You made it past the application process and have been selected to conduct a Demo Lesson for a potential employer, now what? Some questions may come to mind such as: What do I teach? How long should my demo be? Who will my student be? Don’t worry, these are all reasonable questions. A demo lesson is a great way to show your potential employer that you’re the right person for the position and build a relationship with the student(s).
Below are steps to go through when preparing and conducting a Demo TEFL Lesson:
1. Preparation is key.
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Be sure to research who your potential student(s) will be. Are you teaching preschoolers or adults? Will you focus on pronunciation or written exams? What areas are they focusing on? Make sure your lesson plan reflects your experience and student’s level.
2. Print multiple copies of your lesson plan. Your lesson plan should include:
- The objective or lesson goals
- Instructions for each activity
- Vocabulary
- Grammar and/or sentence structure
- Examples f. Time limit per activity
3. Structure your lesson
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There are many ways to structure lessons and everyone is different, but typically your lesson should include these 4 parts.
- Introduce the topic/material. You could do an introduction activity like a warm up game, reading a small paragraph, or even listening to some music. Look at the goals of the lesson and the target language you’re planning on using and see what would work for your lesson
- Explain the material for the lesson
- Guided practice. Depending on the nature of your lesson, this could be another opportunity to use an activity that gets the students using the target language in an engaging way.
- Review. Check the student’s understanding of the material.
4. The Actual Demo
- Be on time or, better yet, be early. Make sure to discuss expectations with the student and employer.
- While conducting your demo; be attentive, energetic and engaging. For the demo lessons, you should have the student’s full attention with questions and activities, not just lecturing. Try to involve activities that will get the student(s) speaking and participating. Review the plan and goals of the lesson.
- Be detailed but keep it simple when explaining the English language. It can be a bit overwhelming when discussing different verb tenses or noun types, but simplify your language so the student is still learning and not just saying ‘yes’ to move forward. Practice with someone beforehand to be sure.
- At the end of the demo, ask the student if they have any questions or if anything was unclear.
The goal of the Demo Lesson is to present yourself and the student with the best opportunity for future learning. Being prepared and organized are your biggest strengths. If all else fails, be sure to ask questions before, during, and after to get valuable feedback.
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About our company: Teaching Nomad is an American owned and operated education recruitment company based in Shanghai, China. Our goal and purpose is to help great teachers find great teaching jobs. Year round, we have hundreds of teaching job vacancies. Whether your goal is to be an ESL teacher or teach in an international school, we have a teaching job for you. You can browse jobs online at www.teachingnomad.com/job-search for the latest job openings. Teaching Nomad is here to make teaching in China easier, so please feel free to reach out and contact us with any questions or inquiries!
