Teach English in Yifeng Zhen - Zhumadian Shi

I chose this topic because all my teaching experience is voluntary. I have conducted youth bootcamps teaching about personal development in English to English speaking youths so the focus is not on the language but on the content of the material. My ability to present the lessons in such a way that it resonates with them so they can see and feel that the topic is relevant to them and it is in their own interest to open up and listen to me for they might learn something which is of value to them. Content is important but presentation is more crucial. Even if the subject is of high value to them if presented over and above their capacity to understand and relate with the topic they will be very disinterested. They will not really listen with a purpose to understand, they may listen but with no effort to engage and participate. They will just sit and daydream while the lesson is going on, they are present physical but their mind is wandering. Since my teaching is voluntary, driven by my passion to raise more responsible children who are able to choose the right and take responsibility for their own decisions, grow as they learn to make wise decisions based on time honoured principles of integrity, kindness, respect, resilience, industry etc., no matter how they behave in class it does not discourage me. If stye behave and listen great, i can try to go deeper into the subject and have meaningful discussions according to how they re act and respond to the topic. Their positive reaction makes it easier to reach them out to really understand and hopefully act according to what they understand and go on to change and make more self aware decisions knowing that every decision have a consequence. If some misbehave in any way, I try to find means to turn their misbehaviour into a learning experience. For instance a student who choose to deliberately give a wrong answer, I indulge him and deliberately ask him more questions to lead him on to keep giving the wrong answer, after a while i will then lead him to the inevitable long term and short term consequences of his choices so he will be cornered to admit that wrong choices inevitably leads to the wrong direction. So his misbehaving gave me an opening to present and go deeper in the lesson, plus since it is his own input he then participates with the discussion. I think volunteer teaching is more driven because it has no other purpose than just to teach expecting nothing in return. The opportunity itself is the reward. If it is a voluntary teaching, it goes to say that the students are there by choice so they are more likely to listen. The few who misbehave they are there not of their free choice but they may have been convinced against their will be a person who has authority over them like their parents. When students do change and go to change for the better and this feedback is reported by parents or teachers or siblings, the feeling is so great like, it makes me cry. For me the most challenging part of voluntary teaching or teaching in general is the capacity to live what i teach. I cannot teach values, morality, good manners and right conduct when I myself live a life in violation of these principles. Yes of course I can teach all i want but with no real passion, conviction and confidence for i will just be teaching from my mouth not from my heart and soul. So my results will be mediocre, my students will consider my teaching fake because I am a fake teaching what I do not know. Knowing something is actually living its practicing it not just talking about it. You cannot share what you do not have. I have taught English to a group of 15 children ranging from 6 years old to 12 years old, who all come from non English speaking countries. The common thing among them is they are at the same level as non of them have ever learned English before plus they have never lived in an English speaking country so they have no exposure to English. Since my teaching is just voluntary I have set my own goals and choose my own methodology. I explain it to the parents first so they can decide whether they will give me the chance to teach their children. All of my students go to French schools, so they speak French and I speak French so it is our common language. I know that in teaching a second language, the teacher is suppose only to use the language being learned and not any other language. I violated this rule. I try sometimes to use French if I see that it might help them understand more the point i am trying to explain. Sometimes I even try to explain in their native language if I know it or I go further to ask the parents to explain to them the point I am trying to teach. Since English is not my first language, I speak with an accent influenced by my native language. So i make it clear to the parents from the very start that I speak with an accent and there is a risk that their children will pick up my accent. I also explain to them my lack of qualification to teach English; that I am not a certified English teacher. My only qualification is my passion to teach, that my ability to teach English is just learned by experience having gone to English speaking schools. I am trying take this certification class so I have a qualification to show and perhaps it will convince more parents to give me the chance to teach their children. Who knows with more experience I can even qualify to teach English and get paid for it.