Demo Lesson Plan

[Niko]

Giving a Demo Lesson for the Interview

Sometimes, as part of the interview process, you may be asked to perform a short demo lesson. Many first time English teachers have no idea on how to approachlesson plans these demo lessons.

Before going into your lesson, don't be afraid to ask:

1. How many students will be in the demo lesson?
2. What are the student's level?
3. How long should the demo lesson be?

Even experienced teachers need to know this information so that lessons can be planned accordingly. Asking these questions will also show the employer that you are serious about teaching.

Keep the following points in mind when giving your demo lesson:

• Speak clearly and slowly.
• Avoid slang and difficult words.
  Good: "How did you spend yesterday evening?"
  Bad: "So, how did ya kill time when you knocked off work yesterday arvo?"
• Make full use of body language. Even if students can't understand your words, you can relay quite a lot of information via good body language. Tone of voice and eye contact is also useful.
• Spend less time talking and more time listening. As a native English speaking teacher, it's not you but the students who need the speaking practice. Allow your students the opportunity to speak and practice their English.
• Avoid difficult grammar explanations. Save these explanations when you have a full-length class and have got the job.
• Participation: If there is more than 1 student in your demo class, try to do a pairwork exercise. Eg: Pair 2 students together to ask each other "What is your ideal holiday?"
• Ensure to use the whiteboard for illustrations and clarification.
• Don't sit. Best to stand near the whiteboard where you can quickly make notes on it and use body language to help your explanations.

Finally, it's always a good idea to give a demo lesson to family or friends prior. Ask your family or friends to participate as real non-native English speaking students.

Good luck and we hope the above teaching pointers help.

[Marnie71]

Hey, I had a job interview yesterday, and was really nervous about giving a demo. I gave a lot thought to how I could present something effectively in a mere 20 mins. I had my interview first with the DOS, followed by the demo lesson. Afterwards, the DOS said I was the best he'd seen and offered me the job on the spot! Thought I would share with you what I did.. it may be helpful.

Essentially, it's a vocab demo for PRE-INTS : adjectives describing physical appearance. I did a v brief 1-2 min warmer (depends on class size) which involved sts saying their name and something they like that begins with same letter as their name (T models this of course!)

1. Elicit adjectives we use to describe pple. You only want a couple at this stage, just to ensure they're on the right track. Board the egs, then ask sts (in pairs) to write down as many adjectives as they can. If there are 4 or more sts this can be made into a mini competition to see who gets the most. Give a 2 MIN time limit. STs feedback and T boards vocab. Tip: Put the adjectives (tall, short, beautiful etc) on the left of board. I had 4 x A4 size pics of pple (some mag pics, some downloaded from google) which I then blue tacked across the board (above the vocab).
2. Now you can elicit more vocab from the sts with the help of the pics (they come up with things like sexy, smart, bald etc). Board the vocab. Now, to the right of the board, write hair/eyes. Elicit from sts adjectives that describe these, i.e blonde, grey, brown, blue. Board.
3. Pointing to adjs on left of board, ask sts what verb goes with these adjs - elicit "to be" or "is" and ask for an eg, pointing to a pic to assist. Board the sentence and ask what tense to elicit pres. simple. Board the form: subj + pres. simple of "to be" + adj. Do the same with the adjs on the right, eliciting "have" (get eg, and board form).
4. Now point to a random pic and get a st to make a sentence using the lang. Repeat with rest of the pics (there are only 4)
5. Finally, tell sts to work in pairs (i only had 2 sts but it still worked). Choose a pic, write 3 sentences about the person in the pic, using the vocab from the left (you point to it) and vocab from the right. Sts then describe the person to their partner and the partner guesses which pic it is (which is, of course, v easy to guess, but the aim is to get them to use the vocab).

That's your 20 mins up!! If you have a half hour demo to prep for, simply give sts an exercise whereby they match some adjs to their opposites (type this up beforehand cos the board will be rather full!).

Give them the exercise before you get them to do the final stage (5) outlined above.

It certainly did the trick and I start my new job next Monday

Good luck if you use the demo, and let me know how you get on if you do.

Marie

[gfell]

Hello Marnie71,

Thanks for sharingi your great teaching demo and congrats on getting the job!

Your demo lesson is absolutely wonderful. One of the best I've seen to date. Am sure others out there will be using it too. What was the target age range for this teaching demo? Did you know the type of students you were preparing for?

Once again, congratulations. Your students will be very lucky to have you as a teacher.

[Marnie71]

Hi gfell

Thankyou for the lovely feedback - I really appreciate it. The target age range is young adults upwards (from age 18 really, but I think this could be done with slightly younger sts too). I did know in advance that the sts would be pre-intermediate young adults. I think every teacher going for a demo should ask the prospective employer the level of the sts - It would have been a nightmare for me to prep had I not known their level!

Thanks again - If this demo helps even one teacher, that's cool.

Take care

Marie

[Tessy]

just a quick question regarding demo lessons at interviews.

are they generally performed on children or adults?

[gfell]

Well, it depends on the job you are applying for. First find out if they want you to teach children or adults. Of course the audience will be adults for the interview. BUT, be sure to deliver a demo lesson targetted to the age of students you will be eventually teaching.

Don't hesitate to ask the school what age range they want the demo lesson targetted to.

[leenmafia]

Hi all. I was desperately searching for a demo lesson idea when I found this forum. I have to do a demo lesson (or mock teaching as they're called here) in front of a panel of 3 lecturers and several other candidates. Time length: 10 mins. Target students: 18-20 yr olds intermediate level.

What bothers me most is...what can I do in 10 mins that is good enough to showcase my teaching skills and at the same time ensure that the 'students' will be able to learn something from that time frame?

[exported_kiwi]

Demos on kindergarten kids are soooo easy too. Just get a few pictures, teach em what the things are in the picture and then play a game. Get em all standing in a straight line and ask em..."what's this" The first one to correctly say what it is can step forward. Keep asking until one is at the board, or front of the class. They love it and it's something that involves em all. Give the slower ones a little "leg up" by letting em advance a step or 2 as well so's to build up their confidence. Don't let em advance too much though, or they'll get lazy and think that you'll let em cruise through it always. The winner has to earn it. Takes no prep time, it's easy and fun for the kids and they'll love you for it.
Just another idea.

With High school and adult students, a Q & A session is good. Get em to write a question down, but time them...only one minute for 1 question. They must ask their question, you'll answer it and possibly ask them a question. The same question cannot be asked twice so it makes em practice listening, thinking and speaking too. It's also a good way to gauge what level they're at.

Works for me, might seem lazy, but impromptu demos are kinda hard to plan for so I just use these ones as my templates and fit them to the situation(s) at hand. Who says that teaching has to be hard work huh?

My dollars worth, peace y'all,

[gfell]

Originally Posted by leenmafia

Hi all. I was desperately searching for a demo lesson idea...

Please don't post the same questions more than once. This post was also placed by you at http://www.aacircle.com.au/forums/em....html#post9480.

Thanks for your co-operation.

[Sal]

Hi, I have a short ten minute demo lesson very soon, and part of it requires an introduction (for about three or four students, Toeic level around 600 - University age, but beginner to intermediate).

Time is obviously very limited, as I have to teach some target language also. I was wondering if anyone had any good ideas for an effective introduction, ie. meeting the students for the first time.

Thanks!