Experiences of a teacher of English

  For today I wanted to tell you all about three characteristics a good teacher must have. He has to be cordial, encouraging and with authority. He has to be capable, through practice and over time, to be nice with his students, not lenient with their behavior problems though. He may set a small number of rules for the classes, and he will be demanding concerning them but in a cordial way, with nice words, as if he would like for his students to gain those good rules he has set. Those features or rules are ones that will facilitate his learners would learn a lot and surrounded by a nice atmosphere. It is a blend or mixture of good rapport between the teacher and the students, and authority on the other hand. The teacher’s main purpose is for his students would learn a lot, as I said, inside a nice and kind atmosphere. His students have to see he’s concerned about their learning. Cordial, encouraging and with authority. In an elegant way. / Photo from: ireland-land...

  We teachers can easily see that we have to give ourselves to our students. We have to give the best from us at the classroom. We can think in that way if we try to be committed teachers. Maybe you’re already doing that way. And when we conduct in that way we ultimately become happy. Why? Because we’re generous. We’ll be comfortable if we decide not to be unambitious. Because we seek what is good for our students. And that’s love of benevolence: seeking what’s good for our students, as I said. Then we’re happy. Also then we can feel comfortable , as a result of our generosity. A specific and practical point? We should listen to whatever our students want to say, tentatively. We have to be attentive to their needs. I don’t mean we have to interrupt the thread of the lesson at any time our students want to say something. But we have to be prompt to assist at their needs. Let’s remember so: we have to give the best from us to our students. I know most of you do this...

  One of the first premises or conditions of a competent teacher is… he should try to do the best of best in the classroom. Or his best, if said plainly. He has to be a committed teacher. Otherwise he will not pass on the like for some work which is carried out in a competent way. In a really competent way. We can recall the teachers that did their best and tried to inoculate the like for work well done. Plus the like for their school subject. You may think of your favorite school subject: maybe history, math, biology, literature, art, sport, philosophy, religion, physics…? The first deontology and ethics about one’s job is doing it well, plus his knowledge area and competences should be in accordance to human dignity. Coming to the head and concretizing: keep on planning your lessons in a nice and competent way. Plus keep on working hard, although your students could be too playful or disruptive, or you may think you’re plowing on the sea or on the desert, as ...

  I was thinking, you know, we teach and learn languages for communication among people, and that’s so great so great, but not only for communication. A language supports also culture, literature, metaphors in that tongue… Something else: Think how it would be if we knew English and Spanish! I mean, they’re two of the languages most widely used on the Internet, together with Chinese. I could tell you about my struggle at learning and acquiring English! Something else for today: the teacher, if he wants his lessons be great and reach his students’ knowledge and competences, well, he has to struggle. Otherwise a "chubby" teacher will not succeed. When I say chubby I mean he is totally unambitious and comfortable, too comfortable. I said chubby in a metaphoric and figurative way, not physical of course. My vocab is limited. / Photo from: Dehesa-de-Extremadura-fondo Casa Rural Acebuche. I was born at those lands, west of Spain, and the picture shows those gree...

  Happiness. That is also the result of loving and living with love. I’m referring to love of benevolence: seeking what is good for the other person, for the other persons. José Brage (2017) I think puts that as well we reach happiness when we seek what is right for us people, for us persons, individual persons, and in accordance to our dignity as human beings. And we love. When we love we are exerting our freedom: we are seeking what’s good for the others, and also for me myself, of course. Love, is it also a feeling? Sure enough, but it chooses benevolence love in the end. / Photo from: teach english in china Reach to teach

  Happiness. It’s something we all seek, right? Okay, I would say it’s something we receive as a gift, rather than something we can seek by all means, whatever good or evil... It is something we encounter, we find, we come across with. If we look for it in a selfish way, we will not find it. If we seek it by living through an enriched life, a life which is full of human plenitude and dignity, we will find it for sure. And as well we should bear in mind that happiness is something we find together with Him, with God; otherwise we will not find it, for man and woman are persons that need the transcendent, what is transcendent. As well we should take into account that we are children of God, and that may make us feel happy too. I think all this is so from what I’ve read in literature, philosophy, anthropology, theology, and seen in some people’s lives. Plus some experiences I’ve lived through. Well, you know, most of you could also add nice brush-strokes to what I’m ...

  I’ve already said that reading a novel may be good for learning and acquiring a second language, English for instance. Okay then. You also may know that visiting the country where that language is spoken is very suitable for learning and acquiring that language. When you are at that particular atmosphere, in that country, you may feel like motivated to learn that tongue, and our students too. Well then, when reading novels, or nonfiction as well, in some way it’s like travelling to that nice country. Also remember that in the classroom we teachers should make up a special atmosphere where that language, English for example, is the communication vehicle. That classroom then is like that country. And we teachers then are the output of English, the source of English. Oh, and remember to assign respectful readings adequate to kids! / Photo from: the new face of old Ireland. That country is an example of some place where you can travel to so as to learn and acquire Engli...

  Do we believe in our students? Do we hope they can reach far, pretty far? I mean that we must believe that they can learn a lot of things. And reach nice judicious competences. We teachers have to treat them better than they are or better than we think they are. Unless we treat them better than they are, they won’t be better. When planning a lesson, let’s think of a main goal for our students. The only way to treat them well is to love them, and to treat them with love and affection. I’m referring to love of benevolence: to wish what’s good for them. For example we may have a class of students whose level at English as a foreign language or as a second one is rather low or basic. If we believe we should implement a communicative approach to learning that language, we should apply it! Even if they can now understand little of English. Or at least let’s try to apply and implement an approach that is close to that communicating in English in the classroom. And this e...

  Es una maravilla poder expresarme en castellano o español y en inglés. Ayer leí en algunos sitios webs que el castellano o español es la tercera lengua de Internet: inglés, chino y español serían las tres lenguas más utilizadas en la Red. Y todo es cuestión de ponerse. De ponerse a aprender un idioma, si tienes tiempo y constancia. Modestamente puedo afirmar estas cosas después de años de aprendizaje del inglés, por mi parte y por la de mis alumnos. Y de años también con el blog. Y disculpas por los errores que pueda cometer en inglés. De todo lo que he dicho en este blog haría hincapié en la metodología comunicativa: crear en la clase un ambiente en el que la lengua meta sea el vehículo de la comunicación. Puedo asegurarles que no es fácil, porque tiendes a utilizar un poco la lengua madre, español en nuestro caso. Eso es así cuando ves que los alumnos no entienden por ejemplo un aviso sobre la logística de las clases. Pero ahí sigue la meta u objetivo: comunicarno...

  I wrote on my previous post that reading novels can be great for learning new lexis and a foreign or second language in general. And it’s okay. But if you think that that got some rather complex nature – you might have to be after so many things while reading – I would tell you you could just read the novel and enjoy it. Just that, read and enjoy: that’s quite better than just doing nothing. And please remember: learning your own learning strategies is the best way to learn and acquire a second or foreign language: feel at home when learning that tongue and apply the ways that best suit your learning style! / Photo from: High-Bouncing-Ball

  Not all the words I look up in the big dictionaries I have – mainly and namely Oxford and online Wordreference.com – are learned by me. When I read the novel I have in charge now I learn a nice number of words. The words that are learned by me are ones I come across once and for all or those which I’ve got some context from. Not every word I come across when reading is learned by me but many of them get stuck in mind and are mysteriously retrieved when writing a post for example… or when teaching in the classrooms. Others are retained in mind because they’ve been used for a while or for an exercise I carry out with my students. Anyway what I mainly mean here is that reading fiction is quite nice for learning vocab. Why fiction? Well, you know, it’s the one that more commonly matches everyday native-speakers’ speaking – for instance it brings out a lot of phrasal verbs. / Photo from: adare-cottages My Ireland Tour

  We teachers give ourselves to our students, at our everyday working. And we have to love them with love of benevolence. That love is the one that allows and even pushes us to love what is good for them. And that may happen although the first years of our career may be tough. Even along the whole career we may find hardship at our teaching. Teachers usually love all what is peculiar of youth and children. And in the case of adult students I can say the very same truth: we love our students up to the point to give ourselves to them at each and every lesson with them. And that generous giving us to them also brings joy and a juvenile strength and attitude. I can assure you about this point, from the years of my experience as a teacher, thank God. Students, as any other people, are creatures we have to respect. Even though especially the first years of our career may be rather tough. I can also see all this in your attitude for reading my posts: you’re kind of committ...

  I’ve told you all that I keep on learning English. Learning a language is life-long, I can assure you. Something I carry out for my own learning that language is reading for example a novel. In some way reading a novel in English and enjoying it is like being in a country where English is spoken. As well our foreign or second language classroom should be like a piece of those adorable countries where English is spoken, if that’s the language taught and learned. Think of it. We should create an atmosphere where English is the vehicle language for communication between the teacher and his students, and among these latter ones. So even if we have to give some announcement about logistics we should say it in that tongue we’re teaching and learning. If you think they didn’t understand, you can explain it in other words, with the help of the chalkboard or smartboard. Or have other students say the message in their own words in the target language! So try first in the ...

  We may have re-started after Christmas break, in the northern hemisphere. Something we can now take into account is that maybe we should put some ice-breaking in the classroom. Our students both kids and adults may feel a bit anxious, right? We might introduce some small joke. Or maybe some other empathizing detail. We have to notice our students’ mood. They may be anxious or otherwise disruptive. In any case we have to manage the classroom, right? Another point we could implement is just telling them how we teachers see them, for them to obtain some feedback about their behavior and attitude. As I said, both if they’re anxious or otherwise disruptive, or both! Are we able to learn about their mood? / Photo from: alfodiregiomagazin hu a rainy day

  Phewww! We started or restarted our nice lessons this morning, today Monday January 8. It was okay and my students were nice. I remind you that my students are adults. Although we tried the lesson be in English – which is the language I teach – I gave them some clues in Spanish to reinforce their efforts and let them think they are already working hard. Also I tried to empathize with their feelings and with what they told me about their struggle to work hard again. As I said it was nice. / Photo from: CNN com. The picture is just a season’s one: here in Granada, Spain, it’s cold, rainy and even snowy.

Sorry but I couldn't post lately. I'm going to post as soon as possible. I wish you all a happy 2018!