Online language teachers need to be ready for their lessons to make sure students learn well. However, excessive time spent on lesson preparation can be counterproductive. Here are some practical steps to streamline your preparation process:

Strategic Planning: Anticipate a diverse range of student levels, including beginners, intermediates, and advanced learners. Develop at least three comprehensive lesson plans for each proficiency level, focusing on common topics like food, travel, housing, shopping, health, sports, hobbies, and daily routines. You can reuse these topics for different levels, allowing for quick lesson planning when time is limited.

Use technology: Stay updated on industry trends and technological advancements. Explore various platforms for creating online exercises or use pre-existing resources. Consider platforms like Wordwall, Quizlet, and Kahoot for interactive exercises. AI technology can be a valuable time-saver, with tools like ClassPoint for interactive presentations and Taskade for creating plans and tracking progress. Also, assign homework tasks that encourage students to create their own plans, lists, or exercises.

Buy lesson plans: While you don't need to purchase every lesson plan, consider acquiring worksheets or e-books from other educators that have broad applicability and can be reused. Look for websites like Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) that offer a wide range of materials. One recommendation is to explore e-books from "Digitální lektoři" (Digital Tutors). These e-books offer flexible content that can be used for teaching any language because they usually don't contain specific texts.