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Let\u2019s stay positive!\u00a0Since the global pandemic has already given us more than enough tragic news over the past two years, I wanted to keep this blog uplifting by looking at\u00a0some of\u00a0the\u00a0positive aspects\u00a0of\u00a0teaching\u00a0both online and in-person classes.\u00a0Aside from\u00a0providing a small break from the\u00a0rather pervasive\u00a0negative news cycle, there\u2019s also a more instructive reason for\u00a0focusing on\u00a0the bright side of whatever teaching environment\u00a0you may find yourself in, and that is being goal oriented. Okay sure, that sounds obvious, but what\u00a0am I\u00a0really\u00a0talking about? In this blog, I\u2019ll try to give you my perspective on how staying positive and being goal\u00a0oriented will lead to more effective lessons and a more rewarding work experience, regardless of whether you\u2019re standing in front of a classroom full of students,\u00a0or\u00a0teaching one-on-one\u00a0over Zoom.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Digital technologies have revolutionized the field of education globally, and the increasing international demand for online English classes is one offshoot of this revolution. Having instant access to English classes from anywhere in the world, at virtually any time of the day or night, from the comfort of your home or convenience of your office, is clearly a highly desirable alternative to in-person lessons. However, there\u2019s also a natural impulse to ask ourselves the basic question: isn\u2019t something lost? There seem to be a host of both tangible and intangible elements which give the in-person classroom environment a unique dynamic and energy, which presumably can\u2019t be fully replicated in the virtual classroom.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019ve\u00a0mostly\u00a0taught in-person,\u00a0so\u00a0my impulse would be to imagine that there is something magical that happens\u00a0in a classroom full of students that could\u00a0<\/span>only<\/span><\/i>\u00a0happen in a classroom full of students. I\u2019ve heard teachers tell stories about deciding in the moment to act out being a fish by getting down and flopping around wildly on the floor. I myself have done many\u00a0rock\u00a0and roll high kicks and air guitar solos for zero reason other than to grab attention and elicit some giggles from my helpless students.\u00a0<\/span>From running races to hurling soft objects, there are so many interactive language learning activities that become commonplace in the classroom.<\/span>\u00a0Even adult classes can get pretty silly at times.\u00a0So, are\u00a0any of these\u00a0types of activities likely to\u00a0occur in the same way in online classes? Could they?\u00a0<\/span>Should<\/span><\/i>\u00a0they?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019ll leave it up to the readers to ponder the question of how much of the live interaction that goes on in a\u00a0schoolroom\u00a0can, or should, be replicated in online classes, and what other tools could be used when teaching online to compensate for, or recreate, the in-person\u00a0teaching\u00a0experience? Instead, I\u2019d like to\u00a0return to the idea of looking for the positives in both in-person and online teaching, and talk about setting realistic and achievable goals.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Teaching Goals<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Creating successful and effective lesson plans can be a challenging task, especially for new teachers and for teachers who find themselves teaching in new and unfamiliar types of learning environments. For many of us, the online\u00a0environment\u00a0remains relatively novel, and presents unique challenges\u00a0in terms of how to effectively engage students and create dynamic, interactive lessons. But whether you\u2019re teaching in a new and unfamiliar environment, or a comfortable and\u00a0familiar one, it\u2019s important to set a clear and achievable learning objective, and one which can be reached efficiently using the learning materials at your disposal.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Focusing on the positive aspects of the learning environment you create for your students will help you to set clear, achievable lesson objectives. And while it may be impossible to fully recreate the experience of the in-person classroom environment in a digital\u00a0space, that does not mean the digital classroom cannot be an equally effective learning environment. However, it\u2019s up to us as teachers to set clearly defined lesson objectives that we are confident our students can achieve, given the positive teaching resources which we have at our disposal. Focusing on finding and learning to effectively use the\u00a0resources which we do have access to \u2013 whether online or \u2018in real life\u2019 \u2013 is key. And I believe that keeping a positive attitude and focusing on the pros, rather than the cons, will help teachers\u00a0create successful and engaging learning environments for themselves and their students, whether online or in-person.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Personal and Professional Goals<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Whether personally or professionally, finding constructive ways to achieve your goals can be\u00a0daunting, but searching for the positives rather than dwelling on the negatives is, in my eyes, both a good place to start, and a good guide to staying on the right track. Both the traditional classroom environment and the relatively new, digital classroom environment present unique challenges and rewards, and weighing the balance of these will inevitably be a very personal process for each of us. So, it would be ridiculous to try to generalize and say something like\u00a0\u2018everyone enjoys\u00a0and prefers\u00a0the comfort\u00a0and convenience\u00a0of working from home,\u2019\u00a0or\u00a0\u2018online classes will never be as fun, dynamic and engaging as live, in-person classes.\u2019 What\u2019s true for each of us will depend on our own unique personal tastes and our professional goals.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n That said, I do think that, if we were to look for some general principles here, the one that I\u2019m choosing to focus on in this blog is the principle of looking for the constructive ways to work toward meeting your personal and professional goals by focusing on the positive aspects of your work environment.\u00a0Teaching online and teaching in-person both offer some unique opportunities to advance your career and create a rewarding and satisfying\u00a0learning\u00a0environment. That\u2019s why I want to look at the pros of each in this blog, as I hope that focusing on these pros will help to\u00a0identify realistic personal and professional goals, and\u00a0identify constructive ways to\u00a0work towards\u00a0reaching\u00a0them,\u00a0whether\u00a0you find yourself teaching classes online or in-person.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Pros List<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Now, let\u2019s turn to my list of a few of the pros of teaching online and in-person classes.\u00a0I\u2019ve decided to give you just my top 5 pros for each, those which \u2013 in my eyes \u2013 are the first to spring to mind and are also the ones that feedback from teachers and employers have consistently highlighted.\u00a0I\u2019m focusing on just the positives because I believe that is\u00a0a constructive way to define realistic and achievable goals,\u00a0and\u00a0also because \u2013 let\u2019s face it \u2013\u00a0<\/span>in many cases the cons are really just the flip-side of the pros anyways<\/span><\/i><\/b>!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n![\"kids](\"\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/kids-class-1024x576.png\")
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ex Yealland has taught English to students of all ages in Poland, Panama, South Korea, Taiwan and Mexico. Alex earned\u00a0his Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from the University of Guelph, Canada, where he\u00a0also completed graduate coursework in the Latin America and Caribbean Studies M.A. program. He has been teaching overseas for over 10 years, is a fluent Spanish speaker and has taught English at the university level in Mexico for 7 years. Alex is now putting his overseas work experience to good use,\u00a0helping Oxford Seminars graduates find great teaching jobs as a member of the Job Placement Service.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"