I have dedicated much of my adult life to helping those in need: volunteering as an EMT, tutoring college

students and adults, and participating in not-for-profit activities, events, and promotions. For me, the opportunity

to help non-native speakers of English learn the language fits perfectly with my personal philosophy of helping

those in need. Therefore, there are many intersections between my preferred style of teaching and learning, and my

life as a whole.

I have watched myself grow not only as a teacher, but as a member of a community. I believe that teaching

ESL is more than language learning, that it also includes aspects of cultural and social instruction. The cultural and

social instruction is not a one-way road either: students should be encouraged to express their identity, and not

assimilate to American culture. This goes hand-in-hand with Sociocultural Theory, in that language learning is a

social process between people and the cultures of which they are a part. Therefore, the activities I choose to use in

my future classroom will be focused on the students developing their own meaning by incorporating what they

already know. For example, jigsaw exercises will be a highly-used activity in my classroom. They promote

authentic conversations where students are actively searching for information and meaning.

In my classroom, I plan to use technology and content areas to exemplify and enhance my instruction. By

using easy-to-acquire technology, such as Google VR Headsets and digital WebTools, I believe students with

varying learning styles will find an outlet within my room that helps them to learn. One practice I intend to use,

especially with students who are at a higher proficiency level is a MakerSpace. A MakerSpace is essentially the

ultimate jigsaw activity. Students are given access to any number of technologies, and then, using those same

materials, they must devise and execute a plan of action to solve a problem. The problem can be either teacher or

student prompted, so long as the students are in the drivers seat while solving it.

Students with special needs can throw any teacher off their game. Of particular importance is the students

support group. They can provide a teacher with information that the school or the students IEP may not be able to

provide. In the future, I will reach out to these members before instructing a student with special needs to prepare
myself as well as I can. Again, technology can play an integral role in this process. Apps on the iPad, such as

Proloquo2Go, provide easy-to-use interfaces for language use and learning, and can also provide an ounce of

entertainment for the students.

In my future classroom, assessment of students will be anything but a simple corrective process. Some

formative assessments given will be more a reflection of my instruction-giving abilities, and not so much of the

students knowledge, skills, or abilities. Other assessments will be focused directly on what the students are doing

well, and how they can continue to use those same behaviors to enhance other skills and abilities. Therefore, step-

by-step assessments are crucial: each assessment will look almost exclusively at one pertinent topic, such as

content, grammar and spelling, or word choice. When I do reach the summative assessment stage for a students

work, a portion of it will certainly focus on the students ability to use feedback to enhance their own language use.

Being an ESL teacher requires more than classroom instruction, such as professional development and

advocacy. Staying on top of current trends is as important for an ESL teacher as it is for any other teacher. I have

attended and presented at both regional and national conferences, such as PSMLA, TALFL, SoTLA, and Quality

Matters, and I have also been accepted to present at an international conference: Language, Linguistics, and

Literature (L3). Contributing primary research to the field is how the study of language learning and teaching

continues to move forward, which is why it is so vital to not only attend conferences, but to present at them as

well.

One topic that I was particularly interested in as a future ESL teacher was a presentation about accessibility

at the Quality Matters conference. This is a stance that I no doubt will advocate for on behalf of my students, to

ensure that teachers are making their materials and instruction accessible to all students. Not only is this something

that I believe in, but it is also a Federal law.