Each time a student steps through my door I wonder why they have chosen to come to my classroom, the obvious answer is to learn English but I’m always curious to know two things. (1) how they found out about my school and (2) why they really want to learn English. The 2nd part is extremely important as it allows me to see into their future. It also allows me to know how to cater to them. If they choose to take a private lesson then it’s not difficult to cater to their wants and needs but in a group lesson it’s much more difficult. Today I had one such class in which the needs of the students vary drastically. One wants to get married to her foreign boyfriend and wants to brush up her English, the other wants to write a book in English for her family and the other just wants to keep up her level of English and occasionally write a letter to her friend abroad. The class is a joy to teach and we jump around from topic to topic seamlessly but I have to help them reach their goals. So this is where homework comes in. I assign them different homework based on what they are striving for. They spend quite a long time writing things up but it takes me just a few minutes to go over their work before class and my students really appreciate it. Students often kick and scream when giving them homework but I think it’s for their own good. I can’t force them to do it but I do encourage them. Seeing all their hard work really motivates me to work harder for them.
I just want to say THANKS to all my students for working so hard.
Adrian
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