How to keep your students motivated during summer intensive courses

Richard Cleeve
Two students sat on stairs smiling at a laptop

Summer is here and so are English language intensive courses. Adults and teens are lining up at your classroom doors, full of enthusiasm and ready to learn English. But soon they’re staring out the windows, looking up at the bright blue skies and wishing they were on the beach, or - frankly - doing anything but studying English for the next 100 hours.

So how can you turn it around and keep your learners on track and motivated this summer?

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How to keep your students motivated during summer intensive courses
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1. Start off on the right foot

You have a lot to do in this first class. It sets the tone for the entire English course and is your chance to show your students what you expect from them and what they can expect from you.

In teen classes, you’ll need to spend time outlining class rules and establishing your authority. You can do this by creating a class contract together and getting everyone to sign it. Although it’s summer and you want to have a good time, remember to stay firm and use an authoritative voice - at least for the first week or two.

With adults, it’s essential that they leave the first class feeling like they’ve learned something. By all means, start with some fun activities to break the ice, but make sure they go home feeling that their money was well spent. Ìý

2. Keep things personal

You’ll also need to spend some time getting to know your students in both adult and teen classes.

While learning about their interests, you should also find out about their personal and professional objectives, so you can tailor your classes to meet their needs. Do this by surveying the class early on and use their ideas to plan later classes and projects. Students always appreciate personalization - and it certainly helps keep them motivated.

3. Don’t go easy on them

Your first class should be interesting, fun and focused on breaking the ice. But perhaps more importantly, it should challenge them. No one wants to take an easy course - it feels like a waste of time (and money). If your activities feel too easy, they’ll switch off, their minds will wander, and it will be tough for you to recapture their attention.

It’s therefore a good idea to have a range of activities of various difficulties up your sleeve. If students find things too easy, you can increase the challenge.

In addition, you should always have extra work for fast finishers. Teens especially get distracted quickly, but adults will also lose interest if you’re not giving them enough to do. So make sure to mix fun, dynamic activities with level-appropriate materials.

4. Give them something to work towards

Set your objectives early on. This includes:

  • Short-term objectives: What we’re going to achieve this class
  • Mid-term objectives: What we’ll achieve by the end of the week
  • Long-term objectives: What you’ll be able to do by the end of the course and beyond

People like to know why they are doing things and how it will be useful for them. Objectives are a good reminder of this, and you can help students track their progress towards their goals by giving them daily or weekly can-do statements or by having them keep a learner journal.

5. Keep getting and giving feedback

It’s a great idea to start every class reviewing what happened in the previous class or the previous week. This helps students refocus and remember what they did, and sets the tone for the rest of the day. It also allows you to re-establish authority with teenagers if students were rowdy or distracted in the previous class. Go over the rules again, if necessary, and explain they’re starting over with a clean sheet.

You can also have students reflect at the end of each class, sharing what they found hard, what they learned, what they enjoyed most and what they want to do more of. This will help you continue to deliver classes that challenge and interest them during the course.

6. Mix things up

Routine is important but so is surprise. Once you’ve established how things work and the activities and projects are well underway, turn it upside down. Take students outside, play a game or start an inter-class competition.

It will refresh your students, re-energize them and give them a new kind of challenge. It will also keep them on their toes and excited about what you plan next - a great motivational tool.

7. Be original

Introduce challenging themes, topical content and allow students to bring their own articles, videos and photos. Using authentic materials alongside coursebooks is a great way to motivate students. If they see that they can understand and work with real-world content, they’ll increase confidence in their own abilities.

8. Follow a structure

Progress, progress, progress. Without it your students will lose all motivation, even if your classes are challenging. Use a course to support your curriculum. Not only will it help you develop themes during the language course, but it will scaffold language and give students a physical reminder of what they are learning and achieving.

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    How to encourage your teenage students to become independent learners

    By Nicola Pope

    Learning is a lifelong activity regardless of age, position, or ambition. Many teachers embody this philosophy themselves – and would like nothing more than for their teenage students to develop strategies to become independent learners.

    But teachers often feel frustrated when their students rely on them too much or show a lack of motivation and focus in the classroom.

    Let’s look at how to start a project that holds your students’ attention. We’ll also go into how you can help your students practice and develop a range of English language skills at the same time.

    The benefits of starting a project that interests your students

    Group projects are motivating because they give students a common objective to work towards. The need to work as part of a team teaches teens collaboration skills, such as accountability. When learners decide on roles within their groups it soon becomes apparent just how important it is for them to be responsible and do their part.

    Project work also often encourages students to push themselves beyond their comfort zones as they try and test new skills. This is often true when learners are required to present on a topic or learn how to do something practical (like using PowerPoint or Google Slides for presentation design).
    In addition, projects can test a variety of English language and 21st century skills such as:

    • critical thinking skills (for planning and development of ideas)
    • topic/subject-specific vocabulary
    • reading and listening comprehension (for researching)
    • speaking skills (for group work)
    • creative skills (for project development and production)
    • presenting skills (for the final delivery of the project)

    Furthermore, when projects take place over several classes, students often eventually get into a routine and seek less direction from the teacher. They know what needs to be done and get on with it in their groups. Of course, you will still need to monitor and offer guidance throughout the project.

    The key elements of an independent learning project

    Find a meaningful subject matter

    First, you’ll need to start with a topic that engages your students. To discover this, put students in groups (online in breakout rooms or in the classroom) and have them work together and mind map some local, national or global problems they would like to solve. For example:

    • The local theater has closed down and they want to set up a new drama club.
    • There is a lot of pollution in the capital city and they want to help reduce it.
    • The rainforest is being deforested and they want to create awareness.

    After they have a good-sized list, instruct each group to pick something they would like to learn more about. Alternatively, if your students are unlikely to find interesting problems to solve themselves, provide them with several short-level-appropriate reading materials about topics you think will catch their attention. That way they can learn about local or international issues and choose a project focus.

    Balancing guidance and instruction

    A vital goal of this project-based approach is to encourage students to be independent. That does not mean they should have no boundaries or objectives, however.

    You’ll need to set deadlines, tell them what you expect of them, and explain how they should present their projects at the end. And depending on their levels, your students will also need a certain amount of scaffolding. You can do this using a set of questions. For example:

    1. What is the main problem you want to solve?
    2. Who does it affect?
    3. Why is it important to change?
    4. What steps could you take to solve the issue?
    5. Who could help you do this?
    6. How could we do this as a group?
    7. How can we present the issue to make people care about it?

    These questions can form the basis of the project, which can last from one to several weeks, depending on their age, level and time restraints. Adapt the questions to suit your students and the specific needs of their projects.

    Facilitating teamwork

    Encourage students to work together to plan, research and present their ideas. Set days or classes by which certain project elements must be completed. This helps ensure that the students make progress and encourages them to ask you questions if they are stuck.

    Decide whether you want to give set times during your classes to work on the project, or whether you want to dedicate entire classes to their work. Also, think about how much work should be completed in your student's own time. Their workload, level of English, and access to technology will all impact your decision.

    For example:

    • Class one: Define the problem you want to solve. Consider what you need to find out, decide on individual roles and develop an action plan. Show the teacher your progress.
    • Class two: Research your project questions and share what you find with the group. Is there anything else you need to know? Show the teacher your progress.
    • Class three: Come up with a presentation outline and begin to work on it.
    • Homework: Each work on your individual presentation section.
    • Class four: Show the teacher your progress. Practice your presentations.
    • Class five: Practice and then deliver your presentations.

    You may wish to allow students the freedom to choose how they would like to present it. Give instructions on how long you expect the presentation to be. If working remotely, collaboration tools such as Google Docs, and are excellent for facilitating teamwork.

    Here are some ways you might ask them to present:

    • a poster and presentation
    • an online presentation (e.g. using PowerPoint)
    • a website (on paper or online)
    • a video presentation
    • a theatrical production
    • a podcast episode.

    Keep in mind that the objective is to help them research, present and deliver a project in English. Check in regularly on progress and provide feedback and help whenever needed.

    While it’s important to monitor and guide them with the English language as they work, it’s also crucial to let students make decisions for themselves.