Experiences of a teacher of English

  Some people think kids at schools should have tutors, not only teachers. Tutors with whom the kids could talk, aside the classroom, at individual tutorial sessions.  I used to have this situation when I taught kids, before I began to teach English to adults, some sixteen years ago – I’ve been teaching English since 1993. I think that that thing of having a tutor is something good. Tutors chosen by the kids’ parents, though those ones may propose their opinion about who could their tutor be.  And at these tutorial sessions the kids and their tutors may hold nice and friendly conversations. I’ve seen it, and it works, it does. Usually boys had male teachers as tutors, while also the other way round.  For those sessions there should be confidence and familiarity, and that confidence is only gained by the adult tutor over time. You as a tutor cannot demand that confidence – you conquer it through actual interest and benevolence love. And affection. And when you know ho...

  I think that in nearly all classes of students we can find like three groups: high-achievers, average students, and low-achievers. And I believe we teachers have to help all those three groups.  When teaching kids quite many years ago I was said by the assistant principal or headmaster deputy I ought to give material and opportunities to high-achievers, so they would not feel bored.  I taught and teach English. Also low-achievers have to be aided. I as a teacher cannot confine to hand out their graded tests or exams to the kids in class, and then also give out a low-achiever’s sheet with a super low grade, and there you are! Something else must be carried out with those kids.  The superintendent or gamekeeper of the place where I live was a bad student, and his dad told me to please help him. Eventually he stopped and gave up studying, and, well, he is a great professional now as a gamekeeper.  Ok, let’s turn back to the topic. Those kids may present several d...

  In this new school year we teachers would like our students would work well, would learn a lot, and would study fine too.  And since they are younger than us and we are in charge of teaching them, we have to teach them how to work that fine.  And they thus will learn how to have neat and useful class notes, and they will acquire and develop some like for the work carried out well and outfitted well.  For that goal tutoring sessions are crucial. At those times and in the classroom we may monitor their work: how to write down neat and useful notes, how to keep them in an orderly manner, how to record each day’s date at the beginning of each day’s notes, how to follow and study those notes, how to enhance those notes by consulting other books and websites.  If they utilize laptops or iPads for taking notes, same way we will teach them how to type those class notes.  For work well done is so educative.  And when they sit for studying those notes plus tha...

Lately and for my job as a teacher I’m reading a book by Spanish teacher, philosopher and pedagogue Gregorio Luri (born in 1955).  Before I continue writing, I would like also to say that young kids – complementing what I said on my previous post – can have some abstract ideas; for example they can think of love and other values and virtues.  Said that, I keep on writing about this post #3571. I’m learning a lot of things about teaching and learning from that educator.  Thus I’ve learned that we teachers would have to be watchful: we could be insisting too much on our kids should gain skills, yet they have also to learn contents: from their teachers and from their books.  By the way, they may learn from tablets and other technologic devices but paper books may help facilitate focusing on what they’re reading: paper books facilitate attention, above all if they have long texts, more than one page.  So skills are okay but students have to learn contents, both from...

We teachers must think some points out, even more if we are starting a new school year.  I was thinking that for learning a second or foreign language with success, we learners have to find our own unique pathway to success. And each learner has his or her own way: what works for me may not work for you.  And we teachers in the classroom or online have to facilitate to find that unique way to success in learning that language.  Henry Douglas Brown is one of the authors that say this same thing: find your own way of learning!  We teachers have to plan lessons but we should think of helping our dear students find their own learning ways.  Each learner learns in a more or less different way.  On individual tutoring sessions we can assist our students in this way. Those tutorials are crucial. Because we may be making those students think of their learning processes.  When I taught kids we had those tutorials. Better if male teachers talk with male students...

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...

Being a teacher is so great a profession. Anyway you always encounter conflicts. Also our students have them.  We adults should have emotional self-control. And our dear students have also to learn how to have that kind of self-control. And they’ll be gaining it over time, with our help and aid as teachers. We’re educating young persons.  We’ll achieve they have that self-esteem by helping them through private tutorials with each kid. I’ve seen it well through my career as a teacher. We teachers gained a lot of confidence with our students over the school year. And those kids ultimately gave vents to their inner conflicts.  That work was carried out counting on their parents, as well through tutoring sessions with them.  Male teachers had tutorials with male students and female teachers did with girls. And it worked and turned out fine. Every kid had his or her tutor.  And we in that way got to quench some bullying, also because we talke...

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...

On last post I told you about helping high-achiever students. Okay then, now I’m saying something about helping low-achievers. I’ve found them. For example kids that had somehow serious problems at studying, learning, paying attention… plus their self-esteem might be low, so low.  Well, all the teacher team tried to help those few students. Also through tutoring sessions plus interviewing their parents. With frequency, more or less.  Well, something I used to do was to set for them goals that tentatively they could reach. These kids needed attention and affection.  As well their future could be manual jobs, not intellectual ones. Not for that reason are those professions negative or low level ones. Those jobs also are necessary in our society: aluminum carpenters or joiners for example.  The ideal thing would have been they could do the same activities as their classmates, but, you know, in no way could they reach those goals, like the ones their...

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...

I also have other nice experiences. You may have them too.  We teachers may treat many kids every single day along the week.  And we would like for them to be mature people, right? Well, you know that when we treat them in a mature way they will likely respond in an also mature way. And we can find this both along the school as well as at tutoring sessions.  We teachers ought to have available time for tutoring sessions. About their studying, working and learning.  Some schools do have them and their students conduct better and better.  Also I know some teachers that before and after lessons their students naturally concur toward their desks, just to talk about their stuff. And then those teachers can educate those kids very nice. In accordance to their parents’ ideas and in accordance to human dignity. What a responsibility we teachers have!  For example right after a class some girls could concur at their female teacher’s desk...

On the previous post I told you a nice list of what a teacher may be. Okay then, so I told you that a teacher may advise his students, if convenient. If convenient and if my advice is in accordance to human dignity: what a responsibility I have, a nice one!  I have to be an honest, honorable and upright person, to be able to advise my students in a correct way, and tentatively in accordance to my students’ parents and families.  Also I’ll take into account their dignity, our dignity: for we’re children of God, and not less than that! Our profession is so great! Have a nice week, you all my dear teachers! / Photo from: teacher teaching english FTW

It's great we teachers get in touch through forums on the Internet to help those who truly want to learn!  Yet from time to time, even often, we can find students with serious shortcomings or deficiencies, right?  Those kids that cannot implement even the simplest activities I mean.  I’m thinking of some example I’ve faced. I think now I would approach that case in a different way and mode. That happened many years ago.  Those kids may need psychological help. Those kids may suffer from their own failures.  The first approach must be given from affection and professionalism. Even those kids may reach far when adults. Now - and always! - they deserve all our affection and dedication, although we may have many more students.  At tutoring sessions also we can help them great. Just smiling and with small laughing with them at those meetings may help them great too. We have to find their strong points, because they may have hidden re...

  We are sometimes worried and concerned about classroom management, right? Even more deeply, we may be worried and concerned about our dear students’ behavior and conduct, right? I can tell you that in the previous school where I taught, in another city of southern Spain, we used to nicely track our students, our dear students, and as well we had individual tutorial interviews with each and every kid. And even more: we used to have periodical interviews with their parents and so we could pull the cart in the same direction as those parents pulled the cart of their kids’ education. We were so seriously concerned about those young people’s education and growing. It was pretty sound when we met together, the teachers I mean, and used to talk about each individual student: we told what we knew from them form an exterior viewpoint, nothing from what the kids told us at those tutorial interviews. You know what? I miss those teachers meetings: they were great! We had ...

  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...

  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...

  Yesterday I told you that we had problems with some kids at the school I worked at, some years ago. But I was optimistic anyway and I am so today too. We had tutoring sessions with each kid, and those conversations were great often, more often than not. We could help out each kid and his family alike, at other tutoring sessions with these later ones too. So let’s put in a kid’s shoes: You have an adult that teaches you and has time to dedicate to listening to you! He’s sitting with you to just listen to you! Well and he can give you great and useful advice. He does know kids and their world, their anxieties and expectations, their concerns and joys. He can give you advice about those subjects you may have problems with: math, science, literature, economics… Even he can tell other teachers about you if you wish. He gets to know kids or he tries hard. That’s simply great. Those conversations took place every two weeks, maybe three, depending on the number of ...

  More often than not there’re some few cases of conflictive kids in Spain, not only at school but also at home. By no means do I intend to be negative anyway. Because we can appreciate many cases of kids that are being educated nice, in our classrooms. Coming back to the first cases, some days ago I read on the paper that a psychologist has recently said that we have to educate those problematic kids to be generous, with solidarity and concerned about other people. In a word they must learn to help other people. Otherwise they’re going to be tyrants. And I was thinking of our classrooms. Thank God our kids conduct in some nice way, and when there’re problems, these ones are minimized thanks to tutoring sessions, where those kids can give vents to their problems, for example at home. But remember, also we have problems. I remember there was a summer course in a school where the kids lived. It was a program to train them for their examinations and to become better st...

  As I said on the previous post young people, like our students, are capable of all that is great. They’re at the age when they can contain great ideals and some big generosity. Sometimes we may think they’re rather troublesome but if we adults help them in the right way, they can become great people, great persons. We can take advantage of individual tutoring sessions in order to help them take what they have in their inner being and heart. But we grown-ups must set an example. For instance they have the idea of justice very deep inside, and they don’t tolerate we could be more inclined to some students. Some nice exercise we can do when they’re teens is setting the task of writing about themselves. It’s original. And tell them you’re going to read their essays. You for sure will get amazed at what they’ve written and will see many different things and lives. Even you could learn something useful for your daily teaching and treating them. By the way, they’re natur...

  We teachers have to help our students’ families at the duty of educating their children’s personalities. And we’ll achieve this in the classroom, but individual tutoring sessions are indispensable too. Treating each kid is necessary. Better if male teachers talk with male students and the same with women, because personal, very personal aspects are treated and dealt with and you make friends. This is my experience and it seems okay. Schools should devote enough time for individual tutoring sessions with the kids. We have to help our students face life’s aspects. And all that has to do with educating their personalities. We won’t only confine our work to teaching math, history, English… but we should educate our students in a thorough way, and in accordance with their families. We have the beautiful duty of educating our students in an integral and complete way, if their parents agree, and this is very important. I repeat on purpose: if their parents agree. Now tha...