Experiences of a teacher of English

You know, kids are educated with love, and they let whoever love them be educated.  There should be natural and real signs within a family that there’s love among the members of that family.  That love is shown in some way or another, and so the kids get educated.  The spouses have to love each other, and because of that the signs of their love are rather not too much shown in everyday life, but it’s plainly shown in spouses’ intimacy. Nevertheless the children can see they love each other. / Photo from: Large multiracial family of seven www thelearningcommunity us

Beauty may be educative. So we can take our students out for an excursion, either to the countryside or to downtown of a beautiful city, like Granada in my case, to the suburb of Albayzín or Albaicín, for instance.  And we teachers can have them contemplate the landscape, by means of our explicit explanations.  Beauty is educative and makes our young students observe and appreciate just beauty.  Now here in Granada the weather is nice (although I prefer Fall and Winter). / Photo from: www 51mtw com. albaicín quarter

Monday through Sunday of Resurrection I will be out, so I won’t publish any post, since I won’t have any computer with me I can use.  I once again take you to Mafalda’s hands. She’ll provide anything, maybe.  Tomorrow I could post something I hope. Anyway I will try to pile up more stuff to publish later on.

My kids here in Granada, south of Spain, have vacations tomorrow Monday through Good Friday.  Here we celebrate the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, true God and true man, all the week long.  I know or guess my adult students will have a peek at the worksheets I hand them out. They’re so great! / Photo from: blogs windsorstar com

Self-examination.  That’s a thing we teachers have to do from time to time, rather frequently, even every day or week.  To examine if I  am   as a teacher fulfilling the objectives and aims I planned and thought of at the beginning of the academic year.  Are my students speaking in English? How much? for example.  Also this examining oneself is thinking of the over all of the progress of my class-groups.  Often it’ll be something done at once, in Latin it’s said in ictu oculi , or at a look of my class-groups. / Photo from: man-using-laptop-web afta com 

According to Spanish Dirección General de la Juventud , our teens take drugs, first just so as to try, and try new experiences;  as well we have loneliness, being shy and timid, communication lack, social problems, and the attraction of the forbidden and prohibited;  alike because of communication and problems within family;  also from lack of family values, lack of human and religious values, and lack of lives to imitate as models;  all that leads our young to drugs, so as to fill their interior emptiness.  So let's implement the solutions and let's try to solve those problems by talking with the kids, and with experts, who there should be in each school. 

You are not alone. Count on your colleagues.  For daily classes, for everyday classes, in order for example to solve a problem amid students.  Talk among you all, and learn from others, and provide your experience from classes, about what turns out good for learning and acquiring English, or Portuguese, German… / Photo from: www caa mt gov vn. the picture is just an illustration

Sometimes we teachers of English can think something like: If only these students behaved that way, or If I were healthier…  Wait, wait, stop the parade, man: REGULAR days are the ones when your students learn and acquire that second or foreign language;  the days when you can do your best;  the day when you can offer your students the best chance to learn a language. / Photo from: camarote_hermanos_marx

I had been concerned and worried about kids’ videogames: they dedicate a lot of time to play.  However a friend of mine, who was a teacher himself, told me some time ago: when talking with parents, insist in the fact that kids have to study, more than getting involved in a brain-twister about how to “fight” against those games. / Photo from: Teens newsroom aaa

If you’re a parent, and have teens, do not think he or she or they may not smoke marihuana, crack, cannabis… sorry, people.  Unfortunately it’s an everyday issue.  However, we can shift the omelet around: you’re his parent, ok, but at the same time you can listen to him,  you can tell him some problem of yours, for him to participate with his opinion, listen,  listen always,  count on him,  treat him as if he was an adult,  become his friend.  It’s an everyday thing that young people would smoke some of those drugs, which besides hurt their will and even destroy neurons, as far as I know, if I’m not wrong. / Photo from: everydaylife globalpost com

Something I have seen is that when you play a CD from an English textbook in a class, students are more prone to participate in English!  Thank God my classes are more and more in English, close to 100% – and right now a prayer for the Airbus accident victims. / Photo from: successforkidswithhearingloss com

You know what?  A few days ago I played a piece of CD for my students of English, and they understood something.  Its level was C1, within the Common European Framework, so equivalent to the Advanced level exam of University of Cambridge, while my class level is A2, B1, B2. Awesome. Just amazing.  The contents was some dialog. / Photo from: www britishcouncil co ke

Let’s go to the school principal, if some teacher is telling things we and our family don’t like, and it’s against our ideas and the education we want for our kids. / Photo from: greatergood berkeley edu

The order at a school should be, if we wish it work good, parents, teachers, students.  Parents have the main role in education, but they cannot teach math, biology… They should be on what their teachers tell their kids. / Photo from: www greatschools org

I know a female teacher, another candidate for level C2 of English with me and others,  which is the same or equivalent to Proficiency within Cambridge examinations of English,  I was saying that that girl, a female teacher, accomplished to have tutorials and tutoring sessions and informal meetings with girls of her secondary education school or “instituto”,  after the class or between classes: they just came up toward this teacher and told her about their problems and issues in general, in a natural way, as I said.  She did good to those girls – young men just didn’t come up.  And she was faithful toward them. I guess this is an example to try to fulfill, isn’t it? / Photo from: www memocal com. the teacher on the picture is another one, not the protagonist of this anecdote.

Right today I’ve played three songs by Bing Crosby in the classroom CD player, to my adult and oldie students. They also liked this experience.  His English is rather clear. We also did other activities. / Photo from: Annex-Crosby-Bing_08 audiomastering-posthastedigital com

Reading. Reading books or e-books.  Your students need to read rather a lot. Advised by good advisors, like you (if the case – I hope so).  Culture and traditions and folk-lore are needed by your students, first by you yourself.  College students here in Granada at least read so little: one or two books each year: one or two! And they’re college students. It’s true they study a lot, but they have no liking culture, good novels, even thrillers, essays… / Photo from: www huffingtonpost com

Teaching. It’s a great thing.  Even more when you see your kids learning and advancing. I like to teach.  Otherwise I would be doing something different.  It’s interesting and curious: in Spain the language that was learned traditionally was French. But I was fortunate: it was my class the first in studying and learning English in the school. It was something providential. / Photo from: Olympic-Games-2012-Swimming. The picture is just an illustration; besides I like to swim

Life, so also work, can partially seen as sports: I have to do more for my family sake. So I will try and try.  Count on the fact that not always will you win. However it’s worth the try.  How can you treat your wife and your children better, and how long do you dedicate them? / Photo from: london-2012-summer-olympic-games-mens-high-jump

We parents and teachers should teach our teens that free time isn’t doing anything, but changing the activity.  A parent can think: my son doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke, doesn’t take drugs, doesn’t have sex relationships, so he’s nice.  Wait. A good teen knows how to take good advantage of his free time: he plans his leisure activities, his reading, his hobbies, his sports, his helping his gang.  And we could go to the movies with him some day, and help him become critic.  A mom once said that she had seen with enthusiasm that her son was much more critic than she had previously thought. Also fathers should get themselves engaged with their children’s education.  Partially the ideas are taken from Spanish scholar and expert Teresa Artola González. / Photo from: MOTHER-TEEN-SON-facebook www huffingtonpost com

At school our students learn several different subjects: Math, History, Biology, Spanish, Literature… but the person is individual.  Something sound we teachers can do, from time to time, is implementing, within one of those school subjects, work projects of an interdisciplinary nature. Like for example a paper about the exploration and civilization of America by Spain since the 16 th century.  I have touched a controversial work, maybe.  There was abuse, but as well there was a pinpointing exertion of civilization. Was it better to respect human holocausts to satisfy gods’ thirst for blood?  Unless some (fewer and fewer) historians seem satisfied with the so-called Black Legend, they ought to think in the common language (Spanish), respecting vernacular languages, and the common religion: they get acquainted with Jesus Christ and they get to love him.  When encountering Jesus, their lives get a profound and deep significance and mean...

Teacher’s labor in the classroom is not just giving science and knowledge, but also teaching how to acquire that science and knowledge. / Photo from: hd-wallpaper-most-beautiful-nature-landscape dowehwall com

Today is Saint Joseph. Have a nice day if your name is that one.  He was the father of Jesus above all when this latter one was young. Better said, he was Jesus’ father always, also when he was and is in Heaven.  Fathers can turn to Saint Joseph in order to educate their children. And not only fathers, but mothers, teachers, educators.  He taught Jesus to work as a carpenter.  He may teach our students to work nice and hard. For those of you that are not Christian, now you may learn that Jesus Christ is true God and true man. / Photo from: HolyFamily wau org

Evidently we say many things in classes, trying to educate our students, right?  Sometimes they or any of the students grabs something we said as a less important thing.  The key thing here is that I mean all we say has a consequence on our students’ lives forever, tentatively some positive consequence, because as I said we intend to educate those kids. We have that responsibility.  If they see we work hard, they more likely will work hard, at least most of them. Is it right? / Photo from: www hdwallpaperscool com. a sailboat

Yes, I did remember yesterday March 17 was Saint Patrick.  I have much to do with Ireland: I will tell you some day.  May Saint Patrick conserve Irish people in Ireland, in the USA, and all over the world. / Photo from: west-side-irish-car www clevelandpeople com

Our common goal in our classes with adults is communication, by speaking.  I seldom correct my students’ errors and mistakes – well, “seldom” sounds harsh, I’d rather say “not often”.  The key thing when my students speak to intervene in the classes is communication.  After they have said something, sometimes I correct for example pronunciation errors.  The big scheme thus is to hold communication amid us. And thank God they’re advancing in speaking fluency: they struggle to be communicative.  My approach to teaching is chiefly communicative, and something of functional-notional. And the general thing is turning out rather good – they’re very willing to contribute within the classes. / Photo from: divavillage com

As soon as possible I will post furtherly - thank you for your attention and comments or announcements. Fernando Díez, from Granada, Spain.

More than 2,200 posts now, thank God.  It’s being a big effort for me. I would feel satisfied it would help you by shedding some light for your marvelous labor as teachers, educators and parents, in some way or another.  Count on me, fellows. Sláinte! as Irish say. Next Tuesday is Saint Patrick, as you may know.  Thank you for your attention and patience!

As important as work is relaxing and resting, for us teachers. Today is Sunday.  Many people dedicate this day, amid other things to the Lord Jesus Christ. You can find many a thing if reading for example the New Testament of the Bible, for instance in the four gospels.  It’s also a day to spend a lot of time to the family. Our children need not only Mom but as well Dad.  He can devote much time to his wife and children on this day.  One special time can be for us Christians to attend the Holy Mass with our family. A family that prays together will stay close together.  I would say Dad can help out at home, but I recognize that women have a special gift for the house care. Dad can grab the tool kit and fix something at home too. / Photo from: general-motors-suggests-washing-car-as-mothers-day-gift www autoevolution com

Dictionaries are like a private teacher. You can ask them, you can look up how to say a Spanish word in English, or the other way round in bilingual dictionaries.  The teacher ought to teach or help to learn how to use a dictionary, both in the case of young students and adult learners.  I know some people that wanted to learn a language by using dictionaries. Well, dictionaries are a help and aid, but it’s not enough. However these people’s attitude to catch a dictionary to learn a language meant the importance of dictionaries.  Even a student of mine inferred and told me that if you learn the dictionary, you can achieve to learn a language. I clarified my student and let him know dictionaries are a help, and learning-acquiring a language demanded other attitudes.  In order to foster the use of dictionary among kids you can run an activity that is a game really: you write a word on the chalkboard and the first student in finding it in the dict...

Adult learners of English or any other language can perfectly learn and even acquire the target language.  They have potentials that young learners may not have, like self-discipline and organizing their learning and planning it.  So they have the cognitive and metacognitive resources to learn and acquire. Moreover they have an easy capability of contacting and communicating with other people, a thing many teens or children don’t have – adolescents may be closer to certain gang and that’s it.  The thing sometimes is that adults have to take the resolution of plunging into the water, this is, to break the barrier of starting to talk in the target language.  They have to feel confident and free: I do this because I just want to - which is something that teens are still learning and acquiring. / Photo from: Adult-Group-Talking galleryhip com

This morning I’ve written to a friend of mine an email about the relationships that his granddaughter should hold with her fiancé. I have included some minor changes on the text. Here you are. Ayer volví a leer sobre el noviazgo y el matrimonio, cosas muy interesantes sobre estos dos espacios de tiempo. No te voy a dar una lección. Pero sería bueno que de alguna manera lo sepa María, que está novia con Miguel, como se dice en Jaén, y tiene ya veinte años. Puede leer este correo o hablarlo con su madre. Básicamente, que el noviazgo, como sabes, es un periodo de mutuo conocimiento, y tiene que haber cariño entre los dos, sin llegar al trato íntimo del matrimonio. Me refiero con esto último a que debe haber afecto, pero sobriedad en las manifestaciones de este cariño. Todo va envuelto dentro del amor y respeto entre las dos personas. Y ya dentro del matrimonio, la sexualidad conyugal debe estar abierta a la vida, a tener niños, de entrada. En el congre...

Krashen wrote about the “silent period”, when learners of a second or foreign language listen a lot, much before they start to speak in English or any other language.  Lately I’ve been with babies of my family. They imitate adults: they listen a lot and subsequently try to repeat their expressions.  Mom and Dad and other relatives tend to repeat expressions to those babies, and the seed of language is being planted so. / Photo from: Baby’s-Good-Health www pinterest com

I would dare say nothing is lost when a teacher carries out an action in the classroom, a conversation at individual tutorials, in an excursion or visit to some place with his class.  Young people observe how their teacher manages himself and how he teaches and how he implements an activity.  Students learn from his teachers to value work, labor, life. We have that responsibility.  Even more nothing is lost when teachers carry out something for love to God. We teachers, educators, parents can count on supernatural life, and can count on God’s help.  I knew a teacher that used to turn to her students’ angels to carry out the class; also this teacher used to turn to her angel himself when she had to start to teach a difficult class and make her students work. / Photo from: The_Class www amazon com