ESL tools.

The teacher collects and decorates with these materials but the children must make the most of them in class. They take possession of the room in this way, something like a territorial mark for animals.

1. Small rooms are better than large ones. There must be 10 children or less and they must be at the same learning level, so try them orally.

2. Teaching ESL is not about lecturing, so I prefer a large center table with the teacher sitting up front near the whiteboard. This is the correct distance for conversation or dialogue.

3. Noise control. Language classes need noise control. If the walls are too thin, you will be very frustrated as a teacher. If the chairs make a lot of noise scraping on the floor, get duct tape, etc. Tape the bottoms of the legs together and ask the children to help you make the room a little quieter. Those cylindrical metal pencil cases are torture devices for teachers. They fall, roll and hit the ground over and over again. Maybe ban them!

4. Make sure children’s backpacks are stored under or next to the desk and not in the hallway.

5. Find and hang the largest calendar you can and a world map in English.

6. Post the days of the week and animal charts on the wall.

7. Post the months of the year, preferably on a large wheel that also shows the seasons. Post years too.

8. Post numbers and ordinal numbers: 1st first, 2nd second… Use both styles.

9. Post the colors and words: Be sure to include light and dark colors, silver, gold, bronze, beige, violet, and burgundy. Place celestial bodies and sky features on the ceiling: star, moon, sun, cloud, rain, lightning, wind, etc.

10. Have a clock on the wall. You can’t set the pace for your lesson if you don’t know the time. Finishing the lesson is especially important. Children need it too.

11. Food treats are best at the end of class when you can wash your hands near the end. We often do a noisy action game at the end of class. The children let off steam, get excited and leave. Don’t make them too nervous at the beginning of a class, as it will be difficult to calm them down. I start at 50 min. class with quiet activities, usually book work and then move on to new activities after 15-20 min. normal attention span.

12. Post the Small Words Large Table (found on the ESL Resources at eslteachersboard.com).

13. You need tissues in the classroom and a trash can, a CD player and music for the children when they arrive. I keep a plastic or wooden container with extra pencils, crayon erasers, and a small pencil sharpener in the center of the table. Children can borrow these during the class period. I restock it with things kids lose. I do not allow a wall mounted pencil sharpener as it is annoying and noisy.

14. I also have small gifts or prizes that I bring to class. Good behavior and hard work are rewarded. Children are motivated by this. I generally don’t use sweets. They get too many elsewhere. The strangest things are interesting to children: I collect the little bottles of shampoo and toothpaste from hotel rooms. Foreign coins are prized toys, recycled, etc. etc. Sometimes I reward with food prepared on a plate, such as cucumber slices sprinkled with lemonade powder. This is a great summer gift and it’s not expensive. Insist on good eating manners and have the children clean the plate and wash their hands.

15. From time to time I bring a pet or an insect that we can hold and talk about in a glass tank. This is a good time to break cultural prejudices about some animals, e.g. girls must scream if an insect touches them. The animal can be a great way to teach basic anatomy by sketching in your notebooks and labeling parts. For some children it is their only contact with nature. Sad but true.

16. As the children progress, I like to make large posters for the wall that show how essential verbs change, for example, the verb To be. I am, you are, he/she/it is, we/they are. The children look up and use these signs to help them with their written workbooks. We also have contractions poster, plurals poster, articles, prepositions, use of ay an (aeiou) etc.

17. My favorite books are series 1 to 6 of Let’s Go, but their prices are falling out of the market. Each child should have the workbook, but you can share the reading book with the colored pages. I usually insist that the children keep these books in the class locker with me. That way they won’t be able to forget or lose them. I usually mark books in class as soon as the children finish a page. They want and need instant feedback as well as praise, and they need to correct their mistakes immediately. It goes without saying that they should use pencils, not pens.

There are several good phonics books, but some are too artistic and confuse children. I like books that have lots of A words and pictures, B words and pictures, Ch words and pictures, etc. I like ‘Up and Away with Phonics’ produced by Oxford. Nice and simple.