Prosser, Nebraska TESOL Online & Teaching English Jobs

In this unit, I learned what makes a good teacher as well as what makes a good learner. A teacher, who cares about his /her teaching but cares even more about the learning of the students, makes a good teacher. The teacher has different roles that will help make his/her teaching more effective if used appropriately. The teacher has the role of the manager/controller of the class, organizer of activities, being the assessor of the class while correcting, evaluating, grading and giving feedback. As the prompter, the teacher should encourage students if they get stuck while learning but not take the initiative away from them. The teacher can be the participant in some lessons/activities in order to spice up the class to keep from being dull. He/she is the tutor and helps with individual help or helps encourage students who are stuck while working in pairs. Being the resource/facilitator of the class, the teacher can help students with information but should not act as a spoon-feeder. As a model, the teacher should realize that students want to benefit from the pronunciation, speech, vocabulary, and grammar he/she has to offer. While being the observer/monitor, the teacher monitors the class in order to see what is going on to get an idea how long an activity will take. Taking notes during a conversation activity is useful in order to help correct the students as well as give positive feedback. Observing the class from a distance helps with not distracting the students but it is good to step in and help when needed. What makes a good learner depends on age, culture, language level and motivation for learning. But here are some qualities of what makes a good learner, someone who has a desire to learn while asking questions and willing to accept corrections after making an error. When it comes to the age of younger learners, early teens are usually unmotivated, self-conscious, unwilling to take risks or to experiment with language. Pre-teens are usually interested in the new sounds, words, and grammar of a foreign language. As for very young learners, they are not able to concentrate without being distracted. They also do not have a great understanding of their own language but they are most interested in fun and games, drawing and singing. When it comes to learning experiences, motivation, nervousness, language awareness, behavior problems, and life experience, adult learners have more of an advantage compared to younger learners except when it comes to nervousness and language awareness. I learned that different cultures have different approaches to learning and that a good teacher should be aware of their students’ customs and differences that could affect the success of the classes. I also learned that there are distinctions between different levels of ability in the English language: Beginners, Elementary, Low/Pre-Intermediate, Intermediate, Upper- Intermediate, and Advanced. With their breakdown, I was able to understand their meanings but depending on the teaching material and the place of work, a lower level student in one country could be viewed as a higher level student in another. I understand that there are 6 levels recently established by the Council of Europe known as the Common European Framework: Breakthrough,Basic User A1, Waystage, Basic User, A2, Threshold, Independent User, B1, Vantage, Independent User, B2, Effective Operational Proficiency, Proficient User, C1 Mastery, Proficient User, C2 Based on the information that was given about the lower level, mid-level, and higher level students, I understand that it is not good to teach beginner students something that is not easy to understand, just as it is not good to teach advanced students something that is too easy to understand. Each level has its up and downs. With the lower level students, success can easily be noticeable. They might not ask too many complicated grammar questions and they can also make the teaching experience restricting due to their level of the English language. Mid-level students are usually motivated for their level and can communicate on different topics, but at this level, it can be difficult to remove the differences within their mistakes. Higher level students know a lot of English and are usually highly motivated but they can reach a point where they feel that they are not progressing. The teacher should encourage the students to take more and more responsibility for their own language learning. I understand that students attend classes for different reasons. They are motivated by means of travel, reaching a higher position in their career, or even to do well in their own academic studies. Whatever the reason is, as a teacher it is my job to make sure the lessons are fun, enjoyable, interesting, varied and useful in order to build that motivation.