"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime" is a common enough saying in this world. It also holds true for teaching. You need to teach your students how to be responsible for their own learning.

How to Study

One way of doing this is teaching them proper ways to study. Students can study for hours and fail and exam, others can study for 30 minutes and ace it. What's their secret? Quality, not quantity. Try talking together with your students and having them share how they study. Students can just as easily learn from each other as they can from the teacher. You can also tell them some tips, such as the ones below.

- Study everyday for 20 or 30 minutes.
- Find a quiet place to study, whether it be the library or out in the sun.
- Organise yourself. Keep your notes in order and papers in one place.
- Take breaks often. It's hard to concentrate for long periods of time.
- Don't pull all nighters.
- Set goals and reward yourself.
- Get a study group together, but make sure you study!
- Look at the next chapter so you know what's coming up in class.
- Use it! Use the language that you learnt in class.
- Write it down. Don't just highlight or underline.
- Eliminate distractions. Get away from the tv, computer, loud noises etc.

In Class

Another way is teaching them how to make the most of class time. Challenge them to only use English in class. You could try giving awards to the student or students who use the least L1 in class. Teach them what type of questions they could ask and how to make the most of their time. Ask them to get rid of distractions, such as cell phones. There's plenty that students can do and you, as a teacher, should try to do the following.

- Ask open ended questions.
- Ask questions that make them think and allow for different answers.
- After the lesson, ask the same question and see if they've changed their minds.
- Mozart makes you smarter is debatable, but it sure changes the dynamics of class! Even if it's not Mozart, try to use music in class.
- Technology is great! Putting the same info in a Power Point Presentation that you would put on a board bring teaching to a whole new level.
- Youtube has lots of videos, try to show a relative one in class from time to time.
- Relate it to their lives. No one is going to want to learn anything if they don't see how it impacts them.
- Hands on learning is fun, make surveys, charts, podcasts, websites, videos, etc.

Sharon de Hinojosa (naturegirl321) has lived and worked in the US, Scotland, Spain, the Czech Republic, China, Korea, and Peru. As well as teaching short-term in Venezuela and Taiwan.

She has created TEFL Tips which has information for teachers from writing a CV, to giving a demo lesson, learning the local language, teaching tips for the classroom and more.

Since living in Peru since August 2004, she wrote The Ultimate Peru List http://www.theultimateperulist.blogspot.com/ . With 80 pages it's a comprehensive guide for those living in or moving to Peru.