I love to teach! And more importantly, I love to teach English as a second language. I have always enjoyed academics, but never really considered teaching anything until I heard about teaching ESL. I knew right away that my love for peoples and cultures would fit in nicely with a career in ESL, but I still didn’t know very much about teaching. Through my ESL classes as an undergraduate in college I quickly learned that I could easily make a career out of teaching ESL, but it wasn’t until I actually got into an old one room school house in Mali, Africa that my love for the profession began to foster. I now would have to say that I’m an ESL fanatic and I love every aspect of the job from teaching English language and teaching American culture, all the way to learning the language and cultures of my students.
I try to make my ESL classroom a fun and inviting place for all of my students. It can certainly be difficult at times, but getting to know and understand each individual class is a challenge that I enjoy. I believe the biggest key to creating an ideal learning environment starts with the teacher. I love teaching English and helping others and I know that my students can see that every day when I enter the classroom. One of my students once told me that even though she felt a lot of pressure to complete the homework for my class that she didn’t mind doing it, because she not only felt like she was learning, but she felt intrinsically motivated because of my attitude as a teacher.
Learning a different language is very difficult and it is the job of the teacher to make the learning process as easy as possible. I like to have a consistent classroom order every day so that the students know what to expect and what is expected of them. This does not mean that my classes always contain the exact same activities and content, but that the general outline will always be the same. The activities and content are always changing to build excitement and anticipation, but the students all know that when they come in and sit down in class that they will be involved in some kind of a warm-up activity to “switch” their minds into English followed by activities, lectures or group work related to the content needing to be covered that day and then finally some type of a wrap-up activity. My students all know the homework that they are expected to do, because I write it on the board, explain it and then answer any questions that they might have. I try to make my class a comfortable place where the students can know me as a teacher and what I’m going to do, as well as, understand what is expected of them as students.
Teaching language is only a part of the job when teaching ESL in the United States. I feel that my job description includes assisting students as much as possible with their individual English acquisition all the way to the functioning in the United States societal system. I clearly state and remind my students of my office hours and encourage them to set up appointments with me if they have a question or need help with anything. I also assist students as much as possible between classes if questions arise. I have truly done everything from showing students where certain buildings or offices are on campus to helping them with their homework from a different class. I even called a cell phone company one time to help my student settle a dispute over incorrect charges on a bill! The teaching of English is certainly my main job, but as a teacher I have a desire to assist my students in whatever capacity I can.
There are several components included in my ESL classroom. I try to do a lot of group work where students are interacting with each other and taking responsibility for their own learning. I also include some individual assignments and work, while integrating some lecture and teacher-centered activities. I feel that a classroom environment that primarily contains small group activities fosters a community of learning and builds the comfort and confidence level of the students, but I also feel that students need to be able to do and complete assignments on an individual bases. I certainly prefer small or large group discussions over traditional lectures, but I think there are times when a traditional lecture is necessary. Overall, I believe a good balance must be maintained and that the classroom should primarily be student centered when the activity or content permit.
The ESL classroom provides a diverse environment that can be very challenging for teachers. The personal characteristics of each learner can have a big impact on their English acquisition and their performance in the classroom. There are some students who are very motivated to learn English and also very outgoing in their personalities. These students tend to dominate conversations and can sometimes overshadow the students who are shy or a little more timid. There are also some students that have no motivation whatsoever and only seek to bring others down in the class with them. I feel that careful classroom planning can result in a smooth flowing class that allows all students to participate and assist in the motivation for those that need to apply themselves a little more. I believe that small group work can really benefit all students and I really try to create those groups in such a way as to utilize the strengths of all of the participants. In that way students are motivating each other and those who are shy feel they have a voice.
Socio-cultural backgrounds also can affect the acquisition of English in a few different ways and teachers should be aware of the different cultures that their students bring to the ESL classroom. A lot of students come from countries that work from a teacher-centered classroom structure and although they have a lot of respect for their teachers, they often do not feel comfortable participating in classroom discussions or taking part in small group work. I believe that I can help open students up to a student centered approach by asking genuine questions and making sure that I have carefully planned my small groups to foster the student centered approach. Being aware of the different cultures and customs that the students bring to the classroom is very beneficial. I try to be as sensitive as possible when dealing with my students’ cultural backgrounds, language backgrounds and religious backgrounds. The ESL classroom needs to be as comfortable of a place as possible and helping students maintain their identity while learning English is essential. One time I went through a lot of work to create a lesson plan where students would make little appetizers to share with the rest of the class. I brought all of the needed ingredients and appliances needed to produce these little treats and eat them in class. However, I forgot that the month when I did the activity was Ramadan and that almost one third of my class was fasting! I apologized to my students and made up my mind that I would never create such an awkward situation for my students again.
I think that all ESL teachers should feel free to share with students from their own personal language learner experiences, regardless of how extensive the experience was and also share different language learning strategies that can be used. I remember a time when I was teaching class and I couldn’t understand what one of my students said because of his accent. I, of course, felt bad because I couldn’t understand him, but I could tell that he felt even worse and he apologized for his thick accent. It was then that I felt it appropriate to share a story from my own language learning experience about how some shop owners wouldn’t even try to talk with me or understand me when I lived in a foreign country. I believe that these types of stories build the students’ confidence and respect in me as a teacher, knowing that I have had a lot of the same language and culture learning experiences that they are having.
Sharing different language learning strategies with students should be a big part of the holistic language learning process. Every person learns differently and I feel that it is my job as a teacher to accommodate as many learning styles as possible. One of the ways I feel I can help each individual student is by giving them different strategies that they can utilize on their own while attending class or even outside of my class in other classes. Just one of the ways that I do this is by giving my students a variety of different examples of how to take notes when writing a research paper. My students have commented on all the different strategies that can be used and which one that they find the most helpful. I’m always looking for new and better ways to learn things and do things and I feel that it is important for me as a teacher to pass these methods on to my students.
All in all, I enjoy teaching ESL and I’m excited that I have been gifted with a heart that seeks to help students from all backgrounds. I am constantly trying to improve as a teacher and provide an ideal learning environment for all of my students. I know that I have a long way to go before I will become the best teacher I know I can be, but I also feel that I’m moving closer to that goal every single day.
