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Many people are proficient English-speakers but that doesn’t immediately make them a good teacher of the language. It is similar to dancing - some people know how to move their body well but they couldn’t actually tell you why or how they move in the way that they do, simply because they haven’t taken the time to analyze or rationally understand the action they are performing. As for teaching English, understanding the language, at least up to a certain level, is a basic condition you need to fulfill before entering a classroom with the intention of teaching. Teaching vocabulary, grammar and phonetics is probably what you would say If somebody asked you to explain what you do but there is a lot more that goes into it. Every individual student will bring an entire set of responsibilities, fears, pressures and life situation to the classroom. These can vary depending on the age groups you teach but there will always be something outside of the classroom weighing on the students that the teacher doesn’t know about, even if it is just to a disinterest in the class they are taking. That is not to say that the students will be so troubled they won’t be able to learn anything, it is just something that the teacher always has to deal with below the surface because it will always have an influence on the lesson somehow. Most of these outside factors that can influence the students, such as family or self esteem issues or work pressure cannot directly be influenced by the teacher but the teacher can do their best to build a comfortable classroom atmosphere to make it as easy and pleasurable as possible for the students to learn. The first step the teacher can take towards doing this is keeping themselves in check. This means following basic rules such as being punctual, having a well prepared lesson which should give the impression that they know what they are doing. This is a good way to establish orderly conduct because if the students feel that the teacher is interested in making the lesson work out, they will be more interested in that themselves. Building a good rapport with the students and encouraging them to treat each other in a friendly way is the next step. This can be achieved by being enthusiastic about the teaching, being culturally aware, being patient with the students and being sensitive towards them and their needs. For example if you know that a student is uncomfortable speaking in front of the class you shouldn’t put them on the spot, for this will create discomfort, possibly ridicule from their peers and most importantly decrease their learning capacities. Instead you should focus on praising them even if it is for simple tasks or questions they were able to answer correctly. Studies show that the learning rates are quickest when positive emotions are being triggered in the process. Another example is teaching a class with older people that are already working full time jobs. When it becomes apparent that they are worn out from the days work you should respond by decreasing the amount of input given in that class or just turn the lesson into a conversation based one instead of becoming impatient or even upset that the class won’t be able to do what you had planned for that day. On the surface level it can be very encouraging for your students if you show them that you’re actually interested in catering to their needs, for example by teaching lessons based on specific requests that they have made because they need it for something outside of school. This will let the students know that you have a genuine interest in helping to advance them and that you’re not just trying to get it over with a dull syllabus because you have to. In summary, you should do your best to prepare the lessons and be aware of your students needs, the social dynamics of the class and not favor anyone over the other. This will truly encourage students to pay attention, learn and even gain enthusiasm during the lesson when they weren’t interested initially. Being able to bring across the language points is essential but managing the class by using your teacher skills (that will improve as you go) will make the teaching experience so much more pleasurable and easy for both students and teachers.
