Online Education Blog

There is no doubt that if you think of where the best place to learn English is, London tops the list as the most appropriate destinations. It is obvious why. The city is the capital of Great Britain, the birthplace of the English language and the country where people speak the purest English. London is a fabulous place to visit and study in. Reasonably, thousands of people from all over the world and all ages choose to improve their proficiency with English courses in London and live and study in the thriving environment of the city. Thousands of teachers also choose London to improve their careers and gain a valuable experience by working in one of the most magnificent world capitals. It is a fact that studying and teaching in London has countless benefits. The city is home of some of the most modern schools, universities and study centers where students learn with the newest methods and programs in language education. In London everyone will find something interesting to visit or experience, which is a natural motivator for each student to interact around the city and practice their English while exploring London. The native speaking ambience is a benefit for the language courses and eases the work of the teacher. But together with the advantages of London, it also raises some challenges to teachers in the learning process. One of the difficulties for teachers is to keep the students focus on the studying. London is full of entertainment opportunities and things to do and experience, which will possibly distract students from the learning process. To avoid this side effect, make sure you include curious facts of the current reality of London and different role play games that resemble real situations in your lessons. Another motivational technique especially effective is to use interactive facilities for your lessons and make the learning visual and more understandable. Films and videos that you can discuss later will provoke students to express their opinion and share ideas in English. Make the learning process fun and enjoyable and you will outrun your expectations. Be creative and use your sense of humor, it will make the atmosphere friendlier and both yourself and the students will feel better for it. English courses in London will enrich students’ proficiency, but they will also give them a better understanding and knowledge of English traditions and London’s reality. You can capture the students not only with the English language, but with the most interesting places and highlights in the city, by holding some of the lessons outside the classroom. It will encourage them to speak English freely and will help them explore London like never before.

Besides conducive teaching-learning situations, there are many other factors which influence the development of a child. Proper adjustments with surrounding environment that a student has to face on a daily basis both at outside and inside of the school is one of such major factors that can shape the life of a child.
By nature a child needs some psychological, biological and social needs to fulfill in order to maintain the mental and physical equilibrium and those needs vary at different stages of his life till adulthood. But when he can’t fulfill those needs (personal and social) due to various problems that might come on his way, he is lead to behave in an abnormal way which is being called maladjustment. Apparently, there are many reasons for the child to develop those harmful habits. Some might be due to disturbance at home, some due to peer-group pressure, school and teacher related or simply personal.
During my teaching career so far, I have come across quite few of those so called maladjusted students as it is not too difficult to mark out the differences between a well adjusted student from that of a maladjusted one. A well adjusted student always seems to behave in a balanced manner showing maturity in thinking and understanding others.
There are also numerous signs suggested by psychologists which I can follow to identify maladjusted children. Foremost among them is to observe how they behave in the classroom. A maladjusted student behaves awkwardly most of the times as he is withdrawn and shy in his nature. He is also very self conscious as he is there to prove something which might not be actually possible for him with the level of IQ that he possesses. But still he feels responsible to achieve that high aspiration which he was forced to develop for some reasons.
These children also are always charged emotionally. Some create tantrums that causes big headache for peers and teacher at school and family members at home. Some of them might get excessively aggressive. They tend to be very sensitive too and like to remain to themselves only.
Additionally, a child who can not adjust with the environment that surrounds him might also express his discomfort in many other ways. He might be very anxious, fearful, tensed and feel very insecure. Normally, he would suffer from inferiority complexes that force him to strive for higher achievements than he is capable of thus creating imbalance in his otherwise normal life. If so, he would also suffer from delusions or impractical thoughts and imaginations.
Personally, I would deal with these types of children with very delicate care. I think the most important thing to deal with them is to reach out to them and get as close as possible so that I would know what type of problem the incumbent is going through. In my view, except some family problems such as economic status of the family and so on, a teacher can really help maladjusted children to come to terms with life and adapt with the surrounding environments that exist around them. If they have personal problem, I would befriend them, act as a friend, philosopher, guide and show that everybody has some or the other problems of their own but still they carry on with their life and take those problems in their stride. An individual must learn to take both success and failures as it is part of life and one must remember that there is always success after any failure.
On the other hand if they have problems in adjusting with the society, I can definitely make them understand that man is a social animal and nobody can live outside society. So, I would have encouraged them to participate more in co-curricular activities both at the school and outside of it. I could also show them that through interactions with other members of the society, one can only learn from others that would enrich them more in knowledge and experience. I would also advise them to participate into interest specific peer-groups as those groups can really cultivate the creativity and imaginative talent that would have lied hidden within them otherwise.
The might also suffer from psychological problems such as emotional distress, temperamental disorders, fear or anxiety. If I find anybody having psychological problems, I would first try to know the root cause of the problem and then try to convince them to consult a psychologist. If still no result, I would inform their parents about their children having some problems and request them to look into the matters very delicately.
So, as I teacher I could play a great role in helping maladjusted children

This is summer-time again and time for some educational tours, learning via adventures and learning of new things - be it about new society or a new place or new cuisine or a new language. In short, it is a very important learning period for youths and teens. Here, I’ll discuss just few points on language learning.

Language summer camps are a real adventure for everyone involved. Teens just can’t get enough of it. Summer camps are not only great for students, but also for teachers who are looking for summer work and fun to fill their free time. Being a teacher in a summer camp requires different skills and a different approach compared to tutoring in regular language courses. The most important thing is that the learning process must be fun. Summer camps are very popular amongst students from 8 to 18 who are curious about the world around them, excited about new experiences and eager to enjoy every minute of their lives. That is why the language summer camps in interesting destinations offer countless possibilities for entertainment and adventure, all blended with a rewarding study of a language, usually in authentic ambiance. Teens who want to master the English language often choose an English summer camp USA because of the huge variety of different destinations in the country, programs and the environment of native speakers. What qualities does the perfect English teacher for a summer camp have, other than excellent language fluency?

- If you love working with children and express yourself in an easy to understand way, you have the most important quality to become a teacher.

- If you have creative ideas and extraordinary methods for teaching that grab students’ attention and motivate them to think and use their imagination, you are one step closer to the image of the perfect teacher for a summer camp. Camps have the main purpose to entertain children, the learning process is meant to be inspiring and interesting for students. Teachers just have to get under teens’ skin and show them that they will have a better understanding of the world around them if they master different languages.

- Empathy. If you want to be a brilliant teacher for a summer camp, you should be able to really understand students. Summer camps give much more than excellent language preparation for teens. During the programs, young people live separated from their families; they are put in new situations and meet people from different walks of life. While this is a really interesting experience, it can also be a bit difficult for some of the students to adjust to. A teacher is more than a language tutor. You will be a friend to the teens and will give them support and advice when needed. Teens gain maturity and grow as people. They learn how to explore new cultures and places, how to build a team, to live independently, to interact with different people. You, as their teacher, will be together with them during this process. Even more, the best teachers know how to blend the new experiences in the educational process together with fun so that the teens learn the language.

Summer camps are a wonderful opportunity for experienced teachers, as well as for college students, who are willing to work in this field. In camps, you will gain valuable experience of working with children from different ages and will learn for which group your skills and knowledge are the most appropriate.

In March, I posted here about the five assignments that I was to finish long before this day. It is another matter that I have not yet finished all of them.

But as you can see that there is one assignment (the last one) - ES-344 that is on TEACHING OF ENGLISH. In a vast and diverse country like India where more than 375 languages are spoken and the culture is so diverse - there must be a common language for office works and the British gifted  English.

However, I realized that  the theories of teaching English do not only imply on a single language but they are most common and useful for all other languages.

Many people believe that teaching foreign languages to students across the world can be challenging for teachers, and I definitely agree. The cultural sensitivity, the contrasts in basic understandings about gender rights, the way of thinking and values are specific to each continent, and even for each nationality. For that reason teachers, who tutor international students should be extra tolerant, understanding and patient in the learning process. The best case would be if the teacher is bilingual and masters the mother language of the student. However, this is not the most common situation in courses with international students, especially if the class consists of people from several different nationalities. The good communication between you, as a tutor and the students is the key to the success of the course. The teacher should find ways to get into the students’ shoes and try using their logic when understanding the grammar, the vocabulary and the pronunciation which will give him/her ideas as to which exercises and methods will be the most effective. There are several things I recommend you to do to prepare yourself to be a better teacher to international students.

- Browse some information about the culture and the social practices in the native countries of your students. This will help you to have a better picture and idea of what their world is like and how they communicate with each other. Students will appreciate your interest in their traditions and will be eager to show you interesting sides to their cultures. As a teacher you can support them in expressing themselves in the language you are teaching.

- Translation tools always help. Dictionaries, online translation instruments, tables and all kinds of materials in different languages are especially helpful for teachers and for students. Imagine you are teaching English to a class with students from Spain, but you don’t speak Spanish. The learning process will be much easier and smoother if you use tools for fast and precise Spanish translation. Dictionaries are a very good instrument, but not all of them are up-dated with the new words in certain languages. Therefore, my advice is for you and your students to take an advantage of the newest tools on the internet for translations.

- Be up-to-date with the newest teaching techniques and be flexible in using them. Students are different and you will be a better teacher if you have an individual approach for each person. It is especially valuable when teaching students from different walks of life.

Teaching to a multicultural class is an experience of lifetime. It will broaden your horizons and develop your skills and qualities as a teacher and as a person.