What are your motives for teaching? What rewards or incentives do you get from teaching? How might your motives interfere with your ability to put the needs of your students ahead of your own?

      I have always dreamed of becoming an English teacher and having the chance to teach what I have learned to other people. I think my main motive for teaching is that I like let other people know what I have understood, and I feel great whenever a student approaches me and tells me: “ I want you to give us classes once again bacause I understand better when you teach”; I feel proud when I hear those words from my students.

     The best reward  I have got from teaching is  KNOWLEDGE. When I give English classes, I feel that I learn English more and more, that is I increase my understanding  because I am practicing what I already know all the time. The best incentive that I get from teaching is when I realize that most learners understood my English class, and when I ask: Do you have any question? There is no doubt all around the classroom.

     I think that when a person becomes a teacher and gets a job in which he/she works as a teacher, first of all, he/she has to think about his/her teaching motives; that is  the teacher has to focus the attention on the Student`s needs, and then to get focus on her/his motives and needs. If it is possible to carry out both teacher`s motives and the Students`  needs at the same time  it is better.  

List the things you like about working with teenagers. Why? List the things you don’t like. Why?

 THINGS I LIKE ABOUT WORKING WITH TEENAGERS:

1-   I like to share my English knowledge to them.

2-   I like to know how to manage people.

3-   I like to learn through other people experiences.

4-   I like to help people who are in trouble.

5-   Most teenagers have grown-up traits, so they are not childish.

6-   I like to forsee and plan activities with young people.

7-   I  like to be in constant communication with people.

8-   I also like to face challenges all the time.

I like working with teenagers because I love to take risks and to reach goals in life, and that is a good adventure to do it. Adolescence is a stage in which people need direction; my purpose is to guide learners given them advice, and at the same time let them know what I have learned about English language.

  THINGS I DON`T LIKE ABOUT WORKING WITH TEENAGERS:

1-   Teachers face constant stress, so they have to learn to be patient.

2-   I have to learn how to deal with students problems.

3-   I have to talk all the time forcing my throat.

4-   Some students show problem behavior in the classroom . 

5-   Some of the young learners relate with gangs.

When teaching, I have to face all the issues above, and that is why I don`t like to work with teenagers, but I love English Language Teaching , so I have to learn how to deal with all that troubles.

 

What can the World Wide Web offer ESL/EFL teachers?

World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet, and it could offer EFL/ESL teachers: multimedia tools, teaching strategies, teaching methodologies, teaching tips, encyclopedias, discussion forums, important websites, search engines ( to look for information ), and so forth.

It is like a choice for teachers (ESL/EFL teachers) who want to give their classes in an uncommon way, for instance, teachers have chance to perform different presentations using multimedia proyector; learners can be shown a lot of things and information downloaded from the World Wide Web through a proyector ( images, videos, movies, information, schemes), and it encourages students because most of them are bored of taking classes in the traditional way.

 As I said before, the World Wide Web is a source of information that teachers should exploite; they could investigate: Warm-up activities, techniques, examples and a lot of important information to design an excellent lesson plan and give an unusual class.  

How can the standard-features word-processing programs be exploited for teaching writing skills?

Standard-features word-processing programs could be used in many ways for teaching writing skills, for example, learners could do homework assignments on Microsoft Word such as: letters, journals, essays, and so forth.

Long ago, students had to use paper to perform all the presentations in the classroom; nowadays, they can perform their presentations through Microsoft Power Point, and it is better than the traditional way of performing a presentation because they can choose the best patterns and set them creatively.

Teachers could also work on a virtual group ( as we are working now ), and to perform differents activities with learners on line, in order to use the computer a lot. For instance, students could write blogs about different topics, and the teacher to comment what is right or what is wrong.

In my opinion, technologies should play a peripheral role in second language teaching and learning because if teachers only focus the teaching process on multi-media resources, students would forget about using phisical materials such as: boards, markers, copybooks, handouts, and so on.
Students also would forget about writing on phisical materials. I think that computers have to be used in the teaching-learning process, but they must not take the control of all the process.
I would like that both technologies and the traditional way ( phisical resources ) are used in second language teaching and learning.  

What do you think is the role of research in improving our understanding of teaching?

The role of research is to enable teachers so that they can develop essential skills in learners and improve classroom practices. When teachers research the approaches, methods, techniques and strategies of teaching and they learn how to apply them when performing a class, I think that is when the  teaching process becomes worthwhile. If teachers are not concerned about research, that means they only want to apply what another person said or thought, and in my opinion it is wrong because teachers not only have to apply what a resource says but also research more and more until they realize if  the information is effective and worthwhile. Some teachers don’t even know what teaching is, and they only base their lessons on a text book; it is really boring because learners need more than that. Learners need teachers who are able to encourage them to learning that is why teachers have to use the best ways to teach. 

What experience do you have of learning a second or foreign language? How would you characterize the teacher’s teaching method? How effective did you find it?

I remember that since I began studying English at the Junior High School, each teacher has taught English on their own, that is, every teacher has shown her/his own style  to teach. I think that most teachers just take elements, such as techniques and strategies, from some teaching methods when they perform or give a class. For example, when I began studying in the University of El Salvador, I realized that the teacher always used CLL method, because he fostered a community learning where all learners learned to interact one another and break all phychological barriers up. I could also say I have met teachers that it seems to me that they use the Direct Method, because in their English classes no translation is allowed and students are required to develop oral, writing, listening and speaking skills with the help of the teacher that is their guide. As said before, I think that all teachers mingle  differents ideas that they pick up from the methods. In my opinion it doesn´t matter if teachers mingle those ideas and techniques as long as they foster effective learning  acivities  and they also make sure that students have reached the learning goals.