Experiences of a teacher of English

  Most of you, my teachers, are committed ones. And you try to do your best and you work hard. You give the best from you to your students. Very well. And you get tired, eventually. You must rest and relax. When you’re tired you can view beautiful landscapes from the Internet. They will make you rest and relax. What is beautiful makes us rest and relax. In Spain next Thursday and Friday are holidays and vacations: we celebrate the Holy Week and Easter, namely the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Have a nice long weekend! / Photo from: 4250207-spring-wallpaper

  We obviously treat our students every single day. Okay then, whatever we say and do influence on them. So we should care about what we say and do. All that educates our students. Or it may hurt them. Whatever we do or whatever we don’t, influence on them too. For instance we as teachers should set an example. Thus we must try and be honorable and honest and delicate. We in some way or other take care of our students too. We must be delicately prompt to become interested in what they want to tell us. If we struggle to improve as teachers and as persons, we will positively help out our students. If we behaved bad that would also influence on them. Something more practical? Plan your lessons trying they be the best ever or at least try and do your best in the classroom. And when planning your lessons, have your students in mind, plus their needs and expectations. / Photo from: ireland tbsstudio com

  Some days ago I wrote some notes on the computer, “Good learners are the ones that are aware of their learning. Plus they are able to self-asses their work and reflect on their learning. Good learners are autonomous learners. And all this reflects on their grades and marks, in the long run and not that long. March 20, 2018.” And we as teachers want our students learn and get good grades, right? We could devote a few classes to trying our students would think of these things, plus of learning and studying and researching techniques. Therefore they will become aware of some conscious learning. Summing up: We have to teach our students how to become good students by making them realize of all those thinking processes. Besides they’ll also become more motivated to continue and carry on learning and studying. / Photo from: SPRING-in-JAPAN-1920x1200 hdwallpaperup com. A season illustration

  We teachers should take into account that we have to invest effort in making our students become autonomous learners and with their own engine to boost some nice learning. We might think we could go slower if teaching students to be autonomous, but in the long run we gain a lot. Autonomous learners are like locomotives. They can assess themselves and they’re aware of their own learning process. What to do to achieve that? If they’re mature enough – our students I mean – we can devote some few lessons to reflect upon this point and to work on learning and studying techniques. You teachers likely are experts at studying, researching and investigating, for you’ve passed through those learning processes. In few words, let’s dedicate a few classes to ponder about learning, studying, reading and researching. We also should teach our students how to select material from the Internet, because they may encounter so much information that they could become overwhelmed by...

  Definitely I’m going to give my students my blog address for them to follow me, if they like. A few of them already do it. I’m doing that because in that way my students can learn from the teacher’s angle and from his viewpoint, and that can boost and enhance their learning process quite much. Learning the teacher’s strategies can boost and enhance their learning English quite much too. They could become aware of the teaching process, thus they could become aware of their own learning process. Moreover good learners are autonomous learners. They’re aware of their own learning process and know how to asses and evaluate their learning on their own, yes they do so. I’ll write a bit more about this on coming posts. / Photo from: school of the future Clarin 365

  Some days ago I wrote the following notes for later posting, “The teacher could take notes about lucky and brilliant ideas for the classes that come to mind when teaching, when strolling around, when planning lessons… March 12, 2018.” He could have a diary or some sheets of paper to write on. While doing other things the teacher could come across brilliant ideas to implement in his classes. Also since the teacher should dedicate some daily time to personal study and self-growth as a teacher he could jot down some notes for later implementation. Lately I could tell you that some quite a nice number of my posts on this blog come from notes I write on the computer or in my diary. Some writers along history have done something similar: composing from previous notes, for example at their moleskins or diaries. Also some major literary works had a humble origin. Now I’m reading great Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. Well, you may know that the origin of this masterpiece was s...

  We teachers have to plan the lessons and we may be embarked in such a labor. Okay, that’s okay. But also the teacher should consider and bear in mind what his students need along the following weeks. He should take into account and bear in mind some things his students need to improve. Or in other words, what he should carry out in view of his students’ academic necessities. As well those general ideas to take into account may refer to the students’ feelings and sentiments. For example I could think that my students have to prepare oral presentations about a topic their choice, but on the other hand I can bear in mind that what they more urgently need is to have some fun or some relax in the following classes, perhaps some nice sense of humor... All that series of goals may be something intuitive, and it’s much easier when the teacher is gaining experience. I’m finishing this post. Alike what I have to take into account may also be something my students have to ...

  Some days ago I wrote this note for later posting, “Teaching a language has something of an art and of a technique. March 10, 2018.” And it’s really so! You can wonder why you became a teacher, and that’s okay, but over time you gain experience, and routine and dullness could get inside you. And we must be alert. We have got to recycle our teaching. How? By learning from other teachers, reading on websites and teachers’ blogs, reading books on teaching, having a word with the department head, introducing new techniques and procedures, eliminating others that do not turn out well, getting more ample views about teaching, teaching by love (to God, to the students, to their families; which is love of benevolence: seeking what’s good for them all), reading on education and family from books in accordance to human dignity… Also by attending webinars or participating in forums. As well by thinking of what the students need, but I will talk about this latter point on c...

  Today we had an American young man with us in our classroom. Remember I have adult students. He is from Chicago and gave conversation to my dear students. Thus they could listen to a native speaker in English, which is what I teach. Remember also that my first language is Spanish, not English. He will come every Wednesday. Basically we’ll have conversation in English, but I’m planning activities also in case we have nothing much to say. We’re lucky we can count on native speakers. Because my students are used to listening to me, and they have to invest some nice effort at understanding him and talking with him too. My students were prompt to talk with Michael, from Chicago, as I said. He’s studying social studies, also Spanish among his subjects. And it’s great we have him in our classroom, for my students can hear authentic English... They’re quite motivated, I can see. All of them participated in the discussion, about general topics today. We have this chance to...

  I’ve seen something sensible in the schools I’ve worked in. The teachers treated the teens as if they were responsible people, and these latter ones tried to be so. Also those teachers tried those kids would behave in a mature way. In some way they were treated like they were adults, or something kind of that. In other words the teachers treated the teens in a serious way, by taking into account what the kids said, by taking as something serious and important what the kids said. Well, they were kids but not silly people, they were young but not silly. As a result those kids responded in also a serious way, because they liked to be treated in that way. So they were treated as adults or at least with respect and deference. For example when those teachers wanted to arrange an appointment with such or such students to talk at a tutoring session you could see they were dealing with a serious matter. They were treated with respect and as if they were persons of high...

  My experience at reading novels in accordance to human dignity and therefore learning English is great. When you do this you learn… and acquire a lot of vocabulary. And then words will come to mind when writing or speaking. As you read and read and read you create and make up kind of a net of words and you’ll learn more and more words in an easier way. Plus you will take the sense of language: that language passes to be a second one of yours. It’s so great! You learn and acquire words in a mature way. As you read you become able to learn and acquire more lexis, and you may become capable to compare your use and usage of lexis to the one of a native speaker, more and more, with likely mistakes and errors, but you do advance on this pathway to success at learning and acquiring a foreign or second language. It’s so great! / Photo from: JourneyLeaf – Typepad. I post a picture of a rainy landscape, like lately in Spain: it is raining with profusion and abundance, t...

  I told you all on the previous post that we have to plan short- and long-term goals. Well, among those goals – also for just lessons – we should think of high objectives. I mean we have to dream high about our students and what they can achieve: good students, good sons and daughters, good citizens. We may have classroom problems – who doesn’t have them? – but we can think high about our students. If we treat them a bit better than they are or they seem they are, they will become better persons. Unless we treat them well, they will not achieve to be honorable, honest and upright persons. That’s what I’ve been taught as a teacher, and I believe in that. Some posts ago I told you all that through tutoring sessions with each kid we can obtain and attain a lot from them: when you treat each person on his own, by knocking on his heart, you may help that person reach so high. I’ve seen it. As a gang they may behave ugly but when knocking on their hearts as individuals...

  I can see we teachers are concerned about lesson planning, and that’s okay. I have also seen most of us are concerned about long-term goals and short-term goals. I’m trying to shed some light about this issue. We should have objectives and concerns about our classes, here I mean groups. Beside we plan each lesson we should have some orientation about what our dear students should attain in the following weeks, and that’s short-term or middle-term goals. It is kind of some view about what our students have to achieve, which is something we will not attain in a single lesson, but it demands more lessons. Those objectives or that single objective is something our students need to accomplish. For example I can plan next lesson goals, but also I reckon my students are in need of improving or attaining some longer-term goals, like for instance to give their presentations of a topic their choice. Another example, I can plan some activities for next lesson but also I ca...

  This morning I told you all that our students are and have to be free, if we want to educate them. Okay. Who is the student that really learns or learns at all? The one who wishes to. Only him. As well the best discipline is self-discipline: in the classroom I listen and participate and work just because I want to. We teachers have to foster and respect that freedom. The one that will make our students learn. We have to have our students behave nice in the classroom, for sure, but ultimately they’re free and they should be so. The best discipline? Self-discipline. Educating in that self-discipline. Liberty and the subsequent responsibility, of course. In that way and from that angle we have to educate our youngsters. As you can infer, all this means a particular insight. An important one. We teachers have to deepen into these ideas, I’d say. These paramount ideas. Last but not least, we and our students and their families are free to love. I mean that the only p...

  If we want to educate our students, we have to do so in freedom. Our students are free. That’s the only way for their maturity process. We teachers have to love their freedom. Otherwise we will not educate them right. And thoroughly. Not indeed. They have to do things because they want to. We have to help them be free, and therefore and as a result, they will learn, and will grow as free citizens. And that’s precisely what we teachers want from them, right? They will learn, also if they want to. We have to call on them to behave nice but ultimately they should be free. Some authority at the school where I taught before made me think when he told me kind of the following: Okay, you have to have them behave nice, but ultimately they are free, free to obey you and respond to your calling on them. Tomorrow or so I’ll write to you all some more things about this key value of liberty. Liberty and responsibility. Have a nice day. / Photo from: escalada-para-ninos-810...

  I said on the previous post that our students should like what they’re reading, okay too. However we have to bear in mind that some readings and texts our students could not like too much. My experience tells me that also when our students enroll and embark in a given activity, if they invest effort, in the end and eventually our students like that activity pretty much. Sometimes or even often first comes the effort, then the enjoying what they’re carrying out. First effort, then motivation. Let’s also bear that in mind. / Photo from: 1983_Nissan_NX21_Concept_01. We are before a curious picture: it is a concept car about what our 21 st century’s cars might be like… according to a design back to 1983: like that our car designers thought our cars might be now. I like past concept cars.

  Reading simplified and abridged readers can boost learning the foreign or second language, okay. When reading those readers the learner faces a communication problem to solve: he has to understand… and enjoy the novel or the non-fiction book. When we people face a communication problem to solve, we learn the language more quickly, even we acquire that target tongue – subconscious learning. Now I’d like to focus on the enjoying issue: the student should enjoy the reading. That helps to learn for quite much. Think of classic works of literature for example, also in accordance to human dignity and adequate to kids. Often we focus on the learning process and the like, but also we should foster our students would enjoy the reading. Also that’s my experience: when I like what I’m reading I take that book with more gusto. So let’s make up a classroom library for our students to choose what they want to read. And remember to think of classical readers, for they provid...

  Some days ago I wrote among my notes for posting, “Teachers, your experience is something very valuable, short it may be though! February 28, 2018.” And I have little else to say. Experience makes us hit the target on the very middle for many times, for quite many times. Unless you’re an experienced teacher, you can find veteran colleagues who are prone and prompt to help you for sure. It’s a great thing to count on others, and you know it is so. The first years of a rookie teacher may be dreadful, but, like I said, with passing years you learn how to hit on the right point that will allow your students to really learn quite a lot. Experience also gives you flexibility, a feature that is needed to adapt to our students’ needs and be firm at steering the wheel toward the direction and goals I know are okay with my students. Last but not least, although we may be veterans we ought to still learn from other teachers, also whenever they try to correct us on the very...

  It’s sensible to read books and e-books to learn and acquire a language. Well, then I’d say that it may be also sensible to re-read books, above all if they’re non-fiction, like history for instance, and always if those books are in accordance to human dignity. When we re-read books we take a lot more than when the book is read only once. As well we intake more vocabulary and that words amount is fixed and stuck to mind, and that lexis is retrieved nicely when speaking or writing. When reading a novel for example, we learn but also we acquire vocabulary in an unaware way. Bear with me, it’s so, therefore we could apply this learning strategy. And besides it’s cool. And it has proved to be solid learning. Thank you for your attention. / Photo from: quora com. Lately I’m reading The Hobbit and yesterday I had a big laugh at it and had fun, it’s so great. I could borrow this book from one of my centers library: it was a donation by one of my female students.