During the initial outbreak of the Coronavirus, I was stuck in my house for 4 weeks. After that, it took another 2 months under the Movement Control Order to slowly get things somewhat back to normal. I tried my very best to stay busy during the most extreme lockdowns. One of the things I did was, for six weeks, start teaching English online. I spoke with a friend who was the admin for a language and cultural exchange group on Facebook. Together we hosted a small group of students to join my small, make-shift program.

This little adventure was part of my journey to diversify and improve my skill portfolio. I’m still considering getting involved with online education, so running my own classes online is a good practical trial run. I am able to see if I like the working environment, and I can work on the necessary skills to succeed in that role. I really liked the experiences I gained from those 6 weeks and want to share some of them here.

Things might drag on

The first thing I noticed about my English class was, despite setting up a 6-week schedule, the class was going to drag on longer. Things can happen and project deadlines can be delayed, it’s important to plan and leave some flexibility just in case. One week I needed to take a break and some weeks we only had 1 student attend. I didn’t feel like covering new teaching material with just that one student. So the schedule had to be pushed back an extra week.

Despite everyone being keen and passionate about learning, it came to a point where I needed to be proactive. I needed to ensure I was going to have enough students each week. If no-one was going to be free on a particular week, they couldn’t just sit quietly in our chat group. I had to extract that information from my polite students. Otherwise, I would spend my entire week preparing teaching material that no-one would even see. I wouldn’t consider that time wasted, as it meant I had less to prepare the following week. However, I might have been able to mentally balance things differently had I known which weeks I wasn’t going to have a class.

People will drop out

This one shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me, I’ve been part of free classes myself too. Actually, any person who has gone to university can probably attest this, despite the fact that those classes are definitely not free. People get bored and they disappear. It isn’t necessarily a reflection of your own ability but more of the situation of all the members. Many of my students started classes with me as we were all locked up in our houses because of the Coronavirus. However as various countries returned to classes, work, and other things, many of my students went back to their own lives and didn’t have time for my classes.

By the end of the 6 weeks, I only had 2 regular students. They were amazing but if they didn’t attend, there would be no class. I asked the admin to invite more students but I think he got busy too. If you’re in this situation, don’t worry, try and keep your regular students as engaged as possible. If you feel that the disappearances are related to your own abilities, you can always ask students to provide feedback; you can even prepare a survey for them! If you create an environment of mutual learning and knowledge sharing within the class you can ask your students to provide feedback and help you improve.

We all collectively bonded over similar stories and it seems that despite our differences many aspects of our … lives were the same.

Brush up, because you won’t know everything

It’s sort of a rule of thumb that native speakers don’t know as much about their language as someone who has studied it. It’s even more pronounced when it comes to English. Many non-native speakers train to complete tests like IELTS which are way more structured than what we’re used to. I learnt very quickly how much I didn’t know, and it can be intimidating to try and bring yourself up to speed on all those things.

Start by making a basic list of all the things learners should know; I found a really helpful answer on Quora by looking for ‘most important parts of speech to learn.’ I used the responses there, to make a list of things I needed to know. I actually enjoyed this part of the journey the most. As a native speaker, it’s easy to forget how rich English grammar and vocab can be. Consider it an investment, as you learn more topics and prepare your subjects, you’re building on yourself and making it easier for your subsequent classes.

Stick to your guns

I already knew there would be certain topics I would be more comfortable talking about than others. I told my students that I would be sharing what I knew as someone who was a native speaker, not a qualified teacher. Grammar and technical topics would be my weakness, but my strengths were in speaking and group learning; encouraging and guiding dialogue between the students to develop their confidence and skills. However one of my students said he was interested in grammar, that is a pretty wide subject I might just add. I felt obliged to provide something for him to enjoy too. I ended up spending extra hours each week preparing, researching, and studying English grammar until I felt confident in teaching it.

Time spent preparing my work was some of the most valuable time in my journey as an English teacher, but it also ate up a lot of my schedule. After only one session this particular student dissapeared from my classes, but I had already set a precedent for covering grammar, and I didn’t know what to do now that he was gone. So I kept teaching grammar and I kept on doing hours of work behind the scenes. The lesson here is; figure out what you want to cover before starting the class. Decide early on how much you’re willing to deviate from that schedule and gradually make changes where necessary, rather than bringing in big changes suddenly.

No need to reinvent the wheel

As I was preparing lessons, I remembered something that I had come across before. I used to teach Arabic to children the year after I finished my diploma in the language. It was a way to continue pushing myself and revising material. Something I did this time around that I didn’t do last time was “borrow” other people’s material. This time I made use of different websites and forums to figure out which topics to start with and watched various YouTube teachers go over these subjects.

I quickly got a taste for the basics, and the various ways people presented them. Only if I needed to, would I go in further depth and research deeper. I got an understanding of the best way to present subjects for the benefit of the learner. If you are just starting out, don’t be afraid to use other people’s materials to guide you and your classes. After a while, you realise the content is all the same (there aren’t too many variations on English grammar) and actually a large part of classes depend on you building a relationship with students, addressing their needs and guiding them to fruition.

Be the teacher who goes the extra mile to answer students’ questions … give students memories that they will keep with them as they continue in life.

You might not know, but your students might

Many traditions share a similar story about the humble scholar. When asked about certain topics, his answer was simple; I don’t know. From these examples, we can learn the many benefits of such a phrase. It shows humility, creates an environment of mutual sharing in the class, and stops the dissemination of wrong information. In this case, no information is better than wrong information.

Any questions on the particulars of English grammar had me stumped. I would ask to hear the opinion of the questioner, any other students, and if there were no other opinions I would also give mine. I would clarify that I was giving an opinion or a hunch and importantly I would tell them; I’ll do my research. Within a few days, I would trawl the depths of English language forums to find similar examples to help them. You won’t find the exact example you are looking for but as long as you can get something that demonstrates the rule you can go from there. It also raises the status of the students from passive receptors to active learners and valued contributors in the group. 

Be the teacher your students will remember

As I mentioned earlier, there isn’t really any need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to class content. I wasn’t bringing anything theoretically new to the table. The most important thing is actually the human interaction that you bring and cultivate in the class. Everyone has that one teacher that unlocked information for them; the same information that they had been hearing but not understanding for 5 years. Especially for us who are not trained educators, this is really what we want to try and aim for. Confidence and understanding in subjects, rather than showing how much more we know. Be the teacher who goes the extra mile to answer students’ questions, provide beneficial materials, and give students memories that they will keep with them as they continue in life.

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The very human element of teaching

There is a very human element to teaching and learning in a class environment. Honestly, this is the part I enjoy the most. I learnt so much about the students in the brief time I met them. Many of the students were actually studying English at a Master’s level. For many people from non-English speaking countries, such qualifications and the fluency associated with it are a means of better employment and living for them. I wish I could change that about the English language, but until the day where other languages are viewed with as much prestige, I want to be a part of the movement helping others to be empowered through their language learning. 

We find that we are not actually too unalike; despite gaps in age and geography. One day I asked the students to share a moment that they remember from their childhood that related to sports. Everyone was happy to share with each other and practice speaking. We all collectively bonded over similar stories and it seems that despite our differences many aspects of our childhood, upbringing, and lives were the same. We all have our own version of a story about not being very good at sports, winning a prize in school, or an embarrassing moment with the cute boy or girl at school.

Not everyone shares the same sorts of memories, but we can often empathise with the memories of others. We are able to laugh or feel embarrassed for our friends despite not really knowing their experience. One week we used our own words to describe something. So many of the students chose foods and dishes associated with their cultures. It showed me that there was a collective experience of food, it had the ability to bring people together. Students wanted others to share what they enjoyed and show their culture in a positive light.

Whatever project you have been working on I hope you can find some benefit here. Whether it be on your own and relating to time management and finding your own resources, or if you were working with people and discovered more about yourself than others.