Teach English in Winkler - TESOL Courses

This unit has taught me the basic characteristics of what makes a good teacher. I have also gained insight to the many roles that teachers take on while managing a classroom. Many of these roles, you wouldn't consider as a passive observer, but surprisingly, a teacher jumps from role to role throughout the course of one class. Just as it's important to reflect on the good qualities that teaching calls for, it is important to observe the various characteristics that define a good learner (willingness to learn, desire to learn, ability to ask questions when unsure, and to take criticism). There could be different challenges presented by teaching adult learners versus young learners. Adult learners tend to be more set in their ways, and are used to a specific method of teaching, thus it might be more difficult to convince them of your methods. Nonetheless, the positives outweigh the negatives, and adult learners are usually more eager and motivated to learn about the subject since they have willingly signed up for the course themselves. They present fewer behavioral challenges than young learners. I have also learned it's important to take into consideration the various language levels students may be on. Creating lesson plans that will match the levels are important, to keep students interested, motivated, and challenged. This unit did a good job of describing the various characteristics that I should be striving for as a teacher, and the characteristics I should be looking out for and encouraging to produce great learners.