Capstone 2 Teaching philosophy

Presented by
María Mónica Herrera Rendón

Arizona State University TESOL Professional Certificate

Arizona State University
Teach English Now.
2022
Teaching Philosophy

Teaching Philosophy & Purpose by María Mónica Herrera Rendón

TESOL - Teach English now.
Arizona State University
2022

At a very young age, I realized how much I liked learning and sharing knowledge
with others, anything actually. I knew I wanted people to learn, and I definitely
wanted to be part of that. I wanted people to understand other perspectives and
learn things that were absolutely unknown to them.
As I grew up, I always felt empathy for animals and living things in general. My
personal interests made me become a bookworm, and led me to read many books,
articles, anything that I could learn from.
At the same time, I developed a strong desire to share what I was learning. I used to
talk about different kinds of animals and plants whenever I had a chance to do it. I
thought that sharing my existing knowledge from prior learning could make a
positive impact on someone..
When I first started learning English at school, I felt as if languages could open doors
to a new world of cultures, opportunities and so forth. I realized how interesting and
how important it could be in my life, and in others'.
I always tried to share what I had learned in my English lessons, I first tried with my
family members and even helped those classmates who struggled with it.
Maybe I was not the best at teaching at that time, but intention is what counts,
right?
I wanted to learn more than what the school offered me, so I taught myself English. I
had my parents buy extra English books, magazines and English materials so that I
could boost my English skills, and I stood out in my English class at school of course.
Then I enrolled in several online courses and I still do. As a matter of fact there will
always be something new to learn.

I envisioned myself sharing with those who did not know anything about languages,
I wanted people to learn about English-speaking countries, culture, and how
amazing it is to be able to communicate not only in your native language but also in
a foreign one.
That's how my interest in teaching English arose from my desire to help others to
learn and discover new things.
For this reason, I have never stopped learning, I have learned, and I will continue
learning the more I learn the better teacher I can become. I have learned how to
break lessons down, how to approach people and most importantly how to offer
good-quality lessons. As a teacher I always make sure my students are engaged with
my teaching philosophy and methodology and of course watch them succeed in
their learning process. I teach them English but also I teach them how to become a
better version of themselves.
Teaching is selfless, I even encourage my students to become teachers and teach
whatever they feel like it. I teach them how to give as much as you can and how to
strive for success. Teaching is more than a job to me, Teaching helps people and
communities to pursue their goals.

As a teacher I have always envisioned my goals and achievements, for instance some
of my short term goals are: I want self-development and improvement, I want to be
the best version of myself not only professionally but also as a person, I believe that
the more human you are, more success you can achieve.

For my future plans I hope to stay grounded and have started a career in a teaching
field and have strengthened my teaching skills. I hope to be able to help people in
their English learning processes and be remembered as '' The teacher who taught
me English''

Lastly, Teaching has had an enormous impact in my life since I can remember. And I
love being part of someone’s education process, teaching is not always easy, it might
at times be exhausting but being a teacher is worthwhile because it is rewarding to
see people thrive.

Teaching Style

Currently, I'm teaching high school Students and young adults. My short term
teaching purpose is to provide students with memorable, usable, and durable
lessons that will last forever and will stick in their brains making them feel more
confident when speaking English and producing language in real life. Nevertheless,
my long term teaching plan is to help my students develop self-confidence, and
enjoy learning English, as well as to be remembered as a supportive English teacher
who was always willing to help and listen to students.

I can describe my English teaching style as supportive and highly adaptable to my

student’s needs. I adhere to the 80/20 teaching rule, which I focus on guided practice
and formative development in the classroom. Also I can tell that my teaching style
employs direct approach teaching by sharing interesting materials about different
places, cultures. This method engages students and encourages them to learn not
only English language but also cultures and lifestyles.
Needless to say that my teaching style is closely connected to communicative goals
and communicative approach based on real-life talking and real-life materials in use
that the students can relate to.

I personally enjoy putting materials together that meet the students’ interests and
current level of English. By doing so, students won’t get tired or demotivated, this will
avoid class absenteeism.

I also want to point out that I am a teacher who encourages students to step out of
the box and leave their comfort zone behind. As a teacher I can share about the
effectiveness of this teaching method. Students will always be motivated, and they
will know that by making mistakes we will learn and succeed in the long run,
through these approaches students will develop confidence and will feel more
comfortable to actively participate in class activities.

I also recognize that the Affective Humanistic (1970) approach is important to build a
closer relationship with my students, I respect my students and so do they. But I also
want them to feel that they are in a safe place, in a place where they can express
their emotions and even frustrations when learning, learning is not always easy for
everyone, there are some students who struggle and when they are not treated with
consideration, understanding and patience, they are the ones who drop out their
studies and that is exactly what my teaching style wants to avoid. I am a believer
that the more human and understanding you are, the more receptive your students
will be. And they will be more willing to demonstrate their skills and improvements.

I personally think that all teaching strategies and approaches are important, as a
teacher you have to be really resourceful and mix all the approaches in order to
develop positive and successful lessons and make your teaching process more
enjoyable, stress-free and memorable, at the same time I always keep in mind my
student's strengths and weaknesses in order to achieve the proposed goals. By
evaluating their performance I will realize how much information has been officially
learned and in use by my students, before carrying out these kinds of activities I let
students know that these activities are not graded and will not have a significant
negativity in their current course. Generally pressure and graded tests are another
reason for students' absenteeism and in my classroom, I want students to enjoy
learning instead of feeling stressed or worried.

It is extremely important to me how my students feel in my classroom, I often ask

questions about what they think, what they want to change, or what they would like
to add to our lessons, this gives them the power to choose their own preferences,
and it gives me valuable information about my student’s interests so that I can
develop and create lessons that will meet their interests and likes.
Teaching Techniques
As previously mentioned in my Teaching purpose and style, I always put as much
emphasis on promoting learning and interaction. I adhere to the 20/80 rule, where
my students get the chance to practice and produce language, rather than only
being instructed.
Besides, I engage students to be able to be themselves in the classroom, I support
my students to be autonomous, self-confident by employing teaching approaches
that empower my students.

I always use warm language and teacher talk, so I can build a closer relationship with
my students and I get them to open up more in class, once I get through that my
students have the opportunity to see me not only as their English teacher but also as
someone who they can trust, it is definitely beneficial to my students because they
will feel more encouraged to produce language either sharing previous experiences
or developing their critical thinking skills and the importance to share opinions with
others in a foreign language.

I am currently working 3-4 hours a day carrying out lessons, and 1-2 hours a day
doing lesson planning, and assessing tasks, I try to avoid teachers' burnout so I'd
much rather have time for myself and provide my students good-quality lessons, I
always motivate my students letting them know our lesson aims and goals and
always pointing out the importance of language in our personal and professional life,
my classes contain a large number of guided practice where I can secretly assess my
student's performance, as a result I can target those drawbacks and provide with
extra support when needed, although I have quizzes and tests as part of assessment
activities, my students are aware that the main objective of these activities is
measure their performance instead of putting pressure on them with summative
assessment that at times can be overwhelming to some students especially when
their affective filter is high. so I include fun and stress-free activities such as
presentations, plays, and more, also I equip students with strong instruction and
models that help them with language production. and for those who are more
introverted and don’t feel like standing up in front of the class, they can grade their
classmates' performance and make comments on the matter, or even take part in
the script's writing and proofreading.

There’s always something to do for everyone.