International Class Grade Three foreign head-teacher Michelle

    From the time as a small child, I knew I wanted to be a teacher. After high school, I knew right away what course to take in college. I took Bachelor of Secondary Education and after graduation landed my first ESL teaching job in a small city in the Northern part of China. There were many struggles at first. But as time passed, I became well adjusted, learned a bit of Chinese and enjoyed my teaching job more and more each day. I ended up staying in my first school for two years and then moved to Hefei.

    Making the decision to work in Hefei was a good one. It was summertime in 2008 when I first arrived in Hefei World Foreign Language School. I remember feeling pretty nervous. I knew my work here would be different. My previous teaching job was at a training school with small sized classes. So I was worried constantly of how I would cope with a large group of learners and what I was going to teach. But all these concerns disappeared quickly, thanks to the wide range of online resources and books for generating lesson ideas.

    Now and then the age range of my students varied so much so when teaching I always try to incorporate activities, create new materials and as much as possible deliver it in different ways as much as possible. I can say the need to adapt and be a flexible teacher became a skill that I have developed over the years from teaching learners of different levels.

    My years of teaching experience have taught me a lot. As I’ve grown as an educator, I have learned to constantly innovate and design lessons to meet the needs and harness the potential of my students. I came to understand that to teach means to have a great deal of knowledge of instructional strategies so that when you make on-the-spot decisions you have a full repertoire of choices. To teach, you have to have extraordinary levels of patience, enthusiasm, creativity, and, above all, passion for everything you do. In teaching, especially with young learners, actions, gestures and body language are sometimes more powerful than words, they remind you that no matter how old you are you’re never too old to play and be of young spirit. Over the years, I came to see that many of the things I know about teaching are actually the simple truths, the meaningful experiences I have with my students.    At the end of the day, even with all the pressures, anxieties and demands of teaching, the rewards it gives are always exponential.

    As a teacher, I have learned to never think that I have learned enough. I have learned that I am never finished as a professional learner, that every day is an opportunity for growing, learning and discovering new things.

我在中国的教师生涯

         三年级国际班 外教班主任 米歇尔

    当我还是孩童时我的理想就是当一名教师。高中毕业报考大学时我毫不犹豫选择了教育专业，在接下来的本科四年时间里完成了中学教育专业学士学位，我如愿以偿成了一名英语老师。我的第一份工作是在中国北部的一座小城。初出茅庐走上讲台的我忐忑不安，但渐渐地，我变得游刃有余，越来越享受我的工作。两年后我决定辞职来合肥求职。

    时间证明了我当时的决定是正确的。2008年的夏天我加入了十大网赌正规网址，新进员工的紧张焦虑让我至今记忆犹新。我意识到在这里的工作将会大大有别于之前在培训机构小范围的授课，所以我很担心自己无法驾驭大班教学。但幸运地是，网上丰富的教学资源和教育类专门书籍帮助我很快消除了这种担心。

    我面对的学生年龄跨度很大，所以在授课时我总会尝试各种活动，尽可能自己编写上课材料。多年针对不同年龄学生的授课使我成长为一名教学方法灵活适应性强的老师。

    教学让我成长，让我学会了很多。当我日渐成为一名真正的教育者时，我学会科学地设计课堂满足学生的需求，开发学生的潜力。我明白教学意味着掌握大量系统合理地教学方法，这样才能在面对瞬息万变的课堂时做出最恰当的反应。教学需要超乎常人的耐心、亲切、热情和不断的创新。面对低年龄的学生，动作、手势、身体语言甚至比语言更加有用，在他们面前我总是这么精力旺盛，保持着一颗年轻的心。一天结束时虽疲惫倦乏，但收获是喜人的。

    作为一名老师，我从来不认为自己所学的已经足够，每天新的经历，新的发现让我不断成长，不断进步。

教师介绍：

    Michelle Villaflor Sagayno，三年级国际班外教班主任，她性格温和，为人热情诚恳，开朗大方，尤其工作上兢兢业业，英语发音纯正，教学水平高超，深受学生和老师们的喜爱，入围全国我最喜爱的外教候选名单。