Clyde, Kansas TESOL Online & Teaching English Jobs

The relationship between learners and teachers is a very important and complex issue. An enthusiastic, sensitive, motivated and caring teacher is much more likely to have successful students who enjoy their learningandcontinueattendingclasses. As a result we can say that a 'good teacher' will most likely have 'good students' There are different types of teachers. - Manager or Controller: When teachers take on the role of a controller, they are effectively in charge of the class and of the activity in a way that is quite different from an activity where the students are working ontheirown,inpairsoraspartofagroup. Theteacherwouldnormallybestandingatthe frontoftheclassgivingexplanations,readingaloudetc. Manyverycharismaticteachersare very comfortable with this approach as they feel that they are able to inspire the students. Many other teachers are not as comfortable with such a role as it places all the attention on the teacher and detracts from the students' own experiences. Of course, as with other roles, the teacher as a controller has its place in the classroom but certainly shouldn't be overused. - Organizer: This role is one of the most important, as teachers very frequently find themselves having to organize students to do various activities. Often this will involve giving instructions, organizing students into groups/pairs, initiating activities, bringing activities to a close and organizing feedback. It is extremely important that teachers are comfortable in this role, as chaos could be caused if students are not aware of the task, or how the groups are supposed to function. - Assessor: Students are usually very keen to find out whether or not they are producing correct English and this is where the teacher will need to act as an assessor, giving feedback and correction as well as evaluating and grading. It is vitally important in this role that the teacher is fair and consistent with all the students as well as being very sensitive to the students' reactions and providing necessary support. - Prompter: There are times when students will lose the thread of what they are trying to say or become stuck for ideas. When this happens the teacher needs to decidewhattodoaboutit. Shouldtheteacherallowthestudenttoworkit out for him/herself? Or should the teacher gently encourage the student along? If you choose the second option you are, in effect, acting as a prompter. When prompting we want to help, but we have to be careful not to take the initiative away from the student. Therefore a great deal of sensitivity and encouragement is required. At times we may also find ourselves prompting the students to use English and not their native language! - Participant: At certain stages of the lesson the teacher may wish to participate in the lesson as an equal, notastheteacher. Therecanbeanumberofreasonsforthissuchasbeingabletoliven activities up from the inside of the group as opposed to prompting from outside the group, or evening the number of students for pair work activities in classes with an uneven number of participants. When participating it is important for the teacher not to dominate the activity or focus attention upon him/herself. - Tutor: Tutoringimpliesamorepersonalrolefortheteacher. Thisrolewilloftenbeemployedwhen students are working individually and need some guidance and support or when they are working in pairs and we stop briefly to give encouragement. Again, care needs to be taken to ensure the teacher gives equal attention to all students and to avoid intruding too much. - Resource or Facilitator: The teacher devises activities that allow the students simply to get on with the process of learning a language for themselves. There are many occasions when the teacher will wish to withdraw completely from the activity and leave the students to participate in tasks without any interruption or interference. The teacher still needs, however, to be available as a resource in case the students require any assistance or guidance. When acting as a resource we want to be helpful and available but we have to resist the temptation to spoon-feed. - Model: The teacher, and particularly a native-speaker of English, is often the only source of real, live English the student has ever encountered. The teacher is the fount of all knowledge on English grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation, and in these areas they have particular responsibility and authority in the eyes of the learner. Many adult learners particularly want to benefit from the speech or pronunciation model that the teacher offers. - Observer or Monitor: Often during the course of a lesson the teacher will wish to monitor what is goingonintheclassroom. Thiscangivetheteacherinformationastohow longanactivityislikelytotakeandhowsuccessfulithasbeen. Duringoral communicative activities the teacher may also want to make notes for correction or praise at a later stage. While observing it is important that the teacher generally maintains a distance from the students so as to not distract them from the activity that they are involved in, but there are occasions when the teacher may also need to move in a little, to hear spoken work or to look at writing in progress, in order to monitor effectively. The role that teachers employ is largely going to depend on the type of activity and what we wish the students to achieve. Some stages of a lesson will require that the teacher is more dominating or leading, while others will require a more withdrawn role. Itisimportantthattheteacherisabletoswitchbetweentheserolesappropriatelyandisawareofhowtocarryout the required role.