Experiences of a teacher of English

The syllabus or curriculum or general planning or program of the academic year is the general frame, or like a big scheme.  It’s what you think the students should learn that year.  It ought to be practical but not very exhaustive or too ambitious. Or with situations that the students will never encounter.  On the other hand think and dream high, referring to your students. This balance you will gain it with experience plus the research ambition a good teacher should have.  Also a veteran colleague can tell you something useful. / Photo from: business broker. www buildtheblockcam com

There was a student that used to revise the texts in English that they had read that day in class.  She used to read the text twice, most of the times, and also she used to learn a new word or an idiom, and wrote it in a notebook.  In this way, and with time passing, she had achieved to learn many words. Sometimes, rather often she used to write an original sentence by using that word. Well, this is an example of a personal learning strategy. / Photo from: student library. www dcu ie

It is possible that when you are trying that all the class should be in English, the student would keep quiet and silent, to avoid the piece of effort.  Ask him to elicit, to speak, to convey things in English, and give him the most simple version of the message he ought to say in English if he gets choked and can say nothing. / Photo from: female student in library. gsit wa edu au

When talking with a student individually sometimes I have discovered really astounding wishes of improving.  And he expects from you help, he expects you would help him specify how to improve: they expect from an adult orientation, some advice, some support, some principle.  As well they expect a genuine and authentic piece of advice about behaving and conducting.  Why do teens wear weird or strange clothes sometimes? They are looking for the genuine, the authentic, sometimes like a blind person: they’re looking for ideals. They need plenitude. What about you? / Photo from: students-safety. www abroadstudy net

English is a language and a vehicle of communication and a tool to communicate.  Students need to learn and acquire the language… also to participate and win the competitions and quizzes.  It is usual they want to participate in those contests… but they need the instrument, the tool. This is one more reason they have to learn, and a motivator as well. / Photo from: students working.  americanradioworks publicradio org

An efficient teacher is creative.  He sets attractive, varied activities, not as something boring and tedious.  He sets activities about his students’ world, and they are not too much stereotype-like. / Photo from: Dont-be-afraid-to-ask-for-extra-help-with-your-online-studies www onlinedegreetalk org

A game that can be interesting: speaking out for the longer time. It’s a game for advanced-level students.  You tell two students to speak out about whatsoever they want to, with no previous preparation. The winner is the one who speaks for longer.  Or you can set it as homework and they can consult the Web. However it is better they spontaneously would speak. There are many aspects entailed in this interesting game. / Photo from: little girl washing dishes chores. www sheknows com

Expect a lot from your students, and even more from high-achievers.  At tutoring sessions with each student propose small goals. At the next tutoring session, ask him about that goal.  Suggest modes and ways of doing things and for working and studying.  Ask him for him to tell you his struggles, his forgetting, and turn again to set a short period and simple goal. / Photo from: Truck Cab. www localtruckdrivingjobsonline com

At the beginning of the academic year I explain the system of assessment to my dear students. 60% of the grade of the subject of English is for tests: they assess grammar, use, listening…, and 40% for everyday grades: each and every day is important – you learn and acquire a language by means of daily working.  I examine the 4 skills, as I said many posts ago (label of Assessment): listening, speaking, reading and writing. / Photo from: Tractor Driving. www farmadventure co uk

The fact of learning new things every day makes a student a better student, and more motivated to study and learn even more and more. This has been inspired by a text by Julio Gallego Codes. / Photo from: students at beach with book. www abdn ac uk

In the class try to explain everything in L2, in our case English.  It’s hard for you, but it’s worthy to do it so, in English (you’re Spanish). You can use Spanish but very few times.  It’s a good exercise to you, teacher of English whose mother tongue is Spanish. Moreover your students will have one more chance to practice oral English. / Photo from: www baylor edu

Visual aids are necessary for young kids to learn English or any other modern language.  Information enters their minds through senses. And their minds connect images and thoughts or ideas, more when they’re older, I think. Even human beings are capable of spiritual ideas, which shows we have a spiritual part (soul).  Kids connect an image with an object, I think. You can use posters, photographs, real objects. All should be in favor of these kids’ learning and acquiring English. / Photo from: success failure.  fearless-selling ca 

A part of the positive motivation, which boosts a lot, is recognizing aloud that the students or a single student did something well.  When praising someone, a single person, don't praise too much, lest danger of egocentrism. / Photo from: boy wash car. www dailymail co uk

I have again realized that positive motivation is a tremendous booster. I’m referring to my adult students. / Photo from: International Students Talking. www evansville edu

I am happy, for my adult students are speaking in English, not just sentences, but for longer - thanks to God. / Photo from: DollHouse02 www thingsmeanalot com

Pragmatics is a rather new area of knowledge and practice that is pretty important.  What a person says can be rude for another person of another language.  An example of pragmatics. A marriage of a German guy and a Japanese woman. They’re in their car going to somewhere. And the lady, instead of saying “We should stop and buy some sandwiches”, she says “Could we feel hungry sometime, darling, you think?”.  That is pragmatics.  Another example: a French lady says “It’s very cold here”, instead of “Do you all mind me closing the window?” / Photo from: newsimage idw-online de

We teachers and tutors of tutoring sessions are concerned about the kids, and that is good and adequate.  Treat your student as better as he really is. In that way he will improve. Trust in him, in his maybe wish to improve. / Photo from: Car-Washing. www bradleystock gov uk

Students who want to participate in games in English in class need grammar and vocabulary.  You can tell them that that is one more reason for learning English. / Photo from: marriage watching tv.  www dailymail co uk. The photo of this post is a mere illustration.

Many people say that adults cannot acquire a language, only learn it.  Expert H. D. Brown says that adults can acquire a language if they listen massively. Besides adults have some learning strategies that children cannot have. / Photo from: yelling. freshpeel com

Fluency when speaking. It’s an everybody’s goal for all learners of English. The main point here is, first, practice, second, practice, and third, practice. / Photo from: girl speaking. www greenwichtime com 

Sometimes two students fight with each other at the playground. What to do then?  I think of several things. Some of the ideas on this post have been inspired by a web site.  The first thing obviously is separate them from each other.  Then let’s talk with each other about the conflictive point, both students separated. Listen, listen, listen: it’s very important.  Coming to the head, the main thing is to show them that by fighting nothing is gotten.  That moment can be educative: each student should forgive the other and learn to talk instead and find a solution in another way.  Go to the roots: never fighting is the solution – they should talk to each other instead, and maybe turn to a teacher if necessary. The teachers of the school are like referees, they don’t take advantage of one of the two parts.  Conflicts ought to be solved by talking. In their future life they will have to reduce a conflict by talking....

The fact that young children would read is of a paramount importance.  A young kid, while reading a children’s book is making that neurons connect with other neurons (sinapsis).  In this way he is maturing and growing also in his mind.  It is very advisable to have young kids (6-8 years approximately) reading books specially made for those ages.  The kid also starts to recognize the world differently from an infant (he can’t speak) and more deeply; also he is starting to develop language in a wider sense, which will make him interact with other people and other kids. / Photo from: talking in class shushing.  www classroom-teacher-resources com

In my classes now I have thought to follow a sequence, which seems to turn out ok.  First I make my students say and answer with just words.  The second step is saying full sentences.  And the third, to speak for longer or to hold a conversation.  As I said, it has worked in my classes. Now they are speaking for somewhat long, even for 3 minutes. In 3 minutes you can say so many things; it’s a nice length of time. / Photo from: www utsandiego com

A subject to be passed still is that students should know how to make a composition, or a story, or an essay.  Many students arrive at college and they don’t master writing.  Among people who know how to write we can find some that prefer to start writing and they are incorporating what comes to mind. Others prefer to make a mental or written layout, and from there they would begin to write.  We as teachers of modern languages can offer both to the students, and these latter ones would choose.  What we do have to teach is that usually texts have an introduction, a development and a conclusion.  Other things we should teach are linkers and conjunctions.  Secondly the students should practice writing in class.  Another thing we’ve got to teach is that the texts ought to be easily understood and clear, and all the sentences relevant. / Photo from: husband and wife washing dishes. denisewymore wordpress com

Don’t expect your tutored student would tell you his problems.  Don’t expect him to open his interior. Gain him. Love him with love of benevolence. The way he is.  Try to understand him.  Listen to whatever he starts to talk. Smile to him. Laugh together. Tell him something funny that happened in class yesterday.  Tell him a brilliant idea you read in Chesterton, which suits him well.  If you’re Christian, turn to the Holy Spirit for light to help him truly. / Photo from: large kihomi visiting the sick. www internationalministries org

La disciplina en clase se consigue sobre todo con experiencia, con el paso de los años.  El primer año de la carrera profesional es horrible en cuanto a disciplina.  Es aconsejable que haya orden y silencio desde el inicio de la clase, desde que entra el profesor en clase. / Photo from: freightliner-century-class-01 a2goos com. La foto que acompaña esta entrada es simplemente como ilustración. He escrito esta entrada en castellano; no será así normalmente.

In my opinion the teacher of Literature should not set too many books to read in a single academic year, as many teachers of Literature do, because students have other subjects to study.  What the teacher of Literature ought to promote is his students’ delight in reading literature, novels, essays, fiction and non-fiction books, history, biographies, poetry, theater dramas, beside the books he thinks are according to the established program or syllabus. / Photo from: www ibsenvoyages com

When working with the other members of the department of English, the first thing you ought to take into account is getting along with them.  Don’t be a passive element either. Have your say, which could improve the teaching of English (or any other language).  Be faithful and loyal to the other members: be like a fist.  All the members’ work together and separated boosts the teaching of English.  Something else: do not talk bad about a colleague; talk to him or her; if you cannot say anything positive about someone, it’s better to stay silent. If one member of the department does things bad in some way or another, talk to him or her directly. / Photo from: international reading library. www staffs ac uk

This post is just to say thank you to those who have added me into their circles of Google+ lately. / Photo from: www homeaway com. The pic of this post is just to provide an illustration

Adolescence and youth are ages of great ideals.  Kids would like to change many things of our society.  We as teachers or parents can focus those forces toward studying and working well. Working well and studying have a potentiality to change society, little by little; anyway they have that power, no doubt. / Photo from: charity work. 7inheaven wordpress com

Some years ago with my family I watched a movie that may show multiple cases of students that do not want to study.  Their teacher is rookie and fails when trying to teach these students.  It is so until she proposes to everyone to write a diary. After some weeks she reads their diaries, where those adolescents tell the problems they have at home between their parents, or other reasons to not be motivated, also like drugs, alcohol, etc.  She soon begins to understand their students, and their problems for not studying and working.  So she changes her style of teaching since the fact of getting to know and understand her students.  If you’re a rookie teacher or a novice one, do know that experience counts a lot. Don’t get frustrated: you’ll get it after a few years of teaching.  The first year is terrible, the second one is not as bad as the first one, and the third year things run more smoothly, or at least it’s something a te...

Something that has helped me keep discipline in the class is to stop the class and gaze and stare silently to the student that is making a mess or is distracted. / Photo from: school-bus. www theverge com. The picture here is only for illustration sake. 

The student has to participate in the class.  He cannot be a mere passive listener.  All this depends on the teacher’s methodology. The teacher has to ask his students frequently, often.  The student is the main protagonist of his process of learning and acquiring the English language. It is he who has to learn and invest effort in carrying out the activities proposed by his teacher.  The student that learns English the most is the one that participates, that intervenes, that contributes to the class. / Photo from: steve benen. www msnbc com. The picture here is a mere illustration

I think the teacher should be a model for his students. A model of virtues and values.  He should set examples.  He cannot well educate his students unless he is a model of virtues and values. You can’t give what you don’t have. You can educate if you are a well educated person.  Kids and people in general today need values. Our society partially is sick some people say and it needs values, and supernatural values alike. I mean, society today needs God and the values that appear in the New Testament of the Bible.  And only can experts in humanities and Christianity give good values to our society, as more or less stated Blessed John Paul II about 1985. / Photo from: street sweeper. auto howstuffworks com

Julio Gallego Codes states that something sound is for the teacher to solve for example a math problem by talking aloud and writing on the chalkboard.  This action models the way the students will solve math problems.  Another interesting thing is to teach kids to study: many fail right because they do not know how to study, and nobody has made the subject as something interesting and meaningful. / Photo from: apply slider admissions temple edu

Our children, our sons and daughters, I think they ought to be rather short of money.  I’m referring to the amounts of money we give them or they can take on their own.  They should learn money is earned with effort.  On the other hand we parents should cover their needs, of course. The thing, the value and virtue is in between, in the middle.  They should be able to deal with some money for their things and expenses, and learn to administer that money. / Photo from: sharpie chair. blog krb com

According to scholar Julio Gallego Codes a good childhood prevents from many problems at adolescence. Children must run and do physical sport after classes. / Photo from: Sturgis on Broadway - Photo thecabin net

I have noticed that when I plan my classes (always) and write the plan on a sheet of paper my students, both kids and adults react well and participate more and struggle more as well. / Photo from: student on computer. pixelbrush ru

Studying and working are demanding for a kid.  So we can encourage him or her by letting them know that you parents are glad because he or she has invested a nice effort.  In this way he or she will be animated and even that student, after some of these times will like to learn and study new things, delightfully.  That student will begin to speak in English more often than not.  I have seen it in real life: a positive motivation boosts working a great deal.  More than the grade or mark he could have gotten, it is important to value their effort. / Photo from: student reading. www sccollege edu