MY TEACHING PURPOSE:
I have always loved English and Grammar. I remember when I was in 8th grade I had a wonderful English teacher and I thought I wanted to be just like her. My family and I moved to Spain over 30 years ago and of course being a native speaker always had its advantages. For a few years, I tutored children with their homework and then during 6 years I worked in the local hospital in the ER as a translator and liaison between patients and doctors.
Once I finished working in the hospital I decided to dedicate my time to teaching English again but now on a more serious basis. First I started working in an Academy that prepared students for exams and tutoring school children. This last year I have opened my own English Academy here in the town I live in.
I love working with students of all ages especially teenagers and adults. I take my classes seriously and I believe my students perceive that. I get nervous when they go to official exams because I feel that my teaching techniques are being tested and I celebrate with them with all the accomplishments big and small.
MY TEACHING STYLE:
I think that the styles that best relate to the way I teach are the DIRECT APPROACH, THE AFFTECTIVE HUMANISTIC APPROACH and THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH. But I think it also depends on the types of students I have and their needs.
I think these approaches relate more to my style especially with students who are learning English as a second language. I enjoy (and I believe my students do to) making the classes more communicative; because in the end what they mainly want is to be able to communicate in English. When I do Business English groups I use more role plays and speaking or communication approaches.
When I do tutoring for the school subject of English what the student wants and needs is more grammar based or textbook based. Making sure they understand their homework and what they are learning in their classes.
In the DIRECT APPROACH, what I like most is using dialogues and learning about the countries that they hope to visit. With the AFFECTIVE HUMANISTIC APPROACH, I like to do creative writing, creating comics or doing listening with songs and then translating them. The COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH also has things that I like and put into practice like, reading books with my students based on a topic they like and then having discussions about the chapters they have read.
Like I mentioned above, I believe I use a variety of approaches depending on the needs of each group or student. I personally believe that if my students are receiving a class based on their needs they are more excited about learning because they can see that they can put their English into practice in a more personal way. All in all, I believe we can’t just stick with one approach.
MY TEACHING TECHNIQUES:
While preparing my lessons, I always take into account my group of students and their level of English. As I teach English to all different levels and ages I cannot use the same technique with all of them. I try to adapt to the needs of all my students. I mainly use the AFFECTIVE HUMANISTIC and COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH. Since my groups are small I try to make my students feel comfortable and try to create a more familiar atmosphere.
In my classes which last about 90 minutes. I usually spend about 20/30 minutes warm up and teaching and then 60 minutes more or less letting students practice what we have learned. We usually do about 60 minutes between speaking, guided practice, independent practice and assessment.
As warm up activities we usually go over what we did the lesson before in a game format or role play and answering any questions or doubts they have. Then I explain what we are going to see in this lesson/class. Then I let them try to the tasks on their own or in groups, depending on the task. I assess my students on their ability to do the task. If they understood the task and team work; if applicable. I assess them this way because I believe they need to see their progress and see that they are improving.