I am an introvert, and I am a teacher. As paradoxical as that may sound, introverted teachers enjoy a wealth of benefits that many extroverted teachers may not have, such as the ability to easily connect with quiet, introverted students and the kind of creativity that comes from planning lessons in their “caves of solitude.”…
I have taught students aged 11-18 in public schools in France and Spain and students aged 8+ at English immersion summer camps in the United States. The recommendations that follow are based on my experience teaching older children in classroom settings. Young learners present unique challenges and unique joys in teaching. These 5 C’s will…
Unbeknownst to many, the main function of our brain is not for learning, but primarily for keeping us alive. Right! Our ancestral brain’s primary objective is to learn how to make us survive. Although it has been mentioned by social media influencers like Jay Shetty, Lewis Howes, and Simon Sinek, it continues to be a…
Online learning has been a subject of debate for a couple of years now with regards to its efficacy and validity as a medium for education. The issues with online learning revolve around the ideas of lesson adaptability, computer literacy, time management, and motivation. These issues are indeed valid and are raised by several institutions…
As our world is currently facing a pandemic, a lot of people are financially taking a hit. This “new norm” of ours presents a very precarious situation to a lot of individuals living on daily wages. Since a lot of people, at least in the Philippines, are currently not receiving any pay as mid-level companies…
Before you attempt to ask the question, “How does one teach ESL online?”, you must first make sure that you are qualified to teach English in the first place. If any of the following is true for you, you are in it to win it in the ESL field. English is your mother tongue–meaning you…
Having spent countless hours in the ESL classroom as a teacher, I have learned the importance of modeling for students, especially for those at the beginner level. So, what exactly is “modeling”? Yes, it is most commonly known as the work of a fashion model, but, in the ESL classroom, it is known as a…
In my more than 10 years of studying–even in my current master’s degree program–I have been observing what makes an outstanding teacher. And, so far, I have come to the following conclusion: an outstanding teacher is someone who makes a meaningful impact on his or her students, someone whom I will be able to remember…
While the global pandemic caused by COVID-19 is spreading throughout the world, the need for online English teachers is increasing rapidly. On Facebook alone, several companies are trying to recruit English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers who can work from home, partly because they know that many people around the world are stuck inside…
One of the looming questions an ESL instructor faces is: “When should we correct our students?” To be honest, the answer I will give you is probably the same as many other instructors’: “It depends.” There are a lot of factors when it comes to the idea of “it depends.” As a communication specialist, I…