Description of my TESOL role

I began my teaching journey in 1988, when I began a Bachelor of Arts degree at The University of Sydney. I completed this degree in 1990 with a double major in English and Psychology. 

Whilst completing my studies, I was given the opportunity to conduct weekly English tutoring lessons to a local Japanese family. I also recorded myself reading passages from a text in English provided by the family, so that they could hear the local Australian accent, rather than the American accent used in their English teaching course. I enjoyed this work immensely.

In 1991 I did voluntary work at a local primary school in Sydney, as I decided that teaching may be a possible career option. On a weekly basis, I assisted Year 2 students who were experiencing reading difficulties, with reading and writing tasks. From this experience, I remember the feeling of satisfaction that I felt from helping these students to improve in their literacy skills and the realisation that teaching was the career that I wanted to pursue.

In 1992 I completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Special Education at UTS Kuring-gai campus. In 1993 I completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Primary Education K-6 at The University of Sydney.

In 1994, after moving to the NSW Central Coast, I began my teaching career as a casual classroom teacher and then as a literacy and numeracy teacher at a local Primary school until 2000.  I then gained a new position at Woy Woy Public, as a Learning and Support Teacher, which is the school where I am still positioned. 

The context of my teaching role has been within a K-6 public primary school on the NSW Central Coast. I have taught in a range of roles at Woy Woy Public School, mainly as a Learning and Support Teacher (LaST), but also as a classroom teacher and as a TESOL teacher. Over the years, I have taught EAL/D students within the mainstream classes both team teaching with the class teacher and in small groups, either in my role as a LaST teacher, or as an EAL/D teacher.

The responsibilities of my current and future role as a TESOL teacher are as follows:

I provide English language instruction to help EAL/D students with their English language skills. I also work collaboratively with classroom teachers to develop learning programs for their EAL/D students.

I help create and deliver collaborative and communicative learning tasks that allow students to hear and use appropriate language in real contexts. I support class teachers to monitor progress in English language proficiency, by using the EAL/D Learning Progression so that the right level of support is provided for the student. I ensure that I have high expectations and provide learning support in a high care environment, where students are encouraged to take risks. I respect the culturally and linguistically diverse learners and provide opportunities to practice their language skills incorporating multimodal activities, using explicit teaching of language skills. I scaffold the learning of  the EAL/D students on my caseload, both within the mainstream classroom setting and within individual and group withdrawal lessons. My role includes the provision of support for students to access the curriculum and to adapt the curriculum to meet their individual language and cultural needs.

I am now looking forwards to my future teaching journey. I am excited about applying the knowledge that I have gained from doing this TESOL certificate, to my future teaching opportunities. For next year, I am planning to continue teaching in the LaST role part time and to teach as a TESOL teacher part time in a Primary School. I am also hoping to increase my TESOL teaching load gradually as I gain experience and look forward to specialising in this role. The idea of teaching EAL/D in an online capacity, is also a future possibility.





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