And now the end is near, there’s probably just a couple of weeks left of the academic year and we’re rushing around thinking about a million and one things, it’s a busy time. Can we listen to that little voice reminding us to focus on the teachers, ending the year, into their summers and on their continuing teachers journeys? Now is the time to help them to move forward, and perhaps this is the summer for them to finally get properly qualified and that will help them, your students and your school. At Active Language Teacher Training we've got it covered.

Managing in TEFL is a fortnightly companion for language school leaders written by Simon Pearlman and brought to you by Active Language Teacher Training. Subscribe on LinkedIn or here.

In the heat of the moment, find some space for teachers

We all have so much going on, it can feel like we're in several places at once right now. We're finishing up the academic year with end of year exams and reports, we're talking to students and their families, filling summer intensive courses. We're also deeply conscious of next year too, students to keep and, hopefully, new ones to enroll, teachers to recruit. It can feel like one foot is in the now, another in the future, and other feet are elsewhere too. How many feet have we got? Manager as spider? On top of all of this heat of activity, let's find some space for teachers too. What do they need right now?

Ending with with bang, or maybe a whimper

It's tough for teachers now, the end of year is always difficult, not only because of the extra administrative and academic paperwork but also these last weeks can be particularly difficult. We'd all love for teachers to end the academic year on a high celebrating achievements and the journey together with their students. More often than not though, some students stop coming, others are restless and some others are agitated about upcoming exams. It can be tough. We'd love it all to end with a bang but so often it's more of a whimper.

What can we do? We can help teachers see all this as normal, it's not them, it's just what tends to happen. They need to know that, to be reassured. Let’s step out of the classroom for a moment. We can organise an end of year celebration to get some excitement flowing, it can be a big event where you really push the boat out or something more relaxed and humble depending on the budget, of course. Doing something is welcomed by the team, it can bring a sense of closure to the academic year.

Keep helping teachers through the summer too

During the summer we might be left with a skeleton staff and most of the team will drift away, some will be working in summer schools, others taking a proper and well-deserved holiday and others will be looking for professional development. The academic year can be so busy, teachers rightly focus on their classes that external PD (professional development) often has to take a back seat. How can we help teachers who want to use the summer to catch up and move forward with their PD?

This is not the time for one-size-fits-all PD, it's a time when teachers can be self-directed in their development and we can help with this. Ask your teachers if they're planning to do some PD this summer. It should absolutely never feel like an obligation for sure. You might well get some positive responses and we can help them to move into some interesting directions.

Are the teachers bookish people or more into blogs or webinars or podcasts? There's so much to choose from, we can help. Other teachers can help too, there could be a beautiful exchange between teachers over the summer, it could really get a great developmental vibe going for next year. One place to look is The TEFLer, the sister companion to this Managing in TEFL, its aimed at teachers and will have a series of editions over the summer about exactly this, about how to enjoy some obligation-free personal professional development. Check it out https://www.activelanguage.net/blog/

Or maybe it's time for something bigger

Most of our staff are properly qualified but there are always a few who aren't. We're all in similar positions, we needed an emergency recruitment or two through the year and maybe they're not properly qualified. We know they're good in the classroom but we also know they lack real teaching knowledge and confidence in what they're doing and why. Yes, they've got “a tefl course” but it's not one we recognise, it doesn't have the rigour of a properly accredited qualification with its real teaching practice.

In 6 weeks they could be properly trained in teaching both online and in-class and they'll be better teachers giving better classes meaning happier students. We, at www.activelanguage.net have our summer Trinity CertTESOL course starting on June 23 and there's still time to apply through the website.

Or perhaps they'd prefer a shorter course focussed on teaching younger learners, we've got that too!

At Active Language we've got you covered for summer professional development.

For more information about Active Language Teacher Training courses, visit www.activelanguage.net