Let’s welcome Teacher Catherine from SpeakABC to share her top tips on making online group classes more engaging and educational for your students!
Catherine recently taught several group classes to her students to celebrate Chinese New Year, using Abridge Academy’s free Chinese ESL lesson slides as well as materials from Crystal Clear ESL.
Check out this detailed video (with class clips) from Teacher Catherine’s YouTube on this topic:
Tip #1: Use interactive teaching materials
To have a successful group class, your lessons need to be interactive. In my Chinese New Year classes, we were singing, dancing and playing games – just like a Chinese New Year party!
I used interactive lesson slides from the Abridge Academy curriculum and Crystal Clear ESL. I adapted them into EDB files for use on my teaching platform, ClassIn.
Students can drag-and-drop keywords to match them with pictures, circle with the annotation tools, and act out the animals with video filters.
Tip #2: Give everybody an equal amount of talk time
It’s important that you try and give everybody an equal amount of talk time. This makes your students feel valued and motivated.
Remember – parents are watching in the background! They want to hear their children speak. Ultimately, the parents are the paying clients so you want to keep them happy.
Tip #3: Know the virtual tools
When you’re teaching online classes, you need to be confident using your teaching platform’s online tools. In particular, master the mute button and the pen button! I use ClassIn for my online lessons.
Classes run smoother if you know how to use the tools, and if you’ve taught students how to use them as well. I use flashcards with the tool icons to prompt students which tools to use.
Tip #4: Ask open-ended questions
Encourage your students to express themselves! I ask open-ended questions that relate to the lesson. I love hearing all their ideas and feelings. If they can connect their personal experiences to the lesson content, they retain more of what you’re teaching.
Looking for more engaging teaching materials for your online ESL classes?
Check out the Abridge Academy curriculum – with hundreds of interactive lesson slides full of fun drag-and-drop activities, games, quizzes and more!