I've been working as an English teacher and curriculum developer for 8 years in middle school and high school. Throughout my career, I've had great chances to guide and help my students achieve better scores for their English tests and prepare for university entrance. I've always been inspired by how people naturally learn to communicate in second language, therefore I have never underestimated my students' ability to harness their skills and ability in speaking foreign languages. I used to incorporate contextual learning and project based learning in my teaching, as I found them more relevant and fun for my students.
I do a lot of personal approach to my students; at the beginning of the class, I always do diagnostic tests and assessments to see my students' prior knowledge and basic understanding of English. And then, I'd classify my students into two or three groups; to make sure they learn at the right pace with the right materials -- not too hard nor too easy for them. I'd also expose them to a lot of media with relevant cultural background to the language they're learning -- this often interests them a lot. I incorporate media such as movies, video clips, music, games, and so forth. My students had always been eager in learning in class, they were mostly engaged with the class' assignments and projects that were given to them. Some of my students passed the university entrance's tests and some of them were successfully awarded partial scholarships due to their high English scores in the entrance exams.
