EFL Elementary Teachers: Calculated Risk for ESL Teachers

miércoles, 8 de junio de 2022

Calculated Risk for ESL Teachers

What is a calculated risk? It's a noun defined as:

1 : a hazard or chance of failure whose degree of probability has been reckoned or estimated before some undertaking is entered upon

2: an undertaking or the actual or possible product of an undertaking whose chance of failure has been previously estimated

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary

For us teachers,a calculated risk is giving ourselves and our students a chance to try something different that is defined in the text book.

Find new activities to try. There is a lot of activities to search for on Pinterest, for example. I always find inspiration to create the resources. Instagram is also a great place to see what other teachers are doing, I am happy to find new ways to use the resources. In a personal level, I loved creating the booklet with my students. Now, I include a booklet in all the units, it's fun and creative. It's nice to have a personal collection of books to read over and over again in class or to send home.

Innovate in your classroom. I know, sometimes it's hard to find innovation for our class. You might say, I have tried everything, but there's always more to give it a try. I love to bring in a new resource to the young learner's class. The feed me box are so cute and I am sure that your students will light up when they see it. It's easy to assemble and carry around with you. This one is made out of a cereal box.

Change practices. A little twist in our lesson planning works wonder with the little ones. I love to include crafts. Yes, it's messy but organization is key. Make the craft yourself and bring it in already done and you will notice the steps to make it easy to recreate with your students in an easy way.

Try a new method. A new way to do things in class with your preschoolers,to move on to the next activity faster is important.Those extra 5 or 10 minutes are horrible if you don't have anything in hand. That's where games will help you. I have lots of printable games for you to keep in a bag just for those extra minutes, students can play by themselves and speaking English. I have dominos, game boards, file folder games, Bingos, half card games, puzzles and more.