I believe a language teacher is like a personal trainer in a fitness center. The personal trainer will not do the workout for his trainee; instead, she or he will guide, cheerlead, evaluate and record the development of his or her trainee. The same could be said about the language teacher, she or he will guide the students with the needed strategies, motivate them, evaluate and asses their performance and improve their weakness by using different methods suitable for different students with different personalities.
I usually design my tasks to be done in groups, to encourage teamwork, unite my students, motivate them, and increase their learning experience and output by making the class more cohesive and less threatening (Dornyi 2014). My classes are designed in flipped student-centered learning environments. This teaching style allows me to allocate more class time to active learning, such as problem solving, role-play and group discussions, rather than having students passively listen to me lecturing. Additionally, flipped classrooms give me and my students more opportunities to use technology, such as online video lectures, activities, and discussion forum posts to keep the time available for learning beyond the classroom walls (Davies, Dean, & Ball, 2013). Access to technology also gives students more opportunities to interact with native speakers of the target language, which will boost their learning and language acquisition, as well as enlighten them on the target culture. This will in turn allow me to commit more in-class time to monitor the students’ performance and provide adaptive and instant feedback to individuals or groups of students (Herreid & Schiller, 2013).
I always tell my students not to say they don’t have time, as H. Jackson Brown Jr. once said: “You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur and Albert Einstein.” By eliminating students’ excuses, I in return give them a motivation that will result in enthusiastic and passionate feelings. I also empower my students by making them believe in themselves. This could be achieved by meeting them individually and increasing their strength and self-esteem so they feel special. I also motivate them by reminding of the importance participating in class, submitting their assignments, and studying for their tests. Eventually, I will reward them positively to make them more engaged in the class in order to boost their language acquisition.
I have an 'open door' policy. I don’t meet my students during my office hours only; I meet them before and after class, anywhere and time they prefer to make them feel meeting with me is an easy procedure. During the meeting I try to answer their questions as clearly as possible with a remarkable answer using unique examples that will make them remember the answer. In class, whenever I am asked a question I try not to give them a straight answer; instead I give them clues on how to answer their question. It has been said that it’s better to teach one how to fish rather than give them a fish. Therefore, I teach my students strategies not content, such as how to find the root of the word and how to locate pronouns. In this case they can get these strategies and apply them later to answer their future questions and be independent of an instructor’s assistance. I always keep my computer plugged to the projector so if a student ask me a question I use my computer and show them how it can be an aid to search information, spelling, pronunciation or grammar rules. By doing so, my students will have full independence and have a access and the ability to answer their questions anytime.
At the beginning of the semester, I ask my students their reasons behind taking my class and what goals they have in mind. Based on their answers I try to adapt my course book and materials to their needs and goals. If their main reason to enroll in the class was to work in an Arab country, or to work in an embassy or public relations or advertising sector, I will try to focus on their oral input and output since these skill is more essential to them after graduation compared to their writing and reading skills. I support my class with a large amount of multimedia materials such as newspapers, articles and TV news. However, I truly emphasize on social media platforms since they represent the culture with no filtration which allows the students to see the true Arab people language and get to know their culture in depth.
Finally, I assess my students’ performance by giving them assignments every day, and quizzes every week in order to be fully aware of their performance and improve their weaknesses quickly before they feel lost and behind.