Teacher's
survival kit
What is a teachers survival kit? Well, we asked some teachers what they would take with them or buy on arrival to teach in a new location, given minimal luggage allowance and budget. What emerges is a top ten things teachers like to have with them. We've added some explanations of why and a few more ideas for exploiting these aids. They are all very cheap and very easy to find. Not all of them are absolutely necessary, but to coin a phrase from the American National Rifle Association "It's better to have one and not need it than need one and not have it.".
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1. Stationery Pack - Included in this pack are the basic tools of the trade that every teacher uses at some point: pens of different colours (at least one for writing, one for marking), scissors (teachers are often cutting things up), cello tape or a gluestick for putting together your own materials, paper clips or a small stapler and blu tak (for putting things up on the wall or bulletin board). Label your tools! It is second nature for English Teachers to make off with someone else's stapler or scissors.
2.
Photo Album - A pocket-sized photo album with a collection of photos
inside. Include photos of your family, your home, you at a younger age
(or at a time when you looked quite different), a place you have visited
etc. The amount of language work that can be derived from a simple photo
is considerable; if it is a personal photo (with a story behind it)
it is considerably more. Personal material is very motivating for learners
, who are naturally curious about their teacher as a person. Leading
by example can encourage learners to bring in their photos.
3.
Two CDS - One CD contains classical music on one side and something
more noisy and upbeat on the other. This serves as background music
to suit the activity type: from quiet writing or pairwork to a "find
someone who", or "at a party" type role play. Handel,
Bach, Mozart can also help relax and inspire learners. The other CD
contains some of your favourite songs (you'll need the lyrics too, of
course) which you can use with your learners.
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4. Dice and Counters - Lots of coursebooks and resource material include language games that are played on a game board. These often require dice and counters, and they don't come included with the books! Plus dice can be used to randomly nominate students or randomly select questions to ask etc.
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5. Notebook - Apart from using a notebook to jot down lesson plans, it is great for taking down students errors in communication activities. The type with tear out pages is best, in case you want to give the page to your students. Use the notebook to write down feedback from your students and any requests. Use it to write your own reflections on some of your classes, a great way to help yourself develop as a teacher. The notebook format means you can look back if you want. We recommend A5 size.
6.
Pocket size Bilingual Dictionary - If you are new in a country and
don't speak the language you will probably have one of these anyway.
Seeing you grappling with their language can be a great source of inspiration
and comedy to your students. The dictionary is not only useful for resolving
communication problems in class but also for helping the teacher prepare.
Why not look up the words you are going to teach learners and give them
a translating exercise, or let them find the items themselves if they
have their own. Dictionaries tend to have more than just words. There
are useful phrases for different situations (shopping, in the restaurant,
on the bus etc.) and verb tables which can be exploited.
7.
Data storage device - Most schools now have at least one computer
somewhere on the premises. Your own personal data storage device is
very useful to have. This could be a CDRW disc or a memory stick. You
might prepare material for a class on an outside computer but want to
print it at work. Or a colleague might have a great exercise on the
school computer that you would like to adapt. Another thing to keep
would be a "my favourites" collection of websites for easy
access at home or at work.
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8. Diary - To make sure you are in the right place at the right time. Classes, meetings at school, whatever. Use it to block in periods of lesson preparation time, writing to-do lists, setting and marking work, exams etc. Keep a record of dates with students for reporting back on out of class tasks such as watching films and reading books. Encourage your learners to use a diary too to register their "appointments with English" in and out of class. The diary makes it serious. If you are there's a good chance they will be.
A diary is a good teaching resource obviously for days, months, numbers. Copy blank (or filled in) pages for reading and speaking activities, tense practice (yesterday, tomorrow…), and so on. Some diaries contain additional information such as time zones and maps which can also be usefully exploited.
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9. Deck of Cards - Apart from playing solitaire when your students turn up late, this very cheap and portable resource has many uses. Use the cards to organise group and pair work either for random groupings or teacher chosen groupings, also for deciding who goes first in feedback slots (lowest card starts) and assigning roles in role play and simulation activities. Cards 1 to 6 will serve as a substitute if you lose your dice (see below).
There are many language practice activities that can be built around a pack of cards. Here are a few examples: you can teach your students card games which will help them learn the meta language of games (you go first; it's my turn, pick up a card etc.) as well as the numbers, suits etc. Cards can be used for communication gap activities, where a student has to arrange the cards hidden from his partner and then describe the arrangement for his partner to replicate. Picture cards (King Queen Jack) can represent characters in stories… the list goes on.
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10. Bag of Sweets/Mints - For those teachers with children's classes, a bag of sweets is a good thing to have on hand to reward students with. However, this practise doesn't need to be restricted to younger learners! A breath mint is often a necessary bit of equipment for the teacher, especially for those one-to-one classes after a garlicky lunch!
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The most important thing… - All the teachers who were asked
what things they would include in a survival pack unanimously agreed
that an invaluable tool was the teacher's HEAD. Your head contains all
that imagination, ideas, experience and knowledge which you bring to
your classes. Effective use of this item is a must for the survival
of any teacher!