 Hi everyone, today we are going to talk about how to give effective instructions. Why? Simply because students don't understand the immense amount of meticulous planning that needs to happen before the delivery of an activity or a game. Students often underestimate the complexity of giving instructions and do not realize that it is actually a skill. And so today we will focus on how to give effective instructions. And starting from this week onwards, you will have plenty of opportunities to practice and to train yourselves to master this skill. Let's take an icebreaker lesson as an example. All kids love games, right? All kids understand how to play games, right? And so there should be no problem in having them participate in an icebreaker activity? Well, let's watch a clip of three students trying to get a couple of kids to participate in an ice-breaking game. Listen. Listen. Joe will count and I will use the line NK. So, would you submit this as your assessment? If not, why? Some of you may think that they had just had a bad class and that not all classes are like this. Well, remember, never ever blame the students. Always look back on how the lesson was planned and how the instructions were given. And so, let's analyze this video. You want to start the class with the simple and fun activity to warm the students up and engage them. By doing so, you're actually preparing them for your teaching that comes later. But in this case, you can clearly see that quite a few students were lost. Definitely not engaged. In their defense, this is quite a complicated game for them to understand. Students will first have to understand that the objective of the game is to guess who the line NK is while watching everyone's movements. They will also have to understand that there are three separate roles. The line NK, the guesser, and the followers. The guesser will have to leave the room. The line NK will have to create motions and constantly switch motions and everyone else has to follow along as quickly as possible and so they will have to understand the trick is everyone has to look at the line NK in order to follow along but they should not be looking too obviously or else the guesser would know who the line NK is. So let me ask this question again. Do you think this was a good activity to start the day? Our tip number one is that you have to evaluate the sequence of your activities. Okay, although this might not have been the best activity to start the day but they did plan a smooth flow from their activity to their teaching. They changed the title of the game so by playing the game they also introduced the main character of their story. So remember, plan the sequence as well as the flow of your activities. Next question. Do you think the language was appropriate? Our tip number two is that you have to evaluate your sentence structures and the words you use very carefully. She did a great job trying to simplify her language. She simply said So in this case, the sentence structure and words used were simple enough but why didn't her students seem to understand? The answer is simple. You need to plan which words you should teach before you play the game. You may think lead, actions, follow, guess, ask are very simple words and concepts but if you don't teach these words before you let your students participate how can you make sure that they will understand your instructions and be able to follow along? So tip number three. Identify keywords and concepts in your instructions and pre-teach them. When brainstorming how you should teach the words or concepts consider our tip number four. Use visuals. In this case instead of having the phrases up on the blackboard is there a more effective way of using the blackboard? For example, divide the blackboard into three sections. The three rows. The line king, followers and the guesser. Well just to make it more fun maybe use other animals for these two rows. Then write down the keywords, the key responsibilities of each row accordingly. For example, under line king write lead, actions. Under guesser write down go out. Come in, guess, ask. Under followers write down look, follow. Then teach each of these words, demonstrate using body language what each keyword means and therefore you're teaching them what the three rows are expected to do. So that leads us to our tip number five. Always demonstrate before you let your students participate. As you can see even though they try to demonstrate their students weren't paying attention. Why? Students already formed a circle so to them the game has already started. It's not teaching time anymore and so of course they would lose focus. One thing about their demonstration is that they have good and bad examples. Line king. And maybe she will ask me, are you the line king? Remember, even for the simplest games like hangman you should demonstrate what it means to lose as well as what it means to win. So after the good and bad demonstrations is it time to let your students participate? Nope, there's one more step. Tip number six. Check understanding. For example, if hats were prepared put the lion king hat on one student and put the guesser hat on yourself. Then have one group member encourage the lion king to create motions. Another group member to encourage others to follow along. Then you can go around and ask students are you the lion king? And have them respond. Remember you should always check whether or not your students really understand before you let them play. So in the example I just gave clear demonstrations and checking understanding effectively require group work. So one last question. How would you evaluate their group work? One girl was giving instructions another girl who you didn't get to see is outside accompanying a student who was chosen to be the guesser and the boy was supposed to be the one monitoring discipline. However, the girl leading had to constantly stop to monitor discipline. The leader of the activity should never divert their attention to complete other duties. When you're not focused on them they lose focus. As for assisting Rose, make a list of Rose needed and make sure everyone is clear on how to come together as a group. Remember we're expecting to see collaboration. Our last tip is that everyone should have a strategy to keep the students' eyes on you. Be it a signal or classroom rules you should not expect students to just pay attention. When they lose focus you need a strategy to help them regain focus. That's how meticulous planning can help you give effective instructions. It's not just your language. It's how you plan every single activity in every single lesson you teach. In all lessons you will need to give clear instructions and that cannot be achieved by one person. So remember group work is key. So from this week onwards we will be asking each group to lead an ice breaker. Use these opportunities to practice. Treat your peers and your teacher like they are students who don't understand the most basic words in English. Plan carefully with your group mates. How you will establish classroom rules. What your language focus will be. How and what you will teach before you introduce your game. What kind of visuals you will use. How you will demonstrate the game step-by-step with your group mates. And lastly, how you will check understanding. Okay, now start planning. See you in class.