How to Teach English One-on-One
Summary
TLDRThis video script offers 10 essential tips for one-on-one teaching, highlighting the importance of first impressions, rapport building, and personalized lesson planning. It emphasizes the need for structured classes with clear goals, the use of visual materials, and the incorporation of student interests to maintain engagement. The script also addresses challenges like maintaining motivation and provides strategies for effective feedback, homework, and leveraging technology to enhance the learning experience.
Takeaways
- 📚 **Prepare Thoroughly:** One-on-one teaching requires careful preparation to avoid exhaustion and ensure a productive learning experience.
- 🌐 **Online Teaching Opportunities:** Platforms like Preply allow tutors to set their own prices, schedules, and access resources to teach languages online from anywhere.
- 🔗 **Building Rapport:** Establishing rapport with the student from the beginning is crucial for a successful one-on-one teaching relationship.
- 📝 **Assess Student Needs:** Determine the student's level, strengths, weaknesses, and goals to tailor lessons effectively.
- 🎯 **Set Clear Goals:** Having specific, measurable objectives helps in creating a personalized plan and tracking student progress.
- 🗓 **Establish a Routine:** Structuring classes with a routine helps keep both the teacher and student organized and focused.
- 🗣️ **Increase Student Participation:** Encourage more student talking time to improve fluency and confidence.
- 👀 **Use Visual Aids:** Visual materials like photographs and maps can enrich lessons and stimulate conversation.
- 📈 **Monitor Progress:** Keep records of student achievements to maintain motivation and provide tangible evidence of improvement.
- 📝 **Provide Feedback:** Regularly noting and addressing errors or gaps in the student's knowledge can lead to substantial improvements.
- 🏆 **Create Success Opportunities:** Design lessons with achievable goals to ensure the student experiences success and remains motivated.
- 📚 **Utilize Homework:** Assigning homework can reinforce learning, address difficulties, and maintain momentum between sessions.
Q & A
What are some challenges of teaching a student one-on-one compared to in a group setting?
-Teaching one-on-one can be more exhausting as there is less expectation for students to work with one another, and the teacher has less time to move between students, requiring more preparation and energy.
How does online one-on-one teaching differ from in-person teaching?
-Online one-on-one teaching allows for more flexibility as teachers can set their own price, create their own schedule, and teach from anywhere in the world.
What resources does Prepley offer to tutors to help them succeed in online language teaching?
-Prepley offers resources such as a steady stream of new students, a smart calendar for scheduling, curriculum and lesson plans, and convenient payment methods.
Why is the first lesson crucial in one-on-one teaching?
-The first lesson is crucial because it sets the tone for the student-teacher relationship and it's the first impression, which is hard to change.
How can a teacher build rapport with a student during the initial stages of one-on-one teaching?
-A teacher can build rapport by getting to know the student from the first moment, starting with names and brief introductions, and asking questions about their background, interests, and goals.
What is the importance of understanding a student's level and goals in one-on-one teaching?
-Understanding a student's level and goals helps the teacher to focus on what needs improvement, avoiding repetition of what the student already knows, and allows for personalized lesson planning.
Why is it beneficial to ask students about their specific learning goals and future plans in one-on-one teaching?
-Asking about specific goals helps in creating a personalized plan tailored to the student's needs, making the lessons more relevant and motivating for the student.
How can a teacher establish a structured class routine in one-on-one teaching?
-A teacher can establish a routine by opening each lesson with a conversation, reviewing previous work, and setting clear objectives for each lesson, ensuring the student knows what to expect.
What strategies can a teacher use to increase student talking time during one-on-one lessons?
-Strategies include using visual materials, applying content and language integrated learning, making lessons student-centered, using prompts or gestures, and employing task-based learning.
How can a teacher maintain a student's motivation in one-on-one teaching, especially after initial progress?
-A teacher can maintain motivation by keeping a record of the student's progress, setting measurable goals, providing regular feedback, and using visual and audio materials to keep lessons engaging.
What role does homework play in one-on-one tutoring sessions, and how can it be effectively utilized?
-Homework plays a crucial role in reinforcing lessons, providing opportunities for practice, and preparing for the next session. It can be effectively utilized by assigning relevant tasks that address specific areas of difficulty and by checking and correcting them in the next class.
Why is it important for a teacher to give feedback during one-on-one lessons, and how can they do it effectively?
-Giving feedback is important as it helps address persistent errors and gaps in the student's knowledge. Teachers can do this effectively by noting down mistakes and corrections during the lesson and focusing on these errors at the end of the session.
How can a teacher use visual materials like photographs and maps in one-on-one teaching to enhance learning?
-Visual materials provide a rich source of vocabulary and conversation. Teachers can use them to focus on particular structures, create dialogues, and stimulate interest in discussing places, experiences, or situations.
What are some interactive activities that a teacher can use in one-on-one lessons to engage the student?
-Interactive activities include role plays, information gap exercises, skits, dialogues based on real-life situations, two-minute presentations, telephone calls, writing emails, and participating in drills or games.
Outlines
📚 One-on-One Teaching Strategies and Online Tutoring Platforms
This paragraph discusses the challenges and strategies for one-on-one teaching, emphasizing the importance of preparation and rapport building with the student. It introduces online tutoring platforms like Preply, which offers resources such as a steady stream of students, scheduling tools, and curriculum support, and TutorAcademy, which provides courses to enhance tutoring skills. The paragraph also covers the significance of the first lesson in making a strong impression, understanding the student's level, goals, and areas for improvement to create a personalized learning plan.
📝 Establishing a Structured and Goal-Oriented Lesson Plan
The second paragraph focuses on creating a structured lesson plan with clear objectives and achievable goals for every class. It suggests using a book to streamline lesson planning and emphasizes the importance of consistency, patience, and flexibility during classes. The paragraph also highlights the need to increase student talking time, using various strategies such as applied content learning, task-based learning, and personalizing lessons to target the student's strengths and weaknesses. It also touches on the use of visual materials and the importance of establishing rapport between the teacher and student.
🌟 Maintaining Student Motivation and Progress Tracking
This paragraph addresses the challenge of maintaining student motivation, especially after the initial progress phase. It suggests keeping a record of the student's achievements to provide tangible evidence of improvement. The paragraph also discusses the importance of setting measurable goals, using visual and audio materials, and providing feedback to address persistent errors. It encourages the use of homework to reinforce learning outside of class and to prepare for the next session, ensuring a coherent and progressive learning experience.
🎓 Enhancing Learning Through Interactive Activities and Homework
The final paragraph emphasizes the role of interactive activities and homework in enhancing the learning experience. It suggests using role plays, gap exercises, and real-life situation dialogues to provide authentic language practice. The paragraph also highlights the importance of teacher participation in activities to model language use and interaction. It concludes by discussing the value of homework in allowing learners to practice extended writing, research, and controlled exercises, and the importance of setting expectations for preparation and engagement in subsequent sessions.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡One-on-One Teaching
💡PrepLey
💡TutorAcademy
💡First Impression
💡Rapport
💡Level Determination
💡Personalized Plan
💡Structure
💡Student Talking Time
💡Visual Materials
💡Motivation
💡Homework
💡Feedback
Highlights
Teaching one-on-one can be more exhausting than in groups due to higher expectations and less time to manage.
Online one-to-one teaching is increasingly popular and offers flexibility in pricing, scheduling, and global accessibility.
PrepLey and PrepLey TutorAcademy provide resources, including new students, smart calendars, and lesson plans, to support online tutors.
First impressions are crucial in one-on-one teaching; professionalism and preparation are key to establishing rapport.
Understanding a student's background, interests, and goals is essential for tailoring lessons to their needs.
Identifying students' weaknesses and goals helps in creating a personalized learning plan for faster improvement.
Structuring classes with a routine helps keep both the teacher and student organized and aware of expectations.
Encouraging students to share from their lives using English enhances rapport and practical language use.
Writing exercises, such as paragraphs about their day, provide opportunities for writing practice and immediate feedback.
Setting clear, measurable goals and objectives helps track student progress and maintain direction in tutoring sessions.
Being consistent, patient, and flexible contributes to building trust and respect in the teacher-student relationship.
Increasing student talking time through structured lessons and engaging activities improves language practice.
Using visual materials like photographs and maps enriches vocabulary and sparks conversation in one-on-one settings.
Maintaining motivation is crucial, especially after the initial progress, by providing evidence of improvement and setting measurable goals.
Homework assignments can reinforce learning outside of class and provide material for class discussions and corrections.
Providing opportunities for students to succeed by including exercises they can complete successfully builds confidence.
Giving feedback on errors and weaknesses during lessons helps students to self-correct and improve their language skills.
Using a variety of activities, such as role plays and dialogues, can simulate real-life situations and enhance language use.
Collaborating with students in activities provides a language model and demonstrates effective interaction in English.
Transcripts
teaching a student one-on-one can be
difficult in groups they can work with
one another there is less expectation
and you have more time to move between
them with only one student it can be an
exhausting experience if you are not
well prepared in today's video I will
share 10 things to consider when
teaching or tutoring one-on-one one
one-to-one teaching can happen in person
or more and more widely online so I want
to share properly for any teacher that
wants to make money teaching a language
online prickly allows you to set your
own price create your own schedule and
make money from anywhere in the world to
help you succeed prepley offers
resources to all its tutors which
include a steady stream of new students
a smart calendar to easily keep track of
your schedule curriculum and lesson
plans use your own or prep please
convenient payment methods to receive
your money properly tutoracademy which
gives you access to more than 40 courses
to help you prepare for your lessons and
become a better tutor so how do you
start click on the link down below and
complete your registration add your
details record an engaging intro video
once you've been accepted set your own
price and teach from anywhere in the
world get connected with students or add
your own conduct lessons and start
making money online back to teaching
one-on-one the first lesson you never
get a second chance to make a first
impression be professional look the part
and be prepared start building Rapport
by getting to know your student from the
first moment you meet start with your
name and a brief introduction of who you
are and your experience next ask
questions to your student to determine
their level start simply by asking basic
information such as their age birthday
family past experiences likes dislikes
hobbies and Future future goals pay
attention to what they already know when
you determine their level and knowledge
you can focus on what they need to
improve no need to go over what they've
already learned that way you can help
them improve faster and focus on
learning new things ask where they're
having trouble students are often aware
of their weaknesses they know what types
of questions they consistently Miss on
quizzes what topics they struggle with
and what areas they wish to improve then
find out what their goals are by having
a specific idea of what they want to
improve you can create a personalized
plan what are their learning goals why
are they learning English you can prompt
the student further by asking about
specific goals such as study work travel
personal interests and so on which level
would they like to achieve in the next
six months what about after a year
structure your class classes
establishing a routine for your student
to follow in individualized instruction
helps you keep organized and your
student to know what to expect try
opening each lesson with a conversation
about each other's day what has happened
to them since the last time you met if
you meet them every day let them go
through their schedule what did they do
what what are their thoughts on some
things you can share a song or video
clip you study a book rotate through
some games gossip interesting news
International or local events if they
are young it's a great way to learn when
you go through their likes dislikes and
use flashcards to help you you can also
review what you did the previous class
repetition equals retention most
students have a phone if they aren't
already encourage them to take photos
during their week and then share some
with you it could be of an activity
something they ate or their pets why is
this good not only do they get to share
things from their lives which increases
rapport with you but they also use
English to relate their lives which
means that it is practical and useful
you can have your student write a
paragraph or two depending on their
English ability about their day or a
specific topic this is a great exercise
for writing practice and your student
can receive immediate feedback while
also having a record to show progress
over time set goals and establish
specific measurable objectives this will
allow you to set a diagnostic to the
progress of your student and program
State objectives before you start the
one-on-one activity let your student
know what to expect from your tutoring
session always keep in mind that you
want to have Direction when working with
your student before you begin any
activity State the objective and what it
would mean for them to grasp the concept
having a structure to your lessons will
make it much easier have these check
marks of what you want to accomplish in
each lesson the chat comes in between
don't base your lesson off of chatting
have achievable goals you wish to
realize for every class if you have them
for set number of classes plan it out it
would help to have a book to work from
that way you don't have to plan
everything yourself here is an example
of a structure you can use in class
introduction practice vocabulary grammar
presentation give homework fun game or
chat to wind down be consistent make a
point to be patient encouraging and
flexible during each class a student's
life may be filled with many
inconsistencies you want to be a
constant and positive role model in
their life this will help help you gain
their respect and Trust show up on time
and be ready to work increase student
talking time now that your lesson has
structure you want to start class by
reviewing previous work checking
homework or doing a fun icebreaking
activity the reason why we do this is to
warm the student up for talking just
like you would stretch your muscles
before exercise most students need to be
eased into a talkative mood you could
also start by asking questions about
their week asking the student leading
questions about vocabulary or grammar
will help the rest of your lesson run
more smoothly on the ETI teach website
we have thousands of questions on a
variety of topics that you can use for
your classes pick from the questions or
take turns asking one another there may
be times when a student is unresponsive
creating silence in class this more
often occurs with younger Learners who
are pushed by their parent to take the
class it rarely happens with adult
students because they tend to be more
self-motivated and are probably spending
their own money to have class when a
student remains quiet it's up to your
creative lessons to generate a response
using props or flashcards really helps
them Focus visualize and talk about the
object besides organizing learning AIDS
like vocabulary notebooks or timelines
for verb tenses here are some tips for
increasing student talking time applied
content and language integrated learning
make its student centered use prompts or
gestures to elicit vocabulary motivate
engage entertain create grammatical
awareness and employ task-based learning
give them many projects to complete
employ a holistic approach to improve
the student as individual produce and
extend the language don't use the same
question over and over again add
follow-up questions recycle grammar
encourage Learners to notice language
and remember to bring personality or
your background into the class building
Rapport between teacher and student is
vitally important for them to buy into
learning personalize your lessons
teachers have the chance to customize
each lesson to his or her students needs
and the possibility to Target activities
to a student's strengths or weaknesses
is a huge plus but the greatest benefits
are for the students it grants them the
unique opportunity for intensive
practice if the student speaks for most
of the lesson he or she will make
progress faster and the same goes for
other skills still the teacher is the
one responsible for maximizing their
time with the students visual materials
work well in most one-to-one situations
materials such as photographs graphs
maps pictures and so on provide a rich
source of vocabulary and conversation
and can be used by the teacher to focus
on a particular structure maps and
atlases are particularly useful as most
people find them interesting and are
ready to talk about places they have
visited or would like to visit in the
future a sign of fluency in any language
is being able to fully describe a
situation or scene print out pictures or
use images in a textbook rip out ads
from magazines and have your student
explain what's going on you can ask
follow-up questions to create a dialogue
during the first lesson you establish
the needs of your student if their goals
are work related to improve test scores
or improving their General English
communication and the strengths and
weaknesses use that information to
create a curriculum for your student and
build lessons that put them at the
center point if they feel that a lesson
is valuable they will be more engaged
and motivated to improve which is why
they want you as a tutor in the first
place another challenge is maintaining
motivation after initial progress after
the first few lessons students may feel
like they've reached a plateau their
progress is less obvious to them because
they don't have other students to
compare themselves with by keeping a
record of what they have done learned
achieved they have physical evidence of
improvement which will keep their
motivation high you can have a list of
vocabulary that they learn each week set
up quizzes to help them gauge their
levels and see what still needs to be
worked on write short journals it's a
nice routine that can be done at the
start of class about simple topics such
as their week hobbies and current events
or at the end to review set measurable
goals have a time-based plan for each
lesson understanding what they will be
working on in a Time manner will help
Focus your students attention be
consistent make it a point to be patient
encouraging and flexible during each
session visual materials work well in
most one-to-one situations materials
such as photographs maps and pictures
provide a rich source of vocabulary and
conversation and can be used by the
teacher to focus on a particular
structure I love asking my students to
share a photograph from their phones
then they have to explain the photo and
I can engage in follow-up questions
leading up to specific things we are
working on in that lesson audio and
video are also useful tools in the
one-to-one classroom apart from
providing the obvious listening skills
benefits they are also an opportunity
for the student to year different voices
and accents and for the teacher to move
out of the Limelight as an alternative
try making the student responsible for
the activity by giving them control of
the audio or video they will then pause
or rewind when they need to do so not
when you think it's necessary if
possible I would recommend going to your
nearest bookstore and look for a
workbook that suits your students needs
and has useful content inside that way
you don't need to create all your
lessons from scratch and you have a book
that you can work through give feedback
many one-on-one lessons can develop into
a pleasant chat that fills the entire
lesson amazingly quickly no doubt this
is useful fluency and listening practice
for the student and sometimes that's
what they ask for what it doesn't do
however is deal with persistent errors
or address weaknesses in grammar or
vocabulary make it a regular practice to
have a blank sheets of paper and note
down any significant or persistent
errors or obvious gaps in this students
language knowledge make one column to
the left that shows mistakes they have
made and a column to the right for
Corrections this will enable you to
spend 10 minutes or so at the end of the
lesson focusing on these errors and
where possible getting the student to
self correct students often appreciate
this approach because it is very focused
and Deals precisely with errors they
make you can also use any gaps you
notice as the basis for future lessons
provide opportunities to succeed while
you should be working towards goals you
don't want to discourage your student by
setting the bar too high every session
should include exercises you know the
student can complete successfully from
there you can build on the lesson
towards more complex exercises that may
prove more challenging if the student
doesn't perform at the level you expect
don't give up repeat the exercise until
he or she completes it correctly when
they do he preys on the student for
working through an obstacle
spend time working on errors they are a
great opportunity to make substantial
improvements homework a lot of useful
language work both grammar and
vocabulary based can be prepared as
homework and then checked in class this
gives you the opportunity to deal with
any problems and this student can ask
you to clarify any areas of difficulty
it may also be a more realistic approach
to dealing with grammar on a one-to-one
course than upfront teaching followed by
some form of controlled practice regular
homework can also help give the course a
coherent shape and each session by
looking forward to the next one the end
of a tutoring session doesn't mean the
student is finished for the week make it
clear that you expect them to prepare
for your next session in the time you're
a part if there is any work that wasn't
finished during the session assign it as
homework for the next meeting if you
have a fun activity plan for the next
session tell the students about it so
that they have something to look forward
to Learners like homework if it adds
value and teachers often forget how good
a tool it can be use homework to get
your learner to do things you wouldn't
do in class for example extended writing
research or more controlled practice
exercises some exercises you can use
with students include role plays info
Gap exercises skits be prepared to take
on a different role as a teacher for pay
work with the student dialogues based on
real life situations such as work or
everyday life provide authentic examples
of language like articles or simulating
real conversations focus on productive
skills writing and speaking and
receptive skills like reading and
listening you can combine the skills
through activities like diction or
playing back conversations two minute
presentations telephone calls write
emails as homo do drills or games like
you would in a group lesson you can
really help your student by
participating as an equal partner in
many of these activities for example if
you ask the learner to give a two-minute
presentation you should be prepared to
do the same when two people are together
they produce a dialogue not separate
monologues which means that you the
teacher have to interact provide
feedback and make sure the conversation
flows as smoothly as possible by
collaborating with your learners in
these activities you provide a language
model and a model of how to interact
when conversing in English if you do
this well you may find that your lessons
become more enjoyable conversations in
which learning occurs here is a video
with games and activities you can use
when teaching one-on-one
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