• Grammar forms the building blocks of a language

• Beginners generally always start with the verb TO BE so understanding the basic verb rules is a departure point

Content is trustworthy but always needs to be supplemented

• Most resources are now available as e-books

• Avoid holding up physical pages to the screen; share screen so student has access to materials, or share PDFs directly

Adults can benefit from children's materials as well

• Books read aloud on YouTube with words

• All ages like visuals - funny pictures, cartoons, etc.

Acknowledge/Embrace student comfort level

• Set the tone that it's okay to look/sound goofy and/or make mistakes

• Combine new concepts with visual, auditory, and physical cues for better retention

• Examples:

  • "TPR (Total Physical Response) when I am working with adults and trying to teach difficult English words like launch versus lunch"

  • "For pronunciation, I usually mention that English needs ugly mouth...haha"

Can be slowed and with subtitles

December's roundtable topic was "Teaching (and learning) holiday traditions around the world". Here are the highlights!

How can teachers prepare themselves when teaching cultural traditions?

• Research the student’s home country/religion so you have some background knowledge

• Narrow your lesson to specific questions/topics

• Be aware that students may be missing home, so there is an emotional aspect to teaching/discussing holidays/traditions

• Be prepared to share cultural traditions, but also to ask questions. “Show and tell” objectively, and ask about their experiences.

How do teachers prepare their students?

• Pre-teaching vocabulary

  • Vocabulary words in hidden Easter eggs

  • Pictures with words & pronunciation

  • Holiday song lyric videos (found on YouTube)

• Ask the student what they already know

  • Idea! Make a K.W.L. Chart

    • What does the student already KNOW?

    • What does the student WANT to know?

    • After the lesson, what did the student LEARN?

• Share about the teacher’s own experiences in teaching vocabulary

  • Stick to concrete topics like what one eats or wears, where one travels

• Discuss cultural norms to prepare students for office/school/social situations

• Encourage students to ask a lot of questions and maintain curiosity

How do teachers follow up with students?

• Integrate grammar practice into task-based learning presentations

  • Before the holiday: Ask the student to teach them about their traditions

    • What do you expect to see during the holidays? (forming simple sentences with pre-taught vocabulary)

    • What do you PLAN to do? (future tense)

  • After the holiday: Ask the student to present about their experiences

    • What DID you do? (past tense)

    • What similarities/differences did you notice? (compare/contrast)

  
  

Stories and tips from our instructors

1. Slow down and maintain compassion: It is almost impossible to understand when people are talking quickly, and it can be very frustrating to not understand conversations fully in a new country. We as instructors can slow down and also encourage learners to advocate for others in their life to slow down to increase their understanding. This simple, compassionate and empathetic approach can be transformative.

Multiple teachers shared and resonated with stories of also just how hard this transition can be emotionally, both for individuals and their families. It can be so hard to know how to react in these situations and console the students who are having difficult and sad feelings. In addition to language learning, offering support in difficult moments, validating feelings, and helping to boost confidence for learners during a period of change is essential. Don’t be afraid to drop your original lesson plan for the day in the face of a learner having a difficult time.

2. Encourage connection: Encourage students to connect to other people who might be going through a similar challenging transition i.e. start of become involved in a dinner group of expats or suggest outings and community events that will promote relationship building.

3. Be flexible and offer support outside of just language learning:

Two teachers recounted the challenge and change for many relocating individuals about just getting to and from places in a new country. A US based teacher shared an example of how she developed specialized DMV curriculum and practice with their student to help support them, and a European instructor shared how she developed a whole unit about bicycles/maintenance. Belongingness and being able to get around is so important; even small adjustments and additions can help learners to adapt quickly.

Navigating new social rules (e.g. there’s not really a “no” in Japan) is another intense change and topic to navigate. Teachers need to be responsive to the needs of the students in the moment and be ready to abandon their original plan for the lesson that day. New expat learners can have a lot of anxiety about offending someone, or doing something wrong, and as instructors, we can help them understand and navigate their new cultures.

4. Encourage daily use and access to language: There are frequently gaps in cultural and language understanding, and it is difficult to bridge these gaps without consistent practice. Teachers can encourage speaking and listening exercises and have learners commit to listening daily outside of lessons to tune their ears to the sound of the language.

Language teaching and change

As instructors in the 21st century, there are consistently new tools available to us! Global LT recently updated the entire GLT Engage platform; please watch this 30 second overview on scheduling classes HERE as well as review overall updates here: https://global-lt.com/teacher-onboarding-faqs.

Global LT’s customer support coach, expat, and former teacher, Eva, facilitated last month’s discussion on how to best support newly relocating learners and families. 

It is important for CSCs to discuss what to expect as an expat, such as: 

• Expat identity

• Language perspective

• Challenges in general

Summary

What challenges have you seen as a teacher?

• Adjustment period: adjusting to the work environment, school environment, or even home environment – especially with spouses who may now have no job/friends is difficult.

• Relocating with children: The transition from one school system to another is very difficult, and it is important to get students started before they leave.

• Motivation: Learners (especially monolingual) who get by with their home language frequently lack motivation to study. It is essential to engage the student by focusing on the student’s interests (movies, entertainment industry, etc.); and cultural training support for more investment as well.

• There is a difference between learning the rules of language and learning the language; a holistic approach over time is necessary.

• Instructors need to also focus on rapport building and need to call upon their emotional intelligence skills to help the student adjust.

Tips and Advice

• Be human, stay human – strive to find common ground and connections and empathize with this big transition in the learners’ lives.

• Give the suggestion for learners to go someplace, meet people, and do something they love.

• Encourage learners to enroll in a course; ask teachers to add cultural topics to lessons.

• Find your “3^rd place” (sports club, café, church, library) – any place where they can participate in an activity they already like to meet others with the same interests.

• It is important for instructors to share our experiences, and find the student’s comfort zone to start.

• Encourage curiosity for learning something new rather than shame for not already knowing; take the anxiety off of “being wrong.”

Thanks to everyone who attended our August Roundtable!

We continued our resources conversation from July and started a shared materials and strategies “bank” of ideas! (Look for more info about a more formal resources library in GLT Engage!)

Summary

• Traditional Textbooks

• Can be used as a baseline - gives the student and teacher a clear path to follow

• Grammar forms the building blocks of a language

• Beginners generally always start with the verb TO BE so understanding the basic verb rules is a departure point

• Content is trustworthy but always needs to be supplemented

• Most resources are now available as e-books

• Avoid holding up physical pages to the screen; share screen so student has access to materials, or share PDFs directly

• Content/Game Creation

• Don't reinvent the wheel - choose from existing resources to create games/content

• Adults can benefit from children's materials as well

• Books read aloud on YouTube with words

• All ages like visuals - funny pictures, cartoons, etc.

Essential takeaway: Bring in the student as much as possible

Ask them: What are you good at? What do you know? Whenever possible, we should strive to align resources to student's interests

• Acknowledge/Embrace student comfort level

• Set the tone that it's okay to look/sound goofy and/or make mistakes

• Combine new concepts with visual, auditory, and physical cues for better retention

• Example: TPR (Total Physical Response) when I am working with adults and trying to teach difficult English words like launch versus lunch

• For pronunciation, I usually mention that English needs ugly mouth...haha 

What do you need to know about your students before your lesson?

• Check the Class Offer email for information about age, location, native language, target language level, and student goals. Additionally, check the Confirmation of Assignment email for information about available hours and completion deadline to get an idea of a realistic goal.

Note: If you have any suggestions for the kind of information that would be helpful to receive in the class offers, please tell your TSC!

• Recommendations: If you don’t share a common language, you can prepare a simple lesson with lots of pictures. Be aware that culturally, some students may self-assess themselves as having a low skill level when they are actually more advanced or vice versa. (Be prepared to have an alternative option if needed).

How do you assess reading/writing/listening/speaking skills during the first lesson?

• Ask questions of increasing complexity to assess speaking/listening skills; note scores on a rubric:

  • Some examples: Where do you live? Do you have a family? Have you been to the destination country before? What would you like to be able to do in the target language? Do you have any professional/social goals? How long do you plan to stay in the destination country? Do you plan on seeking permanent residency? Are you planning on taking any exams in the target language?

  • Add on Question: What’s the story behind…?

• Ask students to write responses to similar questions to assess reading/writing skills

  • Provide visuals/sentence starters to students so they can write responses to questions

  • Ask students to paraphrase more complex sentences

  • Ask an open question and give the students 2-3 minutes to respond (...great idea for learners who are more confident writing than speaking!)

  • Provide learners with an “All about me” worksheet to prepare for both spoken and written assessment Example: All About Me Conversation Starters.jpg

• Use a diagnostic assessment to get a sense of the student’s level:

  • Ellii.com

  • GLT Learner Proficiency Assessment Evaluation

• Use a rubric to assess speaking/listening skills discreetly during the lesson (which also allows for progress tracking as the class continues into lesson 5, 10, etc….)

  • GLT Oral Assessment Rubric

How do you build a rapport with your students in the first lesson?

• Remember that the first lesson makes a lasting impression on your students; a smile goes a long way in all languages! 😊

• Show them you’ve done your homework – use the information provided in the Class Offer email as a starting point for discussing practical/personal goals. This will show a high level of care and also enthusiasm for them as individuals.

• Spend time getting to know each other. Example: Take turns rolling dice (real or virtual!) to ask questions and to be asked questions to share about yourself with the student as well. Sample “about me” dice game HERE.

• Follow the golden rule: imagine the last time you were in a language class and consider how you WISH your teacher treated the class.

• Be vulnerable with your students by telling them anecdotes about your own language-learning journey; consider that their past learning experiences may not have been altogether positive.

• Acknowledge that learning a language can be difficult; create a supportive classroom environment in which you can learn together.

• Be sure to listen to your students – even if they are too shy to say much during the first lesson!

How do you assess student skill/progress during lessons?

• Use formative assessments like real-time feedback or independent practice to gauge student’s understanding of a particular skill covered in the lesson

• Give students time to use skills – they may have learned the skill, but they may need some time/practice to put those skills to use

• Balance formal and informal assessments

  • Informal/Formative Assessment Ideas 

    • Use YouTube movie reviews to assess comprehension and vocabulary use 

    • Use book reviews to assess comprehension and to see if the book would be a good fit for the student 

    • Roleplay scenarios to review student progress in specific interactions 

    • Plan for an icebreaker question at the beginning of a session that reviews a skill learned in the past session 

  • Formal/Summative Assessment Idea: 

    • Use the EF (Education First) Free English CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) Level Test after every 25 hours of instruction to gauge student level: https://www.efset.org/  

    • Ask an open-ended question at the end of a session: What do you feel like we need to work on moving forward? 

How do you approach correcting students during or after sessions?

• Ask students how they want to receive feedback and/or explain all the different ways they may be corrected so they are more aware of the more implicit feedback delivery methods 

• Remember how it feels to be evaluated – use compassion and refrain from negativity 

• Balance corrections and motivation – constant corrections may be demotivating for students 

  • “Easy” corrections (pronunciation, reminder of a past correction) can be provided in real-time. Idea: Print out images of a traffic light to give real-time corrections without interrupting (red for errors, yellow for caution, green for congratulations!) 

  • Conceptual errors (grammar, phonics) can be saved for the end of a lesson to review 

• “Pick your battles” - Corrections about too many topics may be too much for the students to absorb. Extroverted students will probably make more mistakes because they are so willing to share during class. Choose 1-2 skills to focus on when providing feedback 

• Consider the student’s goals – a student preparing for an exam may want to receive feedback in a more formal manner than someone planning a short-term trip to a new place 

• Ask them “Where are you?” or tell them where they are by using CAN DO statements to show them the practical skills they’ve learned. Example: You can order at a restaurant, discuss a show you saw, recount what you did over the weekend, etc. 

• Make sure any feedback provided is constructive – the student should take something away from any feedback provided. Example: Provide strategies to improve any skills that need work 

Specific strategies

• Error Clinic: Rather than interrupting, note down student errors and focus on one to review in the last 5-10 minutes of class, or the first 5-10 minutes of the next class, or as an entire lesson 

• Use the “Recast” method to reframe student errors (https://icaltefl.com/recasting-uptake-in-tefl-teaching/) 

• Use tech to summarize common errors across students/classes 

Data Visualization: Presentation from Global LT Instructor Amir Faghihnejad

• Amir shared a strategy he developed a form to assess the student during/after each session:

  • He rates the student’s skill level in 11 language skill categories after each session

  • These responses are automatically stored and can be viewed together easily in a Google Sheets spreadsheet

• After 30 sessions, this data is input into an application called Tableau to create graphs/charts/visual representations of the student’s skill level in each category.

  • These graphics can be shared with the student to discuss areas of strength and weakness, as well as what makes a “good day” vs. a “bad day” for skill level (for example, on a day with a low overall score, the teacher may have noted that the student was tired/distracted by work/etc.)

• After reviewing this data with the student, a plan can be formulated to address struggle areas in future lessons

Upcoming Workshop Interest Form:

If you’re interested in attending a workshop on collecting and tracking student data, please fill out this form: https://forms.office.com/r/5cuwL62ZvF

How do you track student skills/progress?

• Most teachers are constantly assessing student skills and progress during the lesson

• Many teachers note down difficulty areas/errors during the lesson in a dedicated notebook/diary, or even on a daily agenda sheet which can then be shared with the student

• Most teachers provide real-time feedback at the end of lessons, and many will make a plan to address struggle areas in the next session.

• For children, tracking progress may look different because feedback is usually provided to the parents.

• Many teachers are familiar with tracking student progress in formal group settings but less so in individual teaching scenarios; tracking progress and sharing effectively with learners was listed as a growth area for many of us.

• Idea: Develop a portfolio to track progress

  • Student can select different projects/tasks to complete and add to portfolio

  • As time progresses, students can return to previous projects and revise with new skills

• It’s important to carefully share struggle areas with students along with areas of growth

If you attended March’s discussion, please share your own feedback here: https://forms.office.com/r/jVS2b5bqhW

• Consider the student’s cultural norms when soliciting feedback

  • Some students may be very direct, while others may be uncomfortable providing direct feedback

• Make student feedback a part of your routine

  • Idea: Review the day’s goals at the beginning of class, then check in with the student at the end

  • Idea: Provide the student with an online form at the end of class to gather feedback – especially if providing direct feedback may be culturally uncomfortable for the student

  • Frame the question as a sliding scale – would you like more or less of this kind of practice/information

  • For classes with children, consider that the parent’s feedback may be based on what they think would be best for their children, without considering/understanding how to keep young learners engaged. Parents may need their expectations managed.

•  Use student gestures/facial expressions/comments/energy as informal/implicit student feedback

• Use milestones (i.e., passing an exam) as feedback

• Request formal feedback from TSC

Examples of common feedback and ways to address it

• The student says they don’t have the opportunity to talk during class

  • Teachers can plan for more speaking activities for the student

• The student is not engaged during class

  • Teachers can “read the room” to see if the student is unfocused

  • If the teacher notices a young learner is on their phone/other websites during the lesson, the teacher can address it with the parents and ask that the student not have their phone with them during the lesson

• The student says they don’t want to learn a particular concept (for example, grammatical tense)

  • Ask the student how they will approach a situation in which that skill is needed if they do not have that skill

• The student doesn’t like the way information is presented

  • One teacher shared an experience in which the student was critical of the exercises they were doing. The teacher took exercises from a book and created a PowerPoint slideshow for her class to present the information to the student. When the student expressed dissatisfaction with this method, the teacher put the exact same exercise into the online learning game Kahoot (https://kahoot.com/), the student responded very well – to the exact same material!

• Consider that some cultures have much more direct communication, so feedback may seem harsher coming from some students

• Consider that some students will have high expectations for the teacher’s role in their own progress

• Example: One teacher shares a story with her students about another student of hers who was in lessons for 5 years, but because she did not seek out opportunities to practice the target language outside of class/with natives, she did not make much progress

• Encourage students to be intentional in seeking out opportunities to engage with native speakers

• Consider that parents may have higher expectations for their children and may not be able to see the progress the student has made

If you attended April’s discussion, please share your own feedback here: https://forms.office.com/r/jVS2b5bqhW.

Check out resources shared by teachers and staff at this and past Roundtables here.

Some examples: 

One teacher shared about a student who is usually bubbly/talkative, but uses a lot of L1 (Spanish) during class because she is too nervous to use the target language (English). Also, the student lives in Miami, Florida, where it’s very common to hear Spanish spoken in the streets – no one talks to her in English on a day-to-day basis. As a temporary solution, the teacher found a funny “Uncle Sam” hat. When she puts it on, that indicates to the student that it’s “no Spanish” allowed time! At first that was fun, but now, the student doesn’t like it, and she’s not afraid to say it!  

Fellow teachers offered a few solutions, like providing the student with simple fill in the blank sentences. One teacher mentioned the book series New Cutting Edge for teaching English, which provides useful language phrases. In her classes, this teacher tells students they “have to” use these phrases, and she awards points every time they do. If the student earns enough points, they can then earn a reward.  

Another teacher shared a similar situation that occurred when she was teaching Mandarin. The student’s parents complained when they could hear “too much” English being used. When the teacher tried to “force” the student to speak Mandarin, the student didn’t have enough vocabulary to form sentences and got frustrated. The teacher worked with the student to get comfortable at least using the words they did know in Mandarin to try to “squeeze more Chinese words in the sentence.” One teacher talked about “target language only” days in a classroom setting, where students would rely on searching visuals on Google Images to make up for the vocabulary they did not know in order to express responses to questions for which they did not have the words. It became a fun game, and a great way to learn new vocabulary driven by the student’s interests. 

We touched on a few topics that often come up – for instance, setting realistic expectations. One teacher mentioned that if a student only meets once per week, then class time really gets devoted to reviewing the previous session, rather than expanding on something new. Students need to have realistic expectations that this will require more work outside of class in order to grow/improve. 

Another teacher shared a story about a student who she taught English for 1.5 years. She noticed that the deadline was approaching, but the student wasn’t really becoming fluent, despite even speaking English at home during dinner. So, the teacher asked the student a simple question: “What does your dad do? What is your dad’s job?” The student didn’t know how to respond, so the teacher gave her a homework assignment, knowing that the student’s dad was fluent in the target language: the student was asked to interview her Dad about what he did for a living in English. The teacher gave dad a heads-up about the assignment, and dad wrote to the teacher in English about his job. Then, the student had to tell the teacher what her dad did for a job, and the teacher already had the “answer key” to check the student’s work.  

This led us to a new question: Have we, as teachers, created an environment where the student feels comfortable making a mistake? 

Several teachers expressed some light exasperation regarding the use of the dreaded Google Translate by students during class. They mentioned that many students are so nervous that they’ll make a mistake that they turn to Google Translate in order to provide responses to their teacher’s questions. These responses are overly translated/complicated and use outdated or inaccurate vocabulary. One TSC, who is an English learner herself, shared about the importance of learning “simple words” to really sound like a native. Another teacher mentioned that Google Translate is especially easy to spot in her classes because she teaches Swiss German, and Google Translate usually produces answers in German German. Sometimes, this teacher will retranslate student responses back to their native language so students can see the issues that arise when using an online translator. Another teacher explained that she tells her students, especially those who are afraid of making mistakes, that even when we speak our native languages, we make plenty of mistakes. As an exercise, she encouraged her students to record themselves in their home languages, just so they could hear that they make mistakes all the time, and that speaking a language isn’t about perfection, it’s about communication. 

Idea Share: What do you do when your student isn't ready to engage with a lesson? How do you bring them in to get them excited and engaged?

On days when it’s apparent that the student is low energy, disengaged, or maybe just doesn’t connect with the material, many teachers simply switch gears and hold a conversational class – in the target language. Sometimes this could be a check-in with the student - what’s bothering them, why are they stressed? Other times, students are given a choice for a few options to redirect the class for the day like revisiting a grammar/vocabulary lesson from a previous class or even discussing an upcoming event. One teacher shared that her student was stressing out because she had a doctors appointment coming up, and didn’t know how to approach an important conversation. Another teacher added that stressed out days can actually be great practice for students, because eventually, there will likely come a time when the student is stressed out, tired, sick, etc., and they’ll need to communicate in their target language.  

If students aren’t ready to take in new information, one teacher suggested doing something they’re already familiar with, like revising a lesson. This teacher always has vocabulary games on Quizlet.com to fall back on. With younger students, she might play “hide and seek” to sneak in some new vocabulary into a game. When the teacher “finds” the student, they need to have a word in mind that they have just learned. Sometimes, reengaging students with a reward like letting them watch a 5 minute episode of a show in the target language (one teacher suggested Peppa Pig for young learners… and adults with a sense of whimsy!) 

One teacher suggested relying on the student’s interests to drive the class. If you haven’t already, have the student complete an assignment on their likes and dislikes. If you have already done an assignment like this, revisit it to expand on one of the things the student has already shared interests them – it creates a “tailor-made” class! This also works as a supplement to simple memorization of vocabulary – by putting words/ideas into a context, the student is much more likely to remember the word later in life.  

Another teacher shared that sometimes she gets bored too! When she has been working with a student in a particular level/workbook for a while, she feels the drag as well. To change things up, she’s started working with the student on some translation projects she’s doing from the student’s native language into the student’s target language. They find common terminology together, translating in “every direction” – and the discussions they have are rich and varied.  

Through our discussions, we determined that adaptability is necessary. Our first brave teacher, who shared about her Uncle Sam hat story, mentioned that teachers end up with a million personalities, and that sharing content with your student that feeds both of your interests is a great way to connect as well. She mentioned a student with a “dark sense of humor” – recently, they’ve been finding articles on “Bizarre News” stories that keep them entertained and engaged in conversation about topics they both find interesting.  

To conclude a final teacher noted that – his courses must have a base structure of trust and confidence. Sometimes he tells his students that he is having a bad day, and that allows them to connect even more deeply. In fact, that’s where some of his best content has been generated, and it allows them to revisit that information on a better day. 

• Teachers noticed a trend: Adults tend to request conversational lessons – spouses especially so that they can communicate with teachers/doctors. Executives are also starting to request conversational lessons to practice “small talk” at work 

• A “conversational lesson” may mean different things to different students. Some may want to practice “chit chat,” while others may expect a “Flipped Classroom” (i.e., students are provided with a text/video to review before class that will be the basis of conversation during the lesson, which may also include a short exercise to review interesting/advanced words) 

• Some students may also request “conversational lessons” to work on their social skills – sometimes they are very shy/introverted and need help feeling more comfortable conversing. These students may be especially challenging because they only provide 1-word answers, which is often due to their anxiety when speaking – they may just be embarrassed that they will make a mistake.  

Planning for Conversational Lessons

• Another teacher mentioned trying to abide by the 80/20 rule, in which the student is speaking 80% of the time, while the teacher is there to guide the conversation by asking questions, providing prompts/expressions, etc. but generally only speaks 20% of the time  

• Getting started is hard (especially for the first session) so it’s important to have topics planned (i.e. What are your hobbies? Who is in your family? etc.) 

• It’s a good idea to preview the planned topics with the students so they know what to expect. Teachers may also share sentence starters/vocabulary/visual aids before the session so the students (especially the shy ones who are afraid to make mistakes!) are set up for success to be able to respond to questions. Students can also be tasked with asking the questions to the teacher to create a more level playing field 

• Teacher/Resource Ideas:

  • Compelling Conversations – textbook with several versions excellent for giving prompts (https://www.compellingconversations.com/compelling-conversations)

  • Create your own list of random questions according to fluency level. If your student doesn’t know how to use the past tense, then they can’t respond how to respond to that question

  • Provide visuals to use when speaking as an aid to scaffold during the lesson.

  • Have students complete Word of the Day assignments so they can anticipate what’s going to be used in the next session

  • Consider “controversial” topics – these issues are great to tackle in conversational classes because they usually cause emotional reactions in students, which creates more investment in the conversation

  • Give students a list with a wide variety of topics and have them pick the topic

  • If you have a student who is not very responsive, start with “closed questions” (questions with yes/no answers) and then expand from there.  

Assessing Student Skill/Progress in Conversational Lessons

Providing clear feedback to the student is imperative to a successful conversational lesson. The most common feedback we receive from students is “I’m not learning anything, all we do is talk.” Of course, we know this isn’t true! However, students don’t see the same progress as you do, so it must be laid out for them.  

• As the student talks, it’s important for the teacher to take notes on areas of strength/weakness so the teacher has a record of student progress and so the teacher can share these notes with the student

  • Is the student using complete sentences/appropriate grammar to respond to questions?

  • Are they missing any vocabulary to express themselves clearly?

  • One teacher suggested making a list with two columns: WHAT YOU SAID vs. WHAT YOU COULD HAVE SAID.  

• Most teachers agreed that allowing students to finish their thoughts is important so they can practice fluency.  

• Another teacher shared this excellent redirect: rather than telling a student what they said is “wrong,” teachers can reframe that feedback as “A native speaker would not understand what you said.” 

• Then, teachers can address errors with the student at the end of the statement/conversation/lesson, depending on the student, and use that information to plan for the next session. Some students may also benefit from a typed review of session feedback. 

• One teacher suggested having students write up their feedback at the end of the lesson as well. As homework, have them write sentences using new vocabulary from the session/text/video, and/or have them write additional questions that arise based on the session.  

• You can provide your student (or your student can provide you) with a list of new words covered in the session

  • For some students, an entire list of words may be too daunting, so you can also just focus on learning one new word from the session  

• Ask the student for their feedback: Did you like the class/topic? Do you have any questions?