Reflections on How I learned

Reflections on How I learned

Everyone is a learner and as humans we are constantly learning. Often times we may not realize that we are learning something. Each and everything learnt by an individual appears to happen in a social context. Right from the birth of a person and all through their lives, the interactions they have with different people mould their perceptions and understanding of the world around them and the things present in it. Teachers can develop and advance on the ways students learn from one another by developing a learning environment wherein there are adequate number of prospects for collaboration, open discussions amongst the students, as well as feedback. Having considered learning as a social procedure, or viewing it in a social perspective, implies that the role of conversation and communication must be taken into consideration during the learning procedure. Also, it is learned that design of the learning environment, together with the ways in which the interactions amongst the students and the teachers may facilitate the learning procedure, must also be taken into special consideration.

When I staggered over the idea of teaching English in a small rural school with just twenty one pupils, I weren't completely sold. However, the positive experiences I read about, together with my overpowering yearning for getting out of town within minimum possible time and the potential dollar signs influenced my perspective within no time. Within a short time, I had found a listing which seemed good, given an interview over Skype and all of a sudden I found myself involved in the required paper work. I was at my first day at work in a small, rural, private middle school in what seemed like a blink of an eye. I had acquired a degree education course in teacher's training college for some five and a half years and hence I was not completely brand-spanking-new to ESL teaching. Also, I had volunteered with the ESL students in duration of my university program and held a conversation group on a weekly basis. However, being in front of a classroom was a new experience to me, being responsible to a group of twenty one middle school children and their intellects for the following year.

How I felt was that I was thrown into work and was compelled for actually landing on my own feet, learning through the experience of teaching. Almost three quarters into the year, I came to read a book regarding teaching theories that turned to give me some great ideas for my first month at the rural school. I eventually found my disciplinary methods, my teaching style, and my voice and I think that I have become a proficient teacher over the passage of time. During the time, I was adapting to my new life as an English teacher, I also had to get used to the life in the countryside. I had a bit of caveat that I was actually getting rural however, as a matter of fact, there ...