Online
You're starting a class and want to provide your student with a set of random questions to warm up, but you're short on time. What could help you?
Random check-in generator: https://checkin.daresay.io/
You've just finished a class and are running pretty low on energy for the next one. How to quickly boost your energy level?
Do 10 jumps or squats.
(offline) Your students are unstoppable! They get completely immersed in the discussion, and you feel like you're about to lose your voice trying to get their attention back. How to deal with that?
Either gently put a hand on their shoulders and tell them to wrap it up, or go with "Who can hear me clap once" trick.
Ask them to put their worries in a cloud or a star, for that matter! https://www.pixelthoughts.co/
A nifty way to have your students memorize Present Perfect Continuous, or Comparetives, or anything that contains a formula.
A cup
When your student looks at a pdf, you've noticed that it takes a while for them to find the task you're currently on. How to help them focus?
Provide only the picture/text you're dealing with by using Lightshot - an easy screencapturing tool.
You can't get started on lesson planning for the upcoming week (and you have to plan quite a few). Procrastination is looming on the horizon. How to finally get the prepping done?
Try Pomodoro https://pomofocus.io/
You gave your students a task to make a story and then share with each other. They hardly listen, though. How to change that?
Make sure there's some kind of an information gap that that will fill by listening to their partner. It could be counting the irregular verbs, or asking 2 follow-up questions, or even react using target vocabulary.
Your student is anxious to speak, and their voice is trembling, despite your pretty good rapport. How to help them calm down?
Use the "blow a candle" trick.
A way to make sure your students don't neglect both 'to be' and '-ing' in Present Continuous.
Cheburashka
You've found this nice worksheet with a game, but it looks hellish - 2007 style editing, crazy fonts, poor quality. It will take forever to re-type it, though. How to speed it up?
You have 7 students, each with a different goal, but they share similar struggles, and the materials you use sometimes overlap. How to keep track of who learned what?
Try Notion!
Encourage them to use Quizlet: it virtually takes 2 minutes to make a set, and they will benefit from a gamified independant work.
You feel like the vocabulary practice that the textbook/worksheet provides is scant, and you realized you'd like to add something up. However, you have just 10 minutes left before the class. What could save you?
Ask ChatGPT to come up with fun prompts containing the target vocabulary.
No third person singular -s in Present Simple! Ugh!!! When will they memorize it already?
A balloon
You want to revise words and play Alias. How do you do it online?
Couple of ways: design a slide with all the words visible in a grid, or go for https://circlegames.io/
Your working to-do list is already 3 feet long, and there's also life maintenance that needs to be taken care of. How to make sure you're not neglecting tasks such as:
Clean the floor
Eat
Send a list of vocab to the student
Think about an alternative topic for the student
Call mom?
Try the Why's Technique: think how exactly you benefit from these activities in the long run.
- Clean the floor – so that I work in a comfy environment
- Eat - so that I have energy
- Send a list of vocab to the student – so that I remember what to ask next time
- Think about an alternative topic for the student – so that they’re more engaged and we have more fun
- Call mom – to take a break from work, learn some news
You're on to your 3rd task during the class, but people are still working in the same pairs. It's high time you split them! How to do that in a fun way?
Instead of 1-2, 1-2, try using some words related to your lesson topic.
You find it excruciatingly hard to keep up with providing homework on time. Every time you make yourself sit down and do it feels like a torture. What can be done?
Try "2 minute rule": if a task can be completed in less then 2 minutes, do it right after the class, while your brain is still in the teaching flow.
Your A2/B1 student keeps using Russian, even though they're perfectly capable of being taught in English, if the language is graded properly.
Try Russian cloud or greeen marker
How to come up with a great lead-in to make your lesson coherent?
Use Twee or Scattegories, where categories act as things you'll be discussing at the lesson.
You're in a terrible mood before the class: life feels futile, you're tired, all you want to do is binge-watch series with a bucket of ice-crean at you side. How to get yourself in a teaching shape?
Try "Step over the pencil" techinique or this one: https://www.pixelthoughts.co/
Let them know you're in control in a light-hearted way (I got it, that's why you got me here, leave it to me!). Have one-on-one after class to develop an agreement concerning such unsolicited corrections.
You're working with a long-term student, and at times it feels hard and repetitive. What can be a breath of fresh air?
Come up with a tradition you both enjoy: it could be 5 minutes of their fav content, or watching reels, discussing memes (bring a meme to class/reel of the day). That way they'll always have something to anticipate.
They've yawned 4 times over the past few mintes already.