By Vivian Andreou, Academic Coordinator, Teacher Education Center, HAEC & Jenny Zimianitou, Academic Assistant, Teacher Education Center, HAEC
September is the traditional "Back to School" month. Teachers and learners are getting ready to start the new academic year.
The first day of class seems to have special significance because it helps set the tone of what is to come.
Whether a novice or an experienced English language teacher, the beginning of the school year makes every teacher wonder: What should I do in the very first lesson? Here are some suggestions that can help you prepare a successful first lesson.
- Arrive early to prepare the classroom and any materials you will need during the lesson. Ensure that the technological equipment available works properly. Walk around the classroom and check if the seating arrangement will allow you to make eye contact with all students. Write your name on the board along with a "Welcome" message. If you wish to decorate the classroom with posters, you can use this time to put them up on the wall or notice board.
- Welcome students as they arrive. Introduce yourself and ask students to take a seat. You can interact with students as they arrive to make them feel comfortable and help them overcome their anxiety. Put the class name on the door for late-comers.
- Be enthusiastic during the lesson. Students form a lasting opinion of the teacher within the first fifteen minutes of the class. However, all teachers, even those with years of experience, are likely to feel some anxiety. If you let your enthusiasm show, it will most definitely catch on; so, be sure you are enthusiastic about your new class and keep in mind that students forget what you do and what you say but they never forget how you make them feel.
- Do an icebreaking activity. Icebreaking activities intend to help the teacher and students get to know each other; this is why they are sometimes called Getting to Know You (GTKY) activities. Icebreakers create a positive learning atmosphere and help to reduce students' anxiety. Your goal is to learn your students' names as quickly as possible; you may decide to ask students to use nametags for the first week(s) of classes or you may want to draw up a floor plan with their names on. Start using their names as soon as possible as it helps build a good rapport.
- Familiarize students with the material(s) you will be using throughout the year. Go through the components of the course book (student's book, workbook, grammar book, etc.) and inform the students how you will be working with each one. Remember to go through any other material, such as notebooks, folders, etc., and explain what each one is for.
- Do a course book quiz. Prepare an activity which requires students to leaf through the book. The goal is for students to become excited about the new book(s), so don't make it too difficult. For low-level classes, you may not even require them to read the texts, you may for example ask them to "Find a picture of a red car".
- Discuss expectations and classroom rules. With young learners, you can establish a set of classroom rules which you will follow throughout the school year. Students can make a classroom poster with the rules. You can also prepare a 'Classroom Contract' by eliciting rules from the students. Don't forget to ask the students to sign the contract and explain to them that it is binding for the whole year. With older learners, you can elicit what they hope to achieve through the course. At the end of the course, you can all look back and see how much you were able to fulfill.
- Include activities that require students to interact not only with you but also with each other. Depending on your students' age and level, you may also decide to include a problem-solving activity. The goal is for your students to understand that they will be active participants in your class.
- Teach something new or revise something you expect the students to know. Ideally, you may do some tasks from the course book to mark the beginning of the new class. A number of course books include a "Welcome" lesson, so you may decide to cover some of this material on the first day. Also, don't forget to assign a little homework to give students the chance to reflect on the first lesson.
- End the first lesson with a bang. This way students will leave the classroom feeling that the lesson was a positive experience and looking forward to more. With young learners, you can sing a song to finish the first lesson. With older learners, you can elicit an activity they have enjoyed doing in the past, or (if you are an experienced teacher) you can do one of your 'tried and tested' ones.
Image: "Back to School Book Display Fall 2015" by The COM Library used under CC BY 2.0
