Meet the Team
1
Short and Simple
Suggestions for Language Teachers
A quick reference to selected language teaching elements
Mark Dorr Mark Dorr Education on Facebook markdorrintl@gmail.com
Mark Dorr Education on Facebook
www.markdorr.com2
Introduction
You might be a new language teacher trying to prepare for your first class. You
might have taught a few years and need to pull together the many methods and
techniques you have learned. You might be an experienced teacher who will
benefit from reconsidering and rearranging your teaching plans.
I spent much time “boiling down” many theories, methods, and techniques in
language education to create a “bare bones booklet” for teachers. The ideas that I
have chosen are from my personal viewpoint as an experienced educator; you
should see what others say, too!
Why did I do this? I did it because, sometimes, teachers need a quick reference to
the basics. Also, in some places where I have taught, there are no/few books for
teachers.
This is the most accessible booklet that I have written so that more people can
use it! It can be viewed electronically or printed, is only 25 pages so you can print
it without much cost, uses large print (14-point) for those who need help seeing
the page, contains a black/blue/orange color palette to be read more easily by
those with color vision deficiency (CVD), and has very few designs for readers
bothered by visual distractions.
Plus, this booklet is free! Hopefully, that will help many teachers have this
resource. Feel free to share it with your colleagues, school, department, Peace
Corps or other development agencies, or other groups and individuals.
The ideas in this booklet are well-known. They are used often and with success!
I have used these concepts to teach English, and you can, too. Also, you could use
these same principals to teach another language. In fact, please do! I have!
This should not be the only book you read on teaching a language. A good teacher
needs to understand and use many concepts. But, it is meant to be read easily
and contain some basic tenets needed for teaching. It is a handy resource! Many
3
essential and basic ideas are listed in there. Hypothetically, in a pinch (if this is all
you have), you could use this book as your only resource to teach a language
class, but that would not be adequate preparation under normal circumstances.
My jobs have included being a teacher, published author, subject area supervisor,
academic adviser, materials developer, curriculum consultant, teacher educator,
and university center director as well as a United States Department of State
(USDOS) English Language Specialist. During my career, I have earned awards
including Senior Fulbright Lecturer in English Teacher Education, United States
Department of State Senior English Language Fellow, and being selected as one of
the USDOS 30@30 English Language Specialists.
If you wish, you can find more details about my background at
www.markdorr.com. I can be contacted at markdorrintl@gmail.com.
Special thanks to my parents. I was fortunate to be raised by two amazing people.
My mother showed me invaluable lessons in helping those in need and valuing all
people no matter their race, religion, social status, country, etc. My father led
expeditions to find undiscovered cities and items and, starting when I was young,
I participated in those expeditions. This opened my eyes to the fascinating
histories, cultures, and lifestyles of the world.
4
Your Goal
I am about to tell you one thing that could change your education career
completely!
Your goal is not to teach.
When I tell teachers this, it surprises some of them! Teachers teach, right? Yes,
but that should not be their goal.
A teacher’s goal is not to teach well; it is to have your students learn well!
When teachers have a mindset like “I will teach well today,” they tend to think of
the expected motions they might go through: prep, attendance, intro, activate
schema, activity, assessment, record keeping, etc. Thinking like this is not as
focused on the learners. Also, it tends to make teachers teach the same way year
after year.
When teachers have a mindset like “My students will learn well today,” they tend
to plan and run their classes with more energy and interest. They consider the
individual students and the specific group more and arrange learning plans in
ways that will best empower those students’ lives. That kind of attention is a little
more challenging to observe and measure but, over time, you can notice that the
eventual outcome is more engagement, higher scores, longer language retention,
and happier students!
Additionally, administrators can learn from this, too!
From my experience, you create a vastly different environment for teachers,
students, and parents when you enter your day thinking “My students will learn
well today.” Administrators cannot help but be pulled quickly from this and
having to focus on budgets, human resource issues, and many other important
items. Still, if you can rise above the fray on occasion and remember that the
point of it all is the learners succeeding in learning, it can change how you direct
your organization!
5
Some Basic Principles for Teaching a Language
1. Students learn in different ways. So, present lessons in different ways.
A cook who only talks to his children about how to cook does not provide the same
experience as a cook who talks and answers questions about cooking, shows the
children examples, lets the children touch/smell/taste the work, creates
opportunities for the children try making something, and introduces the children
to other cooks.
Some students learn easier by listening, others by doing something physically
active, others by reading, and others by touching something. Some students learn
best by connecting lessons to the real world, others with games, others with
exercises, others by being outside. Some familiar routines in class are good and
make the students comfortable but, also, try to vary some of the ways you
present lessons to have a better, interesting learning experience.
For example, during one lesson, lecture to the class, use the chalkboard, then put
the learners in groups to problem solve. At the next lesson, have the students
moving around physically in response to directions from you and other students.
Then, try doing something that requires the students to speak. After that, use
items the students can touch and/or manipulate in addition to doing pair work.
Another lesson might involve colorful pictures, foods, or cloth.
2. Make the language your students use, and their lessons, meaningful.
If your sister is teaching you how to sell vegetables, and she just gives you a list of
words you have never seen before like “potato,” “exchange,” “sale,” and
“bargain” without any context and tells you to go sell, it does not help you as
much as watching her sell vegetables and seeing how it all works.
Many long discussions about rules might not be as helpful as examples, modeling,
and context. For instance, learning word order might be easier if also viewing
examples of discussions on videos. Word lists alone might not help as much as
Short and Simple
Suggestions for Language Teachers
A quick reference to selected language teaching elements
Mark Dorr Mark Dorr Education on Facebook markdorrintl@gmail.com
Mark Dorr Education on Facebook
www.markdorr.com2
Introduction
You might be a new language teacher trying to prepare for your first class. You
might have taught a few years and need to pull together the many methods and
techniques you have learned. You might be an experienced teacher who will
benefit from reconsidering and rearranging your teaching plans.
I spent much time “boiling down” many theories, methods, and techniques in
language education to create a “bare bones booklet” for teachers. The ideas that I
have chosen are from my personal viewpoint as an experienced educator; you
should see what others say, too!
Why did I do this? I did it because, sometimes, teachers need a quick reference to
the basics. Also, in some places where I have taught, there are no/few books for
teachers.
This is the most accessible booklet that I have written so that more people can
use it! It can be viewed electronically or printed, is only 25 pages so you can print
it without much cost, uses large print (14-point) for those who need help seeing
the page, contains a black/blue/orange color palette to be read more easily by
those with color vision deficiency (CVD), and has very few designs for readers
bothered by visual distractions.
Plus, this booklet is free! Hopefully, that will help many teachers have this
resource. Feel free to share it with your colleagues, school, department, Peace
Corps or other development agencies, or other groups and individuals.
The ideas in this booklet are well-known. They are used often and with success!
I have used these concepts to teach English, and you can, too. Also, you could use
these same principals to teach another language. In fact, please do! I have!
This should not be the only book you read on teaching a language. A good teacher
needs to understand and use many concepts. But, it is meant to be read easily
and contain some basic tenets needed for teaching. It is a handy resource! Many
3
essential and basic ideas are listed in there. Hypothetically, in a pinch (if this is all
you have), you could use this book as your only resource to teach a language
class, but that would not be adequate preparation under normal circumstances.
My jobs have included being a teacher, published author, subject area supervisor,
academic adviser, materials developer, curriculum consultant, teacher educator,
and university center director as well as a United States Department of State
(USDOS) English Language Specialist. During my career, I have earned awards
including Senior Fulbright Lecturer in English Teacher Education, United States
Department of State Senior English Language Fellow, and being selected as one of
the USDOS 30@30 English Language Specialists.
If you wish, you can find more details about my background at
www.markdorr.com. I can be contacted at markdorrintl@gmail.com.
Special thanks to my parents. I was fortunate to be raised by two amazing people.
My mother showed me invaluable lessons in helping those in need and valuing all
people no matter their race, religion, social status, country, etc. My father led
expeditions to find undiscovered cities and items and, starting when I was young,
I participated in those expeditions. This opened my eyes to the fascinating
histories, cultures, and lifestyles of the world.
4
Your Goal
I am about to tell you one thing that could change your education career
completely!
Your goal is not to teach.
When I tell teachers this, it surprises some of them! Teachers teach, right? Yes,
but that should not be their goal.
A teacher’s goal is not to teach well; it is to have your students learn well!
When teachers have a mindset like “I will teach well today,” they tend to think of
the expected motions they might go through: prep, attendance, intro, activate
schema, activity, assessment, record keeping, etc. Thinking like this is not as
focused on the learners. Also, it tends to make teachers teach the same way year
after year.
When teachers have a mindset like “My students will learn well today,” they tend
to plan and run their classes with more energy and interest. They consider the
individual students and the specific group more and arrange learning plans in
ways that will best empower those students’ lives. That kind of attention is a little
more challenging to observe and measure but, over time, you can notice that the
eventual outcome is more engagement, higher scores, longer language retention,
and happier students!
Additionally, administrators can learn from this, too!
From my experience, you create a vastly different environment for teachers,
students, and parents when you enter your day thinking “My students will learn
well today.” Administrators cannot help but be pulled quickly from this and
having to focus on budgets, human resource issues, and many other important
items. Still, if you can rise above the fray on occasion and remember that the
point of it all is the learners succeeding in learning, it can change how you direct
your organization!
5
Some Basic Principles for Teaching a Language
1. Students learn in different ways. So, present lessons in different ways.
A cook who only talks to his children about how to cook does not provide the same
experience as a cook who talks and answers questions about cooking, shows the
children examples, lets the children touch/smell/taste the work, creates
opportunities for the children try making something, and introduces the children
to other cooks.
Some students learn easier by listening, others by doing something physically
active, others by reading, and others by touching something. Some students learn
best by connecting lessons to the real world, others with games, others with
exercises, others by being outside. Some familiar routines in class are good and
make the students comfortable but, also, try to vary some of the ways you
present lessons to have a better, interesting learning experience.
For example, during one lesson, lecture to the class, use the chalkboard, then put
the learners in groups to problem solve. At the next lesson, have the students
moving around physically in response to directions from you and other students.
Then, try doing something that requires the students to speak. After that, use
items the students can touch and/or manipulate in addition to doing pair work.
Another lesson might involve colorful pictures, foods, or cloth.
2. Make the language your students use, and their lessons, meaningful.
If your sister is teaching you how to sell vegetables, and she just gives you a list of
words you have never seen before like “potato,” “exchange,” “sale,” and
“bargain” without any context and tells you to go sell, it does not help you as
much as watching her sell vegetables and seeing how it all works.
Many long discussions about rules might not be as helpful as examples, modeling,
and context. For instance, learning word order might be easier if also viewing
examples of discussions on videos. Word lists alone might not help as much as
