I am an elementary education major with a TESOL minor. I hope to teach a first grade classroom somewhere in the northwest suburbs, just outside of Chicago. I grew up in that area and have always wanted to teach in some of the towns around there. I hope to be in one of the towns that is diverse for the suburbs. Each year they tend to be getting more and more diverse. I hope to have a community that is involved in the school.
I believe it is very important to be conscious about TESOL because it is something as a teacher you will encounter frequently in your classrooms. I believe one should know how to approach and handle teaching all different types of students. And it is also important to make sure ESL students are understanding what is being taught to them and what is useful for them and why. I personally decided to make TESOL as my minor because I felt it would help me know how to teach ESL students that I will have in my classroom. I also feel that general classroom teachers should be more conscious of the fact that there are ESL students in their classrooms and they should know how to aide them appropriately.
As a language teacher, my goals are to facilitate and aid to the best of my ability for my students. I hope to make their classroom experience less stressful and easier. I want to be able to help them and to direct them to useful resources. I also want to encourage learning English as a Second Language, but to also accept and emphasize the importance of their first language as well. I want them to feel like they can know and use both languages. Overall, I just want to be able to aide them in school and help them learn things that are useful outside of the classroom as well when it comes to language and cultural differences.
