I have had my fair share of teaching revelations over the last year and hopefully I have really learned from each of them. They have made me realize how I can improve. Next year, I have six teaching resolutions:

1.  Integrate students’ personal and work lives into the curriculum.
2.  Increase students’ computer literacy through active use of technology.
3.  Present grammar rules and information deductively. (Let them figure it out.)
4.  Tap into students’ motivation to learn English.
5.  Share my lesson plans with other teachers in a consistent and organized way.
6.  Continue to love what I am doing.

Some of these resolutions aren’t exactly new. I talk about using technology all the time and I have mentioned integrating students’ careers into the classroom. Still, this is my list. My list of resolutions. Keep checking back as I work on each of these resolutions. If anyone has any advice, please tell me. Especially with sharing lesson plans and connecting with other teachers!

Do you ever wonder how your students are grading you? Or what they really want from you? To begin the new term, we made posters of what it meant to be a good student, a good group member and a good teacher. To me, the most interesting poster was what it meant to be a good teacher. Look at their poster!

A good teacher:

• is on time
• respects students
• helps students
• makes students happy
• has good behavior
• is a friend to students
• teaches well
• explains the work
• makes students do group work
• is happy

Some of these qualities were exactly the same as the qualities they listed for a good student. They thought both good students and teachers should be “on time,” “respect” one another, and have “good behavior.” To me these answers were the least thought out and the most generic. (Although they are true.)

I was more excited by how important students thought happiness was. They said a good teacher was happy, that a teacher should make students happy and that students and teachers should be friends. I guess, I am pretty lucky that I love my job and my students because my students think that is a big part of being a good teacher. And sometimes all I have is my love for the job. Luckily, that is enough. So if you aren’t happy with teaching right now, take this holiday weekend to relax. Because your students expect a happy teacher. And they deserve one too.

ESL students spend a lot of time online and it can be a great opportunity for them to meet native English speakers. I mean, 85% of American college students are on Facebook and the majority are active members. Our ESL/EFL students could be meeting a lot of Americans online.

But more than the obvious social benefits, social networking can improve students’ English. Just look around English, baby! and you can see how social networking lets learners experiment with language in a friendly, communicative setting. Still, not many people are convinced that social networking can or should be integrated into the classroom. It’s a nice extracurricular activity, but most teachers can’t see the teaching potential.

Well, the truth is social networking is great reading and writing practice! And I am going to take advantage of that in my ESL class. I am integrating social networking sites into a reading strategies lesson. One important reading strategy is inference. Inference means interpreting beyond what is actually written and making bigger conclusions. Look around any social networking site and you’ll find there is a lot to infer. People say one thing, but they mean another. My students are going to use this handout that I found online. The handout wasn’t developed to be used with social networking profiles, but it helps students separate what people say from what they mean. And it seems to fit perfectly with the activity. Students will write a few quotes from a profile and say what they think they mean on the handout. Then, they will write a paragraph about what they think about the person.

Here is an example of inference from lastbreath. His profile was the first one I read today. He says, “Things I Like: romantic dinner” He means, “I like romance. I want romance.” He says, “Favorite Movie: romantic and romantic comedy” He means, “I am a good boyfriend and I really want romance ,” and maybe, “I want a girlfriend.” You could even infer things from his screen name.

The point is that as teachers we need to monopolize on our students’ free time. They spend a lot of time online and an English social networking site will really help their English. It will improve their reading skills and maybe it will make it easier for them to make inferences.

This is just one idea. And we need to think of more ideas because online social networking is a great way for ESL students to practice reading and writing.