STARTBODY

Teach English in Songcun Zhen - Weihai Shi

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Songcun Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Weihai Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language.

From teaching general science to refugee and immigrant students in Portland, Maine to leading classroom discussions on river ecology and sustainability in Hartford, Connecticut to tutoring high school students in New York City in algebra and geometry, I realize that the most important qualities for teachers to have include vulnerability and genuine interest in his/her/their students. While the course content is critical to the education of students, it is usually not the determining factor of an effective educator. As someone who interviewed prospective students for admission to a competitive liberal arts college, I always asked interviewees what their favorite course in high school was and why. The responses always included the teacher’s enthusiasm and openness. When students feel heard in their classroom, they invest more energy into the course. With regard to English teachers teaching non-native speakers, connecting with students through vulnerability, emphasizing the importance of failure, and allowing students to feel heard in the classroom are critical to success and trust. It is crucial for an English teacher to primarily demonstrate that the lives of students are of utmost interest and importance. English teachers must be authentically curious about their students and be willing to acknowledge the cultural and educational contexts in which their students come from. Learning a language can be intimidating and challenging. Therefore, English teachers must mitigate the potential fear of their students by showing genuine attempts to learn about the students, whether explicitly or implicitly. Ice breakers are an excellent way to start getting to know students. More long-term methods to learn about students include using material and content that is relevant to students’ lives, whether that be current events in their community or individual texts about a hobby or interest. While it is critical to expand the minds of students to new ideas and concepts, it is also critically important to ensure that the content is relatable and meaningful to them. So, if several students express interest in soccer, creating a lesson or activity involving that theme is a meaningful way to not only encourage students to engage with the course material, but also a way to demonstrate that the teacher cares about them and hears what is significant to their lives. Whenever I teach, I really enjoy using exit cards. On the exit cards, I always ask a question that allows individual students to be heard in some way. For instance, let’s say the lesson for the day was writing stories using new English vocabulary. A question on the Exit Card for that day may be: “Choose one of the new vocabulary words learned today that is important to you and explain why.” Exit cards allow teachers to spend time after class not only ensuring that each student got something from the lesson, but also helps educators to learn more about student motives and interests (and possibly get ideas for future lessons). Succinctly put, English teachers must be able to allow students to be heard and to validate their interests and desires. The teacher must truly be invested in getting to know their students. Another critical quality of an English teacher is vulnerability and embracing failure. Students learning a new language must understand that failure is part of the process. By having an English educator explicitly embrace failure, and demonstrate vulnerability with his/her/their students, students are more comfortable with mistakes and more inclined to participate. When I teach, I tend to talk about my life and experiences, explaining to students the mistakes I have made and the lessons I have learned. Not only does this show students that I am fallible and human like them, but it also makes them more comfortable to be honest with me and more comfortable to take risks and embrace failure. If educators demonstrate to their students that failure is normal and should be embraced, then their students are more likely to take risks with their English learning and feel more inclined to try, as the fear of failure and condemnation are ameliorated. This allows for open communication and trust within the English classroom and environment, contributing to both student and teacher learning.


ENDBODY