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Teaching Corner

Teacher Stories

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Power Skills

Teacher Life

At EF Teach Online, we provide the technology to connect teachers and students worldwide. Here you'll find tools, tips and teacher stories to power your online classes.

Victoria Pérez ‹ EF Teach Online

If you’ve ever stared at your laptop at midnight, trying to finish a lesson plan for tomorrow’s class, you’re not alone. I’ve been there too, coffee in hand, tabs open everywhere, trying to piece together something engaging and level-appropriate before finally calling it a night.
 Many of us at EF are lucky to work with structured materials through platforms like Hyperclass, Group Lessons, or Classic Private Lessons, which definitely lighten the prep load. But there are still times when we want to create something extra, such as a personalized warm-up, a fluency task, or a follow-up activity. In those moments, I often find myself wishing for a little more time (and maybe one less tab open).

 That’s where HiLink.com comes in.

 HiLink is an AI-powered tool that creates lesson plans for Teachers. It’s like having a reliable coworker who provides you with a ready-made outline, complete with activities and explanations, so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every day. For online ESOL Teachers, it has truly been a game-changer.

 <hr>

 <h2>Why Lesson Planning Can Feel Harder Online</h2>

 Before we look at how HiLink works, let’s acknowledge something important: teaching English online has its own rhythm and realities.

 Teachers using EF platforms enjoy many of the best parts of virtual teaching: flexibility, global classrooms, and tools that support structured, interactive lessons. We can teach from home (or anywhere), connect with learners around the world, and focus on helping them grow.

 But even with those advantages, online lesson planning can still present challenges.

 <ol>
 <li>
 Prep can take time.
 
 Even with access to strong materials, many of us like to add our own creative touches. Coming up with good warm-ups, discussion questions, or short extensions can still take longer than we’d like.
 

 </li>
 <li>
 Keeping engagement high requires creativity.
 
 Without the energy of a physical classroom, we rely on communication, pacing, and interaction to keep Students motivated. It’s rewarding work, but it does require thought and planning.
 

 </li>
 <li>
 Planning fatigue is real.
 
 Preparing several lessons in a row can be mentally draining. Working online gives us flexibility, but that doesn’t always mean we have unlimited energy.
 </li>
 </ol>

 <hr>

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 <h2>So, What Is HiLink.com?</h2>

 At its core, HiLink is a lesson plan generator powered by AI. You enter a few details like your Students’ level, topic, and skill focus, and it produces a structured lesson plan in seconds.

 Instead of starting with a blank screen, you start with a clear outline: warm-up, presentation, practice, and communicative tasks. You can use it as-is or adapt it to your teaching style.

 For me, it feels like having a prep assistant. It doesn’t take away my creativity - it simply handles the heavy lifting so I can focus on my Students.

 <hr>

 <h2>A Real-Life Example: Teaching Comparatives and Superlatives</h2>

 Imagine you’re teaching an intermediate class where today’s focus is comparatives and superlatives.

 Without HiLink, you might spend an hour building slides, writing examples, and searching for a suitable activity.

 With HiLink, the process looks more like this:

 <ol>
 <li>Enter the topic (“comparatives and superlatives”), level (B1), and skills focus (speaking + writing).</li>

 <li>HiLink generates a lesson plan that includes:</li>
 </ol>

 <ul>
 <li>Warm-up: Students compare two cities they know (e.g., “New York is bigger than Boston”).</li>

 <li>Presentation: Clear examples showing the grammar pattern.</li>

 <li>Practice: Fill-in-the-blank sentence exercises.</li>

 <li>Communicative Task: A brief debate on which movie, food, or sports team is “the best.”</li>

 <li>Wrap-up: Students write one sentence using both a comparative and a superlative.</li>
 </ul>

 In about five minutes, you have a lesson ready to teach or quickly customize based on your learners’ interests.

 <hr>

 <h2>But Here’s the Important Part: Teachers Still Matter Most</h2>

 Some educators worry that AI tools might replace Teachers, but that isn’t what’s happening here.

 HiLink doesn’t know your Students the way you do. It can’t sense when someone is struggling, when to pause, when to encourage, or when to add humor to re-energize the group.

 What HiLink does is free you to focus on those human elements.

 <hr>

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 <h2>Summary</h2>

 Teaching ESOL online is rewarding, but it can also be demanding. The planning, the pacing, and the engagement can take a lot of energy.

 Tools like HiLink.com don’t replace Teachers - they support them. They reduce prep time, offer fresh activity ideas, and help maintain lesson consistency. When planning becomes lighter, Teachers stay energized and Students benefit.

 For many ESOL Teachers, HiLink is becoming the teaching partner we didn’t know we needed.

 <hr>

 <h2>Ready to Try It?</h2>

 If you’ve been feeling stretched by lesson planning, try using HiLink for your next online class and see how much time you save.

 You might be surprised by how much more energy you have for what truly matters: connecting with your Students and helping them grow.

 
 
 <hr>

Learn more about EF Teach Online <a href="https://www.ef.com/wwen/teachonline/" target="_blank">here</a>.

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In this blog, Victoria looks at how HiLink.com can support online teachers by simplifying lesson planning and helping keep classes engaging and effective.

We are excited to announce we are hosting our third annual Online English Teacher Conference on 21 June 2024!

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