Job Discussion Forums

[alter ego]

I think this is an interesting topic worthy of discussion. Funny how advice here can get so convoluted at times. So many different ways and approaches to EFL teaching and all that.

To the OP, I think you're on the right track. If you stay open to suggestions from students and continue to keep an open mind about learning and improving yourself as a teacher, you've already won.

I think how serious you are as a teacher depends on your personality, the natural way you interact with others. I think how we communicate with students, how we relate to them using our our innate sense of humor, can be a skill, something we can learn as we become more experienced in the game of teaching.

In my TESOL course in Thailand, I remember a handout showing all of the different roles that we play as teachers, mentors, coaches, tutors, counselors, advisers, educators, confidants, etc. How we play these roles depends on us, how we perceive ourselves and how we project our style and personality to the outside world and those we teach.

I think the trick is having confidence in ourselves, being comfortable in our own skins, knowing we're good at what we do, and that no matter what happens, how many mistakes we make or how many times we fall short of being perfect, that we are at least growing and learning as teachers. That is the key, my friend. To keep learning and growing.

After eight years of EFL teaching I'm still learning when to be serious and when to be more relaxed, and the key for me is simply being true to my own sense of humor, my own sense of enjoyment and satisfaction that comes from being genuinely interested in communicating with students. The ability to enjoy ourselves, combined with the know how of getting students actively involved in the learning process, naturally leads to fun and interesting lessons.

Being fun and less serious in the classroom is less about the games and activities you use and more about how you choose to use them. Relax, be yourself, and above all, stay humble.

[The Ever-changing Cleric]

if the students feel you're too serious AND they feel they're not learning anything, then thats a bad combination. i've heard this about plenty of the classes given by chinese teachers and they think this kind of teacher is boring.

but if you're seen as serious, organized and the students are getting something they think of as useful out of your class, nothing wrong with that. then they'll be telling you that you're responsible. don't forget, these students often use the wrong word in English to get their meaning across.

for example, i've been told i'm "cool" when in fact they mean i'm "cold" as in not the traditional singing dancing guitar playing funny FT.

[norwalkesl]

[mat chen]

Norwalkes. I believe you are a dedicative diligent teacher. I have been here 6 years. I know my students and how to write their names in Chinese. I get the spies in my classroom and I address then as such. " "Are you from Taiwan?" They sit in the back of the classroom writing away. I don't mind this. It is part of the job to be evaluated. I did the same in Canada with teachers. But I did it to help them. I told them I was coming. So I order these people out of my classroom here in China. My classes are non threatening and having these people in my class makes the students nervous.
For the first time in 25 years of teaching I failed students. They showed up for the last class and talked while I was trying to evaluate my students. I asked them in Chinese to go outside and talk. I was sworn at in Chinese. I said, " Sorry I am a bad foreigner, to them and they again cursed me." It is China and they paid their money, so I still lose.
My only advice is this. The majority of students want to learn English. Their stratagies for learning are flawed by the system. Don't take your job too seriously. As the Christians say," God closes one door but opens another." Happy new year dedicated teacher.

[kukiv]