs who want to learn tips and practical vocabulary in the web design or graphic design field. 

One thing to keep in mind, he also talks a bit fast. Also English is his second language, but he doesn't really hav an accent, but it may be a challenge for some students. If you're using this for class, you may have to slow the video down or play it several times to catch some of the details.

The author of The Four-Hour Work Week has a YouTube channel where he discusses his strategies and ideas to improve productivity in our businesses and lives. He also interviews important guests in their fields to get their top advice for running a business.

This will be useful for creatives, people who create start-ups, CEOs, and anyone who wants to be more productive in their lives.

One thing to keep in mind, he and his guests shares a lot of technical vocabulary that aren't used everyday (for example "batching"). However, he explains them well.

I don't know if you've ever heard of this new TED Talk thing, but let me break it down for you. You can find an expert speaker giving a talk about... oh, you already know about TED Talks? Well, they are a perfect tool for blue belt+ (intermediate or higher) learners to learn about something and practice their English listening. Why aren't you using them more often in your lessons?

This will be useful for students who want to learn about most any topic.

One thing to keep in mind, the topics of TED Talks can quite literally be about anything, so it can be hard to narrow down a search when you want to sit down and practice listening. 

Business isn't a man's world anymore. If you or your students want some content that gives advice, business ideas, or lifestyle videos from a woman's perspective, assign something from Silicon Valley Girl. She speaks clearly, her videos aren't terribly long, and she gives plenty of actionable tips. Her channel also has a bit of variety as well, which could be helpful for some students.

This will be useful for small business owners, start-ups, entrepreneurs, and girls who need a bit of female inspiration.

Another useful thing about her channel is, it seems that she had either taught English abroad or has had some hand in the EFL world because she has been a part of several language-learning start-ups as you will see in the video below. She naturally speaks slowly and clearly which makes it easy to follow what she's saying.

Do you want to make deals, increase sales, know when and how to call people, and close deals? The host, Will Barron, interviews a variety of guests on his show and digs deep into the world of business. If you follow the worksheet above, you will get plenty of gold expressions and content.

This will be useful for people who want English for sales, business strategy, or any kind of business venture.

One thing to keep in mind, he has plenty of guests and some English learners may have a hard time with some accents and speeds of talking. The shows are also long, so lessons or sessions may need to be broken up in bite-size pieces.

This is personally my favorite business channel to follow. I watch something from The Futur every week, if not daily whether on YouTube or Instagram. If you follow the More Than English Podcast on YouTube, you'll see some familiar styles borrowed from The Futur. If anybody is in the field of creating things and trying to turn it into a business, follow The Futur.

This will be useful for any and all creatives, entrepreneurs, small business owners, and more specifically graphic designers. Students who want to learn clear, useful, and targeted vocabulary and expressions that they can apply to growing their business.

One thing to keep in mind, there are many different types of videos on this channel. Some videos are long and some are short, some have music in the background and some are just conversations. Taking short excerpts from the longer shows and accompanying it with the listening exercises above, could make for some very ​valuable language lessons for business English learners.

Slow the video - Some of these videos may talk a bit fast for you or your students to catch some things. A simple solution is to click on the gear button and you can change the speed to play faster or slower.

Break up longer sessions - Some of the videos on these channels are longer. A teacher or tutor will want to break them up into bite-size sessions of 4-8 minutes depending on the level of the student and the content being discussed.

Content - The students learn real life expressions in context while learning content to help them in the real  business world instead of isolated expressions.

What else can you find?