Learning and Teaching

My bachelor's is Teaching English to Spanish Speaking Students with a first concentration at the elementary level and a second concentration at the secondary level, which means that I am prepared to teach all levels. One of the reasons why I chose this discipline was because of the ability to integrate other subject areas. An English class can integrate Social Studies, History, Mathematics, Home Economics, in short any subject that you can think of can be incorporated. The flexibility that this discipline has to be able to integrate other subjects is a very good strategy to capture the interest of the students. When I was in school, my English classes revolved around what the book stated we had to cover. The class was neither interactive nor spontaneous. Now that I see everything that can be done in a class I realize how dynamic my classes could have been. A simple example of this integration is having a class where the students have to explain how to make a recipe and bring the prepared food to distribute it to the other students. This is the environment that I want to create in my classroom.

• I want my class to incorporate different subjects.
• I want my students to take with them some unique experiences, to see the classroom as a safe and fun space.
• I want students in my classes to bring unique experiences and share them.
• I want my classes to integrate different forms of learning.

I once heard one of my teachers say that in education "One size does not fit everyone". From that moment, I learned that just as all people are different, with different thoughts and personalities, education is different. The educator when teaching must take into account that students learn in different ways and at different speeds. A strategy that worked with one student, may not work with another. This same thinking should be applied when evaluating a student's learning. Just because a student has failed an exam does not mean that they have learned nothing. There are many factors that can lead to failure beyond not having learned. Using different assessment methods allows the student to demonstrate their knowledge in different ways. They can be from the simplest, an exam, to something more creative like the creation of a song or a dramatization of the theme. Everything said above remains in the hands of the teacher. At the end of the day I want to be the best version of myself for the students and strive for success in every class I give. I want my students to genuinely learn and enjoy my class.

As I have always said, being a teacher is being a perpetual student. This career leads you to reflect that you will eternally be teaching and in turn learning from your own students. The teacher has a duty to recognize this and to be open to students teaching him.