I am
now a published ELT author and fairly flush with success. See: (www.onestopenglish.com/community/lesson-share/lesson-share-archive/esol/lesson-share-complaining-with-confidence/551924.article).
It’s satisfying to think that a few time zones away my lesson plan may
this very minute be bringing a relieved smile to the face of a harassed teacher
wondering what the heck she is going to do with the class of ten learners who
have already started to file into her classroom.
Tonight’s lesson brought
home again the old dogme adage that sometimes
what motivates and interests learners may be so much closer to home than what
lies awaiting them in their course books. My pre intermediate class arrived in
class clutching their student books as if they were comforters. We proceeded to
plough our way through a handsomely illustrated text about LA teenagers. At
break time I asked them if they fancied breaking away from the book for the
next half. Five heads nodded tentatively.
We spent the next half
of the lesson discussing the issues that Shetland faces today. The learners
were extremely vocal on diverse areas from wind energy through to school
closures to corruption. At the end of the lesson they had to write their own
political manifesto for Shetland in preparation for next lesson’s mock
election. They all expressed an interest in using a future lesson to read up on
candidates for the forthcoming local elections in May, so they can make well
informed choices when the time comes…
My learners have paid
for their Headway course books and seem to appreciate having them. It’s easy to
see why: they are attractive and glossy and provide learners with a useful
record of what has been learned. When learners only have one English lesson a
week, it is easy to stick with the course book to create a sense of progress.
However, tonight’s lesson has encouraged me to try to work in a few more “book
free” sessions.
