Teach English in ChuAnshAxin Zhen [incl. Liuzao Zhen] - Shanghai Shi

Volunteer teachingTeaching english as a foreign language is one of the most sought after volunteering opportunities. It is a very rewarding experience because you get the true feeling that you are helping someones livelihood. Teaching english can be done both in ones home country and abroad. Many people choose the abroad option so they can experience the life and culture of a foreign country. If someone is interested in volunteer teaching, it is strongly recommended, and often required, that they be TEFL certified. This is a course that will provide the student with a sound knowledge of english grammatical and phonology systems, approaches to teaching and lesson planning, as well as classroom management. Possessing these skills makes an effective and successful teacher. For my research article, I interviewed a coworker who volunteered teaching english in chile. My coworker, Liza, spent the summer teaching a class of students who were between 12 and 14 years old. Since it is not covered in the course, I was most interested in asking Liza what a typical day in the classroom is like. She said no two days were alike. She found that the most important thing was to switch up the focus of the class constantly so the kids would stay interested and motivated, rather than having them get distracted and bored. Liza would always start the day with a fun game that would get the kids talking. She said the game didnt necessarily have to relate to the current lesson. As long as the game involved some english practice, it was most important that the kids were having fun. Throughout the course of the day, Liza would switch gears from lecturing to independent activity, to group activity, and interactive games. Though Liza had her certification from a different TEFL company, it seemed as though a lot of her lesson plans had a similar structure to that which ITTT recommends. Liza earned her tefl certification prior to making the trip down to Chile, however, she said nothing would fully prepare her for the experience. Liza felt that the most difficult part of teaching english was the discipline factor. The school she was teaching in was in a poor neighbourhood with a somewhat undeveloped school system. Upon entering the class, Liza found it hard to earn the respect of the students. Right from the beginning, they were testing their limits by acting out. The kids even set chairs on fire. However, Liza held firm with her discipline, and eventually was able to earn the trust and respect from the students. She said the best thing to do was to stay calm with the students and never get angry. As long as you stay firm, the students will understand you are serious. She found the best method for these students was the silent treatment because they found it to be intimidating. Once she was able to earn the respect from the students, she said the class was much more productive. Overall, Liza said teaching english was a fantastic experience. She loved watching the students progress throughout the course of the summer. The best part was watching one of the weaker students make serious progress. Liza would definitely recommend teaching english as a foreign language. After speaking with Liza and completing this course, I am now very excited to get out there to volunteer my time and see how I can make a difference. I now feel more confident to run my own classroom.