Teach English in Liangling Zhen - Shangluo Shi

I believe that my mother has been an inspiration for me to become a teacher. I might not have realized it before since I was busy studying and just trying to achieve my short term goals. I could remember seeing some kids at home being taught by my mom. My mom used some pictures to identify certain shapes and animals. My mom was a regular housewife by then. She did that only for fun and to make my brother and I be more engaged in learning things with the company of our friends, our playmates. I could remember how I strive hard to be able to be the best in my class when I was in elementary. My mom would always prepare review lessons for me before my periodical tests. I was always the top 1 in my class. When I reached high school, I started to form an idea what I wanted to do in the future. Although there weren’t any specifics, a lot of factors had made me decide to take up Nursing as my degree. During my studies, I had believed that I couldn’t be a teacher because I felt that it was a very difficult task to do. I was so shy to be in front of people, to talk about a certain topic and explain myself in a group. I thought that I didn’t have what it takes to become a teacher or educator. As I continue my studies in Nursing, I learned that one of the roles of a nurse is to be an educator. Apparently, it’s one of the things we, nurses, have to be good at in order to help the patients be informed about their health. I was hesitant about it at first, seeing my instructors performing their tasks, they are teachers and nurses at the same time. It’s actually overwhelming to imagine myself to be in their positions. I thought to myself, I probably could perform the other roles of a nurse but it doesn’t necessarily mean that I should be a very good educator. After graduating, I got some training from the hospital and was able to work at a primary hospital. After two years of not being satisfied with the salary, I tried to look for other jobs that I could apply for with reasonable pay. Then, a friend of mine asked me if I could accept a job to teach English to Koreans and Japanese at a language school, fortunately, got hired and trained. I was reluctant at first, thinking that I was not that confident with my English skills. “How am I going to teach others if I am not sure if I could use the English language fluently myself?” This was the question that kept on and on in my mind, but it also became my driving force to spend a great time preparing my lessons. As a new teacher, I was assigned students from low beginners with books that match their levels. The classes were for 50 minutes for each student and I tried my best to follow the system of the school. 10 minutes for free talking, 30 minutes for class proper, and 10 minutes for review. I handled one on one classes for Speaking and Reading and time has made me become a better teacher. As I have become familiarized with the course and its contents, I have incorporated my own approach in the way I teach the lessons. I also learned from my co-teachers, as I attended some training given by the school. I also learned a lot from my students, as I conduct classes with them and assess how I could help them reach their goal in language learning. With hard work, I was noticed by the school’s administration and offered me to take training for becoming a group class teacher of high-level students. From there, it started my growth in this career, I’ve learned a lot of things from training, practice, and experience. These things led me to be promoted to a head teacher position for the Listening department. I was so overwhelmed with the recognition and was more motivated to become better for this career. I was able to take part in developing curricula with my colleagues and creating special courses for certain groups of students in the school. I was also handling training of teachers to help them improve how they conduct their classes and evaluate their performances as teachers. Four years of teaching and learning at the language school has gone by fast. I couldn't even imagine how that happened, but one thing I was sure of that time, I was ready to expand my knowledge in this career. I was ready for a greater challenge and more experiences that I could refer to and learn from to be able to better. I decided to take Professional Teaching units at a Teacher's College in my hometown to be able to qualify for the National Teachers' Licensure Examination. After a year completing these units, I took my licensure examination and was able to successfully passed it. That didn't stop me from my goals. I wanted a new challenge, a new motivation, and a new reason for me to explore more things in teaching. That's when I decided to apply for a teaching job in another country, considering my experience teaching students from other countries, I would want to try to experience it out of my comfort zone and see what other countries have to offer. This led me teaching her in China. I still have a long way to go, a lot of things to learn, and a lot of experiences to gain. I am ready for it and I am looking forward to it.