Teach English in Airdrie - TEFL Courses

Since I’ve learned to read magazines and newspapers, I’ve developed the habit of cutting out good articles and pictures. The formula above is from a newspaper of which I can’t exactly remember because it’s been almost two decades ago. It’s still posted on my mom’s fridge. Choices, mistakes, surprising circumstances and unexpected results... are part of learning, and so, in teaching. Teaching is a continuous learning process. Understanding different personalities, handling them individually or as a group, serving their varying interests, balancing lessons to suit different levels of knowledge about the course are just among a teacher’s numerous challenges. The teacher treats every class uniquely. The teacher reaches out to the students’ needs without spoon-feeding, and helps them discover their potential in achieving their goals. The teacher provides information, activates that information, and guides students to comprehend them. The chief aim of education is not to fill people’s heads with facts but to teach them how to think and how to use facts. – A. E. Wiggam The teacher applies the lessons not only for classroom purposes, but also for students to recognize their importance in actual situations. Practical application lets students appreciate the course more than just feeding them information without realizing its advantages. There is no teaching until the pupil is brought into the same state or principle in which you are; a transfusion takes place; he is you, and you are he; there is a teaching; you are he; there is a teaching; and by no unfriendly chance or bad company can he ever quite lose the benefit. – Emerson The teacher has to engage the students into the lesson, keep them interested, and help them understand the lesson the same way he/she does. The teacher cannot teach what he/she does not know. The objective is for students to gain full understanding of what the teacher has in mind. Teaching and learning is like blood transfusion- something valuable is shared. It touches the lives of both donor and recipient. One thousand days to learn; ten thousand days to refine. – japanese Proverb Teaching is like constantly renovating a house. There’s always room for improvement. Expertise is a great asset but not a limit to what a teacher can do. The teacher should remain steadfast with the foundation of his/her knowledge and expertise especially when refining his/her methods to suit the classroom situation. The teacher shouldn’t let students overpower his/her role of being in control of the class. The teacher should not succumb to difficult circumstances, but rather be flexible for the students’ welfare. The teacher keeps the balance between discipline and fun. The power lies in the wisdom and understanding of one’s role, in the Great Mystery, and in honoring every living thing as a teacher. – Jamie Sands and David Carson The teacher comes to class prepared with the lesson plan, materials and equipments needed, backup plans or extra activities to maximize class time, and most importantly, his/her own self on how to carry out the actual lesson. The teacher’s most important tool and natural resource is his/her self. The teacher is the students’ model and source of knowledge. The teacher is the perpetrator of positive attitude towards the learning process. The teacher is in charge of her class, whether to settle a difference of opinion among classmates or when the individual student doubts his/her own ability to cope with the lesson. The teacher keeps students comfortable by avoiding a negative atmosphere. The teacher keeps an open mind including learning from the students. Instruction does not prevent waste of time or mistakes, and mistakes themselves are often the best teachers of all. – Froude The teacher instructs clearly, simplifies the lessons, and pays attention to students’ reaction and behavior during class as this can reflect their understanding of the lesson. Teaching motivates while learning challenges the students. One of the teacher’s very important roles is to correct students’ mistakes without offending them. The teacher encourages students not to be afraid of their mistakes, and helps them understand that mistakes are just as natural as getting the correct results. There’s nothing to teach if there’s nothing to learn; there’s nothing to learn if everything’s already perfect.