Top 12 English Instructor Skills to Put on Your Resume
In today’s crowded hiring landscape, English instructors stand out by showing more than content knowledge. When your resume broadcasts a sharp mix of pedagogy, tech fluency, and human-centered teaching moves, employers see someone who can spark learning, sustain momentum, and help every student push further than they expected.
English Instructor Skills
- Curriculum Development
- ESL Expertise
- Classroom Management
- Zoom Proficiency
- Google Classroom
- Assessment Creation
- Microsoft Office
- Canvas LMS
- Moodle Navigation
- Blackboard Utilization
- Interactive Whiteboards
- Digital Literacy
1. Curriculum Development
Curriculum development for English instruction means mapping clear outcomes, sequencing texts and tasks with purpose, and aligning instruction, practice, and assessment so learners grow in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and critical thinking. It’s iterative. You plan, teach, gather evidence, refine, and loop again so the experience stays relevant and rigorous.
Why It's Important
A thoughtful curriculum anchors learning. It ensures progress across units, balances skills with knowledge, addresses diverse learners, and ties classroom work to real communication needs and academic standards.
How to Improve Curriculum Development Skills
Start with outcomes: Use backward design. Write measurable goals first, then design assessments and learning sequences that actually lead there.
Broaden the canon: Blend classic literature with contemporary voices and multimodal texts. Representation fuels engagement and insight.
Spiral skills: Revisit key skills—argument, analysis, research, vocabulary—in increasing complexity across the term.
Design for access: Apply UDL principles. Offer choices, scaffold language, provide models, caption media, and vary assessment modes.
Embed authentic tasks: Replace worksheets with writing for audiences, debates, podcasts, book talks, inquiry projects.
Collect evidence: Use formative checks, conferences, and quick writes to see what’s landing. Adjust swiftly.
Reflect routinely: After each unit, note what to keep, cut, and tweak. Small changes compound.
How to Display Curriculum Development Skills on Your Resume

2. ESL Expertise
ESL expertise (also referred to as ELL/ESOL) blends language acquisition theory with practical strategies for multilingual learners, accounting for proficiency levels, cultural backgrounds, and the complex ways students develop listening, speaking, reading, and writing over time.
Why It's Important
Specialized strategies unlock access. With targeted scaffolds, explicit language objectives, and culturally sustaining practices, learners gain both confidence and measurable proficiency they can carry beyond the classroom.
How to Improve ESL Expertise Skills
Study the frameworks: Get familiar with CEFR and WIDA descriptors; align tasks to proficiency bands and growth targets.
Use SIOP-aligned lessons: Pair content objectives with language objectives; make input comprehensible; provide structured interaction.
Prioritize oral language: Build talk time. Rehearsal before writing accelerates accuracy and complexity.
Leverage translanguaging: Allow home languages as assets for thinking, drafting, and vocabulary building.
Assess formatively: Quick probes, exit tickets, and conferencing expose gaps early; reteach precisely.
Differentiate feedback: Focus comments on a few priority errors tied to the learning goal; model revisions.
Expand cultural responsiveness: Curate texts and prompts that resonate with students’ identities and experiences.
How to Display ESL Expertise Skills on Your Resume

3. Classroom Management
Classroom management is the choreography of space, routines, relationships, and responses that turns minutes into learning. It’s proactive more than reactive—clear norms, engaging tasks, and consistent follow-through.
Why It's Important
Calm, predictable environments let language practice flourish. Students risk more, write more, discuss more—because they feel safe and know what’s expected.
How to Improve Classroom Management Skills
Co-create norms: Students who help shape expectations are more likely to honor them.
Plan for momentum: Tight transitions, visible agendas, and varied modalities keep energy up and off-task behavior down.
Teach routines explicitly: Model, practice, and reinforce how to enter, discuss, draft, peer review, and submit.
Use positive narration: Name the behaviors you want to see; catch them doing it right.
Seat with intention: Arrange for collaboration or focus depending on the task; change layouts when needed.
Respond, don’t react: Address disruptions privately and proportionally; keep instruction moving.
Reflect with data: Track patterns (time of day, activity type) and adjust structure or supports accordingly.
How to Display Classroom Management Skills on Your Resume

4. Zoom Proficiency
Zoom proficiency means running smooth, interactive online classes: clear audio and visuals, breakout rooms that hum with purpose, whiteboards, polls, captions, and thoughtful security settings that keep everyone safe and on task.
Why It's Important
When the tech fades into the background, instruction shines. Good virtual facilitation widens access, supports continuity, and keeps distant learners genuinely connected.
How to Improve Zoom Proficiency Skills
Master core tools: Breakout rooms, screenshare, annotations, polls, captions, waiting rooms, and recording settings.
Design for interaction: Quick checks, chat prompts, collaborative whiteboards, and structured pair tasks every session.
Set protocols: Camera norms, chat etiquette, name conventions, and “how we do group work” guides.
Optimize audio/video: Headset, stable lighting, clean background, and bandwidth-friendly settings.
Secure the room: Require authentication as needed, manage screen sharing rights, and use the waiting room wisely.
Plan backups: Slide notes, offline copies, and alternate activities if a feature hiccups.
How to Display Zoom Proficiency Skills on Your Resume

5. Google Classroom
Google Classroom streamlines assignment distribution, feedback, grading, and communication in one organized hub, tying together Docs, Drive, Forms, and more for a tidy workflow.
Why It's Important
It keeps materials in reach, clarifies deadlines, and shortens the feedback loop—so students spend time learning, not hunting for files.
How to Improve Google Classroom Skills
Structure with Topics: Organize by week or unit; post in consistent patterns so students know where to look.
Build smart rubrics: Attach reusable rubrics to clarify quality and speed up grading.
Leverage Forms: Quick checks, exit tickets, and auto-graded quizzes to guide reteaching.
Use comment banks: Store frequent feedback phrases; personalize with one or two targeted notes.
Schedule and differentiate: Assign to specific groups, schedule posts, and set accommodations without fanfare.
Integrate multimedia: Short videos, audio feedback, and exemplars bring directions to life.
Keep calendars clean: Sync due dates and keep guardians informed with concise summaries.
How to Display Google Classroom Skills on Your Resume

6. Assessment Creation
Assessment creation is designing tools that capture what learners can actually do—reading closely, arguing with evidence, crafting sentences, presenting ideas, and transferring skills to new contexts.
Why It's Important
Good assessment directs instruction. It reveals strengths, pinpoints needs, and motivates students with clear pictures of progress.
How to Improve Assessment Creation Skills
Align to outcomes: Every question and task should map to a stated skill or standard.
Mix formats: Balance selected-response with performance tasks, conferences, and portfolios.
Write clear prompts: Precise language, defined audiences, and explicit success criteria reduce guesswork.
Use transparent rubrics: Describe quality, not just points; share exemplars and calibrate.
Check for bias: Review texts and items for cultural and linguistic fairness; provide multiple ways to show learning.
Analyze results: Item analysis and student reflections surface what to reteach—and what to celebrate.
Close the loop: Build in revision cycles so feedback turns into growth.
How to Display Assessment Creation Skills on Your Resume

7. Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office (and Microsoft 365) bundles the everyday essentials: Word for drafting and review, PowerPoint for visual storytelling, Excel for clean data and grading, plus Teams, OneDrive, and Forms for collaboration.
Why It's Important
These tools compress the busywork and expand the teaching time—clean documents, efficient grading, quick surveys, and engaging presentations.
How to Improve Microsoft Office Skills
Level up in Word: Track Changes, comments, styles, citations, and Editor for high-impact writing instruction.
Make PowerPoint dynamic: Use Zoom, Morph, and section navigation to pace discussions and model analysis.
Bring Excel to grading: Conditional formatting, filters, and simple formulas keep progress visible and fair.
Collaborate in Teams: Channels, Class Notebooks, and quick meetings centralize communication and feedback.
Gather data with Forms: Quizzes, surveys, and automatic charts help you adapt instruction fast.
Organize with OneDrive: Version history and shared folders make resources easy to find and maintain.
How to Display Microsoft Office Skills on Your Resume

8. Canvas LMS
Canvas is a full-featured learning platform where you build modules, deliver content, manage discussions, assess work, and provide timely feedback—with analytics to see who needs what, and when.
Why It's Important
It concentrates the course experience. Students navigate fewer hoops, and you gain consistent tools for tracking, grading, and communicating.
How to Improve Canvas LMS Skills
Design with Modules: Organize materials, pages, and assessments in clear weekly or unit flows.
SpeedGrader + rubrics: Standardize feedback while staying specific; attach audio or video comments for clarity.
Collaborative annotation: Use integrated annotation tools to mark up texts together and make thinking visible.
Vocabulary supports: Link glossaries, embed quick checks, and recycle key terms across modules.
Use Studio and media: Short instructor videos, screencasts, and captions boost accessibility and connection.
How to Display Canvas LMS Skills on Your Resume

9. Moodle Navigation
Moodle navigation is the way instructors shape a course so students find what they need fast: intuitive menus, tidy sections, and clear progress markers.
Why It's Important
When the path is obvious, cognitive load stays on learning. Fewer clicks, fewer questions, more time reading and writing.
How to Improve Moodle Navigation Skills
Pick the right format: Grid or collapsed topics reduce scrolling and help students orient by unit.
Curate the navigation block: Show essentials and hide clutter; label items with action-oriented names.
Turn on completion tracking: Checkboxes and requirements signal progress and expectations.
Use Book and Pages: Package content into manageable, paged sections with consistent headings.
Create a Q&A hub: Centralize common questions so answers are easy to find.
Organize the gradebook: Categories, weights, and clear naming make the math transparent.
How to Display Moodle Navigation Skills on Your Resume

10. Blackboard Utilization
Blackboard utilization means building purposeful course shells: content organized by modules, vibrant discussion spaces, efficient assessments, and feedback that closes learning gaps.
Why It's Important
A coherent Blackboard course keeps students engaged between classes, streamlines submissions, and gives you analytics to steer instruction.
How to Improve Blackboard Utilization Skills
Structure with learning modules: Sequence content, activities, and checks for understanding in one place.
Energize discussions: Use clear prompts, participation rubrics, and instructor presence; summarize threads to extend thinking.
Work the Grade Center: Weighted categories, smart views, and timely feedback help students self-manage.
Mix assessments: Auto-graded quizzes for fluency; writing tasks and journals for depth and voice.
Communicate often: Announcements with short recaps and next steps keep momentum high.
Leverage groups: Small-group spaces for peer review, projects, and targeted supports.
How to Display Blackboard Utilization Skills on Your Resume

11. Interactive Whiteboards
Interactive whiteboards turn walls into dynamic canvases—annotate texts, sort sentences, drag evidence, replay mini-lessons, and let students lead the pen.
Why It's Important
They energize participation and make abstract thinking concrete. Students see ideas move, combine, and grow in real time.
How to Improve Interactive Whiteboards Skills
Blend media: Short video clips, audio passages, and images spark analysis and discussion.
Use subject-specific tools: Vocabulary games, grammar manipulatives, and timed writing prompts keep practice lively.
Prioritize collaboration: Invite students to annotate, sort, and model; rotate scribes to elevate ownership.
Add game mechanics: Quick quizzes and team challenges transform review into a buzzy, memorable moment.
Capture and revisit: Save boards as images or files; reuse for reflection, revision, and exam prep.
How to Display Interactive Whiteboards Skills on Your Resume

12. Digital Literacy
Digital literacy blends information savvy, media analysis, platform etiquette, and creation skills—finding trustworthy sources, communicating clearly, safeguarding privacy, and producing work that stands up to scrutiny.
Why It's Important
English classes live in the world of words and ideas. Today that world is digital—so students must read online, cite ethically, collaborate responsibly, and publish with purpose.
How to Improve Digital Literacy Skills
Teach credibility checks: Author, evidence, date, bias, corroboration. Make evaluation habitual.
Model platform writing: Emails, discussion posts, slide decks, blogs, and short video scripts—each with its own voice and conventions.
Create, don’t just consume: Blogs, podcasts, infographics, and mini-documentaries push synthesis and style.
Discuss ethics: Citation norms, plagiarism, fair use, privacy, and responsible use of AI-assisted tools.
Build accessibility: Alt text, captions, readable typography, and inclusive color choices.
Stay current: Periodically explore new tools and retire clunky ones; keep a light, flexible toolkit.
How to Display Digital Literacy Skills on Your Resume

