Teacher Diaries: Mr. Alvin – Teaching Philosophy
TweetBeing able to speak a language fluently and accurately is often considered to be the ultimate goal after marathons of language lessons. Undeniably, whether the students have reached a certain level of proficiency matters a lot. However, as a teacher, what I value more is whether they have enjoyed the lessons. It is my goal in every lesson to see the same lovely smiles when they are saying hello and goodbye to me. I believe when the students actually enjoy the learning process, they will eventually be more responsible for their own learning – they are motivated and stimulated to learn more; their curiosity awakes.
As a local youth who has survived the tedious Hong Kong education system, I understand the difficulties for local young generations to learn English – I often see myself in my students, when they are reminded to add an “s” at the end of verbs after singular nouns for million times, but they still cannot manage and remain frustrated every time; when they struggle to express their thoughts in English, but what they need is merely encouragement; when they form their sentences by thinking of the Chinese counterparts first, and then translate them into English directly.
By my passion and learning experience, I am ready to help them jump over these hurdles. From what I have observed, often it is not about how much the students have practiced, but how effective they have learnt – the enjoyment the students derives from lessons, the appropriate lesson materials they work on and the peers they work with all play a role in it. To help my students learn the best, I endeavor to create a supportive and cheerful learning environment, design tailor-made learning activities, and most important of all, engage actively with my students so that they are both willing and happy to learn.