Ryan Gornall

I'm a Drama teacher, an Infant teacher and a Google Educator, working and living in Asturias, Spain. I've been working as a teacher since 2008 and I'm passionate about learning new techniques that will make me a better teacher and make my classes fun.

Currently, I teach children from 2 years old learning English as a second language, up to adults preparing their Advanced Cambridge Exam. Primarily, I teach English as a second language, but since 2015 I have been teaching Drama to primary and secondary students as well.

I first came into teaching as a TEFL teacher in my summer holidays. I began working at summer camps in Cataluña, and once I'd finished my university studies I moved permanently to Spain to continue teaching. After a year as a language assistant in Alicante, I moved into educational theatre. I toured Spain for two years, performing an English show for secondary schools. Eventually, I settled in Oviedo, Asturias where I have lived since 2009.

I have been teaching Infants since 2010, working with 3 and 4 year olds. I work in a private, bilingual school and the students' timetable is split equally between subjects in English and Spanish. I love working with the school's youngest students as they learn so quickly and are literally "sponges" for learning languages.

I have been teaching Drama since 2015. I had previously worked as an actor for an educational theatre group in Spain, where we toured the whole country performing for secondary schools and language academies. Therefore, at school I was given the opportunity to teach Drama. It has been a fantastic opportunity for me to be creative and inspire the students do something different. It gives students the chance to use their English skills in a fun and practical way, as well the possibility of trying something they've never done before. Every year I put on a show for the 6º primaria students, and to date I have done "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", "Peter Pan" and "The Wizard of Oz".

I continue to teach English as a second language in a local academy, and I am preparing a small group of students to take the Advanced Cambridge Exam. Since 2016, I have worked as a Cambridge Speaking Examiner for Young Learners, KET, PET and First Certificate levels.

Finally, I am aiming to become a Google Trainer. The school where I currently adopted the Google for Education platform in 2016 and I believe that it can be an extremely important and useful tool for education and students' learning. As well as my fellow technores, I have Google Educator Level 2, and we are helping as many teachers in our school to acheive Level 1. Living in the digital age I think it is necessary that students begin working on a digital platform as early as possible, as well as learning the responsibilities of using technology and having an online presence. It also a great tool for teachers to create innovative lessons, interesting and engaging classes, and of course time-saving techniques to avoid endless photocopying and planning.