【講師コラム】メル講師No.23～Allowing My Students To Bloom In Their Season～

 Lovely Friday, Mommies and Daddies! I hope that you are all having an incredible and a meaningful start of 2024… 2023 went by soooooooo quickly that I felt like it was the fastest year of my life… I really am not the type of person who makes New Year resolutions, but I always welcome the new year with a grateful and hopeful heart… I am always hopeful and feeling positive that it would be much lovelier and gentler that the previous years that I and the people I cherish (including all of you)  have had…

         Oh, my introduction is kind of long again! So, before it gets even longer, I would like to start talking about the topic given to Englishbuds’ instructors for our blog entries this time. And, Mommy Kayo informed us that it would be about our teaching style.

         Hmnn… My teaching style… I simply treat my students like FLOWER BUDS. I handle each of them differently and with much care for they are all delicate and unique. I believe that all children are like tiny buds that can bloom into beautiful flowers with proper environment and nurturing . We just have to allow them to bloom in their own season. And I constantly remind myself that just like flowers that do not bloom all at the same time, children learn differently at different paces. Some children bloom slightly earlier, some bloom slightly later and others at different points in between. My role is to help my students’ parents in giving them all the necessary nourishment they need by creating an appropriate English learning environment, providing the necessary learning tools, and of course, shower them with all the love, understanding, and praises that they all so deserve to get while we patiently wait for them to blossom. I find my role as an English teacher truly fascinating. And it is ever exciting to see what kind of flowers our precious English buds would bloom into…

         Studying a foreign language can be really stressful and boring for some children. That is why as much as possible, I do not let my students feel like I am their teacher, so they have to be so polite and obedient to me. I prefer to let them think of me as a teacher that can also be their friend and playmate. I love seeing them open up willingly and naturally, thus I do not force them to study so seriously as I do not want them to develop any negative feelings about English learning. During the lessons , I allow my students to speak freely about their thoughts, I even allow them to be the teacher sometimes! I also make sure to praise them not only when they make progress, I praise them for trying and for doing their best. Praises and encouragements work like magic on kids! So, please make sure to commend them and shower them with encouraging words whenever they take on a new challenge no matter what the result is.

          I have been teaching English online for about 18 years now (that’s nearly half of my age), and I honestly never thought I would ever be a teacher one day! I grew up in a family of teachers, and I grew up seeing how hard it was (and it still is) for my mom to handle 60 to 80 students in one class…  Ohhhhh, it was so chaotic! So, I told myself, “ Uh-oh! I am never going to be a public elementary school teacher!” Besides that, I was really so set on becoming a journalist. But I guess God has a much incredible plan for me… I definitely loved and cherished my time working as a journalist, but I realized that it is not for faint hearted and absolutely not for those who have weak stomach… It is not for those who are not willing to turn a blind eye to all the dark secrets of media behind cameras and voice recorders… To make the story short, as much as I loved being a journalist, it had opened my eyes to the harsh and ugly realities of life, and how those media people really work when the camera isn’t rolling… Hence, I left my dream job and went back home… And I am soooooo glad I did so! I have found my true calling; that is to become an ONLINE ENGLISH TEACHER…

          Teaching English is indeed very challenging… But more than that, it surely is extremely delighful, satisfying, and gratifying! And I always am looking forward to seeing my students flourish beautifully and proudly…

          That’s long again, right, Mommies and Daddies?… Please accept my apology… And thank you so much for being taking time to read my long entries… THANK YOU SOOOOO VERY BIG, Mommies and Daddies for trusting Mommy Kayo, me, and other Englishbuds tutors… Thank ypu soooooooo very, very much, my amazingly beautiful and unique English buds… Teacher Mel will work hard to make sure that you will all continue to grow and blossom in our English garden…             Happy New Year again, Mommies and Daddies!!! May 2024 be a year of many kinds of happy and all colors of wonderful for all of us…