My Teaching Philosophy
As a facilitator in the classroom, my main goals are to provide meaningful learning opportunities for my students and to foster an enriching classroom environment. This is achieved through my Communicative Approach to teaching. In my student-centered classroom, great importance is placed on activities using meaningful materials and language, such as realia, corpora, and pragmatic applications of dialogue in functional situations. I use performance-based activities such as presentations, interviews, and process writing to expand student knowledge and participation. Furthermore, I encourage autonomous student learning, believing that successful scaffolding allows students to become independent learners.
My approach to corrective feedback reflects my main aim, to provide meaningful learning activities in a supportive environment in the classroom. I conduct context-appropriate direct corrective feedback. In other words, I take the purpose of the activity and the individual student into account when determining what type of error correction to use. This is because I believe that error correction should be done in a way that supports learning goals and does not negatively impact the classroom environment. I value this because if corrective feedback is too harsh or provided without taking cultural norms into account, it can demotivate students, which adversely affects the classroom environment. It is also important to prioritize corrective feedback, because not doing so can cause students to feel overwhelmed with too many corrections at once. Overwhelming students with too much feedback does not promote autonomous learning because it decreases confidence and increases teacher dependency. Language learning takes time, and as such it is important to give students corrective feedback in small, manageable amounts that is appropriate for their age and proficiency level. I prioritize error correction by following the Hierarchy of Rhetorical Concerns, particularly in writing; in my classroom errors that affect meaning are of the highest priority and may need to be clarified and corrected immediately. Minor grammatical mistakes are less worrisome, especially if the activity is for fluency building. I believe this because it reflects most real-world contexts, where successfully communicating an idea can be achieved with less than perfect grammar and/or pronunciation. As an educator, I feel that both positive and corrective feedback should be given in a way that facilitates whole-class learning whenever possible. Teacher-given, peer-given, and self-given corrective feedback are all necessary for language improvement, and can be observed frequently in my classroom. By modeling the attitude that mistakes are normal occurrences that we can learn from, my classroom engages in meaningful learning opportunities through students' errors, yet continues to feel safe.
I also encourage meaningful learning through discovery and opportunities for authentic interaction. Discussions, debates, functional role-playing, persuasive essays— things that trigger motivated interest— are frequently employed in my classroom. I view language as a tool we can mold to fit our purpose and experiment with in order to communicate with one another. This view is a result of my diverse ESL and EFL teaching experience. This includes teaching at low-income and middle-income public schools in the U.S., low-income public schools abroad, and working with NSs and NNSs at the university level. My experiences with speakers of World Englishes have taught me to appreciate multiculturalism and believe that there is not one variety of English that is superior over others. Instead of demanding a standard English dialect, I teach my students to be able to determine and use what is most appropriate for a given context.
I believe another part of meaningful learning is guiding students toward independent learning. I am committed to promoting autonomous learning, as seen through my promotion of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and self- and peer-evaluation. I believe that an important part of promoting autonomous learning is to recognize that each group of students is unique; each has different strengths, weaknesses, learning preferences, and learning styles. As an educator, it is my responsibility to determine my students’ needs, and then implement a strategy to best meet them. This means that part of my teaching philosophy is to be adaptable to the individuality of each class so that I can best accommodate their needs. I frequently conduct formative assessments such as observations, practice quizzes, and self-reflections. I then use this information to tailor my lesson plans to specific concerns. Directly incorporating this feedback into my classroom helps make my lessons meaningful, comprehensible, and student-centered.
Though creating dynamic learning activities and catering to individual differences are highly important, I believe that learning cannot take place without a conducive classroom environment. As the classroom facilitator, I aim to cultivate a learning environment where students feel safe and supported. This is important because security leads to progress through confidence and risk-taking. I structure an environment where my students feel secure, valued, and supported by having clear behavioral expectations, using positive reinforcement and humor whenever possible, and encouraging students to find common interests with one another. Many of my communicative activities are designed for partners or small groups because this interaction encourages classmates to develop their language and social skills simultaneously. As I gain experience over the years, I look forward to continuing the challenge of developing and practicing the ideas expressed in my philosophy of teaching.
My approach to corrective feedback reflects my main aim, to provide meaningful learning activities in a supportive environment in the classroom. I conduct context-appropriate direct corrective feedback. In other words, I take the purpose of the activity and the individual student into account when determining what type of error correction to use. This is because I believe that error correction should be done in a way that supports learning goals and does not negatively impact the classroom environment. I value this because if corrective feedback is too harsh or provided without taking cultural norms into account, it can demotivate students, which adversely affects the classroom environment. It is also important to prioritize corrective feedback, because not doing so can cause students to feel overwhelmed with too many corrections at once. Overwhelming students with too much feedback does not promote autonomous learning because it decreases confidence and increases teacher dependency. Language learning takes time, and as such it is important to give students corrective feedback in small, manageable amounts that is appropriate for their age and proficiency level. I prioritize error correction by following the Hierarchy of Rhetorical Concerns, particularly in writing; in my classroom errors that affect meaning are of the highest priority and may need to be clarified and corrected immediately. Minor grammatical mistakes are less worrisome, especially if the activity is for fluency building. I believe this because it reflects most real-world contexts, where successfully communicating an idea can be achieved with less than perfect grammar and/or pronunciation. As an educator, I feel that both positive and corrective feedback should be given in a way that facilitates whole-class learning whenever possible. Teacher-given, peer-given, and self-given corrective feedback are all necessary for language improvement, and can be observed frequently in my classroom. By modeling the attitude that mistakes are normal occurrences that we can learn from, my classroom engages in meaningful learning opportunities through students' errors, yet continues to feel safe.
I also encourage meaningful learning through discovery and opportunities for authentic interaction. Discussions, debates, functional role-playing, persuasive essays— things that trigger motivated interest— are frequently employed in my classroom. I view language as a tool we can mold to fit our purpose and experiment with in order to communicate with one another. This view is a result of my diverse ESL and EFL teaching experience. This includes teaching at low-income and middle-income public schools in the U.S., low-income public schools abroad, and working with NSs and NNSs at the university level. My experiences with speakers of World Englishes have taught me to appreciate multiculturalism and believe that there is not one variety of English that is superior over others. Instead of demanding a standard English dialect, I teach my students to be able to determine and use what is most appropriate for a given context.
I believe another part of meaningful learning is guiding students toward independent learning. I am committed to promoting autonomous learning, as seen through my promotion of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and self- and peer-evaluation. I believe that an important part of promoting autonomous learning is to recognize that each group of students is unique; each has different strengths, weaknesses, learning preferences, and learning styles. As an educator, it is my responsibility to determine my students’ needs, and then implement a strategy to best meet them. This means that part of my teaching philosophy is to be adaptable to the individuality of each class so that I can best accommodate their needs. I frequently conduct formative assessments such as observations, practice quizzes, and self-reflections. I then use this information to tailor my lesson plans to specific concerns. Directly incorporating this feedback into my classroom helps make my lessons meaningful, comprehensible, and student-centered.
Though creating dynamic learning activities and catering to individual differences are highly important, I believe that learning cannot take place without a conducive classroom environment. As the classroom facilitator, I aim to cultivate a learning environment where students feel safe and supported. This is important because security leads to progress through confidence and risk-taking. I structure an environment where my students feel secure, valued, and supported by having clear behavioral expectations, using positive reinforcement and humor whenever possible, and encouraging students to find common interests with one another. Many of my communicative activities are designed for partners or small groups because this interaction encourages classmates to develop their language and social skills simultaneously. As I gain experience over the years, I look forward to continuing the challenge of developing and practicing the ideas expressed in my philosophy of teaching.