Opening up the textbook as I began preparing the following week's oral English lesson I saw that the topic was "Education" and there was a listening text about homeschooling to begin the unit. Having had time to get to know my students (Chinese university undergraduates) and their education background, I predicted that they would not have much knowledge or experience of homeschooling since it is extremely rare in China. But I wanted them to open their eyes to different ways of educating.
I thought about my friend, Tim, who was homeschooled - maybe I should talk about him to the class. Then I thought, why not let him talk to the class about his homeschooling experience directly? They would get to learn about homeschooling from 'the horse's mouth' and meanwhile get some listening practice from another speaker.
Now Tim is in another country; therefore, I couldn't ask him to come in, so I reached out and asked if he could make a short video or sound recording answering some questions.
Did you enjoy being homeschooled? Why? / Why not?
Can you describe a typical school day?
Are there things you think you missed out on being homeschooled?
Do you think there are things that students who were not homeschooled missed out on?
Would you homeschool your own children? Why? /Why not?
He very graciously made a 5 minute video and sent it to me.
In class, I prompted a group discussion about homeschooling after the students listened to the textbook article. The students were highly sceptical of the idea of homeschooling and expressed mainly negative views about it. Then I introduced and played Tim's video where he shared his experiences and thoughts on homeschooling. After the video I led the class in another discussion. This time was much different: the students engaged more positively with the topic and they expressed more nuanced and thoughtful opinions. The whole lesson felt lifted. Since the students seemed interested I gave them a chance to ask their own questions and then in the next lesson I followed up with Tim's answers.
It made me consider the positive impact of having a guest in the classroom. It was different from the usual video clips I would show because Tim was someone I knew and this video had been made especially for the class. The students felt honoured and grateful. I was in a country where native English speakers are few and far between so this was a way I could bring in a guest. Of course, not everyone will be willing or able to make a video for my class and it's not something I would do very often - in fact that was the only time I have brought a guest in that way.
That lesson popped into my mind recently and I saw the potential to bring a guest into the online classroom in an even more authentic way. No matter where they are in the world you can bring them into your online classroom through whatever platform you use. Below are my ideas for steps to bringing a guest into an online English classroom. Please note that I haven't done this yet.
How do you bring a guest into your online class?
1. Decide on your goal and your guest.
Do you want the students to learn something about a certain topic? Do you want them to practice certain language functions? Or do you just want to let them have some speaking practice with someone other than you?
2. Arrange the time with the guest and invite them to your Zoom (or other video-conferencing) lesson.
Make sure they're clear about the logistical details as well as the aims of the lesson and exactly what you'd like them to do. Check that they're comfortable with that.
4. Be present while the guest is in your lesson.
You'll need to monitor and be there in case of any problems. Also be aware that your guest may feel a little nervous. So try to make the atmosphere warm and casual.
I found further helpful advice for inviting a guest (though in the offline context) with school-aged students and in college classrooms.
The guest doesn't need to leave their home nor make a video and the students can listen and talk to somebody different in English. There are so many possible lesson ideas. Here are some of mine:
- Invite my Father-in-law to talk about his hobby - genealogy - and promote a discussion on that topic.
- Invite one of my old students to talk about what they are doing now and to give their advice.
- In a debate lesson I could invite my husband who is very good at argument and rebuttal to be a debating opponent.
- In my writing class I could invite a professional writer to talk about their work.
I believe inviting a guest to your online classroom would be great way to create meaningful language situations online and bring more energy to a lesson.
Who would you like to invite to an online lesson?
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