How to be a Succsessful English Teacher

Last class, the guest of English teacher from Junior high school gave us a speech. I learned that the situation of the present student and differences of a Elementary school and junior high school. I could know many helpful infomation from his speech. And I want to think how to be a good teacher with his advise.

Mr. M said that now teacher should become flexbile. The work of a teacher is not only teaching. Sometimes they care their students about physical and mental problem, more others. It is difficult to teach and study with adolescent children. But I think that we could make a confidence between a teacher and student. Teacher can approach them with understanding them. To understand students, teacher should observe and watch them what they require for the teacher. This is not easy. So I write some thought to become a good teacher. I do not know it work well.

1, As Mr.Hall wrote at his blog, we need a greeting every day at first. In japan, greeting is the importance activity when people meet first and always. Also, children were tought at school 'when you meet a guest or a person you know, greet.' If you could a nice greeting, children will get to put confidence in you. I think better that you greet faster than children. they will be glad surely.

2, Children want to talk a first met men and foreigner, but they cannot speak English well and shy. We have a chance to close them. To more closer, we need have a lot of interesting topic for them. Something interesting will help the lesson, I think. For example, when I was at high school, my teacher was always talking some topic in first 5 minutes. After his speech, students concentrates and prepare to take his class because they feel good for him.

I recommend my socond opinion. My teacher talked about weather, news and more. His story ends with a laugh. This becomes the one of the elements which are used to attract a student. I want to use it.

Micro Teaching of the Grammar

Thank you for taking our Micro Teaching. It was a little difficult to teach "a bare infinitive". Mr.Doi acted a English teacher of Japanese. And I did ALT. We did role allotment each and taught Grammar. I seemed that setting of this student was complicated. But I planned approach to see their state. I will review about them and another.


Strong Points
We broke up the sentence "I have a lot of work to do." in each part of speech. Then, we made students suspected what mean of "to do". Acting roll play, we could students reminded of something related with a noun, 'to' and 'do'. In the end of activity "make a sentence using a bare infinitive, we went round each student how they could write a correct sentence. We gave some advise for students who did not understand it.


Weak Points
Our explanation was little long. It seemed that students was in confusion. We ought to have make explanation shorter and time shortening was possible if I did so it. I think that I needed to consider of the way of using a blackboard, text and tenching material.
The exchange of a conversation was very few. I had some conversation, but it was one to one. I should have make a chance to do so whole student.


I felt that this lesson was difficult than I expected it. Due to this class, I understood a remedy by having taught it. I want to make use of this experience by a class of a public performance.
If you have an advice and impression, please comment.
Thank you.

Two Approache's strength and weakness

Today we learned about two approaches for teaching vocabulary: the Teach and Learn Approach and the Learning through Input Approach. You can see a PowerPoint presentation of the approaches here.

I would tell you about the Present and Learn approach.
The strenght of this is easy to understand what teacher said because students gets some vocabulary at first that they study today. Then they can understand meaning of their teacher indicating.
The weakness is the Present and Learn lesson is become monotonous. Students will need not to say other words without todays' vocabulary. And their stance is passive. It makes them only to pronouce the words.
I think that this activity is effective for a English beginner like the age of 2~5. Children get to understand a noun in this age.

Next, about the Learning through Input Approach.
Intuition tell students what each words indicates their meaning is strength. They can get the faculity of comprehend the meaning from a pictures or sentences.
The weakness is when there is the something which they do not understand meaning of words judging from their eyes, it is hard to understand it. So we should choose an appropriate materials.
This activity is good for elementary or junior high school student. They can suppose a complicated input.

Communicative Activities.

Today, I am going to review two of the "typical Japanese junior high school"communicative activities presented in ETM3 . The activities I am going to revieware Interview and Find someone. You can view them here.

In interview, we could infirm concretly that what did we do yesterday and what we will do next, I think. "What were you ~ing?" question we usually talk in daily life. The student who was asked should tell his/her partner what he did correctly. This is the training that make a beginning of conversation and get somebody's infomation wihtout a personal matter. But in this way, each questions can become a dull. Before start conversation, you need to prepare some variation not to unilateral activity. If you succeed in interview, you could expand the simple questions into spontaneous conversation.

In Find someone, this activity will good for students because they can move around and ask their friend of different kinds. In the last class's paper, the question was "what are you going to do in this summer vacation?". You can change this question more daily style. For example, "what your club?" and "what your hobby?" and so on. Andmore it will better to make a voluntary question by themselves. I show the example of the voluntary question following.

A : Hello Mr.B. What your club?
B : I'm belong to baseball club. ( Usually this is end.)
A : What your position? ( Voluntary question)
B : I am a pitcher.
A : Wow, cool. Thank you.

It looks very friendly talking. A made question which have relation to baseball. Of course they cannot talk like this from beginning. We should teach a sample of conversation for them or stimulate to ask what rerated thing you questioned at first.

What important to me.

My important thing is that act in good faith every time.

If you want your friend to do something, you order his/her it about arrogantly?

You never to do so. It is too much example. But I think that we should attend to people very politely.

For example, in case you get sick, you want some help to someone. Then you ask "please water", "get me ○○" etc. Nevertheless, the man who you asked would not do that with troublesome. How do you feel this? I feel sad for his/her attitude. You should get angry and irritated. The opposite of this example is of course.

There are a lot of oppotunities to meet a person. We speak to them with smile. You feel happy when they talked with a smile and kindness, aren't you? I really happy when the other did so for me. He/She hears what I spoak properly, I think so and feel relieved. I just feel this joy, so I certainly bear the good faith in my mind usually. I hope that you never forget the good faith. Good faith will help you surely.

English Experiences.

When I was at junior high school I studied English for the first time. This new subject quiet upset me why I have been spoke only Japanese in my life. "What's English?" " I cannot get more language." I thought like that in my mind probably. That is I did not very like English.
Two months passed after I got into JHS. I was still bad at English. I could not understood 'The third person' and ' tense' . Do you believe that? This is not a lie, this is true.
But, in a sad case, I had a miraculous encounter. ALT teacher from United States came to my school to teach English for assistant. His name is Charlse. I had a fear of him, because his looks seemed a gang. Certainly, all my classmate has same thoughts. Contrary to our suppose, he was kind of tender and cheerful man. He spoke to us actively about food, sports and culture etc. I could follow his words with dufficulty, but I hardly never told and expressed my intention. Though I wanted to speak more, I had no confidence.
One day, my teacher asked me to tell the next class for Mr. Charlse. This was big work for me. Then I tried to tell a massage from teacher to him. Unfortunately, I could not well. It was a bitter disapointment to fail that. So, I studied harder and harder to improve my English. Next week, I talked to him by myself. Just then he said to me with smile " I really happy to be talked you." Of course I felt so too. I got a new delight that communicate each other in foreign language. He returned to his country for only half-year. I felt lonely no one talk to in English. He gave me a many chance to communicate together. Now I greatly appreciate what he has done for me. I can communicate with foreigher in English without anxiety. This is the unexpected occurance of my life.

In senior high school, sometimes I had a chance to read a book written in English. As you know famous Penguin readers' book. It was good for me. I could develop my faculies of Reading. It'a valuable activity. In contrast, English for Entrance exam (matriculation) was not very enjoyable and valuable. It was terrible that we should study grammar and idiom which of no practical use. But I studied unwillingly. English for SHS is kind of rote memorization, I think.

These my experiences made the present myself. It is not too much to say that my attitude for English have been molded by the environment in which I passed my school life. But still not complete. I will come across many people and culture, so my position for English may be varied. It's changeable.

My experiences mainly gives you the importance of communication when I noticed at JHS. The attitude to make relation each other (Especially for foreigner) should be cultivated every chance. To do so, we have to get a habit what get to know from childhood. The least no communication, there is no mutual understanding.

My English experience and thoughts are such above.

First Comment.

Hello, I am a student who learning English and Education Method in Iwate.
I will make a journals for the English Learning in every class.
And I will write about daily life.