Teach English in Caopandi Zhen - Huanggang Shi

If one wants to become a good teacher, it is not enough to simply walk into a classroom and handout worksheets. It is not enough to understand English and regurgitate the rules to a classroom. While knowledge is important, more often than not a teacher must take on an understanding role so that their students can truly reap the benefits of their education. The personal qualities that make a great English teacher are focus, humility, and compassion. There is no doubt that a teacher must remain focused on their task in order to create a fulfilling learning experience. They must follow through and, as Unit 1 of the ITTT course explains, "a good teacher should know students' weaknesses and try to give help and individual attention where necessary" (1). These tasks are where focus is so important. Without the driven focus that a good teacher has, they can very easily leave their students to drown. No teacher would intentionally leave their students floundering, but it can be very easy for teachers to lose sight. They can be distracted with their own lives, attempt to rush through the curriculum, or simply not think to reassess which students need the most help. That's why a solid focus is so imperative- without it everyone will be lost. But if a teacher is able to follow through on their promises and follow through on their lessons they not only teach their students, ensuring that they have what it takes to become fluent, but also gain their respect. But simply following through on a lesson and paying attention to the needs of students is not enough. A good English teacher must also recognize when the lesson isn't working. Humility allows a teacher to look at what is not working in a classroom. Teachers should not be blindsided by their mistakes. Instead, they should recognize them so that they too can learn. The worst mistake a teacher might make is believing that they're no longer in the position of learning. Teachers should follow through with their promises and lessons, yes, but if that lesson is causing more damage than good it is time for them to swallow their pride. This can be humbling, but should not be embarrassing. Instead a teacher should look at this as an opportunity to be in their students' shoes. Unit 1 explains that a good learner is someone who accepts corrections; that should apply to the teacher as well (5). Teachers have a wealth of resources to learn from, such as online guides and more experienced teachers in their schools. A humble teacher is a teacher who can relate to the students. The role of compassion, of being able to put oneself in the shoes of others, cannot be understated in a teaching position. Nobody lives in a vacuum; humans are living creatures that interact with everything around them, even when they don't mean to. Just as a teacher's capacity to learn ebbs and flows with the life events surrounding them, so does a student's. It's absolutely essential that we can recognize the problems a student faces so that we can have an environment that encourages learning. We cannot change everything in a student's life but have a responsibility to recognize the struggles of a student (inside and outside the classroom) and adapt our teaching to suit them as best we can. If a teacher does not have these tools of focus, humility, and compassion they are essentially dictating the rules of english to a room and hoping a few students pick it up. There are likely English teachers who do this and get away with it, but the students will be worse off for it. Instead, if a teacher focuses on their class, recognizes their own mistakes, and addresses the struggles of their students, they can succeed as a teacher and the students will succeed right along with them. Works Cited “International TEFL and TESOL Training: Unit 1.” 2011.