1.

Initial Warm-Up and Student Engagement (Highly Important,

Challenging)

Why it’s important: Setting the tone at the start of class is crucial for
grabbing students’ attention and transitioning them from their long day at
public school to an active learning environment. An effective warm-up can
energize students and make them more receptive to the lesson. Why it’s
challenging: Given that students are often tired or distracted after 8-10
hours at public school, finding warm-up activities that are both stimulating
and not too mentally taxing is tough. Current approaches, like quick games
or simple review questions, sometimes fall flat or fail to engage everyone.
It’s challenging to strike a balance between fun and purposeful content.

2. Monitoring Real-Time Understanding (Highly Important,

Challenging)

Why it’s important: Catching misunderstandings as they happen is

essential to ensure no student falls behind, especially when preparing for
exams that require specific skills. Why it’s challenging: With a class of
tired teens, it can be difficult to gauge everyone’s understanding in real-
time. Some students may disengage silently, and relying on hand-raising or
vocal participation often results in only a few students responding. Current
solutions, like calling on students at random or using brief polls, can be
inefficient or intimidating for students who lack confidence. This limits the
depth of real-time insights I gain.

3. Individualizing Support While Teaching (Highly Important,

Challenging)

Why it’s important: Tailoring lessons and feedback to individual needs is

key for exam success. Not every student progresses at the same pace, so
personalizing support helps bridge those gaps. Why it’s challenging: The
reality of a class with varied skill levels makes this very difficult. The current
approach of brief one-on-one interactions during class isn’t enough,
especially when dealing with students’ fatigue. Balancing the class pace to
cater to both faster and slower learners simultaneously is stressful and
sometimes leaves me feeling like I haven’t met everyone’s needs.

4. Homework Follow-Up and Feedback (Highly Important,

Challenging)

Why it’s important: Homework reinforces class lessons and provides

essential practice for exam skills. Clear and timely feedback helps students
understand mistakes and progress. Why it’s challenging: Checking and
giving feedback on homework for a large number of students is time-
consuming. I feel the current process is insufficient for timely, detailed
feedback, which impacts students’ learning. Automated tools exist but often
don’t provide the personalized feedback necessary for meaningful
improvement.

5. Motivating Tired Students (Highly Important, Challenging)

Why it’s important: Keeping students motivated is key to consistent

learning, especially for teenagers balancing long school days with extra
lessons. Why it’s challenging: Traditional approaches, such as verbal
encouragement or occasional game-based activities, are often not enough.
It’s hard to find a solution that consistently lifts student morale, especially for
teens who come to class visibly exhausted or overwhelmed. The lack of
dynamic resources tailored for this specific context limits how effective I can
be in addressing this challenge.

Stages I Dread Doing or Find Most Challenging

 Real-Time Monitoring: It’s mentally taxing to constantly assess

individual understanding while managing group dynamics. It feels like
flying blind at times.

 Homework Feedback: Dreaded due to the workload involved and the

feeling of inadequacy when I can’t provide individualized, impactful
responses.

 Motivation and Engagement: It’s emotionally draining to try and

boost energy levels repeatedly, especially when students are burnt out
from their day.

These stages are vital for successful teaching and student progress but are
often frustrating due to limited tools or strategies that effectively meet the
challenges of tired students, varied learning paces, and maintaining energy.

Here’s how I currently address these key challenges, along with my

satisfaction ratings for each method:

1. Initial Warm-Up and Student Engagement

Workarounds/Fixes:
  Quick Polls and Quizzes (e.g., Kahoot!): I use interactive quiz
platforms to start the class with a fun, low-pressure activity that
engages students and activates their prior knowledge.

o Satisfaction Rating: 6/10. It’s effective in getting immediate

participation, but it’s not always enough to fully energize
students after a long day.

 Personalized Icebreakers: I create short warm-up questions that

relate to the students’ interests or recent experiences (e.g., “What was
the most interesting thing you learned today?”).

o Satisfaction Rating: 5/10. This helps make the class feel more
personal, but it doesn’t always resonate with tired teens who
might not want to speak up.

 Music or Short Videos: I sometimes start with a short, topic-related

video clip or background music to set a lighter tone before diving into
lessons.

o Satisfaction Rating: 7/10. It usually captures attention, but it

can be hit or miss in terms of holding that attention long enough
to transition smoothly into the main content.

2. Monitoring Real-Time Understanding

Workarounds/Fixes:

 Cold Calling and Think-Pair-Share: I randomly select students to

answer questions or have them discuss in pairs before sharing insights
with the class.

o Satisfaction Rating: 5/10. This keeps some students alert, but

it can make shy or tired students more anxious, impacting overall
class morale.

 Nonverbal Feedback (e.g., Thumbs-Up/Thumbs-Down): I use

quick visual cues from students to gauge their understanding without
putting them on the spot.

o Satisfaction Rating: 6/10. It’s a helpful, low-pressure way to

check in, but it can be superficial since students might signal
understanding even if they’re unsure.
  Interactive Platforms (e.g., Padlet, Google Classroom): I have
students post brief responses or questions during class so I can
monitor their comprehension without interrupting the flow.

o Satisfaction Rating: 7/10. This works well for written check-ins

but can be slow, and students may hesitate to type in responses
if they’re feeling tired or disengaged.

3. Individualizing Support While Teaching

Workarounds/Fixes:

 Differentiated Tasks: I prepare varying levels of practice exercises

and rotate between students or groups to target different learning
needs.

o Satisfaction Rating: 6/10. It helps provide a more tailored

approach but requires a lot of prep work and class time, making
it hard to sustain consistently.

 Immediate, On-the-Spot Feedback: For oral practice, I offer

targeted feedback to individual students during activities.

o Satisfaction Rating: 5/10. It’s effective for those I interact with

directly, but others might not benefit as much without constant
supervision.

 Use of Learning Apps (e.g., Quizlet for tailored sets): I create

vocabulary and grammar sets that students can practice at their own
level during or outside of class.

o Satisfaction Rating: 7/10. It’s great for reinforcement but

limited by how much follow-up I can provide to track their
independent progress.

4. Homework Follow-Up and Feedback

Workarounds/Fixes:

 Auto-Grading Tools (e.g., Google Forms, Edmodo): I use these for

multiple-choice and short-answer questions to save time on grading
and provide instant feedback.

o Satisfaction Rating: 8/10. It’s time-saving and efficient for

basic tasks, but it doesn’t handle nuanced, open-ended answers
well.
  Peer Review Sessions: I sometimes have students review each
other’s work with guidelines to foster a collaborative learning
atmosphere.

o Satisfaction Rating: 6/10. This is good for building analytical

skills, but students don’t always provide detailed feedback, so it
needs close supervision.

 Feedback Templates: I use pre-written feedback templates to speed

up grading while maintaining quality responses for common issues.

o Satisfaction Rating: 7/10. It helps streamline the process, but

personalized responses are limited and can feel generic over
time.

5. Motivating Tired Students

Workarounds/Fixes:

 Incorporating Short Games or Energizers: I use quick, fun

language games midway through the class to break up the lesson and
re-energize students.

o Satisfaction Rating: 7/10. It’s effective short-term, but the

impact fades if overused or if students are very exhausted.

 Reward Systems (e.g., points, small incentives): I implement a

point system or give small rewards for participation and effort to boost
motivation.

o Satisfaction Rating: 6/10. It’s moderately effective but can feel

superficial and may not resonate with all students.

 Storytelling and Relatable Content: I integrate real-life examples

or stories related to lesson content to make it more engaging.

o Satisfaction Rating: 8/10. It usually piques interest but can be

challenging to create or source content that is consistently
relevant.

Overall, while these workarounds help manage the challenges, they are often
patchwork solutions that don't fully address the deeper issues of student
fatigue and the need for more personalized, effective engagement.
Reflecting on my teaching process as an ESL teacher, here’s how I view each
stage in terms of pain points and execution challenges:

1. Define (Determine Objectives and Plan)

 Pain Level: Low to Moderate

 Challenges: While setting objectives is straightforward, aligning them

with diverse student needs and maintaining realistic goals given
student fatigue can be difficult. There’s pressure to make each class
both engaging and aligned with exam standards, which can be
stressful during busy periods.

 Execution: This stage is typically well-executed but can feel

overwhelming when adjusting lesson plans frequently to address class
dynamics.

2. Locate (Gather Materials and Information)

 Pain Level: Moderate to High

 Challenges: Finding up-to-date, relevant, and engaging materials that

match both exam prep needs and the energy levels of students is time-
consuming. The available resources can feel repetitive or not tailored
enough, requiring a lot of customization.

 Execution: Not ideally executed due to the time constraints and

limited high-quality resources that fit the specific needs of teens after a
long school day.

3. Prepare (Organize Materials and Create Setup)

 Pain Level: High

 Challenges: Organizing materials effectively and creating an engaging

setup is labor-intensive. It’s difficult to ensure everything is optimized
for smooth class flow, especially with mixed skill levels and attention
spans. The effort required can feel disproportionate to the impact.

 Execution: This stage is often rushed or compromised due to time

constraints, impacting the overall class effectiveness.

4. Confirm (Ensure Readiness)

 Pain Level: Low

  Challenges: Checking that everything is ready for class (technology,
lesson plan materials, etc.) is usually straightforward, but issues with
tech reliability or last-minute changes can create stress.

 Execution: Generally well-executed, but unexpected technical glitches

can be a setback.

5. Execute (Perform the Job as Planned)

 Pain Level: Moderate

 Challenges: Engaging tired students and keeping the lesson on track

with minimal disruptions is challenging. Sometimes, the energy in the
room is lower than anticipated, affecting participation and flow.

 Execution: Often feels like it’s done under pressure; adapting to

student responses in real-time while staying on schedule is tough,
especially when unexpected issues arise.

6. Monitor (Evaluate Success During Execution)

 Pain Level: High

 Challenges: Assessing each student’s understanding while teaching is

difficult, especially in a class with mixed levels and tired students.
Current methods often fall short in providing real-time insights.

 Execution: This stage can be haphazard, as it’s challenging to monitor

effectively while maintaining lesson momentum.

7. Modify (Adjust and Iterate as Necessary)

 Pain Level: High

 Challenges: Making real-time adjustments without disrupting the

class flow is tough. Fatigue and varied levels among students mean the
effectiveness of spontaneous changes varies widely.

 Execution: This stage often feels reactive rather than strategic, with
modifications that sometimes compromise the lesson’s structure or
depth.

8. Conclude (End and Follow-Up)

 Pain Level: Moderate

 Challenges: Wrapping up efficiently while reinforcing key points and

ensuring students leave with a clear understanding is difficult.
 Transitioning into feedback or homework without losing their attention
is a challenge.

 Execution: While usually managed, follow-up tasks like providing

feedback can be delayed or incomplete due to time constraints,
impacting student retention.

Overall, the most painful and least ideally executed stages are:

 Prepare: due to the effort needed to create the right materials and
setup.

 Monitor: because assessing students' understanding in real-time

without disrupting the lesson is challenging.

 Modify: making quick, effective adjustments is stressful and often

imperfect.