Teacher 1
I've found that one of the best ways of making sure that all the students are
involved in feedback is to give them time to check their answers in pairs before
the open class feedback. This means that they are more confident about their
answers and happier to participate in the feedback. Also, after a student has
called out an answer I always ask the rest of the group to say whether they
agree or not before I confirm whether the answer is right or wrong.
Teacher 2
At the start of the year I ask my students what topics they are interested in.
This helps me to prepare speaking activities, such as debates that are more
interesting for the students. Even when students have less personal interest
in the topic, they still participate more because the topic has come from the
group rather than the teacher and they also know that at some stage of the term
we might talk about the topic that they chose.
Teacher 3
Even though I can't actually do the reading or the listening for the students,
I've found that I can still help them a lot with a difficult text. I monitor
closely and point the students in the right direction by telling them the paragraph
or the sentence that contains the answer. With both reading and listening texts
I also give them lots of time to discuss the text in pairs and work together.
I also give them feedback as they go along, telling them which answers are correct
and which they need to change. If a student is finding a question especially
difficult I sometimes even explain the answer to them.
Teacher 4
I used to find this very frustrating when I started teaching but now I realise
that people don't learn grammar at the same rate. Students need lots of time
and space to think about the language for themselves and they never completely
grasp a new language point in one class. I also try to reassure them by explaining
that this is very natural and not something to worry about.
Teacher 5
Although it's always good to get feedback from the group it isn't always possible
to take all of their opinions into account. When I read the feedback I try to
find two or three points which different students have mentioned - and which
I also think are good suggestions - and then I discuss them with whole class.
And if we all agree that they are good ideas, I'll try to bear them in mind
for the rest of the course.