How to start a lesson? well, the beginning of a lesson is crucial because the most important part of a lesson occurs during the first five minutes. If the teacher manages to engage students right away and catch their attention, then there is a good chance he or she will not suffer from indiscipline and the delivery of the lesson will go smoothly. It is very important for teachers to start their lesson in a way that attracts students’ attention and get them ready for the different points teachers want to teach. Many things should be considered to reach this end.
Everything starts from the time you enter the classroom or receive students. It should be born in mind that a bad mood is contagious. It is crucial that you leave your worries behind and shine with a smile in front of your students. Nothing can be more discouraging than coming low-spirited and infecting your students with your low spirit. Here are some tips to take into consideration while receiving your students.\
- Smile, smile, smile…
- Don’t start your lesson straight away.
- Start with a joke, a quote, a funny thing that happened to you while coming to work, a question…
- Don’t start call roll to register attendance straight away. This seems too formal at the beginning and it may be done during other moments, for example when students are busy working. If you have a large class send around a piece of paper. But if it is a small class just look round and note so as not to disturb students while they are working.
- The policy of late-comers should be discussed with the students and everybody should agree on the rules to be respected by everybody. As a general rule of thumb, teachers should let students in if they are less than 15 minutes late, but they should be marked as absent if they are later than 15 minutes.
