Making online classes fun and interactive. 20 Tips For Achieving Success.

Making online classes fun and interactive. 20 Tips For Achieving Success.

Going from the physical, to the virtual classroom has not been an easy transition for most teachers. I have spoken to many friends who are normally extremely successful teachers due to their ability to connect and interact with their students, but who, at the moment, are finding the virtual classroom hard to adapt to. They tell me that they are feeling lost, that they feel as if they are failing their students and that they not achieving their goals or living up to their responsibilities.

As both a Headmaster of a private ib bilingual school and the owner of my own language Institute, both of which are teaching online during the quarantine,  I have found that the secret to success for teachers in the virtual classroom lies squarely upon our ability to successfully interact with our students.

When we are able to interact with our students, we engage them, we attract their attention, we awaken their desire to learn, their curiosity and we invite them, through different means to want to willingly participate in our class.

Below, I have outlined 20 different Ideas for teachers that will help them to be more interactive in their online English classes. I hope that you find at least a few of them helpful and able to be adapted to your virtual classrooms.

1. Host an online Scavenger hunt.

Do they have to find new words? New websites? New photos? Articles in your home that start with specific letters of the alphabet? Whatever they’re tasked with searching for, an online scavenger hunt can be a fun and easy icebreaker.

2. Have students create a piece of art and submit it virtually.

Send your students a specific art prompt and see their masterpieces come to life! Art can also be used as a listening activity, Choose a simple photograph, describe it to your students, without actually showing them the picture, and then get them to draw / color / paint it and see how their finished product compares with the original. Good activities can help to develop a child’s fine motor skills and color coordination abilities.

3. Pull fun topics out of a bowl, then discuss.

The element of surprise can be pretty fun, and it can lead to some unexpectedly rich conversations between teacher and student(s). This can help students think on their feet while relieving the pressure of having to come up with endless topics to discuss.

4. Use a timer and ask lightning-fast questions.

See how rapidly your student can answer lesson-appropriate questions—or spell their new vocabulary words. Keep a chart over time to see how much their score and speed improve over time!

English Grammar and 11 Guidelines for Making it More Understandable.
https://englishforyoutheteachersvoice.blogspot.com/2020/07/understanding-grammar-11-key-rules-for.html

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https://englishforyoutheteachersvoice.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-essential-rules-of-english-grammar.html

5. Host mock interviews for their dream job.

Ask your student to “dress up” and look their most professional self while you start questioning them on their skills, their strengths, their weaknesses—and their dream job. Decide at the end if you’d hire them! 

This activity can also be adapted for school children by having the students dress up as one of their parents and then asking them questions about what their parents do for a profession.

6. Group blogging.

What’s more fun than writing a blog? Have your students start, and write a blog with a friend! 

7. Simon Says, the perfect game!

Students LOVE when teachers get up and get moving. Give each other simple directions, like “raise your right hand,” while you mirror each other and the actions depicted. Speed up your instructions or slow them down—whatever it takes to fool your student into moving without having said: “Simon Says!”

8. World traveller

Incorporate fun and clever cultural details from another country—maybe yours, maybe theirs, maybe a 3rd one altogether—to liven up a boring, standard-issue lesson. Let’s say we’re studying Peru. You might play their traditional music in the background, theme lessons around things like potatoes, Machu Picchu, discuss the colors of their traditional clothing, or more. 

9. Use puppets.

Most students love to be visited by puppet characters whenever they can make an appearance! Or maybe it’s Mrs. Nesbitt? Whoever your puppet pal is, using low-cost, hand-made puppats can spark interest and joy in your students.

10. Costumes RULE.

Today you’re a football player. The next time? A chef! And while your football personality and chef personality are busy, maybe your “grandma” can stand-in. Dress up for your students and administer theme lessons. Not only are they more fun, they are much more memorable.

11. Use masks.

Similar to our costume idea, masks can be a fun way to bring “guests” into your lessons or just to mix it up in a unique way. Bonus idea: Task your students with an art project to create their very own mask to wear during class!

12. Digital memory games.

Play tons of memory games in new ways online. Have students try to figure out “which cup the ball is in” or the name of the image on a series of cards you’ve shown them in a row.

13. Play 20 questions.

Twenty questions is an old standby, but it can get a little old pretty fast. Spice up the regular game by adding categories—such as nature, people, etc.—to help laser-focus the lesson more quickly.

14. Props on props on props!

Time to start building up your arsenal of adorable, helpful props to incorporate into your online English teaching lessons. Props of any kind will always help you to bring more creativity and fun into your classes.

15. Q&A sessions.

Have student A ask student B a question, then student B ask student C a question on the same topic! Challenge students to quantify their inquiries (i.e. “What are your three favorite games?”) or to only ask questions that can’t be answered with “Yes” or “No.”. If your classes are in ZOOM,you can set up groups and actually video their interactions and watch them later to evaluate your students' involvement.

16. Show and tell.

Switch up this old, traditional activity by giving themes and more directions to students on what to bring to class this week. Their favorite snack? Their favorite book? Maybe a favorite TV show or video game? Whatever it is, make sure students, likewise, prepare 3-5 sentences to share about their item in advance. They can read it to the group or to you!

17. Let`s ask the audience

Poll your group of 3-4 students to rank their preferences or find out normal activities in their day to day (i.e. “Who brushes their teeth before breakfast versus after?”). It’s fun to create common ground and random bonds not only between you and your students but also between the students themselves!

18. Play a PG version of “Never Have I Ever”

This game can actually be a great way to make your online English lessons more interactive. Find out who has gone to certain cities, who has ridden a rollercoaster, who has a pet, and more. It’s a fun icebreaker with never-ending questions!

The first player starts by saying a simple statement about something that they have never done in their lives starting with "Never have I ever". Anyone in the class who at some point in their life has done the action that the first player said must do a task that has been pre-arranged by the teacher. Then the game continues with the next person making a statement.

19. Roll a dice to determine your next activity.

Make a list of six possible activities or English-related tasks (i.e. ask a question, write a sentence about your day, etc.), then roll the dice to see which one fate has in store. Kids love the excitement—even when it lands on their least favorite activity.

20. Set physical tasks.
Set students tasks to do, each of which must be videoed

Well, I hope that you find at least some of these activities suitable for adaptation into your online classes.

Good luck and good teaching.