Тушнова-Смирнова Вероника Юрьевна

О себе

Being a great language teacher also means accepting when you’re not. This is not to say that you accept that you’re a horrible teacher and never improve, but rather you are capable of recognizing your own flaws and weaknesses, admitting them to students when needed, and working on them. One of the worst mistakes a teacher can make is to “fake it” through a situation. Students are amazing, they will help you through a nervous lesson, offer questions when your lesson runs short, and give you praise when you think the lesson couldn’t have gone worse, but they will always, always, call you out on lies. Remember, you cannot remove the human element from your classrooms, and humans in the 21st century will “Google” the answer they want. Great teachers offer a simple, “I’m not sure, but I’ll find out for you,” and then they DO. They find the answer, they offer a mini-lesson on it, and they are better for it. Teachers are not omniscient, and they shouldn’t be. Excellent teachers are still, and always will be, excellent learners.

Energy. Enthusiasm. Passion. Individualism. Creativity. Expression. These seem like the qualities of an artist or an actor, but they are integral to a successful classroom. Language teachers are always looking for an angle, a way to get information to “click” for students. Motivation is one of the keys to making this connection. Students of all ages and skill levels like to have fun, and honestly, when are you most able to express yourself freely in an artistic and creative way? (OK, or at the local watering hole, but most schools won’t condone holding class there). Effective language teachers are passionate every day. Even on that fourth lesson on adverb clauses, or when answering that inevitable “is it an infinitive or a gerund” question, great language teachers enjoy the process of finding the right answer. After all, a boring lesson for the teacher is just as boring for the student, so get creative with your lessons. Presenting the topic in an engaging way and putting the textbook aside (sometimes) is a great way to get your class interested in the lesson. Do not be afraid to use internet resources, videos, eliciting and role play. If a teaching method seems unconventional, give it a try. Your students may prefer this method over drills and textbook activities.

An excellent teacher knows how to round out a curriculum, recognize teachable moments, provide a clear balance between language learning and language use, and allow students to become comfortable using the language rather than just studying it. A great teacher plans his or her lesson around academic and real life language situations. Students can study grammar and vocabulary and ace tests, but they must also learn to be active users of the language and go out into the world fully prepared to communicate. Great language teachers will not sleep until they have discovered and provided that in a classroom.