Teach English in ZhAngbang Zhen - Huanggang Shi

I believe that we learn through engagement, so I focus my planning efforts on creating lessons that inspire involvement with the material and interactions with peers to solidify the knowledge being acquired. Through activities that encourage self-expression, my students and I will learn from each other. I create dynamic, interactive classes that take the text to a new level of personal ownership, reflection, and discussion through storytelling, debates, prompts, and media presentations. I encourage participation through humor, empathy, and effort. Given the opportunity to structure a class, I would not give a boring lecture. Instead, I would create an interactive discussion with a PowerPoint presentation with music and other multimedia features to help facilitate interactions. Using music and lyrics from either English or Cantonese songs can be fun while advancing analytical thinking. Karaoke-like English lessons would offer students a chance to take greater risks with their language acquisition process. I believe that an interactive environment is more beneficial for students. I would use games, slideshows with music, brain teasers, and skits to advance their grasp of the material. One successful tool was a little pre-test about the new material to discover what the students know, and hopefully, offer enough tantalizing details so they want to learn more. I also am a firm believer in a group effort to create learning materials so that everyone can succeed. In many of my courses, we created a group study guide and then made up questions and quizzed each other to enhance learning and retention. During my senior year of high school, at my local YMCA, for example, I developed and executed a semester long leadership course for middle school students. Games like blob tag (where those who were “it” linked arms and had to communicate to tag other players) and partner tic-tac-toe taught communication, leadership, and teamwork in a fun, active, engaging setting. I used this knowledge when I worked with 20 older students who were learning about civic responsibility. The material must be relevant to sustain interest and commitment, so I work extremely hard to relate whatever I am teaching to the students’ lives. I led meaningful discussions with deep analytical questions on topics that were salient to them. The students were concerned with the school lunches provided to them, for example, so we talked about how the civic process could be applied to improve their school diet. Through a campaign, the students were able to get a salad bar installed at the school. Another example occurred recently in one of my classes. Instead of just reciting the material like all my peers, I developed a game show to assess their knowledge of the information. I have excellent computer skills which permits me to develop slide shows, videos, PowerPoint presentations, and other dynamic learning materials, all with compelling music added when appropriate. I believe that another way to motivate students is through empathy. When I was studying in Shanghai recently, I needed to learn Mandarin. Those first few months of struggling in my language class, or ordering dinner with great difficulty, left a very vivid impression on me. Sometimes, I was helpless without the aid of a bilingual friend. Having the opportunity to speak Mandarin with my friends throughout the day gave me the experience, confidence, and support to make progress in learning this difficult language. English also is a difficult language to learn. Thus, I feel an imperative to create small conversation groups to formally help my students practice their English language skills. Sometimes students are shy about finding friends so that they can practice their skills. By suggesting that they create interest group practice teams, I hope that they will build their confidence and make friends in the process. We can all use supportive friendships when undertaking a difficult task.