1/15/19 Week 02: Response to “Is the Great American Teacher Dead?”

I like the story of Satyrus and Demosthenes. He was upset because of his lack of success in his speech. His friend Satyr gave him the lesson of his life. He recited the same words in a different way and opened Demosthenes’ understanding of the importance of delivering messages. “Public speaking and teaching are cousins. At the core of both is communication, and education is more than just exposing people to the facts. It is an acquisitional process that without the proper delivery system, tends to fall flat.”

According to the anthropologist E. L. Cerroni-Long, U.S. universities were replete with competitiveness, lack of compassion, cultural casualties, psychological insecurity, and students anti-intellectual in their attitudes. He felt that mechanisms of teaching were bad in the U.S and American University world is not the place where inspirational, deep, and inspiring teaching can flourish.

Teaching is full of challenges and, as I learn more about this, I agree with William Purkey: “The most important aspect of a teacher is being romantic.” As a teacher, we need to be enthusiastic and inspire others. We must not deliver the information we need to be connected to the information, to feel it, to live it. In the TESOL environment, we must also know other factors that may limit the acquisition of the language. Anxiety, low self-esteem and lack of confidence can delay learning and language acquisition. According to J. Ivers, we must consider some specific and important elements to be a good teacher. A positive teacher-student relationship is essential. They should help them achieve their goals and help them in the process of acquiring knowledge. In this way, teachers can create a non-threatening and non-competitive environment, and allow them to reduce the level of anxiety characteristic of foreign language classes. But, how can I generate positive experiences with indifferent students? How can I create a positive environment when every student has their own level of spiritual fragility and personal goals?

Good delivery is necessary too. We need to plan meaningful and inviting lessons to keep them interested in learning. “A good teacher gives many examples of the real world and tells relevant stories,” because it’s the way we learn, and it gives students variety instead of monotony by inserting something interesting, exciting or participating every ten minutes or so. I think it’s significant in the TESOL class that students can look for real-world experiences with the language outside of class and then share them. Teachers can impart wisdom from their own experiences of language acquisition, and they can nurture each other.

Teachers should encourage deep and critical thinking. This promotes self-thinking and keeps them motivated. We have to be careful when we give them feedback, to avoid damaging the self-concept of the students. Statistics say that foreign language is the second most producing anxiety in the U.S.A (math is the first). I have experienced more anxiety in English than in any other subject, so I know the importance of edifying comments that encourage students to move forward and be assured that there is nothing impossible to learn. However, I know the challenge that this entails. How to get to know each student in order to give adequate feedback according to their own level of spiritual fragility?

I will appreciate your comments and experiences regarding these issues.