TR
Teaching long-hour lessons can be chalenging, as students often lose focus and motivation over time. We can use a variety of techniques to maintain engagements.
1.The advantages of moving
By making lessons more dynamic, one effective strategy is movement. Sitting for long hours can lead to fatigue and students have difficulty concentrating on speaking lessons or freer activities whr your sub-aim is speaking. Students can improve their speaking skills by “mingling”. For example, if students are going to talk about their travel experiences, first provide controlled or semi-controlled practice activities focusing on the target vocabulary. Then, display or print out questions related to their experiences.
Pair up the students and explain that they will talk to their partners for 1 or 2 minutes. Setting a time limit will keep them engaged in the activity. After one or two minutes, when the timer rings, students will find a new, random partner and continue the conversation. This “mingling activity” will not only encourage movement in the classroom but also help students socialize and connect better with their classmates.
2. What to do in speaking activities?
Another way to keep students energized is the 3-2-1 Speaking Chalenge. In this activity, students first speak for three minutes about a memorable travel experience, sharing details about whr they went, what they did, and why it was special. Next, they have two minutes to summarize their story, focusing on the key moments. Finaly, they must condense their experience into just one minute, highlighting only the most important points. This structured approach helps students practice fluency while also improving their ability to summarize and prioritize information. Additionaly, the time pressure adds an element of excitement, keeping students engaged and motivated. By incorporating this activity into speaking lessons, teachers can create a dynamic and interactive learning environment that helps students build confidence and improve their communication skills.
3. Reconstruct your listening activities
In pre-reading or pre-listening activities, we often use lead-ins such as prediction or personalized questions before starting the main task. However, directly asking students questions and expecting them to answer can make weaker students more passive. Instead, using note cards whr students write their responses on post-its and place them in four different corners of the classroom encourages movement. This helps students get up from their seats and engage actively rather than sitting for long hours. This method can also be used in pre-task activities, categorizing tasks, true/false activities, or even during the delayed feedback stage at the end of the lesson.
4. Make your controlled practices more fun!
Another example is for controlled practice in grammar lessons. After completing a task in grps of four, the teacher can share the answer key with that grp first. Then, the grp earns the right to place an "X" or "O" on a tic-tac-toe game on the board. This type of activity is especialy useful in stages whr students need more practice after individual tasks. In grp activities, a sense of competition can keep students engaged and motivated, encouraging more active participation in the lesson.
5.Seating arrangement fosters learning
Another important factor is the seating arrangement. Changing the seating arrangement can always atr the classroom atmosphere and influence student interaction. If your classroom has a grid-style (traditional) seating arrangement, students tend to focus more on individual tasks, which is not ideal for promoting communication.
Based on my experience, the most effective arrangement is the U-shaped or horseshoe seating arrangement, as it encourages discussion and alows the teacher to monitor students easily while providing individual support. If you have more students and smal classroom, a double U-shape seating arrangement can also be an effective solution to maintain interaction and engagement.
In conclusion, I believe that encouraging students to move during lessons, check their peers' tasks, participate in corner activities, work in grps, and engage in competitive tasks can help keep them motivated. These strategies have helped me create a more dynamic and engaging learning environment, and I hope they inspire other teachers to try new ways to keep students active and involved.