Teach English in Tieyupu Zhen - Shangluo Shi

I would like to briefly present myself before answering this question. My name is Shannon. I am an American, a mother of five and currently living in Italy. For the past 12 years, I have been approached several times about becoming an English teacher. I never took these requests seriously because my children were my only priority at the time. Now that my children have grown a bit and are in no longer need of my constant attention the prospect of becoming an English teacher seems much more realistic. Because of my previous teaching background, I realized that I was no longer prepared to throw myself into the world of education. Although there are many very good English teachers in Italy who do not have proper training or certification, I would not fall into that category. I needed to refresh my teaching knowledge, and this is the reason that I have decided to do this TEFL course. A teacher’s role in the classroom can take on many “personalities” from manager to observer, from organizer to facilitator, from model to prompter, from participant to tutor. Whatever role the teacher chooses to take on decides whether the class will be teacher-centered or student-centered. Knowing which role to apply and when only comes from experience. Our "overall" role as the teacher is very valuable and should not be underestimated; educational research consistently shows that good teachers strongly influence the academic outcome of their students. With that being said, it is very important for a teacher to take pride in how he/she teaches while simultaneously showing concern and care for how his/her students are learning. Fostering a sense of authenticity in the classroom ensures that your students know you care for them and that your priority is to help them grow. Having reflected on this concept of authenticity I believe that this is the real reason why I had been so resistant to stepping out into the world of teaching. My students deserve to have at a teacher who not only has the capability or requirements for teaching but also has the desire to be creative, flexible, stimulating, motivating, and caring. All students deserve a teacher who cares about them and their ability to succeed. At the time, my role as mother would not have allowed me to be as grounded and focused as I needed to be for fostering this kind of teaching environment. According to me, a teacher’s role is not only to help his/her students attain knowledge of the English language, but also to make sure his/her students are successful because they feel comfortable and confident in connecting with others even at the risk of making a few errors. This goal can be attained by establishing positive and optimistic relationships with my students and by communicating to them my genuine belief that they are capable of growing and learning After having taken this course I feel that I am better equipped for this new adventure; I have been given the proper tools for being an effective teacher. It has given me the confidence I need to step out and take on this new role that is being presented to me. Over time I will hopefully develop a teaching style that reflects my personality and core beliefs which will help me to be the best teacher I can possibly be. Source:https://www.edutopia.org/ I wish to include an article that I found online. I do not intend for it to be used as my original idea, nor as part of my summative task grade. I found it to be resourceful and worthy of sharing: Respect and trust are foundational for learning. This is nothing new—we know it to be true. We also know that building trust is not a “one and done” kind of thing to be checked off at the beginning of the year. We need to work at it every day and maintain what we do gain. I’d like to offer five tips for continuing to gain and develop students’ trust and respect. The first letter from each tip creates the acrostic HEART—perhaps a helpful way to keep these tips on your mind: Honor Students’ Time, Talents, and Interests Engage Students on Their Level Accept Student Differences Radiate Eagerness to Teach Students Telegraph That Learning Is Fun By striving to provide these five tactics, or HEART, in the classroom, I find learning (and teaching) to be more pleasurable and students to be more productive. When we bring HEART to the classroom, it’s evident to students that they are valued, that their time with us matters, that we see them as individuals, incorporating their uniqueness into the learning activities. HEART demonstrates that we engage with them from our personal love of learning in a quest to inspire them to find their own meaning and purpose in the learning. https://www.edutopia.org/article/working-grow-students-trust-and-respect