We are all natural learners. We have all learned a language and we have learned it naturally. Our parents did not sit us down when we turned 3 years old and said, “My child, you are now old enough to learn your language. Let us start with the basics, the verb to be. Now repeat after me, I am, You are, He/She/It is …” I can see you smiling. Of course, no parent has done that. No one waited until they started school to begin speaking, afraid they might be making grammar mistakes. We all learned our own language naturally. We made mistakes but these didn’t deter us from continuing to learn.  We did the same when we learned to walk, falling many times and getting up to try again. Everything we have learned has been a process, taking time and effort, and not being put off by the mistakes we made along the way. That’s what Learning, Naturally is all about. Everyone can agree that teaching is a stressful profession. Many teachers, focusing on teaching, have forgotten to slow down, focus on their students’ learning, and enjoy what they do. How can we, as teachers, do that? First, choose activities that:

• require few materials,
• are easy to prepare,
• engage all students (mixed ability),
• focus on learning,
• take more classroom time.

  That’s quite ambitious for an activity but after years of teaching, I found that it wasn’t as difficult as it seems. Think about the activities in your lessons.

• Are you using a lot of materials in one lesson?
• Are you spending time creating materials and photocopying?
• Are your activities aimed at all your students?
• Where is your focus, on your teaching or their learning?
• Are you getting the most out of each activity?
• Are you spending more time preparing the lesson than it takes you to teach it?

There is no reason to feel tired or burned out from preparing; with activities that focus on your students’ natural abilities to learn, you can save time and enjoy your teaching even more. Go to ‘My Resources’ to see practical activities that show how you can do this with your classes.