Teacher Training Toolkit: Free Resource for Teachers and Volunteers

Teachers love to learn! The Minnesota Literacy Council has developed the Teacher Training Toolkit, a series of professional development modules, to help you improve your teaching skills in four different areas: checking comprehension, giving directions, error correction and feedback, and teacher talking time. Each module contains a short reading, a video, video reflection questions, and a follow-up classroom task with reflection questions. Work through the modules independently, or join together with other teachers to discuss, reflect, and develop as a team.

The topics covered in the toolkit will help you to develop your skills as an adult ESL teacher, whether you are a classroom assistant, teach small groups, one-to-one, or lead large classes. Novice to experienced teachers will be able to immediately apply the skills they gain to their classroom teaching.

Giving Directions: In this module, learn how to apply the I-We-You method when giving activity instructions. The gradual release of responsibility used in this method provides a straightforward framework for giving directions, improves learner understanding, and increases participation and engagement.

Checking Comprehension: In this module, learn how to formulate questions to check the understanding of learners. Develop a wide variety of techniques to check comprehension of all of the learners in the class so that you can evaluate whether or not the learners need more practice and examples with a concept or skill.

Teacher Talking Time: In this module, learn how to moderate your teacher talking time to give learners more opportunities to practice speaking English. Discover ways to support learners through non-verbal cues, and how to make every word count.

Error Correction and Feedback: Error correction can be intimidating for teachers and learners, but it’s an essential part of the learning process. In this module, learn how to effectively deliver feedback to support learning and create a culture of learning in the classroom.

Find all four modules on the MN Literacy Council website: http://mnliteracy.org/TrainingToolkit