Teach English in Shecheng Zhen - Jinzhong Shi

Throughout my college career, I had the opportunity to spend time in various high school classrooms as a college student mentor, also known as a volunteer teacher. My first experience was with a math teacher, who taught ninth, tenth, and eleventh grade students. Then, I was able to spend time with a teacher who taught Spanish and English for English Language Learners (ELL). Although I worked with different ages, and was able to see students learn in different academic subjects, I noticed that when students feel more comfortable with their teacher, and trust that the teacher cares about their learning, they tend to be more willing to try and learn the material. In the math classroom before the class had officially started, the teacher would start conversations with the students, joking around about how old he was (since he rarely understood their sense of humor or references). The students would like to socialize, however they knew they had to get right to work when the bell rang, signaling the start of class. I was always impressed by this teachers ability to joke around with the students, and then immediately have their attention and respect when asked of them. Given that the school district I was mentoring with at this time had a very small population, it was common for some of the teachers to teach a variety of subjects in one day. The ELL teacher was also the Spanish teacher, so their classroom was a little more comfortable for some of the native Spanish speakers that were in the ELL classes. However, there was very little motivation or excitement for the native English speaking students to learn Spanish. The teacher was able to recognize the frustration and disinterest from these students, requiring him to incorporate new methods that would engage the students. They had completed worksheets, worked on self-portraits describing themselves in only Spanish, and had taken multiple written assessments. It was clear that the teacher had to change part of the curriculum if he wanted to keep the interest of the students alive, so he was able to save up enough of his own money to purchase an entire class set of ukuleles for the students to use. When the students walked into class the next day, I could immediately see their attitude change about learning a new language. The teacher provided each student with a binder of songs for them to learn. As students became more comfortable with the instrument and learned the scales, he would let the students practice more advanced, popular songs. Watching the teacher spend both the time and money to hopefully spark new interest among his students was a very eye-opening experience for me, as a volunteer teacher. It was clear that the students were able to recognize his love for teaching, and could now clearly see his determination to help them succeed. He could have made it through the school year, having students finish tedious worksheets out of a workbook, knowing it would be easier, cheaper, and less effective. Instead, he found something that would draw them into the language, and provide them with some connection to learning it. Unfortunately, it is not always the case that young learners in public education are determined to learn a new language. In the state of Washington, it is not a requirement to take a language course at the high school level. However, most colleges and universities would like to see it on a transcript. With that being the case, most young middle school and high school students simply take language classes to fulfill this “checkbox” on their application, without putting any substantial effort into learning. However, as a former volunteer teacher, I have been lucky enough to witness the passion of some language teachers as they find new ways to engage their students. By doing this, it sparks interest and curiosity among the students, encouraging them to spend additional time learning the language for themselves, rather than for the grade or checkbox.