Interview with my teacher Kathryn
Lucy-L
Kathryn-K
L :“what do you think the working experience brings you?”
K:Having done different kind of work is really rewarding for me ,especially when related with teaching . It helps me related to the students better, especially when stu taking business lesson . I gonna date back to when I in the government and gave them tips. Most qualified teacher go years for years , and I can bring something else from my experience.
Enjoy what i do ,and really subscribed to agree with it ,invest into the work ,if i dont have
and government work are entirely different.
L:“Many students said you are very special in teaching , you are different, have passion and try to convey something to students ,how do you make it ,to keep energetic all the time?”
K:“I dont know either! Student tell me this! I dont know how to compare me to other teachers, I just be aware this can be boring, i don't want to be boring , i want it more than language leaning ,i want to students come with way going that’ I enjoy that’ ,I want they say ‘that is fun,i like that” . I just to be open and made the effort build a relationship with students,i believe active listening, when stu become distracted,I just ask questions, i am showing them i agree with them, i gave everything i have to the stu. I come across with a lot of different stu and i make a points finding something about them what they doing recently,so the next time i can talk about it with them. And they got that’ she remember me,this teacher actually cares about me ,i think that makes a different , ‘tell me about the day ,tell me about the fabulous thing happen in this weekend ,free talk is really important with stu , to get to them speaking without realizing you r assessing them. I try my best to make it personal .
Smiling and laughing is what students want ,they don't want a rainy face. When i got low energy as soon as i switch on Skype I got up fully immediately, so they keep interested~
L: “It seems that you build daily relationship with stu or continuous relationship with them”
K:“yes, i will show that i remember them and what they will do ,i care enough to ask.you just swift to computer with who doesn't know you and doesn't care what you . Your lasting client to give you best ,if we can make the stu goes really comfortable with u ,u r going to give you more. Once a nervous sit down sacred, I just told him ,you made mistake ,i made mistake ,just speak.you really put them easy ,so much more out of them.
L: “what kinda of group stu you have come across with, or someone impressive most?”
K:“ I cant teach kids, everybody have to come out her comfort place at some point , but my strength lies in adults and the team that r up , who i can relate , i know what i am doing.somebody put a five-year old in front of me ,i don't know what to do with sometime , i might be not effective .
With ehello ,it is my general online teaching experience. Some of my stu used to up to 65 years old. it is nice to cross section,bcuz u see stu in different needs,different time in their life. You gonna see student learn English for degree and stu retired who learn English for something to do. I am lucky with different kind of groups, Majority of my students are colleague stu or high school student prepare national exams ,i help them prepare national exams.”
L:“what about the stu group in Ehello?”
K: “i love them all , i think mostly i am just be blessed and lucky, to say stereo-typically ,most stu worked with Chinese stu r aware of great work ethic, study is everything work hard, i really see stu who really go beyond what is in the class,you don't have to tell me to memorize the vocab ,they tell me to set their homework,(did our students told you to set homework?)Yes!god, they work hard already, yes!which of course, they can have homework. I was super surprised every students i have, i am not just saying,”(what impress u most”)” that by their true desire to learn, Okay the driving force behind some people to taking this lessons is their parents, you going to do this or that it is good for you ,but that aside, the student appreciate the need of themselves,they r surely commit to it,so the parents pay and the parents tell them to do it , the students still think ok, i will do it , and the students also gave u the utter most as well .I truely have stu I just feel that every student i had here want to know and want to learn ,
L:‘Do you have any suggestions for the stu u r currently teaching?’
K:“keep doing for what you r doing,these lessons r enormously beneficial,you can do all the text and exercise in the word,but nothing is substituted to that conversation,this speaking ,so take every opportunity you can to expose yourself in English, when you in the car ,l English radio, in the house background ,have the television on ,take every opportunity to hear English to be around with English,and to speak it. Don’t to scared of it ,on this point ,i am a huge hypocrite,becuz when i speak when i deal with another language myself, i am shy,I Don’t want to Speak!I don't want to say it!Many of the adults have this problem,so I relate to it 100%! But if hat you find yourself in a comfortable environment,which is what i really try to provide. Somebody isn't judge you when you made mistake,somebody say ‘i think you r fine ,you should use passive present’”someone just let you say, express yourself and correct u in a kind way. some student in the past just said, u are not correcting enough, I said OK,well, it is not Chinese one.
L:“Do our student ask you to correct for them?”
K:“of course i do,BUT I think that particular students want to stop every few words, when they made mistake,you immediately stop, i don't think that is helpful, bczu you don't help stu fluency , so i let the stu speak,let them saying all the time, noting down what you are saying wrong , what would be better if you let them finish, and go back to repeat it, “you said”````” they gonna realize “oh! Yeah! It should be````!”so that self-correction is more beneficial than me going”no,it should be ````” so i do correct the stu ,don't worries, but not in a interrupted procedure.”
L:“do you have regular students? Or what is the proportion of your different group of stu, among fixed ones, frequent ones or ones wandering around.”
K:I think you watch me jinx the situation now, i think i am lucky that if a student tries me,try a lesson with the Katyrn woman ,most the time they re-book with me ,i not saying they only re-book me ,but a huge of them did that. I am really like that them leave the message after the class that ‘i like the class, i really like to re-book with u!’ . Definitely in summer the stu r off in the university, i ask them to re-book the other class, it is really important to listen to another people’s accent and teaching method’ Yesterday a student choose a lesson with me ,then she book 4-5 more with me ,based on that. I am very happy with it ,not for my money ,but i am connected with that student,she enjoy the the lesson.some student even send me the pics of new schools to me ,”
L:“is it that the kinda of connection with students that they concerned about u,and you concerned about them?”
K:‘yes exactly,i really think that make a differences,and any exposure to English is good to them if i message to them something social media English ,or not formal English, i write it ,bcuz i want to let them appreciate English with real people use it, but i put it into bracket ,this is slung,don't write it into colleague paper” it is useful .
L:“have you ever think about to be a real teacher in the classroom,besides online teaching?”
K:Yes exactly, when i do the teaching qualification I specifically with CELTA,so i know how to teach in the classroom. I can do online teaching ,but it is limiting, if i want to going to the classroom ,i can .i know how to handle the group of students. I did start with a language teaching institute when i moved in Portugal, but it is horrific ,the school is no discipline. There are spoiled little rich kids, who feel that they can to whatever they can do in classroom, but the school want to keep the stu the money. If given chances back to the institute ,i really like to teach adults, they r eager to learn.it is every teachers dream to teach the one who want to learn.i have being thinking about this, you know ,i really like working with school,i love the lesson and stu,before i make the decision which way to go ,if i go to school or online teaching, i will carry on online teaching ,because of the flexibility,the students are happy, and i am happy too”
L:You open approximately 4-5 hours of teaching each day, do you feel tired after hours of teaching?
K:I think my record is 4 in the row,after that ```(dizziness@o@) after i done in 3 or 4 hours i think
Phew(slump##)but during the lesson, i never wanna stu to know i am doing 2 hours before or 2 hours after, i just give my best, high energy, even for me inside i am dying or slept 2 hours ,but still act as energetic and real to stu. That is really important that no students wants to know or care that you only have 2 hour sleep, it is not their concern, if you have to act,then act.
L: “how did you do that, bucz sometime ,i feel tired i told other i am tired ,dont bother me any more.”
K:”GMP start 5 in the morning,by the end of working time its not too bad. I got few private russian student in the evening in 10pm , so they get slight lower energy version of me”
“you are woken up by the stu ?”
“i still try, if you do feel tired ,dont let the student know, bcuz that’s not gonna help then”
L:“would you share some personal information and hobbies with our stu? Our CC told me that there is once a stu choose your lesson first sight when he saw your pic with dogs”
“YES! Once there is a stu liked my pic,that’s a bizarre reason to choose somebody”
“like love at first sight?”
“Hahaha probably ,yesterday, a stu told me about ages,she told me that she saw in my profile my ages and pick
“ That is dogs , my love and passion besides works, I haven't done too much in Portugal, but I am heavily in animal rescue, it is such hard work and very emotional draining, me and a great local workers set up a rescue organization and a charity, we rescue and re-home so many dogs, sick ,we bring sick and abandon animals into my home, I have 8-12 animals running around in my house, we try to re habit them all, and re-home to Germany and England, and the dogs r nearly dead,just the dog from video , is the dog nearly dead when I found him, and we find them love and find them new home. If people ask how many dogs do you have I know the number changes. And i am also a vegan, which is known by a lot of students as well . I love vegan and cooking ,and I do a lot of experimenting in cooking. And I do a lot of hiking ,usually with dogs, 3 hours a day, for the dogs exercises and my exercises.