Episode Forty

Tips for Teaching Reading Lessons Online

Show Notes

Way back in Episodes 16, 18, and 20, we went through the fundamentals of teaching effective reading lessons. But what if you’re teaching online? In this episode, I’m sharing my top tips for teaching a reading lesson in a virtual classroom.

In this Episode…

Tip #1: Consider how Ss will see / access the text

  • format on PPT or Google slide

  • Google doc 

  • Google forms 

  • Jamboard 

Tip #2: Put the task and text on the same slide / document 

  • requires formatting PPT or slide so they both fit, if possible

  • backup plan: show a slide with the questions first and ask students to take a screen shot

  • You can put both the text and the task in the same Google form or doc

Tip #3: Give Ss time to read silently 

  • can be awkward online, but embrace the silence! Mute yourself if you must! 

  • asking students to read aloud is still not ok, even online 

  • students need time to process and read at their own speed 

Tip #4: Let students check answers in pairs after reading tasks 

  • use breakout rooms for this

  • this gives you insight into students’ performance / comfort level with the task, especially since you can't easily monitor them reading silently the way you can in a physical classroom

  • monitor the breakout rooms to get a sense of how students did with the reading

  • peer teaching is happening! Students often share screens and point things out in the text

Tip #5: Make feedback visual

  • elicit answers from the students and then record these visually (share slide or form, etc.) 

  • ideal to also share text so you can underline / point out where answers are found

  • highlight key words

 (Bonus!) Tip #6: Manage your timing by keeping other stages short

  • having a fun lead-in and doing a vocabulary pre-teach are great ideas… but not at the expense of reading time

  • students need to read same text multiple times – you need time for this! 

  • you may need to go into depth on feedback for the detailed task - if students have questions, you don’t want to have to rush this!

What questions do you have about teaching reading online?

Episode Thirty-nine

Interview with Jackie Bolen: Tips for Making Lessons Student-Centered

Show Notes

Jackie Bolen taught English in South Korea at private institutes and universities for over ten years. She now lives in Vancouver, Canada where she is (as I like to say) a TEFLpreneur: she teaches, writes, and runs two successful websites: eslactivity.org and eslspeaking.org. She is both CELTA and DELTA certified and strongly believes in the value of communicative, interactive language teaching. She is particularly interested in using games in the ESL classroom, and she's published several games and activities books, which you can find on Amazon. In her spare time, Jackie is usually on the hunt for the most delicious kimchi she can find, which isn't that easy to come by in Vancouver!

This is the second time Jackie has joined me as a guest on Expand Your Horizons, and I'm very happy to welcome her back. In this episode, we're talking about strategies for maximizing student talk time, minimizing teacher talk time, and making lessons more student-centered in general. 

““If students are active and engaged… then their brains are active, and they’re going to remember what they used in the lesson.” ”
— -Jackie Bolen

In this Episode…

Why is it important to make lessons student-centered?

  • It makes the language is more memorable

  • It's more engaging and fun (students don't zone out)

  • It provides actual, hands-on practice for the students – real learning is taking place as opposed to passive observation

  • You get feedback from your students! If you don't involve students in the lesson, you have no way to know how they're doing in their language development. Increasing student talk time means you get regular feedback and can check whether students are retaining the information, following you, and enjoying the lesson.

How can we make lessons more student-centered? 

 Consider task-based learning 

  • An example of a task-based speaking lesson: planning a three-course meal

  • What constitutes a "task" in a task-based lesson

  • Why having a communicative goal for a task or activity is important

  • Why having a group presentation or asking students to share "results" of a task adds a healthy amount of pressure to the lesson

  • How to do feedback in a task-based lesson

  • How task-based learning allows the students to choose the language they learn

  • How task-based learning takes some of the pressure off of you as the teacher

Other ways to make lessons more Ss-centered

  • Choose activities wisely (surveys, board games, pair work)

  • Why it's important to put students in pairs and small groups rather than doing everything as a whole class

  • Why you should ask yourself "can I avoid this?" whenever you are planning to talk in front of the whole class

  • How to minimize teacher talk when you do need to address the whole class

  • Using a test-teach-test approach to decrease teacher-centeredness

  • Link to test-teach-test resources

  • Tips for making clarification stages more student-centered

  • Why you should see the word "explain" as a red flag on your lesson plan 

Fun activities to involve students in class

·       Using surveys to get students involved 

·       Using board games

·       Getting students to do informal presentations 

·       Giving the "listeners" a task for a presentation 

·       Getting students to give and request feedback on each other's presentations 

Where to find Jackie:

Let’s Talk TEFL podcast

Books on Amazon

Which of these ideas are you excited to try out? Let me know in the comments below!

Episode Thirty-eight

Troubleshooting in Online Lessons

Show Notes

…And we’re back! After a podcasting hiatus, I’m excited to bring you new episodes of Expand Your Horizons. In this episode, I’m reflecting on some of the most common issues I’ve seen arise in online lessons and sharing my best advice for for how to deal with them.

In this Episode…


Problem: students arrive late or filter in randomly 

  • why you shouldn’t wait – creates a slippery slope! (obviously, this applies to group classes - you’ll have to wait if there’s only one student!)

  • what you can do instead: start an activity in pairs / groups (discussion questions, review game, etc)

  • creating extra breakout rooms so you can add Ss as needed 

  • having students explain the activity to latecomers 

Problem: tech doesn't work for some students (accessing Google doc, etc)

  • creating a “low-tech” backup plan you can implement instead  

 Problem: students having trouble with Zoom, connections, etc. 

  • why you can only assist students up to a point

  • how you might be able to help during or outside of class time

  • making a video that explains key tech features  

  • troubleshooting breakout room numbers when there are connection issues for some students

Problem: students aren't engaging in the lesson

  •  being more direct: asking them to turn cameras on

  • reasons students might not use their cameras

  • setting clear policies and expectations for your online classes

  • why more breakout rooms are the answer and how these help students connect

  • ensuring activities have communicative goals (i.e. find 3 things in common) 

  • making goals manageable and concrete

  • checking your own clarity: were your instructions direct and easy to understand?

  • Is there something that's going to happen with the outcome of the goal?  (i.e. presenting to the class?) 

Have any issues come up in your online classes? Leave a comment below for advice in a future episode.

Episode Thirty-seven

Error correction

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Show Notes

This week’s episode considers common questions around error correction:

  • Should you correct every error your students make?

  • If not, how do you know whether to correct an error?

  • When is the best time to correct an error?

  • How do you correct errors most effectively?

Tune in for advice on when, how, and why we can correct our students’ errors in an online class.

In this Episode

  • What you need to understand before you can think about error correction: the two possible purposes of any given activity in a lesson

  • Why the distinction between accuracy and fluency is essential to deciding if you should correct an error

  • The one key question to ask yourself to determine whether or not you should correct an error

  • Delayed error correction: what this is and how it works

  • Tips for making delayed error correction time-efficient

  • How to make delayed error correction student-centered

  • How to correct errors on the spot

  • Effective error correction methods that prompt students to self-correct

  • When and why you might not need to correct some errors at all

Looking for more detailed advice about how to teach English online? Check out the Online English Teacher course!

Episode Thirty-six

Interview with Jessie Ebersole: How ELT Organizations are Adapting Online and Virtual Volunteer Teaching

Show Notes

I’m happy to welcome back a returning guest this week on Expand Your Horizons: Jessie Ebersole. Jessie joined me on the podcast in the fall of 2019, but in case you missed our previous conversation, let me briefly introduce her before we dive into our conversation. Jessie is the Director of Academic Programs at Washington English Center, which is a non-profit English language school for adult immigrants in Washington, D.C. WEC offers 14 levels of ESL classes, and they rely on volunteer teachers for all of those. Jessie started out in the TESOL field as a volunteer herself, and she later went on to complete a master’s degree in TESOL at American University. She has a lot of experience in this field, including teaching at American University’s English Language Training Academy, and working as a draft writer for parts of Intercambio’s textbook series Confidence and Connections.

I’m thrilled to have Jessie join me here again, because I have a lot of respect for the work she does and for Washington English Center as an organization. In our conversation, Jessie and I catch up on how WEC is adapting to online teaching, discuss her take on the current state of the ELT industry and share opportunities for volunteer teaching online.

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In this Episode

  • How Washington English Center serves the community and what Jessie does there

  • How WEC quickly adapted and moved their programs online when the Covid-19 pandemic began

  • What a typical WEC class looks like now that everything is fully online

  • The benefits of online learning and what students and teachers have gained from the change

  • How online learning is making local organizations global

  • The challenges of moving classes online, for staff/ teachers and for WEC as an organization

  • If you’re interested in doing volunteer teaching online: what you should know

  • The process of becoming a paid staff member at an organization like WEC

  • The benefits of volunteer teaching and working with an organization like WEC

  • What Jessie loves about the ELT industry, and how that’s changed since we’ve all gone virtual

  • Jessie’s predictions for the future of online teaching: where she thinks we’ll go from here, even post-pandemic

  • Her thoughts about whether WEC will continue to offer online classes, even after it’s safe to resume teaching in person

  • How to get in touch with Washington English Center or learn more: check out their website, find them on Facebook, or reach out to Jessie directly at jebersole@washingtonenglish.org

Want to get certified to teach English online? Check out TEFL Horizons’ Online English Teacher training course

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Episode Thirty-five

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Updates for the New Year and a Few Things I’ve Learned About Online Teaching

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Show Notes

Welcome to the first Expand Your Horizons episode of 2021! In this episode, I'm sharing a few personal and professional updates, as well as summarizing a few key takeaway lessons I learned about teaching English online in the last year.

In this Episode

  • 2020: it was quite a ride! A few personal updates

Professional updates

  • Lauren’s transition from TEFL Horizons to pursuing an MA

  • The launch of the Online English Teacher course - a culmination of everything I’ve learned so far about online teaching and methodology, which I’m extremely excited about. The pilot session is starting in February!

  • My own transition from in-person to online teaching and training, and how I’ve adapted

Six things I learned this past year about online teaching

  • 1. How to use and adapt resources: lesson frameworks don’t change, but the materials do

  • 2. Technology takes practice and patience… why you need a backup plan (or five)

  • 3. Communication and connection still matters (and is still possible!) online - why it may be more important now than ever

  • 4. Everything takes longer online… and how to plan accordingly

  • 5. Overall, the good outweighs the bad: the things I now love about online teaching

  • Practice makes (almost) perfect: why good training matters even more for online teachers

What do you want to hear on the podcast in 2021? Leave a comment below and let me know!

Looking for tips and strategies for your online teaching? Sign up for an invite to the next series of free webinar workshops, coming at the end of January.

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Episode Thirty-four

Differences between Teaching English in Person and Teaching Online

Show Notes

By now, you may have tried your hand at teaching English online, or perhaps you’re just thinking about getting started. So what are the key factors to consider when you’re teaching through a screen as opposed to in the physical classroom? In this episode, we look at the important differences between teaching online and teaching in person.

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In this Episode

  • The most obvious difference: the addition of technology, and how this affects your lesson

  • Tips for handling/ troubleshooting potential tech issues

  • Class size: how the online environment impacts groups and one on one lessons

  • Why teaching online may mean you’re more likely to be teaching one on one

  • Sharing materials online- what to do when you can’t just hand them to the students

  • Board work and making your lessons visual: planning ahead for how you’ll clarify language and ensure this is clear and accessible for your students through a screen

  • Methods of giving feedback to tasks in an online platform

  • The task cycle; just because the lesson is online doesn’t mean students should be doing everything together as a class. Why you’ll want to continue to use microstages such as individual time and pair/ group work

  • A special offer on the online CELTA course through IH Mexico

  • Register for an upcoming free webinar workshop!

How do you feel about teaching online? Leave us a comment below!

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Episode Thirty-three

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Interview with Ricardo Fajardo: Teaching Exam Preparation Classes Online

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Show Notes

Hello and welcome to this week’s episode of Expand Your Horizons. Today our guest on the podcast is Ricardo Fajardo, who is joining us to talk about teaching a specific type of English class – exam preparation.

 Ricardo has been a teacher of English for 24 years and a teacher trainer for the last 12 years. He is currently a CELTA tutor and assessor, which has given him the chance to travel as well as help and learn from other teacher training centers. He is also an ICELT and DELTA tutor and works as a freelancer on different projects such as writing materials for course books or helping teachers remotely as an online consultant. He is an accredited IELTS examiner as well as a Cambridge KET, PET, FCE, CAE, and CPE oral examiner, so he clearly has a good deal of experience with proficiency exams and what students need to know in order to succeed on them. In our conversation today, we’re discussing tips for teaching exam preparation classes, and how we might transfer or adapt these strategies for online classes.

In this Episode

  • What “proficiency exams” are, and popular proficiency exams: Cambridge exams, IELTS, TOEFL, etc.

  • How teaching exam preparation differs from teaching general English classes

  • Why it’s important to understand how each exam works, plus what exactly is being tested and how it’s being tested

  • How the different exams may differ in terms of content and scoring

  • How the exams test the four skills

  • What teachers should know if they’re teaching exam preparation classes for the first time

  • How and why to check students’ current English level to understand what to prioritize in exam preparation classes: remembering that students can be stronger in some skills than others

  • How to conduct a needs analysis: using a mock test of the exam students are prepping for is a great idea!

  • How to find material to use for a needs analysis/ diagnostic test at the beginning of an exam prep class

  • Setting realistic expectations and understanding how to prioritize time spent in the course

  • A typical misconception students may have coming in: that all they need to know is the format of the exam

  • Why it’s sometimes necessary to improve a student’s general English level before focusing on exam prep

  • How to transfer what we know about teaching exam preparation to an online lesson format

  • Getting accustomed to teaching online exam prep classes

  • Dealing with interaction patterns online

  • Potential challenges of teaching exam prep online

  • Helping students practice speaking and writing in online classes

  • Providing helpful models of language online

  • Helping students identify functional language and structure in writing practice

  • Providing feedback on students’ writing

  • Why it’s important to understand the parameters of the speaking and writing tasks on the exam: fluency is not enough!

  • Why practice makes perfect in exam preparation

  • Why learning a particular formula increases students’ exam scores

  • Tools and resources for teaching exam preparation classes

  • Teaching platforms: Zoom, Skype, Vedamo

  • Interactive white boards

  • idroo.com and Google Jamboard

  • A useful resource for understanding and comparing the different exams: examenglish.com

  • Collaborating with other teachers and understanding the exam criteria

  • Tips for learning how the exams are structured

  • Checking out Youtube videos to help understand the different exams

  • Encouraging peer collaboration among students and prompting them to continue their practice outside the classroom

Looking for more in-depth training on teaching English online? You can now get your CELTA certification 100% online - with live online teaching practice! Check it out here.

And don’t forget to sign up for our next free webinar workshop here.

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