Acquired from Arizona State University.
See below for my portfolio submission.
Teaching Philosophy
Lesson plans? Skip to below.
Teaching Purpose
One day, in high school, I began tutoring elementary students in math and reading. These students were the children of immigrants, whose English skill varied, and the kids sometimes had for translate their parents between English and Spanish. I have always struggled to learn foreign languages; I still do. Spanish was something I was taught on-and-off throughout my childhood—and I was indifferent. Now when it mattered, I was useless. Eventually, I would go onto teach other things: programming, history, creative writing stuff. I always had a deep passion for linguistics. My family would host a foreign exchange student, travel to foreign countries, I set my sights on studying abroad in Japan, until one day, I found myself teaching ESL.
Why I teach is a question I have never really had an answer to. I never wanted to be a teacher—that was something my sister wanted to do. But eventually, it just started to happen on instinct. I was homeschooled for several, so I was always teaching myself. I was the smart kid, and was surrounded by people struggling to make sense of whatever subject they were trying to tackle. I am a storyteller. If I learn something new, if I am passionate about something, I have to share it with anyone who will listen. I like helping people, watching them learn and triumph, do things they were never be able to do before, and teaching is just one of many ways to do that.
My short-term goal is to give students the tools and knowledge they need to understand and begin using parts of English. My long term goal is to build their confidence, English fluency, and help them achieve their own long-term goals.
Teaching Style
My teaching style is a bit mixed and reflects multiple types of approaches:
- Communicative, which focuses on language use and connection with foreign cultures
- Comprehension, which reflects understanding language, reading, and listening
- Reading, which I find useful with vocabulary and translation. I am also rather fond of the cognitive approach, however, in trying to understand why language is the way it is, how people learn it, and so forth as I am fond of linguistics in general.
I find this mixture helps to create an engaging classroom experience keeps student interest and encourages challenge, while helping them build their skills. Not all students have the same goals or learning styles, so need a variety of approaches to help them feel empowered.
There are ideas from every approach I like or may use in some way, depending on what is being learned or if there is a specific skill to focus on. For example, back translation can help students think about grammar and what they are reading. Everyone has to memorize vocabulary. Drills help reinforce the use of phrases that might not have a particular meaning. Conversation is a specific skill where listening and speaking are emphasized, and dialogs, practice conversations, and giving students chance to talk about what they want to talk about all work together to build confidence and motivation to practice.
For students, at present, my experience has only been with adults. One advantage with adults is they are not “forced” to be where they are. They have motivation to learn, but they also have specific goals that need to be accounted for and sometimes this is related to their job/career. However, I am open to working with younger students.
Teaching Techniques
My teaching techniques will largely depend on the nature of the class and what exactly is being focused on. Overall, I am a fan of scaffolding, lowering affective filter by creating an environment where it is safe to fail and try again, using real-world examples for class practice—especially when I can pull them from student’s personal interests and goals, and project-based, creative learning that encourages students to think critically and produce their own work. Teaching time is kept minimal, with 20% teaching and 80% practice.
For motivation, I believe in creating a friendly and approachable environment, expressing enthusiasm for the topic—not just English, but topic of conversations we have and practice in English—and doing what I can to incorporate things students are personally interested into the lesson and giving them opportunities to express them. I also strive to use warm language so students are never shamed for mistakes we all make and teacher talk that is caring and easily understood. I am also quite fond of games.
As for class activities, this will also depend on the topic or lesson, but a trend I follow: For warmups, I’m fond of pulling in information from previous lessons as a recall of memory and way of linking last lessons with newest one. Guided practice is somewhat a mix of instruction and showing patterns on the board, and giving students a chance to figure out the pattern, fill in the blank, and even be the teacher in this situation. Independent practice is somewhat a repeat of the guided practice with more creativity involved, likely a project. Rather like scaffolding, this is slowly being removed to encourage independence. And finally, for assessment, this can include sharing what was done in independent practice, a slightly more difficult project, or something as simple as a test (in the case of vocabulary memorization) if needed.
10 Lesson Plan Examples
1. Reading/Writing (Revised with Technology)
Level: Beginner
Topic: Aesop Fables
2. Technology Enriched Reading/Writing
Level: Intermediate
Topic: Job Application
3. Listening/Speaking (Revised with Technology)
Level: Intermediate
Topic: Legend of Sleepy Hollow
4. Technology Enriched Listening/Speaking
Level: Intermediate
Topic: Job Interview
3. Listening/Speaking Revised with Tech
Level: Intermediate
Topic: Legend of Sleepy Hollow
4. Technology Enriched Listening/Speaking
Level: Intermediate
Topic: Job Interview
5. Grammar Lesson
Level: Beginner
Topic: Definite vs Indefinite
6. Pronunciation Lesson
Level: Intermediate
Topic: Noun vs Verb Stress
7. Capstone 1 Lesson Plan
Level: Beginner
Topic: Expressing likes, dislikes, and favorites
8. Original Reading/Writing Lesson Plan
Level: Beginner
Topic: Aesop Fable (#1 is variation)
9. Original Listening/Speaking Lesson Plan
Level: Beginner
Topic: The Headless Horseman (#3 variation)
10. Technology Enriched Lesson Plan
Level: Intermediate
Topic: Talking about the weather
Bonus: One-Week Lesson Plan
Level: Beginner
Topic: Expressing likes, dislikes, and favorites
Teacher Toolkit
My blog is filled with different ideas and activities to engage students. I’m always looking to collect more. These two are specifically what I personally submitted along with the above content for my TESOL Certification.