For the first two semesters at Shangqiu Normal University, I taught Oral English, Cross Cultural Communication and Practical Writing to first and second-year students. Even with large classes of over 50 students, I engaged my students in active speaking and listening activities. I found ways to give each student opportunities to speak in English during every class with a focus on developing real-world language skills. The pandemic took us all by surprise, and I found myself unable to return to China because of the closed borders. I taught my English classes from my home country of Canada. I used Dingtalk as well as Microsoft Office apps to present interactive lessons to my students.

For three years, I taught Emirati boys at a military high school . My students were preparing to take the IELTS exams as well as the national exams required for graduation, so our main focus was on developing good reading and writing strategies and building a solid grammar and vocabulary base. In addition to creating engaging lessons that utilized our interactive whiteboards, I assisted the head of department in creating assessments.

As Coordinator, I wore many hats. As the office manager, I made sure the physical necessities were taken care of. I kept the statistics updated and reported to upper management and funders, mainly using the Access database that I created and developed for this purpose. I enjoyed my role as curriculum developer. I recently created a workbook for my CELPIP Preparation class that covered the six-session curriculum and made studying at home easier for my learners. I taught basic and intermediate ESL classes, as well as classes that focused primarily on literacy or conversation. My learners were very diverse, ranging from LIFE (Learners with Interrupted Formal Education) to university-educated adults. It was wonderful to help people get a high enough Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) score to apply for post-secondary schooling or Canadian citizenship, but the most rewarding thing I did was to teach people how to read and write. It’s a skill I had taken for granted until I met adults who couldn't do it.

The Volunteer Tutor Adult Literacy Program helps match people who want to learn with people who want to share their skills with members of their community. In my role with VTALP, I assessed the language skills of new learners, developed appropriate goals with them, and matched them with a volunteer who could help them meet those goals. To do this, I recruited and trained volunteers and managed an extensive library of resources. This was a good opportunity for me to get acquainted with Canadian resources I hadn’t seen before and hone my administrative skills, but I missed teaching English. I was excited to transfer to the ESL English Learning Services the following year.

Teaching adult ESOL classes for organizations like Literacy for Life and WJCC is never boring. I had an intermediate class of twelve adults, none of whom spoke the same first language. (Potluck dinners and the conversations about food and cultures were amazing!) My classes in the regional jail gave me excellent experience with teaching a multi-level class with very limited resources and no technology. I taught at a variety of off-site locations using the trunk of my car and a wheeled box of resources as my traveling office. This is where I learned that I could do a lot with small whiteboards, Oxford Picture Dictionaries, the three levels of Azar grammar textbooks, and a bag of realia.

York County School Division, Yorktown, VA, USA (9/2002 – 6/2003, 10/2005—6/2007)Williamsburg James City County Public Schools, Williamsburg, VA, USA (9/2002—2/2003) American School of Kuwait, Kuwait City, Kuwait (11/2005—12/2005)After completing my bachelor’s degree and at various times in my career, I did substitute teaching. I learned a lot about flexibility in the classroom and being able to manage the unexpected that inevitably happens in any workplace. I developed my literal bag of backups that could supplement a lesson left for me or fill in completely when there were no plans. My most interesting job was working at the American School of Kuwait where I spent time with the upper primary classes. I had called the principal to offer my services as a volunteer while I was spending seven weeks in Kuwait, but instead she asked about my credentials and offered me a short-term substitute teaching opportunity.

Middle school English classes and intermediate adult ESL classes are not that different once you get past the puberty-related differences. We worked on reading comprehension of a range of genres and writing for a variety of audiences. There was a focus on learning new vocabulary as well as the art of learning how to spell them. Writing lessons explicitly and implicitly focused on grammar, punctuation, and word choice. Oral presentations helped fluency and confidence.