Teach English in Kouguan Zhen - Rizhao Shi

Layla’s sparkling green eyes lit up at the end of science class. She announced, “The kidneys are amazing, it’s like a journey through the smartest vacuum in the world!” Layla was my Syrian refugee tutee who had an exciting, contagious thirst for science, but would often tell me how frustrating it was for her to overcome an additional obstacle: English. I decided to work one-on-one with Layla to build her confidence to express herself in the science classroom. My teaching style builds on my students’ strengths: I noticed Layla learned best when she got to move around and interact with the material. So, I began to tailor my combined English-for-science lesson plans with art. For example, we painted neuronal anatomy, built a 3D ecosystem, and explored sound waves through music. I was amazed to see her learn at twice the speed she had learned previously. I remember Layla’s excitement and gratitude when she found out she placed first in her ninth-grade science fair with the help of our additional lessons. It was a moment of hope for her, and a new path towards becoming a scientist. Moving forward, while teaching English as a foreign language, I plan to create a holistic educational experience for my students that advocates for their inherent strengths and use a dialogic approach in my teaching. My six years of secondary education teaching experience and strong interest in cross-cultural exchange led me to be a teaching assistant for a college class called “Belonging and Displacement: Cross-Cultural Identities.” One of my students, Rachel, anxiously asked me if her essay articulated her exploration of her unique cultural identity. My guiding approach in teaching is dialogic: I listen deeply and sensitively to my students. Rachel said, “I need to learn more about my Chinese heritage to keep writing about it. But there are also parts of me, like being an artist and musician, that make up who I am and my identity.” I showed her how she could use her lived experiences as evidence, just as a historian or scientist would use evidence from their research, to build an essay that weaves together her personal and cultural identity. In the end, Rachel learned how to write about a complex narrative that is comprehensible to the reader. I cherish empowering students to face their learning challenges with confidence. I also value teaching in settings, such as a TEFL classroom, where cultural exploration and exchange are actively encouraged. As a TEFL teacher, I plan to apply a dialogic approach to teaching English that will serve academic purposes and also help me build rapport with my students. For example, in lessons about past-tense verbs, I would ask students to meet one-on-one to tell me about the country’s holidays. I would also share my own experience with American holidays. Such an activity would allow us to practice the past-tense while exchanging cultural knowledge. Another important skill I plan to apply is my adaptability in teaching. In my role as a science teacher to high schoolers through an after-school program, I often modify lessons throughout the day. My lesson on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was changed to understanding atomic spin, once I learned what my students’ current understandings were. I hope to apply the skills in troubleshooting which I have gained from my experience as well as the ITTT’s TEFL course to effectively overcome challenging situations in the classroom. Through my passion for interactive teaching methods and my commitment to advocating for my students, I have seen that teaching has the capacity to both create new narratives, as well as learn from existing ones. I am grateful for the opportunity to develop my approach to education as one that is engaging, holistic, dialogic, and adaptable through my past personal teaching experiences. I hope to continue building on this approach as a TEFL instructor in the future, as I aspire to be a devoted educator to my students.