Should You Choose a Semester Theme?

Why should you have a semester theme?

1)To build a classroom team spirit

In my experience, my classrooms have been quite cliquish. Some of my students had never even had never even talked with some of the other students in the class. Having a common goal can help get everyone on the same page. 

It goes farther than just bringing everyone together. It can also break down the barriers students feel in showing their English to others. Students can get shy and nervous to speak in front of others, and hearing feedback can cause some students to shrink back further in their shells. But if a student sees another student struggle with the semester goal, he can feel relieved that he’s not alone. If he sees a classmate succeed with the semester goal, he can be encouraged that he can do it too. 

2)To teach students how to focus on and set an individual goal

Most of my students struggle with knowing how to set English goals. They’re told they need to practice speaking; their classes are filled with grammar exercises; and their standardized tests focus on reading and vocabulary. Basically, they need to know everything. Now if that’s not overwhelming, I don’t know what is. 

Showing students it’s okay not to focus on everything, and showing them that it’s actually even better to hone in on one aspect can remove the pressure that’s getting in the way of their progress. 

3)To give a sense of achievement and accomplishment

When students are just “learning everything,” it can get harder and harder to see progress and improvement. Improving a little in five different goals is harder to see compared to significant development in one area. If, at the end of the semester, a student can say, “I met the semester goal,” he can walk away with a sense of accomplishment for that semester. 

It’s not only for the semester though. This sense of accomplishment can be felt even during a class period. Perhaps the semester theme is “Speaking with enough volume,” and a student has to give a speech during the class. No matter how poor his pronunciation, poise, or grammar was, if he spoke loudly enough, the speech was a success. 

 While I still give my students the freedom to set their own personal semester goals, I like to have an overarching semester theme to help us all work together towards a common goal. 

Have you ever set a semester theme for your ESL classroom? What do you think would be a great theme?