Planning the first English lesson of the school year

Goals for the first lesson

• Students know who you are and feel comfortable with you.
• You start learning names.
• Students learn two or three routines you will use every lesson.
• Everyone says something in English and succeeds.
• The class leaves smiling and looking forward to next time.

A sample 45-minute plan

1. Greeting (3 minutes). Stand at the door and greet students as they come in. Start with your standard opening: "Good morning, everyone. How are you?"
2. Self-introduction (7 minutes). Introduce yourself with photos: your family, pets, hometown, favourite food, hobbies. Ask the class to guess: "Do I like natto? Yes or no?" Guessing games keep everyone involved.
3. Name game (10 minutes). Students stand in a circle or row and say "My name is ___. I like ___." with a gesture. Older classes can repeat the previous student's sentence before their own.
4. Routines (10 minutes). Teach your attention signal, your pair-work instruction and how lessons will start and end. Practise each one twice, as a game.
5. A fun game (12 minutes). Play a simple game with very easy language, such as a gesture race or Simon Says. Make sure every student can succeed.
6. Wrap-up (3 minutes). "What did we do today?" Preview something exciting coming next lesson, then your goodbye routine.

Learning names quickly

• Name cards on desks for the first few weeks.
• A seating chart with photos, if your school allows it.
• Use names constantly in the first lessons: "Good answer, Yuki."
• Name games at the start of the next few lessons as warm-ups.

Knowing a student's name is one of the fastest ways to build trust, especially for a visiting teacher who sees the class only once a week.

Setting expectations positively

Instead of a list of rules, try three positive promises for English class, written on the board with pictures, such as "We try our best", "We listen to each other", "Mistakes are OK". Ask students to show each one with a gesture. Refer back to them all year.

The third one matters most. Many students fear making mistakes in English. Say it explicitly, and then prove it by reacting warmly to every wrong answer given with effort.

Things to avoid on day one

• Long explanations in either language.
• Putting individuals on the spot before they trust you.
• A test or level check. Save that for later, once the class is comfortable.
• Too much content. You will be tempted to start the textbook. Resist.

For a new ALT or visiting teacher

If you visit many schools, a strong self-introduction lesson can be reused across all of them. Keep it visual, interactive and short, and finish with a quiz about yourself. Students remember the teacher who made them laugh in the first lesson for the rest of the year.

Tip: Write a short note after the lesson: which routines worked, which names you learned, which students were quiet. It will help you plan the second lesson, and the second lesson is when routines become habits.