Today I was ready to teach the item ‘ making requests ‘ to a brand new English school student. As there was no one point from a previous lesson I decided to explore the student`s level a little by getting to know him.
Very soon I realized that the lesson that I had planned to do would be rather difficult for him. This was based on the fact that he was struggling to form some questions and his answers were far too short. I was placed in a bit of a tricky situation, not knowing whether to plug on with the planned lesson or to make a sudden change to the lesson. After one more answer from him I made up my mind, to go on and do the item would be not only be beyond his ability but it would also be de-motivating for him.
The course of action that I decided to take was to do routine 1 with him. To my pleasure the lesson went like clock work. He was able to give the appropriate responses and by the time we got to the hint bar stage I could tell that he felt that he had really achieved something in his first class.
For me I realized how important it is to be able to adapt your lesson at the last minute to really make it a tailor-made class for the student that you have sitting in front of you. This is one of the hardest skills to learn and it comes from experience but once it is mastered, the benefits of that new flexibility for you and your student are enormous.
-Gideon
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