8 Pitfalls To Avoid For A New ESL Teacher.

What a “still new” teacher can tell to a “fresh new” teacher? Quite a lot! First two-three years in a classroom is a learning curve when important perspectives are shaped, the unnecessary falls off, the anxiety-causing elements are being tested and dealt with. These are the years to start shaping your idea about what this profession is going to be like for you, and whether changes and adjustments are needed for you to grow more efficient and avoid the overwhelm.

 

Let’s talk about 8 pitfalls to avoid as a new ESL teacher.

 

 

I will be honest, I am a teacher who adores grammar. I learned English through grammar rules and practiced grammar. Although it worked for me, nothing like this is a valid practice nowadays. I haven’t read this in books, I tried it in my own classroom, and it taught me some valuable lessons. First of all, students hate dry academic grammar. Second, experts say teaching grammar out of context has no value for students. Finally, although grammar is the foundation of a language, students will not magically start applying the taught rules unless they are purposefully part of a big-picture skill that students are trying to master.

 

So going back to my first weeks of teaching, I would plan a lesson around present progressive and prepositions, punctuation marks and transitions. The resistance I saw from students and low return on target skills and class productivity convinced me that teaching grammar was the dead end. Although it’s obvious to me now, back then, I was unwilling to give up my grammar teaching ambition. Now that facts tell me to do otherwise, my target has become to sprinkle grammar through my lessons as indiscreetly as parents try to hide broccoli into children’s meals. It actually works.

 

For example, when teaching students how to write or tell about themselves and their families, show them the importance of knowing about the correct use of the verb “to be,” personal pronouns, and plural nouns. When teaching short stories and discussing ideas, plan mini-lessons on main idea and details because when people talk in real life, they do discuss the main ideas and details to support their opinions. Once students see the real connection to the real world, they will more likely dig into broccoli in your “meals.”

 

 

 

In my first years of teaching, I was often confused by the students who seemed to be too fluent or too “skilled” for the level they were placed in. This also presented a problem for me because such kids would blow through my worksheets and lesson tasks in a short time and then would get bored and start disrupting the class. Over a couple of years, I have learned that these “outliers” can be managed if I know exactly in what area (speaking, reading, writing, listening) they seem to outperform their peers.

For example, an “outlier” student can be more fluent in speaking while his/her writing is at the same level as the rest of the class. Or a student might be stronger in listening while reading needs some extensive work. This was very important for me to understand because it saved me from thinking that I had to write two separate lesson plans for the same class of students. The next step was to learn how to handle them in my classroom. I did that through differentiation. Don’t panic! I still don’t write two or three lesson plans and teach two or three lessons in one. Differentiation can be applied in a way to save your energy as a teacher and address the needs of the “outliers” in your classroom. Let’s talk about differentiation later in this post.

 

 

Unfortunately, more often than we, ESL teachers, hope those who are above us and who observe us, have no idea about how an ESL class functions and what happens there. As a new teacher, I was a witness to administrators who bring no or little value with their comments after an observation. “Why do students speak Spanish in class?”, “A couple of students were using phones during the lesson” – these are the comments that tell me how much my administrator doesn’t know about what I do in the classroom. Students speaking Spanish is normal for me because I know that students need to use their mother tongue to make sense of their learning and come to the understanding of complex academic concepts they are conquering. As for cell phone use, it’s a problem of another character that is being worked on and is not related to my ESL teaching practices.

One of my former principles asked me what I was teaching back then. I told him I teach ESL. “What is it? Is it English?” – he pondered. “Yes, kind of…” – I replied quickly to avoid wasting my valued time on explaining to my administrator what my job was. I was also a teacher who was to take advice about what to teach and how to teach it by a math teacher because a math teacher was a lead teacher for an ESL/Bilingual department at that moment. Long story short, I grew skeptical toward administrators who have no idea about the distinction between teaching English and teaching ESL.

I also learned not to take advice from people who are not in the classroom every day or who never been classroom teachers. And you shouldn’t either. Teaching has evolved from what it was ten and even five years ago. Student population changes. State requirements grow higher and higher. The only person who knows what to teach and how to teach it is you and only you. Trust yourself in honing your skills and improving the learning experience for your students, learn from those who have proven their expertise.

 

 

This one is somewhat related to the point about not taking advice from people who have no idea what your trade is. At the same time, from my first year of being in a public school system, I have developed a clear understanding of what a “good” or a “bad” observer is. I personally believe that the purpose of administrators in your classroom is to inspire, support and point you in the right direction. I had those supporting administrators in my classroom, and I am infinitely thankful for the fantastic experience they bring into the classroom and the value they infuse into my teaching. A supportive administrator is a dynamic part of my classroom; he/she shows emotions and interacts with students; he/she takes a minute to talk to you and give you a synopsis of the visit no matter how busy he/she is or how busy you are.

 

On the other hand, I also had administrators who show or try to show no emotions, seem cold and too “authoritative,” find no time to talk to you and give you feedback. And guess what, you shouldn’t care about them either. Teachers are the vehicles of the education system. Teachers bring up kids. Teachers build relationships. Teachers make changes in students’ lives. Administrators who do their jobs lousily should not matter to your teaching practices.

 

 

This one is the biggest pitfall all new ESL teachers should try to avoid. There are thousands of great resources available to a teacher on paper and digitally. The mistake is to try to use everything and master everything. You will end up mastering nothing and feel exhausted. First of all, new strategies, routines, techniques regularly applied and with no revisiting and reinforcing them have no value for students. Second, inconsistency with new strategies, routines, techniques creates confusion and, therefore, makes it hard for your students to figure out what your plan is in a classroom. Finally, mastering a strategy, routine, technique takes a long time for a teacher and students, so limited time frame and constant changes will yield chaos and bear no fruit.

 

What I have learned in my few years of being a new teacher is that focusing on few and reinforcing few chosen strategies, routines, techniques is a much better chance to build effective learning routines, foster better student behavior, and release the stress of planning, teaching and assessing in your everyday work. Remember: less is more, everything genius is pretty simple in design.

 

 

I want to boast about the most significant transformation in my teaching career: I don’t take school stuff home. It took me quite a time to arrive at this decision, but it was life-changing. There are a few reasons for that. Firstly, the stuff taken home is rarely get done. Second, the stuff taken home only creates anxiety. Thirdly, bringing work home will leave you with the feeling that you had no rest at all. It takes an effort to develop this understanding and rearrange your time at school so that all the work is done while your work and not at home.

 

A lot of great ideas that I implemented in my job as a teacher came from the 40-Hour-Work-Week Club by Angela Watson and her podcast Truth For Teachers. It might sound new, but professional growth does not always entail loading more information into your memory about what to do and how to do it. A considerable part of your transformation as an effective and happier teacher is actually shaving off the time of teacher’s load throughout a week, starting to take care of your personal needs, focusing on your mental health, and reclaiming your weekends off. It’s possible with smart planning and time distribution. You shouldn’t ignore this. Start working on your personal liberation now, and it will make you a much better teacher.

 

 

When I started teaching, I was under the impression all good teachers must make school their life. What it meant to be then was that being a good teacher entails the sacrifice of your personal time, focus on nothing but pedagogy related material. I thought so, but it’s wrong.

 

I am sure some teachers spend a vast portion of their time outside of the classroom still acting like and being teachers. If this brings happiness and satisfaction, go for it. If it brings more financial stability for your family, it’s even better. However, if your interests outside of your profession are not school-related, don’t feel like you are lost to this profession. Don’t feel like you are a fraud and that you are a mediocre teacher.  In fact, your life does not have to be related to school. And why should it be?

 

You don’t have to go to all ESL conferences and read all trade-related books and articles. You don’t even have to dedicate yourself wholeheartedly to one grade level or one school. You can only become a great teacher if you choose the best school for you, and not you selected by the school and told what to do. You can feel more productive and creative only if your needs are met first, if you give yourself a chance to explore your interests first and focus on your priorities. You are a person with passions first, and then you are a teacher. You are a mother and wife first, and then comes teaching. Have life. Teaching is just a job. It can be quite a fascinating job, but it is still a job.

 

 

This is a straightforward one. We, teachers, always teach our kids to compare themselves to them only, not others around them when evaluating growth. The same should go for any teacher. We are different. We have different experiences. We have different training. Avoid judging yourself after seeing someone’s nicely decorated classroom. Avoid judging if you witness chaos in someone else’s classroom. In both situations, your growth will depend on how masterfully you calibrate a present-moment experience to either foster or stagnate your growth. One year of teaching makes you a different teacher. The tenth year of teaching can go wrong, too. There should not be a comparison of you to other teachers, situations, circumstances. The only measure of your professional growth is you’re a year prior. Keep it in mind and don’t get distracted by what seems surprisingly easy or disastrous.

Mind your business. Look into yourself.

Related articles:

Handling The Overwhelm In First Years of Teaching.

33 Ways To Save Time And Money As A Teacher.

10 Lessons I Have Learned In My 2 Years Of Teaching.

Why I Stopped My Contributions to 403b for Teachers.

How to fight impostor syndrome.

It’s Important To Fail In Teaching.