Teaching Philosophy

Amy P. White
April 23, 2015

The majority of my teaching experience has been in two very different schools in
South Korea. Through these settings, I have come to value adaptability as a necessary aspect
of teaching. Variable factors for a language teacher include: class size, age of students,
motivation of students, time for instruction, curriculum demands, resources available
(including technology), and effectiveness of the textbook. An ESL or foreign language
teacher must be prepared to use whichever types of resources are available to teach the
students.
I find ways to utilize the resources available to me in various teaching environments.
Technology has rapidly changed since I started college ten years ago, and as a teacher, I am
aware that my current and future classes can be enhanced by incorporating technology into
the lessons. Especially when moving from classroom to classroom, web-based programs and
files on a USB drive help bring consistency when teaching the same lesson in different
classrooms. Sometimes technology does not work properly or a teaching situation offers little
use of technology. Storytelling can be enhanced by showing online books on the screen, but it
can be just as effective by teaching sounds, motions, and phrases for students to use at
different points throughout the story. A team activity may use an internet program or
PowerPoint presentation with engaging photos that scores teams automatically. It could also
be a game of Jeopardy requiring more attentive listening with point values written on a white
board. In any type of classroom, I connect with my students using the available resources.
When I understand the cultural knowledge and language level of my students, I can
implement activities that incorporate differentiated learning. In a classroom situation,
students may or may not receive regular individual attention. Some language learners have
exposure to the target language (TL) outside of the classroom, and others only have contact
with the TL in the classroom. For a group presentation, I may assign roles to specific students
that appropriately challenge each group member - leader, recorder, research checker, and
spokesperson. Some students are comfortable using the TL regardless of their proficiency
level. These students may help motivate students who naturally feel they should remain in the
background unless they can use the language perfectly. Creative presentations, role-plays,
contextual reading and writing assignments, and cultural activities are effective methods to
help the TL become interesting to the students.
As more and more people become internationally-minded, ESL and foreign language
fields are changing. New technology is bringing the world closer together and drawing
interest to understanding and communicating with other cultures. It is exciting to be teaching
language and to be able to infuse my lessons with my passion for other cultures. I support
students in being proud of their own cultures while teaching them understanding of and
respect for other cultures. This passion drives me each day I enter the classroom and stays
with me after I leave. The impact I hope to make helps my students not only linguistically but
also in relating to the world around them.