Experiences of a teacher of English

  At least in the north hemisphere of our wonderful blue planet we are before a new school year. What will it be like? Face to face classes or remote teaching or both?  All in all the first lesson is paramount. Anyway, be relaxed on that first lesson, if you are the teacher. Well, with a bit of benign tension, otherwise that first lesson will be colorless.  At K-12 schools our dear students may have new textbooks or new iPad programs that replace old textbooks. I personally prefer printed textbooks.  Some days ago I worked on a video about single-sex or single-gender classrooms. It was so interesting.  You know, at 4 th grade in a school in North Branch, Minnesota, parents have something optional, which works. They can choose single-gender classrooms for those kids at 4 th grade within elementary school.  They have a young male teacher for the boys and a female teacher for the girls. And it works, as I said. You know, the girls’ class teaching is more emo...

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...

We teachers in the north earth hemisphere may be at vacations. And we do need to rest and relax, don’t we? I’m after it, I’m resting and relaxing. But we may do other small jobs, like attending a summer camp for boys for a couple of weeks.  They will learn and practice their English with English native teachers. I’m making up some plan to help those kids. Something I must take into account is that they must learn some conducting rules, but ultimately they keep being free persons.  Freedom is a value I must take into account. Freedom has a pedagogic and educative value, yes it has. We monitors have to respect that liberty.  If those kids have freedom, they can likely let us monitors educate them, in accordance with what their parents wish for them. Only if the kids are free, they can better as persons. Because we teachers and monitors have to try to help them become better persons, and that’s what their parents and families wish for them.  Only if the...

I’ve recently told you about learning strategies. Okay then, at individual tutoring sessions with each student he or she can also be helped and so in a sound way.  It is so because in that way he or she can be asked about how they study and learn. The tutor should be nice at treating each kid: the tutor will treat each student tactfully and not in kind of an arrogant way and as if invading his or her interior person.  I’ve seen nice tutoring sessions at the schools where I taught both at the beginning of my career as a teacher and at a second stage of that career too: each boy had a tutor who also became kind of a friend or nearly.  Some of the tutors were ones who knew how to become friendly and close to those kids. Even some of the boys used to talk with their tutors more than with their parents. And those tutors tried to help those parents become closer to their children. The same happened at the girls' twin school. Nice experiences they were indee...

  I’ve been resting for some time with my family. Now I’d like to say something in favor of women. First premise: I learn quite much from my female students. They have some perspicacity men don’t have, or not at the same level. They learn and acquire English in a particular way, from which I can learn a lot. They have their love for specific details and little things a lot of men don’t have, or again not at the same level. If you saw the details I encounter in them, you’d gain a vision which is beautiful. I could say many positive points about them. By the way, all my current students, and also within a few months, are adults. More things can be said in their favor. They also have a shrewdness and perception as well men have at a different level. You have to count on them and on their opinions. Regards young students, teens and children, on the other hand, I prefer to have lessons for boys and lessons for girls. Many teachers I’ve met coincide in the same way and vi...

  Women are important at school, because they’re important at home, for education, and also they’re important at society, at any level. In case women are rotten, society is rotten. They’re so important. And at boys schools they’re important, at least as cooks and lady cleaners, and as admins alike. Because they provide a role which is indispensable. And it is something indispensable because they’re indispensable at education, together with dads. I’m referring to their special features and qualities as women: femininity is indispensable at education, at home, at schools, at society. At any social association – I’m aware of the redundancy – they also are indispensable. And their absence is something to be noticed. Something we cannot stand. On the other way round, if they’re present, all is easier – because of that also they’re indispensable at kindergarten, while at upper grades men can teach children and teens – think of single-sex education for example. But men can t...

  I prefer the option of single-sex education, in puberty and adolescence, from a didactic point of view. We advocate for a personalized education, right? I guess that girls and boys, at those ages, should be educated in different schools. Because we prefer an individual education. And thus we can educate femininity and masculinity, which is of a paramount importance. at those ages. This is also my teaching experience, within personalizing education. And I don’t mean they both would fall victims of their instinct or kind of that, but we might favorably educate women and men. / Photo from: cantabria www casaazaga com. the picture is a mere illustration for the post. My great-grandfather was from this northern area in Spain

  I generally prefer single-sex education, to be honest. English school subject is one with many variations from one student to others: they may have many varied levels of English. And my experience is that there are more girls that get better grades (or marks in UK) than boys. Besides if we have only boys (for example), we avoid the problem of them trying to show off before girl classmates. If we have only boys, we can focus on more restricted varieties of levels amongst them. It’s one more option, and now I remember an English teacher (he’s British and Spanish too I guess) that also told me he preferred single-sex education. He was a teacher we hired as a summer English camp, some years ago. / Photo from: women-hand-holding-umbrella-walking-in-the-winter-rain-on-a-street-in-Shanghai-city www magic4walls com. the picture is just an illustration

In the next English language summer camp I will be in charge of several things, like for example the following one. The point is I pick up each student – we have sixty – and take him to my office or similar. There we will speak in English all the time, which isn’t much unfortunately.  I will start with the advanced level students.  I have composed a placement test. Plus the teachers of the center in Marbella, south of Spain, also will try to discriminate each and every student, in order to train them for the Cambridge examinations.  On my own, during the program, I shall ask them questions. What about? The core thing will be talking about themselves, their families, friends, how the course is going, what they like most and least, describing pictures from a magazine that has plenty of them, their position on the ranking of sport teams – soccer, volleyball and basketball. Also about their new friends at the course, about youngsters today…  / Phot...

At a school where there’re both boys and girls, the role female teachers carry out is indispensable. Woman has a series of features that are necessary and unique for the school.  And more if we refer to young children.  They have a special intuition, delicate tenderness, capability of being specially focused on small details, a special genius, etc.  All this isn’t opposite to the idea of single-sex education, which option I personally prefer. Mostly I have taught in single-sex schools and I prefer this latter option. But as I say, it’s one more option. / Photo from: edustyster com. female teacher

Some people, like Alud Jason, in UK have said that there should be single-sex education from 11 to 16 years. At those ages boys and girls’ minds are so different; as well their ways of learning. Boys are like children, or nearly, whilst girls are young women. I think it’s sound. It’s an opinion though.  From now on I hope to publish more posts. I’m already back to Granada. / Photo from: teacher-students imgarcade com

According to a work study by Linda Sax boys and men are better at math, and also it’s them who are more aware about their learning strategies and aptitudes.  However girls tend to get better grades than boys.  Anyway the point is that both boys and girls learn differently.  Concerning comments by the teacher, girls are more sensitive.  When setting out to college it’s young men who leave the birthplace more than girls.  What I mean about all this is the difference that we’ve got to take advantage from in order to better educate boys and girls. / Photo from: teen_girl_student www isagenixhealth net

It could entertain students and help them learn if we play a film with captions or subtitles in English.  I propose Singin’ in the Rain . This movie is rather simple to follow. It was released in 1952 and on the picture above are from left to right, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds and Gene Kelly. Debbie then was some 18 or 19.  I presume that girls would enjoy more than boys, but since it’s an academic activity they might like it too, at least a bit though they show the opposite. Oh, I forgot, the scene above is the unforgettable song “Good Morning”. By the way, boys and girls learn English in a different way, as I can say from my own experience.

It’s obvious and evident that male teachers are different from female teachers. I’ve worked in a single-sex school, with boys.  However in a school where there are both men and women, and so the students have teachers of both genders, the thing can be complementary and so good as well.  Anyway, on top of that I prefer single-sex schools; it is one more option, and it was ok with me and with the students. / Photo from: class www theprospect net

Something also positive about this English course for me has been that the two teachers plus I have been working close together and in that way we've solved some minor problems. So we've worked as a team.  Moreover also I've been closer to the students in their work of learning the language, and we've become friends - friends but not buddies.  Nice people, both the two teachers and the students.  When you pick up a student, one by one, and touched their hearts or souls I don't know, the students work more deeply - I'm slightly proud to say they have improved their English and bettered as persons. / Photo from: student-collaboration www soic indiana edu. The course was for boys, so we have bet for single-sex education  

Near are final exams.  After that we could play with the English language if we have some spare time, though exams tend to be at the end of the academic year.  Some students will attend summer camps of English.  A friend of mine’s school has students of both genders. I have other friends whose schools are single-sex education. We teachers and parents have arranged the solution to camps for kids of both genders and their promiscuity.  A camp for boys will take place near Marbella, and a camp for girls also near Marbella but far from the boys. We have been working this way for many years, and the result is positive.  Boys tell me they enjoy the camps of English.  Beside English they have other leisure activities, mainly sports: soccer, volleyball, mini-basketball. On top of that they also visit and assist a special hospital with disabled people; we think this is educative for boys and really they do it well. / Photo from: forest...

I prefer single-sex education till the last years of secondary education.  I’ve taught in both options – only boys, and boys and girls together. Till the last years of secondary education the differences in psychological aspects are so clear between male and female students; there will be differences also later evidently.  In the case of teaching and learning English, my experience says that the more homogeneous the class-groups are, the better. A boy and a girl of 14 are so different; now I’m referring to psychological traits.  Learning a modern language demands, if possible, the students should have similar levels. It is the school subject where differences among kids are more remarkable. In History for example all the students go at the same pace, so to speak, but in languages the differences are bigger. Moreover each academic year you have in your class-groups students that come from very different levels of mastering a language. Your school can...

Single-sex education or schools with boys and girls?  Both are options.  I prefer single-sex education, assisted by my experience.  Obviously boys and girls are different and have different ways and styles to study and learn.  Moreover the school subject of English can be the one with more varied levels of English. So if you have schools of boys and schools of girls you’ll have fewer levels of English and the class-groups will be more homogeneous. / Photo from: Group Of Students www marshall edu

Teacher B said to teacher A, “It is obvious that men are different from women.  Both their presence at school are complementary.  It’s like in a family.  It isn’t the same way when a male teacher reprimands and when a female teacher does the same action, reprimanding and scolding.  I personally prefer classes where the students are boys all of them. Furthermore because English is probably the school subject where there are more differences among the students.  If I included girls there would be more problems of level of English and about the rhythm of learning.  I teach single-sex education and I have problems of abilities among the students. For example a new student has arrived this year from another school which is not bilingual. I’m trying to help him to avoid he be left behind. Allies for that problem? Their very classmates: one kid feels happy because he helps a classmate.  Concerning single-sex education? I pre...

Teacher A said to teacher B, “I prefer single-sex education, though I’ve taught courses with both boys and girls.  Why the first option? Boys and girls grow and develop in a different way, for example at 13 or 15 years of age.  They’re so different. Groups of students learning English ought to be as homogeneous as possible. This is my experience.” / Photo from: malaikablog com. kid smiling