Back with the ink was barely dry on my MATESOL, I had a group of students from whom I learned many, many lessons. This post is about three of those lessons…

The setting: A once-a-week English class at a high school in Japan, in the mid 1980s.

The characters: Sixty 16-year old boys who had never seen a foreign person “up close and personal” and me, a teacher who still thought she actually knew something about teaching and whose Japanese repertoire consisted of hello, thank you, and I’m lost.

Scene One: Why are you bowing to me? I’m not your leader!

I felt uncomfortable the first time my students stood and bowed to me at the start of class. Because this was English class, I decided that my class ought to be a little island of American culture (meaning, in my mind, no obsequious bowing).

The next week, I entered the classroom and waited in vain for my students to stop talking, face me and make eye contact. I spent most of the next few lessons trying to get the boys to take class seriously. Finally, I reinstated the class-beginning bow, and all was well. As long as they had the nonverbal signal that this was a real class (they bow at the beginning of every class) my students were ready to try whatever I asked of them during class.

Lesson learned: Don’t take away one nonverbal signal unless you replace it with another. If I had started by respecting the structure my students were familiar with, and gradually introduced another way to signal the beginning of class (like becoming quiet and looking at the teacher), I could have most likely replaced the bowing without disruption.

Scene Two: This is English class. Why are you speaking Japanese?

I’m a child of the communicative and natural approaches (MATESOL in the 80s). So, of course, my students did pair work, information gaps, jigsaw activities, and meaningful tasks. But, whenever my students were working in pairs, or in small groups, I heard more Japanese than English. I coaxed, I threatened, I separated, I even deducted points from games. But still, when I gave them an activity, I heard whispered Japanese. What were they saying? Were they totally ignoring me and my instructions? Were they making rude comments about me? It’s easy to become a bit paranoid when people are whispering in a language you don’t understand. Gradually, my Japanese improved enough to understand the gist of these conversations: What the heck does she want us to do? Do you know what we’re supposed to be doing? You ask her. No, you!

Lesson learned: Know enough of your students’ language to understand when they’re lost. Classroom language is largely repetitive, and it doesn’t take long. Regardless of your personal feelings about English only in class, it really, really helps to know what your students are saying. And, if you want your students to do an activity in English, be sure they 1) know the language they’ll need to complete the task and 2) know what they’re supposed to do during the activity

Scene Three: Picture Day and the one-finger peace sign

By the end of the year, I had finally figured out how to work within my students’ notions of class structure to create a environment where they were communicating with each other in English. The boys were willing to do what I asked, as long as they understood what it was I wanted them to do. Picture day seemed a perfect opportunity to document our growth as teacher and students.

I was thrilled when my students asked if they could decorate our class chalkboard with English quotes from movies. They had gone beyond my lessons and made a connection with authentic English! Being the mid-80s, my students’ favorite American movie was Beverly Hills Cop, and all of the quotes included variations of f**k. They’d conjugated the verb perfectly, and had even managed to include most parts of speech. There were pictures, too, to support meaning. I was mortified, but everyone else, including the head teacher and photographer, seemed quite impressed with my students’ efforts.

We stood in front of the board for our class picture. The photographer said cheezu and the boys raised their hands. Looking at the pictures in this post, you can imagine the gesture I expected to see–the ubiquitous Japanese peace sign. Unfortunately, my students only used one finger. It was quite the class photo

Lesson learned: When 16 year old boys as a group ask to do something that constitutes work beyond the requirements of class, get details. Ask follow up questions. Set parameters. And when you still end up with a chalkboard full of profanity and a class photo of cherubs giving the middle finger salute, laugh. A sense of humor really helps.

I began my EFL career in the mid 1970s. I was an idealistic, I-can-change-the-world twenty one-year-old heading off to Indonesia with backpack and guitar in hand! I was a VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) volunteer and I can still remember the overwhelming feeling of optimism that in some small way I would revolutionise the lives of those I was about to teach! I had undergone 1 week of training in Edinburgh, had a degree in Music & English Linguistic Studies, a copy of Thomson and Martinet’s Practical English Grammar and a pocket Oxford dictionary – the future of EFL in Indonesia was assured!

It did not take long to realise that the problems in a country like Indonesia were complex and my arrival there would not make a great deal of difference!

My role during this posting was to prepare university lecturers to take language exams so that they could pursue higher degrees and training in the UK, US and Australia. These were highly experienced individuals in their fields (engineering, medicine, science etc.) and I felt very small as I stood in front of the class with my limited knowledge. They were some of the most amazing people I have met and they showed me that nobody is insignificant and that I too could give them something that they needed and had value. As for what I learned – it would take a series of blog posts – but I returned to the UK after two years with the feeling that I had been the only one to have gained from my experience. That is, until I met a former Indonesian student who was studying in London – had it not been for meeting you, she said, I would never have had this opportunity!

One lesson, which I learned from my Indonesian boss at the time, still strikes a chord even today. I was complaining in the office about several things, students not doing their homework, the Banda machine not working, no electricity etc..

“What’s the matter with you” he said “Did you have breakfast this morning?”

“Er, yes” I replied.

“When you go home will there be lunch for you – and dinner this evening?”

“Of course.”

“Then what do you have to complain about”.

Living in a developing country the point hit firmly home. It was a good lesson.

Another example I’d like to share is that of a Japanese student I taught. She was a middle-aged woman living in Indonesia with her Indonesian husband and two teenage children. She ran a flower business and taught ikebana (she was highly qualified in this). We started our lessons and 3 months later we were still on unit 1! She did not want to move to unit 2 until she was absolutely confident about everything in unit 1. I was somewhat frustrated but she was adamant (if any of you are familiar with Longmans Kernel Lessons Intermediate – the only book available in Indonesia at the time – you will appreciate this more). What I learned from this was the beauty of patience and attention to detail. When I saw her ikebana arrangements  I understood her need – they were truly exquisite.

I’m going to fast-forward for my final examples. The first, a member of a proficiency group I was teaching at a college in London. The class, as many advanced classes can be, was very female dominated but we had one very rumbustious Turkish student in the group. He was the class clown and played to the gallery at every opportunity. He always arrived late and although he was a very lively member of the group he rarely produced any homework and never seemed ready to take the exam. When he arrived at each lesson he would put his head around the door and ask

“Is it writing?”

If we were indeed doing writing he would scoot off to the canteen until the break. I always thought this odd as he was, by profession, a journalist. Most of the teachers had taught him at some stage and the consensus was that he was ‘lazy’. In actual fact (I’m sure everybody has had students like this) he was very uncertain of himself and his abilities and the clowning was a cover. So, don’t judge a book by its cover. Be sensitive to your students’ behaviour and don’t follow the herd when it comes to diagnosis!

One student I will never forget was a Libyan student who was blind. He was in an advanced class and this situation immediately posed many questions for me as teacher. Everything had to be oral/aural and I had to choose material very carefully. My second concern was how to balance the needs of this student against the others in the group. I didn’t have to worry. A core group in the class which included this student had been together for a long time and they all led the way. It was one of the most mutually supportive classes I have ever had the honour to teach. You have to allow yourself to be guided by others who are more knowledgeable and have more experience.

My final example is a Spanish student who was studying for the IELTS exam. She was a fully qualified lawyer in Spain and wanted to come and work in the UK in international law. On arrival she realised that she would have to take a new course in the UK before she could practise. She was accepted on to the course but needed to have an IELTS of 7 in each part of the exam. She found a job in MacDonald’s to support herself and began to study for the exam. She was soon promoted to supervisor. She changed jobs and went to work in the post office, again she was promoted. She and I worked together for a few weeks before she took the exam. She worked very hard and was completely dedicated. I think she showed me how very hard work and sheer determination can have amazing results. She passed with flying colours.

There are so many more examples I could give about how students have helped me to develop and grow as a teacher and a person and how they have often stopped me in my tracks and shown me another viewpoint.

As teachers I think we are especially privileged to participate in this process of flourishing and growth. As EFL teachers we are doubly fortunate in that we are exposed to different cultures and backgrounds which add even more to the experience.

Teaching is one of the greatest learning experiences.

An EFL teacher/lecturer/teacher trainer since 1977 teaching in Indonesia and then the UK, I set up my language training company RLI in 1995. I launched Gapfillers E-learning site in 2007. We work with advanced level English language students helping them continue to improve and develop. Having taught 6 years of primary school through to university I have seen the ‘education’ process at all stages. My desire is to see more excitement and wonder in learning.

My blog Radical Language

Twitter: rliberni

In this animation, the main character, Hiccup, has a different attitude towards life from the rest of his community. I believe that, we, teachers have a different attitude from “non-teachers”. Hiccup felt he had to train dragons so that they were able to share their lives with the members of his community. Like Hiccup, we make use of all our patience and tolerance when we perform our role as guides while our students develop skills and strategies to be able to learn a subject or a certain topic. I teach English to teenagers and in the same way as the dragons in the movie, they find it difficult to adapt and to respect certain rules.

In this process of training his dragon, Hiccup learnt several lessons and I am sure that as teachers (or trainers), we learn a lot and we develop a special intuition that enables us to see beyond the surface. That intuition is necessary to be able to foster the appropriate teaching-learning environment, in which students can feel respected and at ease. Hiccup was open-minded in his approach to life and being open mind is essential to accept every one of your students with their particular personality traits. Another aspect we can improve in our capacity as teachers is our emotional intelligence, which is a key element to reach the necessary balance to have harmonious interactions in our classrooms.

All in all, teaching or training others is an insightful experience which is not confined to the classroom but rather extends itself to our daily lives.

I am a teacher of English as a second language, a translator and an interpreter and I live in Rosario, Argentina. I teach one-to-one classes of adult students and  deliver my group classes at a School of English, where I am in charge of teenage students at intermediate and upper intermediate levels.

Visit me: http://www.linkedin.com/in/marisapavan

Read me:  http://linguisticconsultancy.blogspot.com/

Follow me: @Mtranslator

So easy. So simple. That time I understood how vital what we say to our students is. We, teachers, have enormous power because what we say somehow becomes the truth or is seen as such. It’s an immense responsibility.

Here, in Turkey, the situation is even more complex. There are topics that you should never talk about with your students. Some time ago my adult group started a conversation about fasting during Ramadan. Most of the students were convinced that it’s a very healthy thing, the others refused to accept that. Eventually they asked me for an opinion and… I didn’t know what to say. Having two options: a) stating my opinion and b) refraining from taking part in the discussion, I chose the latter. Would they benefit from learning my point of view anyway?

One might call it cowardice or a form of escape but I think it was a wise decision. Sometimes it’s better to step down, listen and observe your students instead of spoon feeding them with ideas of your own. Sometimes less is more – that’s the lesson I learned from my students.

Anita Kwiatkowska holds a M.A. in English Philology from the University of Gdansk, Poland. She has been teaching kids and adults in Poland since 2001 and in 2007 she moved to Turkey. During the week she does her best teaching young learners. At the weekends she performs her duties as a Cambridge ESOL oral examiner, runs workshops for teachers or travels. She is a huge fan of Pedro Almodovar, loves face painting and sometimes indulges in Indian cuisine.

You can follow Anita’s adventures on her blog and on Twitter.

THE BACKGROUND:

2008, I returned to the 7th grade Social Studies classroom after a seven-year hiatus in Computer Applications and the Media Center.  I wanted back in the classroom where I could work with a smaller number of students and develop a long-term relationship as a teacher and mentor to those who chose to see me this way.

I didn’t realize how I would miss that role when I left my first Social Studies classroom, because I didn’t realize that I would soon become a mentor to so many of my former students. That’s why I believe longevity is a necessary component to really becoming a quality teacher in the eyes of students.

THE SETUP:

In August 2008, just a few days after school had started for a new year, several former students came to say goodbye.  They were off to college for the first time.  They were former students who were English Language Learners when I taught them 6 years earlier.  They are all special young people to me.

I knew how much they struggled.  I saw their tears when they were new to the country.  I felt their frustration as they searched for the right word in English to communicate their needs, hopes, and ideas.

BUT I MISSED SOMETHING IN THEIR STRUGGLES, that one of them would have to teach me.

Rocio was a former student who was about to become my teacher.

She worked hard. Her family moved to the United States when she was in 6th grade. She knew two words of English when I first met her; “hi” and “yes.”  One of our first conversations went something like this:

She remembers it, because she’s the one who reminded me about it.

As she came to say goodbye, as a new Gates Millennial Scholarship winner, I asked if she would speak to one of my classes for a few minutes.  I wanted them to know that a young person can come to the United States knowing no English, work hard, and graduate #4 in high school, and go to college for free…if they would just work for it.

They hear me say, but I only say it because I have seen it happen.  And it happened for Rocio.

THE CLASSROOM:

She told my students (most ELLs) all the things you and I knew she would likely say, so I’ll not bother to repeat it here.  But then, as a couple of students began to look away with a glance I thought was disrespectful, Rocio said two things that amazed me.

First she said, “I know why you are looking away. You think this can’t happen for you. You think you’re not smart enough. You think you’re not meant to go to college. You think it would be disrespectful to your parents; who did not even go to high school. I know that’s what you are thinking, because I sat in your chair just a few years ago, thinking the very same thing when teachers talked about students going to college.  But let me tell you something, Your parents would not have left their families, struggled with their children to travel here, and now work 16-18 hours everyday if they didn’t want you to get your education. So make them proud.  That’s why they came here. Not for them, but for you.”

That was awesome!  But then it was my turn to learn.

THE LESSON:

Second she said, “I’m not saying it will be easy, but I am saying it will be worth it. What we know that your teachers don’t know is that we can’t even be ourselves or show our real personality to them, or our classmates, because we don’t have a personality until we own the language the people around us use to communicate. We know that you can’t be who you really are in someone else’s language. But when you do learn the language,  and you will, you will be able to reveal the real you to them.”

I stood there for a few seconds. I had to think about that one.  And I did. I wrote it on the board…for my benefit.

YOU CAN’T BE WHO YOU REALLY ARE IN SOMEONE ELSE’S LANGUAGE.

Why was this such a big deal to me?  Why did that strike a note of hope and sadness in me?  Was it empathy for my kids? Was it something more personal?

YOU CAN’T BE WHO YOU REALLY ARE IN SOMEONE ELSE’S LANGUAGE.

I could not get over that thought.  I take pride in “knowing my students.” I keep up with them through their high school years. I go to their games, plays, and performances. My wife even stopped going because she could not enjoy the games because of the number of kids who would have to say hello and talk.  I do not want this to sound like I’m bragging, but at times there were so many kids around my wife and me that it was impossible to watch the events, because the kids wanted to talk to me.  I always thought I knew “my kids.”

YOU CAN’T BE WHO YOU REALLY ARE IN SOMEONE ELSE’S LANGUAGE.

The truth Rocio taught me that day, while she was speaking to my students was that I knew very little about my students who struggled to speak to me in English.  There was no way for them to show me their true identity.  They try, but the words (or lack of words) get in the way.

THE APPLICATION:

All true learning will lead to a change in the life of the learner.  So what has changed in me?  It may not sound like much, but here is something I find myself doing much more of in the hallways, between classes, and sometimes at the end of class.

I’ll ask my ELL students to tell me something they have done that they really enjoyed.  I ask them to tell me in English.  They usually are able to get enough of the words out that I know what they have done.  When they are done, I ask them to tell me the same story in Spanish (their native language). I listen carefully. I watch their eyes twinkle with excitement. I watch their hand gestures explain instead of search. I watch their friends join in. I listen and I watch.

Let me tell you…there are some great personalities in my hallway.  I may never have known that if it wasn’t for Rocio.

I also have former students come to my class and talk with my current students several times a year.

This year I’ve had Rocio, another former ELL student preparing to be a teacher, a former basketball player of mine spoke about his trip to South Africa, and a former student who needed a recommendation for a college grant stopped in to tell them that their teachers are the most helpful people they will ever meet.  She probably just wanted a good recommendation letter though.  I gave it to her.

I have been teaching middle school students since 1995. I have taught Social Studies, Technology, and work as a Instructional Technology Specialist through the Media Center. When I began teaching at Dalton Middle School, the Hispanic population was classified as “Other” (less than 2%). We currently have a Hispanic population of 68% do to the carpet and poultry industry in Northwest Georgia.

I was one of the first four “official” teachers in the middle school to teach ESOL students in 1997.  We did not have an organized approach at teaching our English language learners in our district, but our team of teachers attempted to learn all we could through our own research.  I have learned with ELLs for over 12 years, and have worked to make them and their parents become a valuable part of our school and community.

I have also been a basketball and track coach for over 10 years, and have used my coaching contacts to help former student-athletes earn more than $800,000 in college athletic scholarships.

My blog: http://rrmurry.posterous.com