![\"Robin](\"\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Robin-3.jpg\")
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I started with Oxford Seminars in March 2015. On the first day of my first course, I was nervous.\u00a0Teaching a new course is nerve-racking. Still, I had found a vocation in teaching ESL, and I was\u00a0excited to share my experiences and knowledge with others. Fortunately, the course was a\u00a0success, and I have now been an Oxford Seminars Instructor for six years. Looking back, I\u00a0realize that there were a number of reasons that I really enjoyed \u2013 and still enjoy \u2013 teaching the\u00a0Oxford Seminars course.<\/p>\n
Reason 1: The People<\/strong> Reason 2: Motivation Is High<\/strong> Reason 3: A Fresh Challenge Every Time<\/strong> Reason 4: Watching People Grow<\/strong> Reason 5: Personal Interest<\/strong> Reason 6: Helping People Achieve Their Dreams<\/strong> Final Thoughts<\/strong> <\/p>\n I started with Oxford Seminars in March 2015. On the first day of my first course, I was nervous.\u00a0Teaching a new course is nerve-racking. Still, I had found a vocation in teaching ESL, and I was\u00a0excited to share my experiences and knowledge with others. Fortunately, the course was a\u00a0success, and I have now been an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":5146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,345,27,28],"tags":[177,155,9,157,90],"class_list":["post-5145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-getting-tefl-certified","category-making-a-difference","category-oxford-seminars","category-tesol-stories","tag-certifications","tag-classroom","tag-education","tag-teacher","tag-teaching-english-abroad"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5145"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5149,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5145\/revisions\/5149"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe most important ingredient in any Oxford Seminars course is the students. North America has\u00a0a wonderful mixture of cultures, perspectives, and personalities, but it is not often that so many\u00a0of them come together in a single place. An Oxford Seminars class mixes people together in a\u00a0way that I have not witnessed anywhere else. I have had students as young as 17, and as old as\u00a075. They have been from all backgrounds, races, and religions. In other words, I have to expect\u00a0the unexpected. The result is always unpredictable, and never dull.<\/p>\n
\nMost teachers dream of having a class like the average Oxford Seminars group. The students are\u00a0attentive, engaged, and motivated. They have clear goals, and they are determined to achieve\u00a0them. Obviously, this is not what you find in the majority of classrooms. Most days, I expend a\u00a0lot of energy getting students into the classroom on time, locating lost textbooks, and listening to\u00a0excuses about missing homework. When I work with an Oxford Seminars group, that is not the\u00a0case. I can focus completely on giving the students the skills and knowledge that they need in the\u00a0world of ESL. With high levels of motivation, teaching with an Oxford Seminars group does not\u00a0sap my energy; it boosts it.<\/p>\n
\nEvery Oxford Seminars course is headed in the same direction, and yet every group of students is\u00a0unique. It is not enough simply to provide the necessary information about teaching ESL, and\u00a0then end the course. Each person needs guidance in becoming an effective teacher, and each\u00a0person begins at a different starting point. As a result, every group is a puzzle with a different\u00a0solution. To meet that challenge, it is necessary to adapt my approach each time. I like to say that\u00a0teaching is a blend of art and science; theory has its place, but it falls flat without flexibility,\u00a0agile thinking, and creativity. Drawing on both of those approaches helps me to leave every\u00a0course satisfied, and with my own teaching skills refreshed.<\/p>\n
\nWhen I became an ESL teacher in 2010, I lacked confidence. My first job at a Spanish summer\u00a0camp involved a lot of coloring activities and dictation. Teaching ESL was simply a means to an\u00a0end for me. I never thought that I would be a competent teacher, but slowly I improved to the\u00a0point where I truly enjoyed being in the classroom. The most rewarding part of teaching the Oxford Seminars course is guiding students through the same process. Every course starts with a group of strangers, many of whom have little knowledge of teaching. Little-by-little, the students\u00a0open up, bond, and start to implement basic teaching skills. Suddenly, they realize that they are\u00a0becoming teachers. By the end of the course, they are a tight-knit group ready to face their first\u00a0ESL class head-on. Watching someone\u2019s confidence and self-belief grow during the course is\u00a0one of the things that keeps me coming back.<\/p>\n
\nAs mentioned, I enjoy the people and the flow of every course, but the content of the course is also important. I believe in the value of teaching and learning languages. I grew up in a mono-cultural, mono-lingual world, where other cultures made appearances for mere amusement.\u00a0Living abroad and learning a foreign language have opened both literal and metaphorical doors.\u00a0Constant contact with people from dozens of different countries has given me new perspectives\u00a0on relationships, family, politics, history, and society, amongst other things. With Oxford\u00a0Seminars, I truly believe in the goals of the course, and I enjoy sharing my views on them, as\u00a0well as hearing the views of others.<\/p>\n
\nI enjoy teaching ESL on a day-to-day basis, but it can be difficult to make progress with students\u00a0that have low motivation, poor attendance, and never do their homework. We still have fun in the\u00a0classroom, but progress is often slow and incremental. In contrast to that, getting a TESOL\u00a0certificate and moving abroad to teach ESL can completely change someone\u2019s life in a relatively\u00a0short period of time. Being a part of that is exciting and energizing. I have recently reconnected\u00a0with an Oxford Seminars student who attended a course with me in 2016. At that time, he was\u00a0sick of working in a corporate environment, and wanted something that offered more flexibility.\u00a0I was happy to hear that he is now well established in Busan, South Korea<\/a>, and has plans to stay\u00a0there for the next few years. Being a part of changing someone\u2019s life for the better gives me a\u00a0reason to show up and give my all. People often talk about wanting to find meaning and\u00a0fulfilment in their work; I have found it teaching with Oxford Seminars.<\/p>\n![\"Robin](\"\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Robin-1.jpg\")
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\nI have had plenty of positions in and out of the ESL industry since I was a teenager. I have stuck\u00a0with Oxford Seminars because I enjoy it, and because it offers more than just a paycheck. After\u00a0six years with Oxford Seminars, I still like stepping into the classroom on the first day, greeting a\u00a0new group of students, and sharing my passion with them. It is more than a job, and I hope to\u00a0continue for many years to come.<\/p>\n![\"Robin-Garnham-150x150\"](\"\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Robin-Garnham-150x150.jpg\")
Robin Garnham originally planned to spend a year teaching in Spain to improve his Spanish, but\u00a0he has now been teaching for 10 years. He currently works in the training and development\u00a0department at a non-profit in San Francisco, California. He is an Oxford Seminars instructor in\u00a0the Bay Area, California.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"