ESL Teaching at ATC

Yesterday I finally got the opportunity to teach after about 2 weeks! I had been long anticipating a chance to teach ever since I had taught Social Studies to a class of high school juniors last year. I had craved the feeling of standing up in a class of students and teaching. I loved the rush you got when you know all eyes are on you and that you were in a way leading them towards the right path. I had an amazing feeling of satisfaction when I felt that I came across in just the right way and so that both me and my students were enjoying the class.

Although it was a really fun experience I also found it a bit challenging. I had a hard time adapting because I was used to teaching a class of 30 native English speakers. I had to be very conscious of my voice fluctuation and volume as well as the speed so that I did not intimidate or confuse my students. When I had first planned this lesson a week ago I did not take the time, and how long everything would take, into consideration. I could have improved the overall experience for the students by paying close attention to the specifics, preparing more examples and being more clear about the task and expectations.

During the runtime of the class I felt that it could have benefited me to read the students' physical cues instead of interrupting their train of thought by constantly asking if they needed more time. Variety is the spice of life; when I got them to read aloud I had given them large chunks to summarize and I feel that I should have allowed them to alternate more to provide more variety.

Despite having run into many obstacles in terms of adapting, I realized that this was 'falling off your bike' part of teaching. We sometimes forget that we all have to start somewhere. Making initial mistakes is what makes it all the more rewarding when we do reach our highest potential because we know that we made something from nothing. When we look back we can truly appreciate where we are at and how much hard work and determination it took to get there.

by Ken Lam

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Learning English by Movies

I've heard that watching movies is one of efficient ways to learn English.


So, I started watching movie with captions.


Actually, it wasn't movie, it was "Friends" american drama.


First time I watched it, I had no idia why people laughed, and what was going on.


Only things I was alble to laugh and understand were funny actions.


I kept watching it eventhough I couldn't understand, and started listening to MP3 of it.


I was always listening to it when I was traveling.


Surprisingly, I started laughing while I was listening.


I started understanding it little by little.


After that, I started watching other dramas with captions.


I think I was able to understand 7/10 about the stories.


Recently, I felt an other improvement of my English.


I was watching "Heroes". It was so addictive drama,


so I couldn't stop watching it. I watched 4~5 episodes a day.


At the last seen of the last episode, I noticed I was watching it without captions!.


I had fogotten opening the caption file. I was so surprised that I was able to watch it without captions.


It doesn't mean I'm able to understand all of it, but I think I'm able to understand 60~70%.


I've still got a long way to go.




By Rio.

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