How to manage TEFL classrooms

Once you get your TEFL certificate , it’s easy to imagine yourself in front of a class of students or running an online lesson, being the teacher you’d always thought you’d be. Before long, you’re faced with the reality of teaching a class in real life - how do you do it?

Every teacher has had nightmares about difficult or disruptive students, but with good planning and the right approach, managing a TEFL classroom can become second nature. 

In this blog post, we’ll give you pointers on managing a TEFL classroom, from the first time you meet your students to building long-term rapport.

Making a strong first impression as a TEFL teacher

How do you make the best first impression as a TEFL teacher? It’s all about clarity. You need to be clear with your students about your expectations, which means setting ground rules, speaking to them with respect, and explaining that they’ll do well and have fun with the right attitude. Introduce the idea of rewards from the start, so that your students are motivated immediately.

It’s about being firm but friendly - consistency is always better than volume. If you start teaching a new group of students and yell at them immediately, you’ll scare them, and it can be impossible to earn their trust. However, students might think they can ignore you if you’re too softly spoken and don’t communicate effectively. There’s a balance to strike, and you'll know when you find it.

When you teach a new class, you should think about culture and geography. Cultural sensitivity is a vital skill for TEFL teachers; no matter where or how you teach, you should do your homework on different cultures, understand your students’ needs, and be sensitive to your environment. If you ignore the norms and expectations of your students’ cultures, you can lose their attention quickly. 

For example, if you’re teaching in a Muslim country, be aware of when students need prayer breaks , and how you can adapt your classes for when students are fasting . Or, if you’re teaching in Asia around the Lunar New Year , know when your students will be celebrating, and design some lessons about fireworks and traditions . 

Get to know your students

It’s not just culture - learning about your students as people can help you manage your classroom too. Learn students’ names quickly to build rapport and make them feel seen. From there, you can tell them about yourself, how you like to be addressed, and what kind of teacher you are.

Respect goes both ways: learn what your students care about, and they’ll respond to you. Know your learners’ goals - while yo u ng learners in a classroom have a curriculum to work through, adult learners will have ideas about how they want to use English. If you’re working with adults learning Business English or students learning English for Academic Purposes , ask them about their career aspirations and why improving their English is important to them. If you’re working with kids, match their energy, and structure your classes in a way that keeps momentum up.

A good way to prevent early awkwardness and learn about your students is by using ice-breaker exercises . These exercises can help you build early bonds with your learners, and if it’s a class of students who don’t know each other, it can improve the atmosphere. 

Tip : Adapt your icebreakers or introductory lessons for different age groups and cultures. If you’re teaching adults, games aimed at kids won’t work, and vice versa. Think about your audience; common threads like sport or movies can be good ways to get conversations moving. 

Understanding neurodivergent learners

All your students should feel welcome in your classroom, including students with specific learning needs. Neurodivergent students come in many forms. For example, they might be eager to learn English but have difficulty contributing in class. At times, they might want to give answers constantly, and at others, they might retreat into themselves. 

Tip: Specialist courses in teaching neurodiverse students are ideal for TEFL teachers who want to truly understand how to support their learners.

Communication in the TEFL classroom

Communication is key in teaching. Here are some of the best tools for building rapport and creating a positive classroom environment. 

Keep things clear and simple

Clear instructions are key, no matter which age group or who you teach. Remember, you’re teaching English as a foreign language, so your students need to understand you. For example:

• “Write that down”, if you’re doing a listening exercise to teach a certain phrase
• “Watch and take notes” for when you’re using visual media
• “Listen and repeat” if you’re doing speaking exercises

Body language

Since so much of our communication is nonverbal , make sure your words and body language match up. In the classroom, body language includes how you use your hands and arms, your facial expressions and your level of eye contact, and it’s just as important as your words. Welcoming gestures, like open arms and smiles, can encourage even the shiest students to get involved. 

Visual cues and media in the TEFL classroom

Using visual aids and media - like movies , music and podcasts - can energise a classroom. Watching shows in English or talking about pop song lyrics can help your students connect with the language more deeply by tying it to experiences they already have. 

‘ Realia ’ (real-life items) can make lessons come to life. Using clothes, books, flash cards, and posters can help students cross cultural boundaries and build vocabulary. Memes can keep things fun and relevant to your learners, while younger students can benefit from puppet shows , cards with letters of the alphabet, and other materials they can touch and interact with. If a student can connect a word or phrase with a real-life object or situation, they’ll remember it more easily.

Free conversation breaks

Sometimes, you want your classroom to be noisy, especially if you want your learners to speak English confidently! That’s why conversation breaks are so important. Give your students prompts and topics, and ask them to speak in pairs or groups (or with you, if it’s a solo lesson). A good way to keep students focused and engaged is to let them practice what you’ve just taught them.

Facing challenges as a TEFL teacher

Even the best teachers face challenges managing their classrooms; sometimes, it can feel like putting out a series of little fires. Here are some of the biggest hurdles you might face when it comes to managing a classroom:

Mixed-ability TEFL classrooms

You’ll teach classes where some students breeze through the work and learn everything quickly, while others struggle and need extra support. Your high performers need a chance to shine, and you have to find a way to give them that. However, it can’t be at the expense of others. Classroom management can go sideways when half the class is learning, but the other half is watching the clock!

When students struggle, help them build confidence and try to pay them particular attention. This can mean sitting with them while they work through an exercise, speaking to them after or before classes, preparing different materials to work on at home, or using a teaching assistant to help. 

Tip : Seating matters. If you’re working with a big, mixed-ability class, put quieter students next to louder ones, proficient students next to those who need a bit of help, and so on.

Quiet TEFL students 

Some of your students will be less likely to put their hand up to answer a question or volunteer for projects. When that happens, it’s up to you to find ways to get them talking to their peers in English. Group tasks, like debates , are a good way to get your quieter students involved. 

Tip: If a quieter student is struggling, reach out. Ask them what parts of the class they enjoy and what they find difficult, and put in more effort to build rapport with them.

Disruptions in the TEFL classroom

Sometimes, students might challenge you in a way you didn’t expect, by misbehaving, not paying attention, or disrupting the class. The best way to deal with this is by staying calm, being confident and clear about what you’ll tolerate in your classroom, and speaking privately to the student if you can.

It’s also possible that some of your most disruptive students might be your most talented, and you’ve got to find a way to harness their abilities. Think about ways to motivate them, and try to understand them on a human level.

The best example of this might be a student The TEFL Org’s Richard Cullen taught in China :  

“(He) arrived 38 minutes late and kicked open the door, eating a tub of  Neapolitan ice cream. And he walked in, “Sorry I'm late, teacher.”

“…in the second half of the class, we had a small test based on their coursebook. The coursebook talked about flamingos, and one of the questions was “What are the social habits of a flamingo?” 

“(He) wrote: “I don't know. Go and ask a flamingo”. I thought: “This kid gets sarcasm in another language - at nine years old!” Sometimes you just get a moment like that, and you just have to admire them.”

Keep your students interested

Sometimes, you’ll need to get creative with resources, especially when you’re going over repetitive or dry material. Often, traditional approaches won’t work, and you’ll have to adapt your lesson style.

Be creative with your materials and allow students to use English imaginatively to avoid boredom or frustration. As Betsy Potash told us on her episode of ‘ I Taught English Abroad ’, bored students are hard to manage, so you’ve got to be creative:

“I was so nervous, and the main advice I got from people was to go over the syllabus. I'm reading my syllabus out loud to my students, and you can just see the glaze falling over their eyes, right? They are not interested.  

“And my internal monologue was like: “This is a nightmare! I am never going to do this again!” And from then on… it was like: “How can I present this material in a different way? How can I have them learn this through a project? What kind of discussion method puts the focus on them?” Because I'm not doing that ‘glaze’ thing ever again.”

Trying new approaches can be scary at first, but experimenting with material can be exciting for both teachers and students.

Mental well-being in the TEFL classroom

You can’t keep a class happy and motivated if you’re worried or stressed. Here are some key tips to keep you and your learners energetic and focused:

• Use games : Games in the TEFL classroom are an ideal way to keep students engaged and motivated.
• Celebrate every win : As a group and as a teacher, celebrate your successes. Focus on the positives - what can you use again, which students did well, and what approaches did you use that really worked?
• Protect your energy : Happy teachers make happy classrooms. When you can, find “me” time to reflect on your classes, celebrate little wins, and keep morale up.
• Talk to parents, learners and teachers : Use the people around you to manage your classroom more effectively. Teachers have great tips, parents can tell you what their kids need from a teacher, and learners can tell you what matters to them in a classroom.
• Build a strong support network: When things don’t go right and you’re stressed, having a support network makes all the difference, whether it’s your colleagues at a school, family members or TEFL communities online.

Tip: If you’re feeling happy and focused as a teacher, your learners will feel the difference. Managing yourself, especially your mental health, is one of the most vital parts of managing a classroom!

Your TEFL classroom is waiting for you!

When everything goes according to plan, teaching can be one of the best jobs in the world. But it's not always easy. Knowing how to manage a classroom can be the difference between a great TEFL experience and a not-so-great one. 

Yes, teaching a class can sometimes be a bumpy road, but as long as you have clear goals, communicate well with your class, and understand everyone’s needs, you’ll thrive in every classroom.

Having the right tools is crucial, so be sure to check out our lesson plans , online resource guides and, of course, our Graduate Stories - because our graduates have been there, faced it and managed it!

Looking to get started in TEFL? Take our highly-rated and widely accredited 120-Hour Premier Online TEFL Course ; the next thing you know, you’ll be ready to go!