Tips: A to F self-reminders

Driven by disappointment, I posted a comment on Facebook sometime this month whining about educators trying to be the men of the world. They are colonialists who work hard to change another country’s education system without necessarily understanding the insiders that well.

Or maybe they do understand, but sad to say they are so stuck in superiority complex not willing to swallow their pride because their educational orientation is still incomparably the best even if it’s not really effective in third world countries. And so they do the same way back home they think cool and awesome – I wish.

I wonder how much aware these educators are for treating their students like dumb asses. I hope they realize that their students aren’t really happy about that. And students are talking about them behind their backs.

Let me stop here or else I will be droning the whole time through.

Since buzzing isn’t really my motive for this article, let me just share some tips if by any chance you are engaging in ESL life at the moment and have been complaining a lot about your unmotivated students. I call these tips as A-F self-reminders.

Agony Syndrome. Teachers and students get this a lot – whether a teacher is suffering because the students are unreceptive or the students are in agony because a teacher is boring. And so I always put the blame on the teachers since they are the pilots in the classroom themselves. This helps me provide an interesting classroom engagement all the time.

Beneficial. I am not just the type of an educator who supplies my students with unnecessary game or activity. As always, I make sure that every activity or game is beneficial and goal oriented. And so I asked my self these questions: What’s my objective for this particular activity? How is this beneficial to a certain skill? If I am teaching a Conversational English, I have to be very careful that this activity helps them talk, not just because this activity is cool or active.

Context. In preparing my lesson, I remind myself too of the importance of contextualization. Sensitivity to insider’s culture is non-negotiable in lesson planning, but this is just another part of a good preparation. What I am trying to say is that a teacher must know and understand the learner’s level, capacity, and need. It is always tempting to provide anything, but it doesn’t make sense. And I don’t think it’s a good idea.      

Defiant. Don’t be afraid to go against the book. Your idea might be a lot better than the provided textbook. Manipulate it. Change it if it is necessary. Be critical about it so that your creative mind or idea will be maximized. This is what I usually do especially if the book is so boring to death. 

Ego. As a teacher I let go of me – no more of me. It is all about my students and their welfare. So a good teacher is a student-centered, not a teacher-centered.   

Friendly-environment. To some countries, you cannot make friends with your students, but you can establish a lasting relationship for sure – a teacher-student rapport. More than that, you can make your classroom still a friendly-environment where no one feels threatened or transcendent or out of touch. Asian values relationship and so never exclude that in your day-to-day classroom engagement. After all, there is nothing to loose.

I hope you enjoy reading my thoughts.