English is the International language and as a newly qualified TESOL or ESL teacher you are probably looking for some inspiration in how you can begin creating lesson plans that will help your beginner students hit the ground running.

After all, every teacher wants their students to excel, but sometimes structuring lesson plans can lead to plenty of headaches for those newly qualified and ones that have been in the game for some time. We are going to help you develop some simple steps in creating ESL lesson plans, so sit back, relax and take notes for next time your students are in class.

Identify Your Students

Perhaps the first real section we need to draw on is your students, rather than the subject or module that you are teaching them. As you probably already know by now from your teaching career, you will need to adapt dependent upon who it sitting in front of you.

You will need to identify your audience – are they children or are they adults that you are going to be teaching? Obviously if you prepare a lesson aimed for children but have a group of adults sat in front of you, they aren’t going to be sat there for long.

For adults you will want them to engage with each other, using industry jargon, and other terms that will help them feel more comfortable moving forward on the course. Think about what they are learning English for as well – are they businessmen and women, or are they call centre staff? Each group will have their own specific way about them and it’s up to you, as a teacher, to differentiate between them and plan your lessons.

Developing a Plan for Your Students

The second action point is getting the ESL lesson plan together, and whether you are training students to take an offline TESOL certification or a TESOL certification online, it doesn’t matter.

Firstly you need to set yourself a goal as the teacher before you begin to plan for your students. What do you want them to achieve out of your lesson plan? Where would you like each student to end up?

Get yourself a pen and pad and start writing down ideas on how you can effectively achieve certain goals.

Develop a vocabulary book

Finally, one handy tip that a lot of ESL teacher tend to use in their classrooms is to develop a vocabulary book. If in any doubts speak with other teachers as well and see how they develop their own lesson plans to see if you can take anything away from them.

Each student can write words down on paper or using a gadget such as their phone, tablet or laptop in order to record words that they have learnt or heard along with a description of what that words means and in what context it’s usually used in.

Again, depending on who is sat in front of you will require you to adapt this strategy slightly. For the younger generation learning English, create a fun task that they enjoy. Focus more on personal interests and use bright colored images as a way of them being able to relate to that object or event.

As a final tip to ESL teachers out there, it’s always worth doing a lesson review either at the end of a current lesson or next time you meet with your class. This will help refresh the class and help them absorb more information.