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My first teaching experience was nerve-racking. I had my materials prepared and I had spent hours preparing for any potential problems that may come up. I walked into the classroom and got through my first lesson. A few days later I was thinking about how my lesson had gone, the students had been well behaved and I had kept the class together but there was no denying the students were reluctant to become more involved in the class. I also found difficulties during the Engage part of the lesson, I asked the students questions and tried to get them to open up about experiences they had been through that related to my material. My life had been very different to many of the students and many of the cultural aspects of my life were much different to theirs so in some ways it was difficult to build an element of understanding between me and the students. This brings me to my question "Why I feel it is necessary to build an element of trust between the Teacher and the students? " Usually, when Teaching English to adults in South East Asia it is likely you are going to be Teaching to students who are looking to learn English to further their career. The students in these classes can be very shy and afraid to make mistakes as they would see it as embarrassing to make mistakes. When Teaching children in South East Asia you will likely be Teaching to children that have already been at a regular school through the day, and they are then attending a cram school at night, the mentality of cram schools can be intimidating and often the Teachers you find there are overworked and disinterested in the job which from what I have seen can have a negative impact on the child's learning. The methods of Teaching I have learned in this course have given me the confidence to be able to walk into a classroom and be able to engage the class and also feel comfortable helping my students when they make mistakes without giving the students they have failed in their own learning. I believe if a group of students trusts their teacher they will begin to participate more in the lesson and start to speak English more fluently without being scared of making mistakes, as a trained Teacher I can then observe my students throughout the class and help them in the areas they need to be helped in. If I had not built an element of trust in the classroom it would not be possible for me to get the students to engage in the classroom like this and the time spent in the classroom would be wasted. After a few more lessons and while studying, I managed to build more understanding of the student's life's and also tried to give them an understanding of my life. I noticed as the lessons went on the students were more willing to speak with me in the class and less afraid of making mistakes. This drastically changed how to class would flow and is a clear example of how building an element of trust with your students is one of the most important things a teacher will have to do with their students. I hope to use the methods this course taught me and become a Teacher who my students feel comfortable interacting with.
