Experiences of a teacher of English

  One month ago I wrote down a note that said something like “The teacher’s function is to get knowledge into his or her students’ minds.” In fact it was taken from a book I was then reading, by J. B. Chautard, which book was published about a century ago, and it has been published into numerous editions ever since. Actually the note was in Spanish and it sounded kind of “La misión del docente es que los conocimientos penetren en las mentes de sus alumnos.”  And I guess it’s just great, and nowadays we should say the same about our function as teachers. Well, you know, you teacher may feel some burn-out or you may be hectic, or even alienated, yet just let me tell you something which might perhaps help you out somehow.  I consider the teacher as also – or primarily – source of knowledge. For that aim he or she ought to continuously keep learning and reading about the subject they teach. Just a few minutes per day, or half an hour if attainable.  And then we have that...

  You know what? Like one month ago I finished to teach English to a nice class of adults, 0 beginners, or better said, false beginners, for they had some knowledge of English.  And over all the school year I have been struggling to actually teach them, and striving also for them to learn something, you know, like the basics. I don’t usually encounter such a group, beginners I mean. It was a nice fight to really make good use of time – tell me, what can you do when the students know close to nothing, and they’ve got few communicative competences?  As I said, it was a nice group, and the ones who persevered along the school year, well, you know, they did have a real interest to learn – so nice people they were.  I’ve been screwing my brain to learn what to do with such people; even I consulted the Internet to learn about such a group. Plus the group was not very much settled, and only a small group stayed with us until the end of the year – I mean us because we were ...

  Just to halt at times. And have a quick mental look or perspective to your teaching. That is something I sometimes do.  For example I did something of this at Christmas break. We had stopped our English classes for a while. And at home I had a mental peek at how my students were doing, and how I was doing as a teacher myself. Just to detect failures in me and in them. Also to find out what was turning out fine.  And all that is just something simple, even intuitive. It’s like keeping track of how things are going. And all that does not necessarily mean you as a teacher must do something else, apart all your workload, which may be almost huge.  If you stop to think of it, it may be something we teachers may inadvertently do when lesson-planning – even more, it is something we actually do when lesson-planning!  But I mean here to carry it out in a bit more aware way, and like something special at some breaks – Christmas, the Holy Week at southern Spain, and fina...

  Teachers may feel today that there’s a lot of bureaucracy around their teaching, right? And it may be so, I don’t mean the contrary. But why not to take advantage of that lot of bureaucracy?  For example, and we are starting the school year in the north hemisphere, you may have been told to make up your school subject curriculum or syllabus, okay. With such and such points to include in it.  On the other hand you may have made up your own goals for the student classes, because you already know those students or you have past years' experience about what works and what doesn’t work in class.  Let’s see. For your lessons you may take into account what you had thought of about the curriculum, beforehand, plus try and think briefly how to include those new points the school asks you to include. And don’t get choked or bogged down with all that.  Although you’ve been asked to use the school syllabus, on your own you may also consider and bear in mind the curriculum...

  I think most teachers are hard-working and committed, as I’ve seen. However, we teachers could fall on the following pit: to think, well, I have such and such lessons to teach, let’s see if I can just teach them and then I will do what I really like to do. Thus we could get alienated with our professional work.  What I mean is that someone could have the mind of just fulfilling my contract and not to move a single finger to do something which is out of my contract.  I know that most teachers exceed their strict contract and do quite many other things, starting with working also at home on planning lessons, making homegrown material, grading tests, etcetera. Also giving yourself to your dear students.  What I mean today is that a teacher is there to serve and help out other people … as most teachers actually do.  I want to see you even enjoying teaching lessons. Let’s go to our post with that mentality every day. And we'll be happier. And when lesson planning y...

  You may be at the summer break now, if you’re a teacher in the north hemisphere. Anyway, I hope this post can help any teacher wherever you may be in our dear planet.  So you may have had a hectic and busy school year, as any teacher has. And you now seek to rest, relax, and rejuvenate yourself, right? Also because you want to start again in fall to give yourself to your work as a teacher. I think you have good ideas thus.  Even more, when the new school year begins, you wish to give yourself to your dear students, as I’ve seen in many many teachers: in class a good teacher gives him or herself to their students so that these ones may really learn and work and study. And they end up tired after the class - the teacher I mean.  As well what about considering to also give yourself – in that way – to their families? Even also to your colleagues the other teachers? The good teacher can be like a light beacon who lights up the place where he or she works, also the perso...

  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...

  You may be a hectic teacher and even a bit stressed out, and in no way do I wish to overcharge you with more difficult points for your lessons. I just offer you points that might help you work better and become a better teacher, if I can afford it.  I knew a teacher who tried the following, which might help you out.  He taught English, and all this stuff I’m going to tell you may fit adult and adolescent students.  He tried to think the lesson was one study hour of that language, if classes last one hour. I mean, he came in the classroom to hold one study hour with his dear students: they would be learning English together.  You know, on those lessons he also learned English, with the very same points he dealt with those students, so it was kind of some review for him.  And he kind of tasted when dealing with such or such grammar pattern. In that way he was more relaxed – otherwise he would be tenser if just dedicated to teach the lesson.  Do you kno...

  Some days ago I wrote as a note something like, The teacher is source and resource . And I guess it may be inspiring for teachers, novice teachers, and prospective teachers. Let’s see.  Also today I wanted to add something to what I posted last June 24. It is that when I read books to learn and acquire English something I sometimes do, and which may help out other learners, is that when I finish to read and study a few pages, every day, well, I then go backward to what read and randomly pick up such and such and such words and phrases and as they are isolated I kind of take a mental photo of those words and phrases, and, you know, I think I get those terms stuck in mind and memory.  In that way after you’ve read quite many days you may have a rather ample vocabulary.  Well and now let’s go to the teacher as source and resource.  Each and every teacher may be like someone original and unique: he or she may give a brilliant something: hit on the nail of solving ...

  Quite many students learn and acquire a second or foreign language by reading books. Me myself.  Well, as you know you need to practice all four language skills, namely listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Ok. I always have a book in English which I’m reading. Now, two: a graded reader plus Jeremy Harmer’s The Practice of English Language Teaching .  I’m learning and re-learning quite a lot from this latter one. Well, also from the graded reader. From Jeremy Harmer I’m learning a lot of insightful points for teaching my English lessons.  Now we have summer vacations, but I’m taking lots of mental notes for those classes I’ll teach in fall. And the graded reader, well, basically it’s B2 level, yet it serves the purpose for me for reviewing lots of expressions and ways to say such and such things in English. Remember that level is upper intermediate.  When I come across a new phrase or word, I stop reading, study and take like a mental photo of it. In that...

  Let’s see. Do we really want teaching quality? We do, I guess. It depends mostly on the teacher’s quality. If we wish to improve our classroom teaching, well, we have to better ourselves as teachers. And I do know many of you are trying and working on it.  If we wish our schools improve, then let us improve as teachers ourselves. And that is fulfilled on regular and ordinary days, like today!  Now I’m reading a book on Spanish teacher and teachers’ teacher Tomás Alvira (1906-1992). And he stated that quality on education (and we as teachers are also educators) is accomplished through quality on the teacher.  A teacher needs to gain virtues, or values, like a strong will, imagination, dedication, a thorough personality, a strong vocation, attention, motivation to also motivate the kids or adults …  That teacher ought to have a nice and strong will, otherwise how is he or she going to get their students interested in the school subject?  Something else. A t...

  I also know that most of you are or may be busy and committed teachers. I was wondering if write about this topic or not, but in the end I’ve decided to write about it, yes, let’s go with it.  As I said, you may be hectic teachers, yet I presume that you devote some time of your valuable and precious time to just thinking about what you do in class, so you can improve your teaching work, also precious as it is, indeed. Because you wish your dear students learn effectively.  I mean, the happy teacher – busy he or she may be though – knows how to extract some time for thinking about their dear students and how they can learn better and more effectively.  I knew a teacher who used to dedicate some time for example at the end of the school year to think and write down some points about his lessons: how they had proceeded, you know, how they’d improved that past year, how could they improve next year, what points are paramount for bettering those lessons, what points I ...

  The good teacher must know how to plan his or her lessons. They have learned over the years. Now I’m referring to second or foreign language teachers. They learn how to plan efficient lessons for their dear students to learn effectively.  And there’s a plus. They achieve to plan in rather short time.  That kind of teacher plans his classes with their actual students in mind. He wants for them to really learn and acquire that target language.  He knows how to get the most from a class text or a photocopy he has gotten from his resources – they may be modest, though.  He learns how to be imaginative and he’ll accomplish – as I said – to get the most from a photocopy.  And he plans several activities from that sheet of paper. For example, as follows.  First he plans a listening comprehension activity while his students do not have the copy yet. And he has planned a lead-in activity for that listening, for example, a first exercise of predicting what the...

  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...

  We may be teachers, okay? We may also be educators. But do we know what to educate is? Well, maybe we already know it, or know something about it.  Where I want to aim? Educating is getting the best from my students, yet also it is getting the best to them.  Some people say kind of, Well, we have to get the best from those learners. Yep, but also we have to take knowledge and other things to them.  Otherwise we will not obtain the best from them.  This seems clear in children’s case: we can try and get the best from them, but alike we have to provide knowledge and others to them, because they were born with no knowledge at all.  Spanish philosopher and pedagogue Gregorio Luri puts it in that way: the teacher has to provide knowledge to their students.  It doesn’t seem sound to get some children into a classroom and naively try and get the best from them, like they already were wise people.  Let’s give them knowledge and other things. For that w...

  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...

  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 ...

  Working as a teacher? Wonderful it may be.  Today I wanted to tell you that a teacher needs resources for his or her teaching, for example a coursebook. And perhaps some others.  Yet we must bear in mind that the main resource, say, is the teacher him or herself. And we must take care of them. For they, as I said, constitute and make up the main source for lessons.  And it’s him or herself who have to invest their best in class. Which is something quite common amongst teachers, although they have to fight against many negative factors, like bad classroom behavior from their students, or some parents who seem to be against those teachers. On another post we could say something about that latter point – now I will simply say that quite many other parents are totally in favor of the teachers.  You know, being a teacher is kind of a hard profession and anyone of us can see how they strive to do their best.  If we have happy and committed teachers, likely less...

  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...

  We foreign or second language teachers may wish there should be peace and communication amongst people.  Also we try hard there should be communication and immersion in the target language in the classroom.  And I am a language learner myself, and I will always be a learner myself. And thus I can help my students learn that target language, namely English.  Something I do to learn more and more lexis or vocabulary is intensive reading books. Next lesson with my students I will show them the notebook where I register and keep the words I’m learning, in case that may help them out.  You know, it’s like a diary or journal. Some time in the evening every day I write down one or two… or five words, expressions or idioms I have learned today: words and terms that have attracted my attention, from the classes, or from the Internet, or from the book I’m reading now.  I write for example a sentence where a nice word showed up in the book I’m reading, maybe with so...