Are there any good resources to share to help put together a solid teaching demo (20 to 45 mins.) during/after an interview?
Thank you.
In most demos I’ve seen here, the prospective employer will provide you with a sample lesson–usually a chapter from whatever text they use-- to teach and then walk out to give you some time to prepare. If demos worry you that much, you could ask for the school to email it to you in advance. Each typical textbook lesson will have a grammar focus, vocabulary and some kind of a topic. You should be able to gleen out what these are. What you do next depends on age and ability. For kids come up with Q/As for the the grammar focus and games to support them, as well as activities to practice vocab. For adults, you can spend a little more time on analysis and explanation, leading a discussion around the theme which enables students to practice the grammar focus.
Your question is too general to answer with much in the way of specifics, but I hope the above helps somewhat.
There may not always be resources, so make sure you have a couple of sample flashcards with you. (depending on the age of the kids) If you have nothing, use markers, or what students are wearing, as examples. (don’t ask kids to take off their clothes…ha)
Walk into the class and write your name on the board. Introduce yourself. Remember to not be too strict, but still maintain class control. Ask a couple of general questions to try and figure out the level of the students. THe first couple of questions kids learn are names, weather, days of the week etc. If they know absolutely nothing…smile and use your body as much as possible.
Introduce the vocabularies you are teaching. Make sure the kids pronounce it clearly, but don’t correct TOO much. You never know if the school wants the kids to have fun , or be little robots. After introducing the vocabularies, and asking the whole class to repeat after you, ask one student to repeat. If they are too shy, just let the whole class do it.
Then play a game to review the vocabularies. It doesn’t have to be an amazing game. Just something like rolling the dice and have the kids repeat it twice, 3 times etc. Let them do something with one of the numbers, like, no 6, sit down. This will keep the kids busy …they like to move around. Also, they will concentrate on the dice more. Last one to sit down must repeat the vocab 6 times.
If they are tiny use musical instruments, or clapping your hands. If you teach numbers, let them jump twice, three times. Bosses love seeing kids smile, busy, etc.
and that’s all I can think of. If you’re teaching a sentence pattern, write it on the whiteboard.
Most important thing with small kids, don’t just ask ‘How’s the weather’ Do something like pointing at the window, looking out , asking how the weather is. If they sit there staring at you like a mad person, act out cold, hot etc. Kids may have heard the vocabulary before but forgot. Always ask kids ‘Is it red or blue’ if they are stuck on an answer. Give them options. Then they don’t feel stupid.
This made me laugh.
Battery9 gave some very good advice, 80sStar’s was good, too, and here are some threads you could look through if you want to:
[Forumosa - Taiwan's largest and most active Taiwan-oriented global online community in English … 7#p1339787](Demo Help--fun and exciting ideas, please
[Forumosa - Taiwan's largest and most active Taiwan-oriented global online community in English … 7#p1276067](Doing a demo lesson
[Forumosa - Taiwan's largest and most active Taiwan-oriented global online community in English … 4#p1255954](New teacher needs ideas for teenager demo
[Forumosa - Taiwan's largest and most active Taiwan-oriented global online community in English … 73#p165273](Need advice for Demo!
[Forumosa - Taiwan's largest and most active Taiwan-oriented global online community in English … 2#p1072222](Demo?
[Forumosa - Taiwan's largest and most active Taiwan-oriented global online community in English … 36#p149936](Demo - Before or After?
Some posters have said that demos are illegal; I don’t say this to scare you, but just so that you’ll be aware:
[quote]Don’t do one in front of children because you can be deported if caught.[/quote] [Forumosa - Taiwan's largest and most active Taiwan-oriented global online community in English … 0#p1181520](Class Demos - #14 by funkymonkey
[quote]Techincally, these things are illegal.[/quote] [Forumosa - Taiwan's largest and most active Taiwan-oriented global online community in English … 3#p1181753](Class Demos - #18 by Whole_Lotta_Lotta
[quote]Demos, paid or un-paid, are not legal, but they are also standard practice.[/quote] [Forumosa - Taiwan's largest and most active Taiwan-oriented global online community in English … 3#p1144463](David's English Center - #6 by housecat
Haha, the power of sarcasm. Thanks guys! I’ve taken note of everything =)