FAQs ABOUT THE PPP MODEL
& TEFL/ TESOL CERTIFICATE COURSES

Of course you should check out how these different sections are explained in the article itself, especially in Part One:  The PPP Model Explained.

In a nutshell, we want our students to be able to not only learn about some particular aspects of the language, but to use those structures on their own while speaking (or writing).   PPP refers to three basic stages in a model of how one could make lesson plans to prepare and approach teaching grammar or vocabulary (called the target language) to language learners.  The three Ps refer to the following:
Presentation – In this model it is typical to do a few activities before presenting that target language.  First you have an activity that introduces a theme (like shopping for summer clothes or pollution or going on holidays) and gets the students involved and thinking/speaking about the theme.  Then you give the students something to read or listen to that is related to the theme (and the target language appears in the text).  And finally you deliberately present the grammar or vocabulary to the students that you want them to learn (the target language).

NOTE:  All those activities are often described as being components of the Presentation stage.  In this article the first warmer activity introducing the theme is talked about separately in the step of Context, and the reading or listening is considered separately as well in the Input stage.  Whether they are to be considered as part of the full Presentation stage or as different entities preceding that particular activity where the target language is introduced, doesn’t really change the model at all.  They are just different ways of looking at the same thing.  In this article, the Context and Input are considered different stages which happen before the Presentation is made.

Practice – Now that the students have an idea of what they are to learn, they do a series of activities where they start to use it in some way.  The first activities are usually exercises where they get better acquainted with the form of the structure or when to use something correctly.  Later they begin to use it in their speaking.  The teacher is there, correcting and guiding them.

Production – Finally the students use the target language while speaking about the theme.  The teacher assigns the task (for example a discussion or role-play) but doesn’t participate or help.  The main idea is to see how well the students can use the new target language without the aid of the teacher.

So the PPP refers to the three stages that a student goes through to learn and become more autonomous in using some grammatical structures or new vocabulary.  This is a simplified general overview and in the PPP model’s evolution, other models (ESA or CRA, for example), have been developed as well as more modern interpretations of how to go about these stages in the PPP model.

It is my experience that different schools interpret the PPP model differently, as do some trainers within the same school.  There may not be a wide variation, but some elements may receive a greater emphasis than others, depending on the person.  It is not my intention to argue against any minor variances of interpretations, but rather to supplement what the teacher is learning or has learnt.  And if a teacher is taking a certification course, it is not uncommon to feel that different trainers or observers are providing what seemingly seems to be contradictory information.  One observer may say that more detailed instructions are in order or to experiment with ‘guided discovery’ more and another will recommend reducing teacher talking time.  While it’s true that guided discovery approaches can involve more teacher talking time, the teacher could benefit from exploring that approach further yet cut down on the teacher talking time in other areas.  The two pieces of advice don’t necessarily have to be at odds with one another, although they might seem so from the frustrated trainee’s viewpoint.  Sometimes, too, two different trainers can have clearly different stands on one particular matter.  For example, some trainers insist that the trainees never explain to their students that today’s class will have a grammar focus on comparing two different verb tenses.  In their experience with young learners and also with many adults, people tend to ‘turn off’ when hearing such intentions, and that the teacher should engage the students in a more motivating way, only introducing new information when it is the right time in the lesson plan.  Others believe that a brief mentioning can help the students become better orientated to not only what is coming in the class, but to also focus in more effectively on the contents and how to approach it.  It’s true that in following the PPP model, the language focus (ex: a particular grammar point) is not introduced until after the warmer and the different input (reading or listening) tasks are completed.  The question is whether or not the students should be informed early in the class of what they’ll be exploring.

I personally don’t have a very strong stance on this issue in either direction.  I can see the benefit of withholding the official declaration that we are studying some grammar point until later in the class and I deliberately do just that in many of my classes.  I also have had many classes that last longer than the allotted 45 minutes which many trainees in TEFL courses are given to teach.  It is not uncommon for my students to come in late or have to leave early (especially those with very tight schedules or have many commitments) and they appreciate my writing a brief summary on one side of the board so they have an idea of what they have missed, or where we are within the current class.  That summary states very clearly what structures (among other things) we will be looking at.

When listening to advice which might seem contradictory to someone else’s, my suggestion is to try to understand what the perspective is for each person offering them advice.  They all might have something to offer and depending on future circumstances, you might be in a better position to make decisions because of that understanding.

1- Decide on what is to be your target language and theme for the class.  Have you been assigned any target language to teach and/or a theme for the class?  If not, make that your first priority.  Decide what it is you will be teaching them (a grammar point or vocabulary that would be useful to them) and the theme to run through your class (dream holidays, siblings, restaurants, films).  If you have taught this class before, where did you stop last time; what could be useful to them?

If you have no idea you could look for a theme first, then try to figure out what target language might be relevant, but generally speaking I recommend the opposite:  think of the target language first, and then what situation (theme) to place it in.  To get more concrete ideas try looking at a student book for that level you’ll be teaching and scan through the table of contents to get some appropriate possibilities.

2- Now put the target language and the theme together to create your objective for the class.  Is the objective clear and reasonable?  If you are going to teach your students adverbs, are there different kinds and which ones are you going to teach?  (In other words, decide and clearly state which ones in your objective.)  Imagine you have narrowed it down to adverbs of frequency.  Are there different kinds of those adverbs and what would be appropriate for your class (considering level of students, their interests / needs your abilities at teaching them what is important, and the time you have.  It is typically better to narrow down your target language to something specific and achievable than to take on too much and encounter a lot of difficulties along the way.

3- Map out what you have to present (in the Presentation stage).  And then think of your students as you work out how to present it.  Consider charts, visuals, examples and involving the students.

You still have more to do, but you’ve covered many of the important parts and you now have direction in where you are going.  To complete your lesson plan:

4- Get an Input.  Find a short reading or listening or video clip to back up your objective (target language and theme) and make a Gist task and a Specific Information task.

5- Think of your final Production activity.  Make sure it reflects your objective (both target language and theme) and that students will be freely interacting on their own without your intervention.

6- Get some Practice activities together – the first ones are usually more focused on the form (how to construct or use the target language correctly) and when to use them.  The later Practice activities prepare the students for the Production activity.

7- Now you have the basic draft of the lesson plan.  Go through it again, developing any materials and vague areas (like questions for the reading, how you are going to do the boardwork, and decide on the timing of the activities).  You may need to make some adjustments and when you are reasonably happy with the lesson plan, make a version to give to your observer or tutor, and when that’s okayed, make a user-friendly version for yourself to follow when you are actually teaching the class.  Also make sure you have enough photocopies for your students and observer(s) and an answer key handy for you.

RECOMMENDATION:  After you have gone through this article, reading the explanations of what the terminology refer to and seeing the video segments on watching a class being taught using this model, go to the section on Writing Your Own Lesson Plan for further tips and guidelines.

In some ways, yes, especially if you consider that any time the student is writing or speaking (or participating in the productive skills), that student is producing something.  The PRODUCTION STAGE in the PPP model refers to a  particular way of approaching an activity that the teacher sets up for the students to engage in.  The Production activity has three important characteristics and if any of those conditions are not met, it would not be considered a Production activity, but most likely a Practice activity.  Let’s use a speaking activity as this is by far the more common focus (as opposed to a writing activity).

1) The students engage in a ‘free’ ongoing dynamic conversation.  Of course this would have a little latitude in interpretation, especially for the lower levels.  One common misunderstanding is having the students write a few sentences or questions and then later say them to their partner.  This is very structured and not considered a ‘free’ activity, including if another student hears and must respond to a question somebody had prepared.  If it is a simple question and answer drill routine, it is unquestionably a Practice activity.  There’s nothing wrong with that, and these kinds of Practice activities are excellent in helping wean the students towards the final Production activity, especially if the students are now engaged in more speaking.

It’s not always so clear cut.  What about the situation in which several students prepare some questions to ask a person designated to be in a hot seat?  To some extent the hot seat student is engaging more in a freer type of speaking if s/he doesn’t know what the questions are in advance, but there is still a touch too much structure to the activity.  If the interviewers were permitted to prepare some questions but have to rely a lot on improvised and follow-up questions, then it could be considered a Production activity.

You want the students to be in an environment which is not absolutely predictable and controlled.  Conversations often go on tangents and people interact in different ways and cover a variety of content.  That dynamic element is part of the Production stage.

2) The teacher does not intervene.  This is hard for a lot of teachers.  Some simply like participating and the students may welcome it, but the idea is that the students can handle the task completely on their own.  That means no clearing of the teacher’s throat, no nodding of the head or gentle tapping on the board to help remind or direct the students in a subtle way.  The teacher’s presence is basically absent other than monitoring their interactions in a distant capacity.  If the students make mistakes or don’t even include the target language, then the teacher can make note of it and after the activity has finished, the teacher can bring those points to the students’ attention.

It is important that the students become familiar with the notion that they can achieve a task without the aid of the teacher.  In real life the students will not always have the teacher close at hand for guidance and this Production activity helps them become more autonomous.

3) The objective.  The Production task the students are given directly reflects what is stated in the objective for the class.  Everything, the warmer, the Input tasks, the Presentation and the Practice activities all contribute to progressively leading the student to being able to complete the task.  The objective might be written as follows:

“By the end of the class the students should be able to use the eight items of ‘weather vocabulary’ while comparing different holidays they have had in the final speaking activity.”

That doesn’t mean all eight items of vocabulary, or whatever the target language might be, have to be used.  They don’t even have to be used correctly or at all.  Ideally, however, the teacher set up the activity (determining what the task is and giving clear instructions which communicate the expectations) well.  It should be reasonably ‘natural’ for the target language to come up in the conversation, and it’s alright in the initial instructions to ask the students to use it occasionally.

To sum up, the Production activity should reflect the theme and the objectives for the class.  It is a speaking activity in which the teacher does not intervene in any way once the instructions have been given so the students can explore the theme on their own.  It should be a dynamic conversation in that it is not following a rigid structure or formula and it has the capacity to move in different directions.  Any corrections or guidance will be given after the speaking activity has finished.  If the students have completely misinterpreted the task then the teacher is likely to intervene, perhaps stopping the activity to re-explain the instructions.  If the students start the task again with the new insights provided by the teacher, it could still be considered a Production activity unless the teacher continues to provide guidance in some way during that task.

Many of the key points raised in Question #4 would still apply.

1) The students should write in a ‘free’ manner.  This doesn’t necessarily have to be free-style creative writing like immediately scribbling down any thought that comes into your head.  It could be writing a letter to your friend or a formal proposal to the mayor in your city.  It would not be a gap-fill exercise or following a very strictly laid-out formula dictating which sentences should be placed where.  As in the speaking Practice activities, these tasks could very well be good writing Practice activities which help prepare the student to the final writing production.

2) The teacher does not intervene.  The student works on his or her own.  The teacher can correct and provide insights and guidance before and after (not during) the task.  The student has to learn to be autonomous, that s/he is capable of completing the task without that help.  When the writing is done, the teacher can then correct or give comments, for example.  And ask the student to rewrite it, keeping in mind the recent feedback.

In following the PPP model, the teacher would set the final writing production in the original objective(s) for the class.  For example,

OBJECTIVE:  “By the end of the class the students should be able to incorporate some of the expressions and ideas that they have learned* to complete the following homework assignment on their own:

PRODUCTION ACTIVITY:  Write a formal letter of complaint to the hotel you recently stayed in, explaining why your stay was not satisfactory and that you would like a partial or full refund.  (about 200 – 250 words)”

* Those expressions and ideas should be clearly listed either in the objective or referenced to another section.

The warmer could be having students in pairs describe some pictures of hotel rooms, some in good condition, some in bad.  Then a video showing a investigative journalist checking rooms in three famous hotel chains (with the corresponding gist and specific information tasks).  The Presentation could include looking at good and bad letters of complaint as well as the level of formality of some expressions which could be used.  The Practice activities could be transforming an excessively informal letter to a more formal one.  Another Practice activity could begin with students in small groups talking about some bad experiences they have had while staying in some hotels followed by them discussing different strategies in what to include in the letter (such as showing how angry you are by insulting the manager vs being polite yet firm) or even having the students individually sketch out what they would like to include in their letter.

The Production activity would be to write the letter for homework and the feedback would be the teacher’s comments (and marks, if awarded).

It’s normal.  Three big hints to help you feel better, or at least get a better perspective:

1- You’re among friends.  Your colleagues feel just the same as you.  The students you will be teaching are used to these situations, so they don’t mind.  And your trainers are there to support you.  You can’t ask for a better situation to get your feet wet.  Think of it like a workshop, because that is what it is, basically.  A place to explore and try things out with support and backup.

2- It’s normal to feel nervous.  You are just like the vast majority of people about to teach their first class.  The worst part is the anticipation.  Almost everyone I have spoken to has told me that once you’re up there and begin your teaching, you’ll start to forget how nervous you are and get involved with what you have to do.  Maybe that first minute or two will be a bit difficult, but from then on, it is much easier.  And after you get your first class out of the way, you will have proof that you can do it, and can begin to feel better about what to do and where to go from there.

3- Prepare well.  You may not be able to have everything perfect in the way you want it (many people want more time, more instruction, more of a lot of things), but in real life it never really is a perfect situation anyway.  More important is to have a reasonably clear idea of what you have to do.  Have your materials ready, make sure the technology works (if you’re doing a listening – check out the machine and speakers to see if and how they work), and have your lesson plan handy so you can refer to it easily during the class.

When you have everything more or less ready to go, go through in your mind a few times what you’ll be doing in that class.  Imagine yourself doing it.  Describe your actions and say your instructions out loud, like you are explaining it to someone.  Check out the room you’ll be in and see how the students will be sitting.  Become familiar with what you have to do, and then when the time comes, just do it.  Then, faster than you think, it’ll be over.

The problem is, most people do not include all that information if they format their lesson plan in another way.  Almost always some information is skipped, at least in my experience.  For example, some schools have their trainers give the new teachers two ideas to incorporate in their next class (such as less teacher talking time and more elicitation during the Presentation stage) during the feedback session following an observation.  That information may not be included in the teacher’s customized lesson plan.  Also, because people like to organize ideas differently, it can be hard for the trainer to quickly find something in a lesson plan format s/he is not accustomed to.  Those forms do have a purpose and should be filled out as requested.

Having said that, most lesson plan forms I have seen are very difficult to use in the classroom.  If I have to fill out such a form, I’ll do so, but I’ll enter the classroom with my own version that I can more easily relate to.  Maybe for that class I might write out the numbers 1 to 4 so they are very large and with lots of white space between them.  Next to each of those numbers I will have a mini title and a few rough notes sketched out to remind me what I have to do next.  When I’m teaching and physically in front of my students, I want to use a lesson plan that is more teacher-friendly to the way I approach things.  So in conclusion, do two lesson plans for each class you are teaching in the course – one official one for the school and a teacher-friendly one for you.

The Context and the Input (reading, listening or watching a video) are to be done quickly in the PPP model, leaving most of the time and dedication to the language focus of the grammar or vocabulary target language.  Both the Context and Input contribute by setting the scene and warming the students up to thinking and speaking along those lines.  Language doesn’t appear in a vacuum.  It is always in some kind of context and orientating the students to that general situation makes the task of looking at the target language much easier.  You can help the students understand how to use the target language better by referring to those examples.  And of course, you want to choose a reading or listening text that both reinforces the theme for your class and contains examples of the target language.  (If it doesn’t, you may want to add a few.  Some people disagree with this and feel that authentic texts should remain pure or 100% authentic.  Others, such as I, believe that it is fine to tweak a text for your language classes by cutting out a section or two, or modifying the language a touch.  Sometimes those texts are too long or have parts that are too difficult for the level.  Much depends on your objectives and how you are going to approach your activities.  If there is a fair amount of tweaking, then you can refer the students to the original by giving them the link.  I usually give them the link anyway, out of respect for those who created it.)

That reading or listening text can be used as references when you are officially presenting that language focus, and serve as models of usage in the later Practice or Production activities.  In the PPP model, the reading or listening input doesn’t have to (and shouldn’t) be long but it is there to strengthen those areas you wish to focus on (theme and target language usage).

It’s easier for you when you’re planning, but it’s adding potentially extra complications that you might have to deal with later in the class and it’s making it harder for the students.  Plus, doing it that way transforms the activity into something else than just a simple gist task.  It’s good to be aware of the reasoning behind some decisions and the possible consequences of making them in a certain way.

If the students don’t have a clear idea of the task before they start reading or listening (to know what they are listening or reading the text for), their attention will go to many places, including thinking how difficult it is to understand some parts.  If there is a possibility that they think they might be asked to talk about some things yet they don’t know what those things might be, they will try to read or listen for many different elements and be frustrated that they can’t get it all.  Later if asked to give a summary, the students also have to use skills that go beyond reading or listening for gist.  Being able to condense a text into a summary and articulate it well can be challenging on its own and be regarded as a different skill.  If you want the task to be short and focus on only the gist , here are two useful suggestions:

1- Make the task known to the students before they begin reading or listening
2- Design the task in a way that demonstrates some general understanding without calling upon too many other skills.  This could be the students choosing a good title for the text and you provide three options beforehand.

It depends.  If the students seem to be catching on and using the target language well, if they seem like they could handle the Production activity, then probably yes, especially if you think those remaining Practice activities aren’t essential in some way.  If the students don’t seem ready for the Production activity, then it would be best to perhaps work on those areas that need more attention and practice, maybe even do a new Presentation addressing those issues.

While the students are carrying out the Practice activities, take careful notice of where their difficulties lie, and their strengths as well.  This can give you valuable intel on how to approach making further progress in the next class.

If you are in a TEFL certificate course which includes real classtime teaching (online or presential) and your first few classes never developed far enough to do the Production activity, discuss this with one of your coaches or trainers.  Maybe you could teach something simpler and more attainable in the next class, and get at least one successful Production activity under your belt to know what it feels like.

— Think of your objectives and the details / info you want the students to know about in your Presentation stage.  Think of some exercises that would reinforce those points directly in the initial activities, and how the students could incorporate them in their speaking in the later Practice activities.

— Look for grammar or vocabulary books (hard copies or online) and see what kinds of exercises they have for the target language you’re interested in.  Raymond Murphy and many others have put out a number of excellent grammar books for different levels where there is a very clear table of contents and index to find what you are looking for and a two-page layout where the left page goes over key points to be aware of and the right page has corresponding exercises.  If you buy such a book, make sure to get one with an answer key.

— Check out different student books (and teacher’s books and workbooks), either hard copies or digital versions for that level you are preparing the lesson plan for.  Chances are you can find some good ideas in those books.

— Check out games and resource books to do something other than gap-fill exercises, for example.  Students can practice grammar and vocabulary in ways that are fun, stimulating and interactive as well.

— Ask for and share ideas with your colleagues.  If you are in contact with other teachers, you can help each other out a lot through those exchanges.  If you don’t work in a school with a teacher’s room where you can meet fellow teachers, check out and join TEFL / TESOL groups on Facebook or Linked In.  Teachers there often ask for and exchange very useful information.

1- If there is an accompanying teacher’s book, there might be some interesting suggestions on how to approach the materials.

2- If you have any colleagues who have used that student book before, ask them what they did.  They might be able to supply you with something you’d like to try.

3- Searching for something specific on the internet can be very time-consuming and not always effective.  Still, there are lots of good things out there and it’s worth a look.  Set a time limit and if you don’t get something by then, change your tactics.  In your searches, if you come across a blog, forum or website that has something interesting to offer, make a special file and add that location with a note saying why you liked it.  When you’re looking for that on another day, you have it.  As you accumulate more links, you can organize them in a way that is useful to you.

4- When a student book has a reading, listening, exercises or suggested activities that don’t really appeal to you, there are some options to consider:

Add / Develop further – – If the book only has three questions for the students and you want more, make up a few more.  If you think the students could take the exercise one step further, then add that step or extra factor to make it suit your needs.

Re-order – – Maybe you like what the book is offering, but don’t agree with the order.  For example, rather than having the students try to work out the meaning of some new vocabulary in the context of a reading after the reading, you prefer to pre-teach the students this vocabulary.  Or vice versa.  Or start the class off with the recommended speaking activity that is at the end of the unit.  Sometimes shifting the order of activities can have a very interesting effect on your lesson plan.  Just keep in mind what your objectives are for each task.

Rewrite – – Maybe you like the kinds of questions asked or exercises given, but just not those particular ones.  Then use that format as presented in the book, but write your own questions or exercises.

Modify – – This is another form of rewriting, but rather than keeping the general format and changing the items, you could simply change the approach, either slightly or completely.  For example, if you don’t like the true/false activity in the student book because you want the students to respond to questions with short answers, then do make the questions or exercises in that style.

Replace – – Look to other editions of student books, grammar or vocabulary books and exercise books.  You can replace some or all of the target language practice exercises in the student book with other ones (or write your own).

Omit – – Sometimes you don’t see the value of an exercise or activity in the student book.  Or you are trying to make a judgement call on time considerations and how the flow or direction of your class might be affected, and when you look at some of the activities, it’s hard to justify using them.  So don’t.  You don’t have to use all the materials in there if they don’t add to your lesson plan.  Besides, most student books offer more activities than there is time in the course to do them, so be selective.

And sometimes, too, teachers come across an activity that they really don’t want to do, perhaps because they feel less sure about that area of language to teach effectively.  Again, if it’s not positively adding to what you want to do in your class, you can modify it or simply not do it.

I have heard this on basically every course I have been involved with, including from star trainees.  Some people may think that a certificate course is just a fun time to meet new people, socialize and cut and paste a few materials together in preparation for a class.  Those things might happen, but the course is very intense (at least all those that I know about) and it is good to know that before signing up.  Somebody may have warned you, but the knowledge of just how demanding the course is doesn’t strike you until you are in the course.

The vast majority of trainees that I have spoken with tell me they were surprised at how hard the course was, but it was well worth it.  If you haven’t signed up for one and are thinking about it, search around for one better suited to you, and prepare yourself for four to five weeks of very intense activity, including the weekends.  If you are able to organize yourself well and keep ahead of the game, you might be able to go out a little, but be very disciplined.  Most courses I know about are designed in a way that if the people can get through all that’s given to them reasonably well, they will pass the course.  But if you fall behind and don’t complete all the requirements, you don’t pass.  In that case you either have to repeat the course, or pay extra and redo one section, but all this depends on the school you’re with.  If you find yourself having difficulties coping with the workload, definitely speak with one or more of the instructors.  They can hear your situation as you see it, and they can probably give you some good advice and direction.

Different schools approach the course in different ways, but what I’m more accustomed to is that trainees study different subjects in the morning (classroom management, how to teach grammar, lesson planning, etc) and this may include quizzes, assigned readings or completion of some kinds of tasks BEFORE that subject is taught.  It’s possible to have one, two or even three different subjects every morning.  After lunch those trainees that have classes to teach that evening have a couple hours or so to prepare their class.  They have to do much (and later in the course, all) the work themselves.  This means working out the ideas, designing the lesson plan, finding or creating the materials, completing any forms and meeting with the tutors at least once or twice to get feedback (which often means new suggestions and ideas and changing some of the plans they were thinking of doing).  Then comes the actual teaching and the students come in to the classroom.  Maybe only one shows up and the ideas for pair-work etc have to be quickly modified.  Or maybe two new students are joining the class and seating arrangements and numbers of photocopies have to be accommodated.  If two trainees are teaching together, usually one trainee teaches the first half of that class, and when s/he is done, the other trainee takes over until the end.  When the class is done, perhaps 90 minutes later, then the two trainees sit with the observer and they go through what happened in the classes for another hour or so.  Reports are assigned for homework (reflections on your class as well as what you observed in your partner’s class) to be handed in the next day.  You think your long day is finally over (after you finish those reports) but you have that reading and quiz or assignment to be done before the next morning’s class.  And those are the daily basic responsibilities, although you probably won’t be teaching every day.  There are also individual and team projects that trainees have to complete, applying what they are learning and these are especially challenging because of so many new ideas constantly coming at them.  These are done in the trainee’s ‘free time’.  Some are to be done in a week’s time, maybe less, before the next one is given.  And often in these courses there is a final project (some courses have an exam instead) that weighs a lot in their passing.  There is a fair amount of variation between schools about exams.  Some have daily quizzes, others may have weekly exams, and some may have a big final exam.

The intense workload and stimulus overload are some real issues you will have to deal with.  You will not have much free time (but some, especially if you are well-organized).  And there is another factor you should be aware of.  It is not unusual for people to feel insecure about themselves and why they are taking the course.  Some soul-searching and struggling with challenges can be good as it might open you up to ideas you may not normally consider seriously.  But it can also make the idea of quitting or not completing the course attractive too.  Take it in stride, work through it and make decisions that will help bring you successfully to the other side.  Another issue is the negativity that can and often does surface.  People become more defensive, short-tempered and very critical (of themselves, other people, the course, everything).  Each of them may have very valid reasons for having some of the perspectives they do, but it’s important to keep it under control.

It is no wonder that people feel stressed, even if there is nothing else that needs a lot of attention in their lives.  If all you had to do is eat, sleep and do the course, you would probably feel quite stressed by halfway through the second week or so.  Yet people do it.  All the time.  They get through it, even though they feel like it is impossible at various times in the course.  And the stress makes it harder to appreciate some things and get through what you have to.  So, some tips…

1- Don’t procrastinate and don’t fall behind.  If you do, speak to a tutor.  The stress and the work load increases a lot as the course progresses.

2- Eat and sleep well.  Do some form of exercise and/or meditation.  It’s not like a single all-nighter where you can throw all your energy and efforts into one hard and quick task.  This is going to last over several weeks and you need to keep your health and strength up, especially in that final week or two when you most need it.

3- Find something that gives you pleasure (but doesn’t go against your commitment to completing the course) every day.  Maybe enjoying a coffee with someone you met and like in the course, or a pleasant stroll in the neighbourhood park after finishing your work for the day.

4- Keep positive.  With the intensity of the course, people become more irritable, defensive and critical, of themselves and everything around them.  If somebody or something in the course rubs you in the wrong way, then don’t let it interfere with how you are making progress in the course.  And definitely develop an attitude to appreciate what you are learning.  You might feel very insecure because there are so many new things not only to intellectually understand, but to actually to do while interacting with and leading people.  It’s impossible to do everything perfectly, but it is possible to get a taste of how to approach those difficult areas.  That is a very big step.  And you can take the next few years exploring those ideas you have been exposed to during the course.  But in the meantime, take pleasure in knowing that you are getting a better idea of what to do, and maybe you can even see some progress in some areas.

5- Understand that the course is there to prepare you for entering the teaching profession.  After one month of intense training you will realize that there is a lot more to it.  That’s okay and even a very good thing.  Imagine yourself not taking that course and starting to teach with no or very naïve ideas on how to do it.  Then think of another you, the one who completed the course.  That you is a very different you than the first one.  By the end of the course, if you keep working through all that information given to you, you will be able to do a decent job in most situations and you will have enough basics to direct you on how to improve.  It won’t be just a terrible feeling that you are not the perfect teacher and you don’t know what to do to change that.  After completing the course you will have many ideas on just what you can change and how to go about doing that.  It takes a long time and some old-fashioned struggling and soul-searching to help develop a teacher.  And you are now in a better position to grow as a teacher and feel good about what you are doing (not to forget the important fact that your students will really appreciate your teaching much more.)

Basically anything.  But there are a few basics I strongly recommend to keep in mind:

1) If you want to try out another model, then find out as much as you can about it and try it out.  If there are some aspects that you don’t like, you can change them in some way, but you might be missing out on how to appreciate them.

2) Following a specific model or not, an essential ingredient is having an objective (or three) – what’s important to the class, what’s important to the students, and what’s important for you.

3) Many teachers more or less follow the structure of the PPP but don’t always include a theme; maybe they play with the PPP order more, are less strict about sticking to the conditions of the Production activity, and sometimes skip the Input.  All these ideas and stages have relevance to the model but sometimes you can come up with very effective and interesting lesson plans that take on their own shape and direction.

4) Think of your students and their learning.  That should remain a high priority.

5) If you don’t have to demonstrate your knowledge & skills in using the PPP model (for a school, interview, exam or course), then feel free to experiment.  It would be a good idea to do so with some thought behind it.

6) After you try out something new, it’s also a good idea to reflect on it a little.