Students are the best teachers

Have you ever given an amazing class—one where students participate a lot and you get immediate feedback that they absolutely loved it? And after the class, have you ever sat down in disbelief wondering, “What did I do differently?”.Most of the times, it takes a while to figure out. It takes a few of those amazing classes and lots of trial and error over a period of weeks or even months.

So what did you do differently?

You gave them what they like.

As a language learner, I always wished I could tell the teacher what to teach me. I wanted to know the important words for my everyday life and relationships. The expressions I could use to hold a conversation, understand a TV show or decode the lyrics of my favourite songs.

As a language teacher, I assume that all my students want exactly the same thing. It’s quite obvious: students don’t always like what I like, they like what they like.

So I give it to them. I let them be the teachers. I let them talk about what they love and teach me what kind of class they like. And, as a result, we both learn something.

They learn new vocabulary and expressions to talk about their interests with their friends or colleagues.

I learn what their interests are and I can use them as material for my next classes. It’s a win-win.

Nowadays, this is how most of my classes go. I choose a subject based on my students’ level—if it’s the first class, it might just be something as generic and basic as “Greetings and Goodbyes”—and then I let them lead me where they really want to go.

So how do you let them be the teachers?

These are few of my tricks:

The list of ten sentences.

I ask them to write (in their own language) a list of ten sentences that they would like to learn in the target language. This makes me understand what their interests and learning needs are. Some will write business related sentences, some will focus on ways to get by in shops and supermarkets, others will choose a pick-up line, “Hello! Where do you get a good Mojito around here?”.

I then translate the sentences without explaining much and ask them to go home and find patterns (e.g. In Spanish, when I talk about an action that I do regularly, the verbs end in -o. Bailo, Preparo, Vivo—I dance, I prepare, I live). We’ll then discuss them in the next class.

This is a great way to break the ice with new students, and not only does it tell you what’s important to them, but it also gives you a hint of their level.

Act on their signals.

Imagine: you’re reading a text about Spanish Traditions (great for both English and Spanish learners living in Spain), but their attention is caught by a sentence that reads the time. They point out that they have no clue how to tell the time. Instead of saying, “We’ll see that soon” because it’s not in today’s schedule and the clock is ticking, why not just take the chance to teach the time?

If the class is almost over, just give them a short introduction and some practical examples that they can use right away: if you’re teaching Spanish, for example, tell them that you say “Es la 1”, but “Son las 2:00, 3:00, 4:00…” and then play by ear according to how much time you have left.

Students—even the most shy—will always give you signals. Acting on those signals is up to you and might make the difference between an interesting class and a possibly boring one.

Tell me in English/Spanish.

Sometimes I feel more like a therapist than a language teacher. My students come in and start telling me about their problems, achievements, disappointments, satisfactions… They open their hearts to me, but, of course, they always try to do so in their native language.

And that’s when I ask them to tell me all about it in their target language. I’m always astonished by the progress they make in these “therapeutical” classes. When they really want to tell their stories, convey their messages and maybe get a piece of advice, that’s when they stop worrying about how to say things and just say them. It’s magical.

I not only get to know them better and better, but I also collect more and more material for my next classes.

Teach me something you know.

Only recently, I started these special classes where I ask my students to prepare a subject at home that they want to teach me in the class. It can be anything they’re interested in—planning a trip, decorating their house, new ideas for their business, dog training, yoga classes, how to cook an omelette etc…

When they arrive, they sit in my chair and I sit in theirs. I grab pen and notebook, listen and take notes. I correct the mistakes that don’t allow me to fully understand their message, and ignore the irrelevant ones (including grammatical ones). I help them if they ask me to, but I mostly try to be their audience. The class can take between 15 minutes and an hour and the students have full control of it.

Everybody knows something very well and if you give them the opportunity to teach you, they will take it.

Of course, these tricks don’t work 100% of the times. That’s why it’s important to always prepare the main theme and material for the class. It’s your back-up plan.

Some students are shy at the beginning and they won’t give you much material to wing the class nor will they teach you what they really want to learn. So you’ll have to go back to a more traditional way of teaching until they achieve the right amount of confidence to “lead” the class.

And eventually, they will.