About teens!!!!!!

There is a lot to say about teens, things I know from my experience working with them, things I did not know and that I could never image, and doubts that I still do not figure out, but that will be answered through this course.

Teens are a complete different world that few adults get to know or understand, however, we as teachers have a big responsibility in the field of knowing more about teens and why they are the way they are. Thus, I would like to start mentioning the things I already knew about teens.  

Some of the things that I knew about teens is that they are rebellious and that working with them is not easy. Teens are very likely to misbehave not only in the classroom but also out of the classroom. Working with teens taught me that I had to let them know that I was not their enemy but actually, a friendly teacher (friendly, not a friend) who just wanted to teach them something new for their lives. However, my big question was why do they behave the way they do????

Now, after researching all together with my classmates; I could understand why teens behave the way they do, and there are many reasons why.

One of those reasons is that we have to understand that adolescence is a stage in which self-discovery is at its height. Teenagers are discovering who they are and are being confronted with adult roles and decisions.

However, there are many other reasons that affect teens’ behaviors’ such as: family problems, identity problems, schooling, not socializing among others. Nevertheless, we as adults are in charge of keeping the discipline in the classroom without destroying the students’ feelings.

In conclusion, our work goes beyond just teaching; the responsibility of educating good people is in our hands and we have to take the challenge!!!! 

References:

vEmily Sexton, May 2013. Adolescents’ Social Cognitive Beliefs about Misbehavior in School. The Ohio State University.

vStanley Hall’s Storm and Stress. Views of adolescence socialization and development. LANDMARK CASE STUDY G..

vRichard A. Fabes Early Adolescence and Prosocial/Moral Behavior II:The Role of Social and Contextual Influences. Arizona State University.


 

My experience teaching English!!!=)

Hello readers!!!!  I would like to talk a little about my experience teaching English. Actually, I do not have much experience in this field since there have been just two the opportunities I have had to teach English; however, although I may not have such a great and big curriculum; I can truly say that the two cases or chances that I have had for teaching as I have already mentioned have been really meaningful for me and I have learned a lot from them.  

The first opportunity that I got to teach was when I started my social service in Polideportivo España. I was in my second year in the university when I decided to start my social service. Thus, I started as a teacher assistant in the place already mentioned above, nevertheless, I was transferred to the high school Richard Mangini where an English scholarship was being served with the help of the sponsor SIMAN. When I got into this high school I did not know anything about teaching. Though, I used to observe carefully to the teacher in charge. She saw my desire to teach, so I started teaching to cover her when she had things to do, as a result, I taught in front of her. At the beginning, I felt intimidated, but after some classes the coordinator of this project saw my effort and assigned me one group of students to teach them every week. I was so excited about it that I could not refuse the proposal. After accepting, I spent one year teaching to adolescents from 13-15 and another group from 16-18 years old. At the beginning it was not easy. I was younger than I am now, I had no experience and the students were kind of rebellious; nonetheless, I survived. I even got to love my students (in a good and teacher way). When I had to quit due to personal reasons, I almost cried. This was a great experience for me and that I will never forget, and that also taught me many things about teens’ behaviors that I will explain in more detail in the next entry, so do not miss it!!!!!

Then, the second experience I have about teaching happened in the university.  Last year in the university, my classmates and I started our teaching practicums, so I had the experience to work with kids. This was a big challenge for me since I had never taught kids, and I had the feeling that I did not like kids. After some weeks of preparation, we started teaching and I can say that every sacrifice that had to be done in order to teach a good class was worth at the moment of seeing those kids so happy of getting their diplomas.

To sum up, as I said before those are the only two opportunities that I have had about teaching; nevertheless, I think that every little teaching we do provides us an extra experience we did not have before. We are always learning and we never finish learning; thus, these two chances have granted me not only some little experience, but also the privilege to instruct people to know something new!!!!

Introducing myself

My full name is Karen Gisselt Romero Ramos, although I do not like my first name, so you can call me Gisselt, giss, gissy as you prefer. I am a student of licenciatura en idioma ingles con especialidad en enseñanza of the Don Bosco University of El Salvador. This is my fifth year in the university and I can truly say that I do love my career.  I think that teaching is more than what some people say it is. I have heard so many comments about teachers and about the teaching itself, such as: “being a teacher is the easiest job of the world” or “teachers do not really care about students, actually, they just care about their payments”. All those comments are not true. As a matter of fact, this is not an easy work; teachers do even have to work at home sometimes, so obviously, teaching cannot be that easy as some people think. Furthermore, there are many teachers that do love their jobs and really care about their students, although, there are always bad peers who have erred in their profession and make others look bad. I am passionate about teaching; I in truth want to help my students as much as I can so that they can succeed in their English learning, and to realize that not all teachers are the same.

     Now, talking about mi personality out of the teaching area, I can say that I am friendly and outgoing; however, not everything can be perfect, and I may sometimes be angry, but do not worry, I can control my anger. I like to study, and I enjoy writing; I think that is one of my strengths since I get inspired when writing.  Furthermore, I love listening to gospel music in my free time so that I can get relax.

     Finally, I would like to mention something about my English learning. I had never studied English before getting into the university, nothing at all. I was less than basic when I started in my career, and when I went to my first English class, I realized that most of my classmates had already a good English level, and I was the only one who did not know anything. I got so frustrated; I thought I was never going to learn, however, I did not give up, and I started a tough battle against all the disadvantages I had in comparison with my classmates. I studied hard, I spent intensive hours studying by my own to improve my English knowledge, and finally with the help of my God, and my own desire to get ahead, I could reach my classmates and get the level that was required for every English class I had to go through. Now, I can advise anyone who is still struggling for improving in any English area or even in other areas of life that God and your own determination will really make you succeed.