Experiences of a teacher of English

  I’ve written a lot in this blog this far, I hope it may somehow help you teach your lessons. And I’ve also written a great deal on excellence, and we teachers – in principle – wish our lessons help our dear students.  But what if my classes are a disaster, or if some of them are so, or my students put me to the test all the time?  Today I’d like to say something on that. No one is perfect, and what teacher doesn’t have a bad day? Perhaps when you would wish to hit two kids’ heads to each other? I don’t recommend you to do that.  Not long ago – and I currently teach adults – I remember I had a bad day, one of those days when nothing in class seems to work well, or nearly so.  I’m now going to try and say something that hopefully might help out somebody else in our planet. Another teacher I mean.  And I want to point out that all good I have has been received and inherited from somebody else – it’s not my merit.  Some days ago, I was saying, in class I...

  You know what? A couple of days ago I came across a new class of students I have to teach English to. They are adults, with a big wish to learn that language.  I had planned to convey the same messages both in English and in Spanish, their – our – mother tongue. I came to the classroom with enthusiasm, prone to serve those great people.  And you know what I encountered? They are beginners and false beginners! Great students though.  My assistant teacher was with me – he is learning how to teach English and is a native speaker himself, from San Diego, California. Ok, they knew nothing or close to.  I had brought photocopies for them, taken from a textbook of A2/B1 level, this is, low beginner to lower intermediate – more A2 than B1, because that copy was from the very first unit.  But my dear students needed I had to explain and present absolutely every detail from basic questions, you know, present simple with Do and Does, and similar basic stuff. Oh, man...

  I teach English to adults, as you know. And I would like to consider each lesson as a study session with my dear students. It’s an occasion for us to learn English. To learn new words, phrases, some syntax. Plus an occasion to have nice discussions about the topics from the textbook and from life itself.  If I consider that lesson as a study session, I will not get a bit nervous for acting in public, because on the other hand I like studying and learning English.  Even more, in that way I can have sort of a contemplative attitude in class, and that will positively influence on my students and my students’ learning and acquiring that target language. It will.  Something essential – you know – is planning that lesson, and there will be activities we carry out on the spot, and others that they, the students, will carry out on their own, working silently, and thus learning and acquiring English in some likely peaceful and quiet atmosphere: this latter is also essential...

  I’m back with you again, my fellow readers.  I wanted to tell you something that may be of any interest to you, both if you are prospective or novice teachers, or otherwise experienced ones.  I’ve been thinking lately that, for a teacher, practice and experience are so paramount important. And as well another key point to bear in mind when teaching in the classroom or remotely teaching is that we should have our students in mind when lesson planning.  Something you can do before the actual lesson planning is just to think on your specific and real students.  On a parallel way you may know that when our students have to write an essay, well, you know, they should have a reader in mind.  Equally when the teacher is about to plan a lesson – and every lesson ought to be planned – he or she may think, Well, let’s see how my students are in class and how last lesson worked actually.  And I invite you to write a few points before the actual planning, consid...

  Planning our lessons is a paramount point about the teaching job, right?  Now I’m telling you about something else I carry out when I sit to plan a lesson, in case it may help you.  On my teaching pad or notebook I write down today’s date plus Stuff to do plus the class of students I’m going to plan for.  Then I think about a few points those students are in need of, like for example They tend to explain points in our discussions but they lack standard grammar to utilize , or something briefer, or for instance I guess we may be following the course-book in too slow a pace , or something else those people may need.  Thus I plan the lesson with my students in mind.  Or another point may be To foster the importance of homework for them .  In a few words, what I mean is that just before planning a lesson we have to think of our students’ needs and wants. And then let’s plan with the students in mind.  This pre-planning task takes few minutes, but it...

  Today I wished to tell you about several points I consider as paramount.  First, what the teacher does influences upon his or her students. Even I would say that that influences both if he or she does something in the classroom and even in their private life. We teachers transmit and pass on what we are. What we are, I insist on purpose.  So if a teacher is nice, kind, committed in her profession, respectful toward her students, growing as a person and as a professional, and quite some other good things, well, she will do a big good to those students.  Otherwise if that teacher carried out his job in a sloppy way, he would not attain and accomplish to teach well, and likely he would not educate his learners, the persons that have been entrusted to him by their families. That person could do a big bad to those persons. I retain the positive: if a teacher strives to do his job well, he will do a big good to a lot of people.  Another issue, connected with the pre...

  We are starting a new school year, is that right? Or maybe not and we may be at mid-school-year in the earth southern hemisphere. Never mind. It doesn’t matter too much.  If you are a teacher and wish to be a really good one, and perhaps you’re searching for something useful on this very blog (if possible) or somewhere else, well, I’ll try and help you out. If possible.  Actually we teachers have to learn from each other.  Also because we may be wishing to develop as teachers and get a better job as teachers, or just we want to become better professionals.  So thus let’s learn from other teachers. Furthermore, I would tell you that a novice or an experienced teacher alike should have something in his hands to learn from. As well our students and their families would appreciate.  Any teacher should have a book which we can learn from. Always. A book to learn from. Or a website to learn from. Or another teacher’s blog to learn from.  And then each bit ...

  Every job on earth seems to have a relational nature: we do things that may help and serve others. A teacher’s work is relational as well. Obviously.  And what can we say about working as a team, as a teacher team?  Some weeks ago I read somewhere that creative work is primarily something of a single spirit, so we are creative when working alone, yet here I’m going to say something about working as a team of teachers. Also when we work as a group we may be creative.  First premise is that that teacher who is going to work together with other teachers has to be open to the others: open-minded, open to respect others, open to love others with benevolence love, which is seeking what is good for those others.  All this is brought together with smiling at those others plus being nice and kind and cooperative. If I work in a team, I have to listen to them so I try to see from their viewpoints as well. And I will try to provide my best to that working team.  Eve...

  At last I’m back with you again, readers. And I’ve recently suffered from Covid-19, fortunately and thank God with minor symptoms. And I’m glad I’m back also with my dear students.  I'm reading and thinking and I was considering that an English language teacher like me has to think twofold. On the one hand he or she has to think that they are teaching a foreign or second language for people, for their students to communicate with other people.  And in the classroom those language teachers will try hard to establish and build up real communication in that atmosphere. And that will be created if that teacher tries hard also to empathize with each and every student he has in front of him. As well he has to be a good listener to what his students tell him.  He will detect whether his students are bone tired, or happy because of something specific that is occurring to them recently, or a bit disgusted with each other, or worried because of exams, or…  Teaching is s...

  For teachers it is important to assess and evaluate their students’ learning, right? Also his or her own teaching, right?  In the first case, how can we assist students who have to retake an exam and catch up on the materials they missed?  Well, let me see. They are students in need of extra work, extra learning, extra studying. We could split the class up into two groups: special objectives – during the regular classes – for those who passed the exam but still can learn new things or deepen into what learned. And also objectives for those students who failed.  Even the students who passed could help out their classmates by monitoring them.  This is it: they could sit with their peers and teach them.  And thus we have that some students are assisting their peers, and that counts as something very educative and formative: helping others.  As well in that case we teachers might assign some extra grading to those students who have been helping their cla...

I like to teach, although it demands a lot of commitment. Well, any job exacts commitment.  Every job is some nice service to other people, to society. And exerting and carrying out that job demands not only justice but also charity and love to those people you are serving.  If you are committed, you may catch yourself being happy. As a consequence. I do not work just to be happy: I work for the people I serve; and as a result I will be happy -- that's the way to think, I guess.  Also you may have a transcendent view: I may work for God and for human people.  I as a teacher have to treat nice my students and their families, and everyone else I treat at my daily working.  I said that justice is okay but it’s not enough: treating human people demands treating them as persons they are. And all that has to turn into smiling and politeness and cordiality. Also all that has to be honest, sincere.  Within two days I start lessons proper. I had planned what I’m goi...

We live in a tough situation, because of the Covid-19 crisis, yet this crisis is getting out the best from so many people. Also from so many teachers, all throughout the world. Thank you teachers.  Also I wanted to tell you today about an anecdote which helped me think, some days ago. It has been rather long since I have taught face-to-face.  Some days ago a nice and kind relative of mine, who suffers some mental illness that makes him pretty slow at thinking, asked me please to help him work on his laptop, one he has not employed for long… And I found myself at thinking, Okay, what can I do for you? For facing the computer screen, that person could do a multiplication of tasks! Where to start from?  Up to some extent I was at a bit difficult or embarrassing situation, but thank God soon I thought I could refresh my teaching job with that person’s help, and I taught him some basic tasks he could do, with the icons that appeared on the screen, and I told him like a first l...

We teachers may be still confined at home. Also our students. We might be working on the end of this school year by addressing our students remotely.  Well, also now may be the time to briefly think of our students and how to really help them, or help them more fully.  When I plan my classes – and this will hopefully ensue next school year – I have to think of the students I have before me in the classroom. I may take into account the syllabus and all the stuff, yet I have real and specific people in the classroom: It’s them I have to serve!  As well – and this is something I’m actually doing – now when confined at home I can think of my lessons in a more detached way, and I can possibly draw conclusions about what I have to change in my lessons.  I’m longing to have my students before me again, though I reckon that my classes take me a great effort.  Now I can contemplate my lessons in a more ample angle of vision. And therefore I can think of changing this poi...

Committed and constant teachers hit the jackpot of teaching well. They may be very good teachers.  Those professionals also are continuously open to learn how to be better teachers. They wish to serve the school families and their children alike. They are open to learn new things, because they know they are not perfect.  Thus they turn to reading from books how to become better teachers. They’re open to read books and perhaps also from websites, blogs, and teachers forums. It’s so because they wish to hear from other professionals. They’re prone to trust in and rely on what other teachers say, also on those other teachers’ experiences.  They want to learn from their best colleagues throughout the world. They’re open to receive correction from other colleagues. And they react in a nice way to those corrections ultimately. Maybe at first they feel some harshness when corrected but ultimately they react well.  As well they’re prone to learn from the par...

When I was at the English summer camp two weeks ago I thought of writing on class management and discipline when I had the chance to. And here I am.  For example there was a teacher whom the kids of the camp respected a lot. Well, you know, he was nearly seven feet tall, but that was not all. He respected the kids. He used to get concerned about his students’ work and learning English. He tried hard to assist them at their everyday work.  Also he would not raise his voice to address a disrupting kid. Not at all. It’s also true that those kids this year were respectful, but I mean he knew how to manage the class of students. Yes indeed.  Alike then I thought and recalled about a teacher whom also her students had a lot of respect to. She taught chemistry.  She was so concerned about her students that they tried to also respect her. Even they did not want to fail at exams to avoid provoking any annoyance to her. They knew she loved her students with be...

Let us not forget that we teachers of a second or a foreign language have to foster communication among people, among persons.  Persons with all that that means. People’s dignity pushes up teachers to consider that being a human person entails a lot, quite a lot! For example when treating our students in the classroom as well as out of the classroom along the school facilities, halls, corridors, common rooms, offices… we teachers have to empathize with those people, with those singular and significant persons. Also with very nice and exquisite respect toward them. Also along the school year – which now is coming to an end here in Spain – we have to take into account what we learn and get to know about all those people. Let's listen to them carefully and by keeping what they say to us or to other teachers. A teacher cannot treat those people like they were numbers or, even worse, steps upon which I can move up a selfish career toward my own selfish satisfaction....

Pheeeww! We already are at the end of the school year in the north hemisphere. And so we’re tired and it’s getting perhaps too warm, and soon it’ll be hot here in Granada, south of Spain.  Officially the present school year finishes in May but I might offer extra classes in June, even though fewer and fewer students are attending the classes.  Now I teach adults, and they’re learning English as a second language and have no official exams to pass. They wish to learn and acquire that language for their travels abroad and as well to maintain their minds agile and lively.  So I mean that the teacher has to feel that their students may be tired and in need of some rest – even I am tired, however, I can offer those lessons also in June.  Next week still within May it will be crucial to decide whether we have classes in June.  At one of the schools where I teach adults we’ll definitely have lessons until mid-June.  So if we cut off lesson...

In a classroom there must be peace. In that peace the students can grow up without stridencies. And adults can develop their skills and also their personalities.  That personality is something we’re continuously developing.  Also the teacher grows up or develops his personality each day, every single day. Every single day he can better as a person and as a teacher. We refer to someone’s career as a teacher.  That teacher must have control and management of the students’ behavior. Well, more than management is rather something like helping them grow up as persons.  And that peace and good atmosphere are only possible if that teacher has benevolence love toward his students. He seeks what is good for his students, for these ones to grow up as persons with a happy life, now and in their future. Anyway, we must always remember that we reach happiness with God our Father.  The teacher’s profession is a service one: he devotes his better times to ...

Why did you become a teacher? There may be several reasons. What is clear is that being a teacher is great. And being a teacher is kind of a service vocation.  The teacher has his schedule, of course, but in some way he’s open to serve people at any time, or nearly that. He has to be open to solve a student’s problem or trouble when addressed along a school hall, or before a class he can be addressed by a popping up student with an impending urgent question, which has to be answered according to that student’s hurry and haste.  Who has not been addressed by a bit of a tiresome student before a class? I do not mean tiresome because any student deserves our respect and attention.  Or otherwise some parent may require your presence about another student’s impending problem on the phone or even present at school.  Being a teacher is a service vocation. But remember that you, teacher, have to dedicate your time also to your family, and you have your p...

We teachers have to plan our lessons and carry out our job by doing our best. I know most of you do so.  We teachers have to be loyal to our students. I have met teachers – male ones – who were friends of their students’. And the same in the case of female teachers.  They were in-some-way friends. They used to listen to their students.  They won their students to, for example, working well or trying so.  This being friends does not mean they were lenient to their students or they were their buddies. Not at all. What they did was getting to know their students. They were interested in getting to know the students they have in front of them in the classroom.  They in some way donated or dedicated to their students. And thus they got happy in their generosity and made their students feel happy too. They ran the middle of the way to their students so their students had to run the other middle way.  I mean it: they were not their bud...