Quick Fix Lesson Resources for EFL Teachers

By: Nadia Zehni
Submitted: 2007-01-17 10:58:54
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Any EFL teacher will appreciate how much effort goes into planning a lesson down to the smallest details. And any teacher will also know that every now and then you will have days where you won’t be able to spend too long planning and need a back up plan! Here are a few quick fix ideas and resources which will hopefully save you time and stress as they did for me:

Ready Made Lesson Plans
There are a few EFL websites which I really could not have done without during my first 6 months of teaching. When I was stuck and too drained to come up with an inventive topic to teach I logged on to these reliable resources and was guaranteed to find a ready made lesson plan for all levels with related exercises that my classes always enjoyed.

English 4 U - This site was my absolute life saver for group and one-to-one lessons alike. The topics covered are interesting and the subsequent exercises are www.english-4u.com

One Stop English – This site is really good for additional activities to your lessons, or ‘time fillers’ when you have a few minutes left of class and can’t start a new topic. www.onestopenglish.com

Grammar SOS
I have to admit, explaining grammar is my least favourite part of teaching... However, it’s an element which I always try to incorporate into my lessons in a fun way. So when I’m in doubt, instead of scrambling through thick volumes of grammar books, I log on to EnglishForums.com. English Forums is the currently the biggest EFL community on the web where you will be able to look up any linguistic or grammatical elements you’re unsure of and view posts written by other qualified volunteer EFL teachers all over the world. You could also post a specific question which will be answered usually within a few hours of submission. This is also an excellent resource to recommend to your students if they are ever in doubt while doing homework, or if they want to communicate with other English learners. www.englishforums.com

On Hand Dictionary
An excellent dictionary software I found on the internet is WordWeb. It’s a download which gives you the definition of a word and its synonyms. It runs without the internet and it’s saved me hours of fumbling around with paper dictionaries when stuck for a definition during class! Especially during one-to-one sessions it has been invaluable when trying to explain terms on the spot. www.wordweb.info

I hope this helps you take a breather every now and then and be reassured that you have these resources to fall back to.

Good luck!

About the Author: Nadia Zehni has extensive experience teaching English as a Foreign Language in England, Malta and France. She is a regular contributor to EnglishForums.com, the world’s busiest EFL community, which receives over 30,000 visits a day. It’s an excellent resource for EFL teachers looking for information about grammar, phonetics, EFL jobs and teaching tips. English students on the other hand can learn English by posting questions and getting help from volunteer EFL teachers, as well as speaking with other learners. To benefit from this fantastic resource sign up for free at http://www.englishforums.com!

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