My teaching experience (2016-2020)

 

Why did I become a teacher?

Teaching has been my passion ever since I was a small girl, because I had an inspirational teacher in school, and to keep matters short, she changed my life. She was the teacher who absolutely loved her subject, which made the classes more enjoyable, interactive and surprising (even though the subject was quite difficult). Her excitement for the subject sparked my love for learning and made me to never stop being curious about the world. I also realized that making mistakes is a good thing! I hope to one day also inspire my students and help them improve their abilities, their self-growth and their curiosity. From there, it was only natural for me to become a teacher.

What do I believe in as an ESL teacher?

I believe in the following quote as an ESL teacher:

“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”

- William A. Ward

William A. Ward was an inspirational writer and poet in the 19th century. He published many articles which deal with a number of topics, including education in America.

I believe that the best thing a teacher can do is to inspire students in a given subject. Teaching should be inspirational; I reckon that the teacher’s job shouldn't just boil down to transmitting the information from books to students. The fundamental goal and pleasure of teaching can neither be achieved nor sensed through lecturing and rote memorization of knowledge. As a teacher, my duty is to inspire young learners to discover themselves freely. Inspiration cannot be achieved through textbooks nor on class boards; instead, it should be modelled by the teacher. Put simply, the teacher’s role should never be limited to the act of “schooling”, but it should be about educating and instilling good manners and paving the way for my learners’ self-discovery. Every teacher should realize that students are unique individuals with various aspirations and talents.

A teacher should stimulate their arousal by allowing them to be themselves and to help them develop their skills and potentials. The teacher should stimulate pupils by building lessons upon their interests, and give encouragement to them.  An educator should build pupil's self-confidence and create positive connotations for the language, which, in turn, leaves a long-standing mark in them. Thus, the longer I teach, the more important it is for me to see that my students are curious and at ease in the classroom.

What experience do I have as a teacher?

During my studies in the BA program, I completed 300 hours teaching English in a local primary school, conducting lessons at both the lower and upper primary level. I also participated in many events such as “English day”, this event was dedicated to everything English related, the students were participating by dressing-up as their favorite celebrity from an English-speaking country. Then, there was an assembly about the “English” culture, as students and special guests (as myself) shared their experience in an English-speaking country, as well as enjoyed talented singers performing their favorite songs, performing skits from famous movies, and be competing in lexical contests. I was also a part of many afterschool programs such as English clubs, and judging singing competitions. In addition, I also have 100 hours’ worth of experience teaching French to lower primary pupils in Warsaw. For a year, I was able to work pupils in grade four. Currently, for the past two years, I have been a part-time English tutor. I have been teaching learners who range from primary school (grade 3), teenagers at the Matura level (similar to the A levels in the UK) and finally, adults.

Do you have any additional experience?

In the last year of my BA studies, I was able to participate in a teaching project. The European Language Label organized a project with a Polish educational foundation FRSE (Fundacja Rozwoju Systemu Edukacji) and partnered with the University of Warsaw (Foreign Languages faculty). The goal of this project was to promote foreign language learning such as English, German, French, Spanish using technical devices such as Kahoot, Jeopardy, learning apps, VR devices, and finally stop motion animation. So, in other words, we were trying to inspire students to learn more foreign languages as well as encourage teachers to differentiate their language lessons using various devices. We showed educators and pupils a more modern way of language learning which does not involve only coursebooks!

(The bus)

The project team consisted of a number of university students and head-creators from the foundation. For four months (September to December), the team travelled by bus to various cities in Poland — for instance, Gdynia, Wrocław, Kraków and many more. In each city, we presented language activities (devices) to students in Polish primary, middle and secondary schools. Although it was a challenging job, it was rewarding to work with students from different parts of Poland, and inspire them to learn foreign languages. It was interesting to see that students from different cities learn different foreign languages, as in Wrocław, where students mostly learn German (probably because of the close proximity to Germany).  Surprisingly, a relatively small number of students were learning English and almost none were learning French, Spanish or any other European language.

I think that this project was successful, as there were times where students and teachers did not want to return to their normal class and continue the festivities on the bus. I also felt this was a great opportunity for me to grow as a teacher and develop my teaching skills. I learned how to be flexible, as there is always something that didn't go as planned. For example; there were a few times where our internet connection did not want to cooperate with us and the was also the unpredictability of the weather (brrrr!). We had to be quick on our feet, and invent supplementary activities on the spot and drink lots of coffee. But, thanks to this experience, this was the first time where I felt like a real teacher. I was given all creative freedom to create activities and really get connected with learners. There were even times where we meet students who were learning languages, we weren’t familiar with! Overall, it was an amazing experience and if I could, I would take part in the project again.

That’s my teaching experience thus far, if you have any questions or remarks, please feel free to leave a comment down below!

Sara