My Teaching Approach

Being an English teacher to someone is to open her eyes to new possibilities. As a general educator it is my goal to see someone open up to new experiences by creating a new world for that person.  My design approach of being an English  teacher is to create a hands on experience that would relate to all students on every level and at any age that would make them reach their goals and  potentials. My design would have to be an approach that would touch on every communicative skills that a new learner will need to communicate without feeling embarrassed when speaking.

 As a new English teacher  I would create a design that would help the learners to express themselves in everyday situation that they will encounter  in their everyday lives.  I would definitively teach them how to communicate and express themselves clearly, as well as being able to listen to conversations and comprehend conversations. Second, I would have an approach where the learner will be able to feel relaxed and not be intimidated in a classroom setting. This approach will be beneficial to all learners because of the effectiveness, and its’  quality because it would only be based to the approach of communication skills first, and then develop the other parts of necessary to that of learning a new  language.  The approach would create a system where the learners will be able to be in an atmosphere that is calm and stress free . The creativity of the approach also would be design to bring into the classroom the realism  so that they could identify the skills that are developing. The approach will be developed in a way that the learners would be the main focus by  giving them the tools to communicate.  One such plan is for them to express themselves in English when they are in the classroom setting. The teacher's  goal at that stage would be as a facilitator to help the learners by guiding them in the right direction. The teacher would not be a "Silent teacher" but  someone that is there to help develop their skills by instructing them and make corrections early.  Dialogue will be facilitated because that is the main priority. It will consist also of the materials that will be brought to the classroom as to exposed the learners to different genres especially the lower level has to be exposed to the realia ,  pictures and mimic and repetition the learners has to be motivated also by exposing them to the world of learning English. The instruction has to presented in the best simple clear way so that the learner would be able to understand what is being expressed to the classroom .  The grading of the language has to change also for each level and that is where preparation by the teacher is key.  The learners will be exposed to the development of the productive and the receptive skills  so that they could express themselves. 

Learners have different learning styles visual , listening, and tactile,  I would take into consideration those learning styles to design the approach. First, the approach would have two curriculums; one for children and another one for adults. My previous experience working with children I observe that children learn and absorb everything  quickly; the activities then would have to be relevant to their interest  and relate to their everyday life's  so that they could communicate with their peers. The adults approach would have to be centered around their life and what they do in their everyday life, with that in mind the learners  will have a more receptive approach to the acquisition of the English language. My approach would share some similarity as  the Oxbridge  teaching method.  I think the Oxbridge method  is the most sufficient way for a learner to learn English by teaching them to communicate instead of focusing on writing. The teaching method of the Oxbridge  method I find most appropriate is the Triangular Projection Method. This method I think is the best system so far because the priority is the learners and  what is best for the learners and by setting a foundation to help them appreciate and learn the language in the best possible and easy way. I  do agree with some of the Methods, but not every point they make.  One method I agree with is the Suggestopedia  Method which states that learning is facilitated in a cheerful atmosphere.  Students do learn better when they  are in an environment where everyone is happy  and they don't have to  feel embarrassed to perform.  However, the students will not be engaging when  music is involved.  They will get bored and conversations will be lacking between the students.  Another method, that I agree with is the total physical response,  we do learn with our senses.  A beginner learner will enjoy this method when learning about vocabulary and structures.  All the senses will be involved for learning to take place.  There will be movement, visual props, skits, listening, and also real materials could be part of the learning process in order to have clarity meaning.  My main disagreement is with the "Silent Way", I feel like the students are the ones teaching themselves because the teacher is there sitting not engaging with the students.  The students have to self correction. I think the future of English teaching will be a well defined system that put the needs of the learners first and the quality of the teaching would be a bright and outstanding development that when someone wants to learn English they would not feel intimidated or shy to ask questions because all the teachers of English will have patience and  understanding the fear of a new learner will get when seating in a classroom to learn a second language as English. I envision also that the activities will be apply to the needs of the learners and for what specific purpose(s) they are seating in front of a teacher.

The language areas that would be developed are vocabulary, structures and topic. Without the basic foundation such as vocabulary, structures and topics the communicative skills would be a lacking experience. Learning a language cannot be based on one factor, only with those three factors the learners’  will be able start communicate because they would know to have a conversation and how to form a sentence.

The syllabus has to reflect the goals of the learners' linguistic competences such as the purpose why the learners want to learn the language. It would be organized by structure based which will help them to strengthen their confidence to have a conversation. It would also comprised of dialogue because the learners are in need to communicate with the world outside of their continuous life and by having a syllabus that reflects the objectives of the students that will accomplish what needs to be done..  The syllabus will consist of  activities that will be age appropriate for children and young adults and what is relevant for them.  The same will apply for adults' activities to be relevant and what is important to them and their life.  The classes will be about one hour long and three times per week.  The class will consist of four students no more than five.

To achieve the goals and the objective set for learners, the key is lesson planning. It  has to be clear and well defined . Iwould create a lesson plan that would be adapt to different level of a student. For instance, the same lesson plan can be adapt from an advance level to a beginner and what will make the teacher achieve the goals is how the teacher will adapt to the lesson and how the language of the lesson has to change to fit each of level of a student. To achieve this goal for a learner  I  have to assess the learner at the end of the lesson to see if the objective has achieved.   

 An English teacher should learn to adapt their approach to teaching because learners have different levels, the levels are different so teacher should be able to adapt easily and change the language to fit the learners capability to learn. The same should be taken into consideration for the age of the learners; it could a group of children to adults that are learning for a specific purpose such as for business or to communicate with family members. As a teacher one should prepare for those factors and that is where having the skills to adapt lesson plan is such a great advantage when the teacher has the community of other teachers to help with the organization and being well prepared

A teacher's attitude when teaching English has to be objective  because the teacher has different role. The learner first interaction with will be with the teacher such in that instance the teacher role is very important. When you are sitting in that room with the learners your main priority has to be the learners.  You should be able to adapt to different situations that could arise in the learner and that is where a well prepared teacher will always be able to teach and to be able to have materials that are wide selections that are fit every levels  of the students . A teacher is really a "playmaker" you need to be  moving around and make your students feel comfortable around the classroom . All those factors will work well with the classroom management. If the teacher does not have control of the classroom from the beginning of the first meeting learning will be difficult, especially when teaching children and young adults, as some will try to test the authority figure. The teacher should make sure that the students know that this is a form of classroom and they have to comply to the rules . I think classroom management is an important part of the learning. The seating arrangement also have to be right. A teacher can't be expected to monitor  and manage the classroom instead of teaching. The classroom management has to set up first has and then learning will take place.  I think the  young adult has to sign a contract between them and the teacher so that they will know  that  it is a class and not a social club. The behaviors  they expose  during that hour  they need to know that there is consequences . It is not only for the young adults sometimes the adults need to know that you are here to teach them and there are some behaviors that are not acceptable in the classroom.

The future of English teaching is the collaborations between teachers that will involve a bright community for teachers because by having the support of each others will help with the organization that teachers need to prepare for the classroom instead of spending a lot of time of writing lessons plans the collaboration between teachers will be a way to help each other. The goal is how we as English teacher teach and how we help learners and support them during that journey. We taking that journey with them also we need to be prepare and be on the best frame of mind when we sit with them .