What is your teaching philosophy?

As an ESL and language educator, it is my philosophy that students learn the most when they are personally invested in the activities they are participating in. I try to incorporate classroom activities that tie directly to students' interests and experiences, making learning a much more fun and engaging process.

What might you do in a typical first session with a student?

In a typical first session, I like to get to know my students and their interests. I try to develop my class as a community, where everyone has valuable interests and skills to share. Knowledge of my students' interests and abilities is essential in developing activities that meet their needs!

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

I think one of the best ways to help a student become an independent learner is by encouraging them to find meaningful connections to the topic in their lives. For ESL students, this means encouraging them to make friends in the target language community. Teachers can lead the way by building positive relationships with students that encourage natural use of the target language.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

If a student can't understand something the way it is being explained, I would take time to work with them individually to find the cause of confusion. I would attempt to explain the idea from a different perspective, incorporating visual and physical cues to help them reach understanding. As much of language is contextual, seeing something acted out can help enormously in student understanding.