With the challenging situation of online teaching and remote learning, there is a need to adapt your teaching and the way you organize your day – from the hours you work / your working location to organizing your new online day.
All of this change can be stressful and challenging, however, remember that you are not alone, and here are some of our best tips to help you get through the online teaching period.
1/. Experiment to see how you can change your online teaching method
Undoubtedly, you had your own style whilst teaching face to face – perhaps you had things very visual, with the students doing lots of group and project work and your role was often as a facilitator– going around from group to group guiding and inquiring. Now you may find that not all the techniques you used to use have the same power – you may find that groups are hard to organize whilst online and you cannot see and hear everyone – that those quick-fire interaction games no longer are quick enough.
If so, then accept that things need to change – do not keep on doing things that simply do not work as this is what you have always done – instead, experiment and change to something new.
If you are not sure what to try then simply start with thinking of the different learning needs of your students – how can you provide for the visual learners? Can you provide additional links? Are there supplementary podcasts they could listen to?
What about provision for the auditory learner? – does the group/class situation provide clear enough information or should you supplement it with specially made recordings? Are there enough opportunities for the students to be able to talk it through to reinforce it all?
Consider what you are offering for the kinaesthetic learner – how can you alter things so that they are still actively participating but in a different way and within the confines of their own home?
Remember that there is no magic formula as to how to change your teaching to accommodate online learning – there is no right or wrong way, instead, you only need to experiment so that you find a way to teach that works for you.
2. / Workspace in online teaching
It all used to be so easy – you simply went to work and all the materials – the whiteboard / the projector etc. were all provided for you. It is important to have an appropriate space for you to work – both with the delivery of the online sessions as well as the formation of lesson plans etc.
For some, they can concentrate well whilst sitting on the sofa with the TV on as background noise, whilst others need peace and quiet in order to work. It is not the location that is vitally important but the level of disturbance – wherever you decide to work it is essential to find somewhere where you will be able to concentrate for a prolonged period of time. It has been scientifically proven that concentrated focus on something for a prolonged period of time (more than 20 minutes) is far more effective than doing something for 10 minutes then switching to something else and then going back to the task for another 10 minutes.
It is important to remember to save everything on your computer and make a backup on a hard drive/ cloud – without the usual IT department to support you then you need access to a backup ASAP.
Different people can work well in different environments
3/. Routine
With face-to-face learning, it is easy to develop and maintain a routine, with there being a strict division between work and your personal life. However, with online teaching, it is easy to merge the two and find yourself either working too hard or not being able to be motivated to work hard enough.
A routine really helps to enable you to have a work-life balance. Try to wake up and go to bed at the same time each day so that your internal body clock can be set. Although in the beginning, it can be thrilling not to bother to get dressed, as there is nowhere to go, this has an unconscious effect on your mindset, contributing towards you feeling that you are not achieving anything. Make a daily effort to get up and get up and get dressed – this will act as an unconscious signal to your brain that you are about to do something worthwhile.
Set a work and life routine – make a timetable of when your classes are, how much time you need to prepare and when you will be doing this. Allocate set times of the day for these tasks and try to stick to them as much as possible.
4/. Set Goals
It can be easy to slip into just cruising by with the online teaching and not work to develop things as the online teaching is only temporary. As a result, it is important to make goals – not only for yourself e.g. I will learn how to make interactive PowerPoints but also for you students, e.g. I will introduce a new way to give homework.
Goals work to motivate and encourage and even more importantly, give us a sense of achievement when we reach them. When working online it can be easy to become unmotivated and feel that life is just passing us by so make goals to keep yourself going.
5/. Check out your resources
You may be surprised to learn that your school or language centre has a variety of online resources that you can access. Many places have a central resource bank and although in the induction sessions, you may have learnt about it and ignored its presence, now is the time to search out your induction notes and see what you actually have.
Even if you find that your own establishment doesn’t have a full set of resources, then with most of the world going online at one stage or another, you will find that there are a lot of resources online. Simply Google your area of TEFL + online resources and you should come up with an unlimited list of things to choose from which at least can give you a template from which to work.
6/. Connect with others.
Teaching online can be a very lonely business (especially if you are on lockdown) so it is important to connect with others who are in the same situation as yourself.
There are a wide variety of online groups so it is easy to find people who are in a similar situation to yourself so you can find people to share your concerns with as well as be inspired from.
It is hard to work online, feeling that you are the only one in this situation, so it is important to try to connect with others. Sometimes it is easier to share your worries and stress with strangers rather than your family and friends and with an online group, it is easy to find people who are in very similar situations as yourself. Sometimes simply have a place to vent or moan is enough and you can get inspiration from others who have passed the frustration stage and moved on.
Connect with others to gain inspiration
7/. Treat Yourself!
Online teaching is hard and you deserve a treat! – make sure that you are looking after yourself as well as helping others through your teaching. Make sure that you are not working too hard and that you have “ me time “in addition to teaching time which will make you far more efficient in the long run.
So now, it is time to go and try out these ideas – remember that online teaching is challenging for everyone but you will get through it with perseverance and following our sensible tips. Don’t forget to find out more articles about teaching in Vietnam in our blog section!
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