Teach English in Shizhuang Zhen - Luliang Shi

Learning a new language is not the easiest thing in one's life but it is also extremely necessary in this day and age. Does the rapport you have with your teacher and classmates affect your motivation or is it only the progress you have made? If you build a nice rapport with your teacher, will you enjoy the class more? There are various factors that affect the lesson time for both teachers and students. When a student enters the classroom for the first time, s/he takes notice of his/her surroundings, which includes both teacher and classmates. If the student does not know his/her classmates or the teacher, s/he may feel slightly nervous. Even though learning is important and the main purpose of entering the classroom, our feelings affect our motivation deeply. What can a teacher do to ease the students' way of learning? The key is motivation. Our relationship with our students starts from the second they enter the classroom for the first time. Where do we stand in the classroom, what are we doing when they enter, how is our tone when we welcome them into the classroom; these are only a few examples to describe the situation. Despite the fact that our students may or may not be familiar with ESL methods or us, we need to warm them up to the class. First of all, how we introduce ourselves to a new class is a vital point in how the rest of our classes will go. It is not always a good idea to be strict at this point because the students might be intimidated. However, we are not their friend either and it is essential to build the discipline in the classroom. Introduction is better done individually to show that we respect our students,each and every one of them and make them respect us in return. Secondly, a teacher who knows his/her students is able to motivate them better than a stranger. In the first classes, building the rapport and motivating your students should be the most important target in my experience. Motivation starts with the dynamics and it is in the hands of the teacher how to shape it. Class plans are the biggest help to teachers in almost every matter. In addition, the plan can be a big source of motivation for the students. In ESL classes, teachers usually start with warmers, which are motivating the students and warming them up to the topic of that day. If the teacher knows more about his/her students and prepares activities that will draw their attention more to the topic, the students will be more motivated. The teacher should plan the lessons according to his/her students' interests to keep them motivated, because motivating them for a minute during the class is good but we want to keep it that way. The more we address their interests, the more motivated they will be. Furthermore, if we keep them motivated, the students will not try to speak in their native language. They will try to speak in English and they will be more enthusiastic about learning the language. Their motivation will affect their learning process because they will try to use the language more and more efficiently as well. Teaching methods may be different for each teacher; nonetheless, there are some certain behaviours that intimidate the students. As teachers, we come across situations that makes us want to jump into the scene and correct everything we hear or see. Yet, we all know that we must not do that to not dishearten the students. Motivation lies within patience and controlled correction. The students must be corrected at some parts of the lesson which are monitored and controlled by the teacher to learn the language properly, but not every time they make a mistake. On the other hand, a teacher who speaks only him/herself is not a motivating teacher either. The students must be given enough time to practice the language and produce with it themselves. When we teach abroad, another beautiful part is learning about a different culture. Thus, the students will try to show their culture to you as well as you acquaint yours to them. So, let them and they will be even more motivated to be able to communicate with a foreigner about their country. They will be demotivated if their teacher cuts them off in even the slightest mistake they make. To sum up, motivation is a combination of the relationship between the teacher and students, the interests and patience. A teacher who knows how to enjoy his/her time with the students will be able to motivate them too. There are not many things in life better than seeing the progress, hence the confidence of your students because they are motivated in learning the language you are teaching.