Many people can go their whole lives without finding their true passion. I, however, found mine when I was only 18. At that very early age I experienced for the first time the joy of teaching a foreign language, and it has been my most entrenched passion ever since. Teaching allows me to make a difference in someone’s life and I have embraced this privilege by dedicating my life to the teaching and research of language acquisition and pedagogy. My specific goals as a language teacher are to foster the students’ awareness of their own and others’ language and culture and help them gain communicative competence in a second language. My general goals are to instill the passion and desire to become life-long and independent learners, assist in the acquisition of new learning and study skills, enable the development of problem-solving and critical-thinking skills, and help students gain self-confidence by, for example, reaching objectives beyond what they considered possible. To reach my teaching goals, I have several principles that guide the pedagogical choices I make for the classroom.

The overarching principle of my teaching philosophy is that a good teacher is constantly searching for effective teaching practices conducive to successful learning. Language teaching and learning are complex phenomena for which there is no ‘one size fits all’ recipe. Thus, effective teaching involves flexibility, resourcefulness, creativity, and continuous reflection. It also requires the incorporation of new research findings from one’s own and other scholars’ second language studies. Combining insights from practice and research with the flexibility to adapt to each learning situation allows me to meet the diverse needs and learning styles of the students. In my classroom, for example, I started including online synchronous and asynchronous activities in response to research that has shown it to be an engaging, reflection-provoking tool that facilitates collaboration and real-life communication practice.

My next principle is based on my strong belief in collaborative learning. Learning is maximized when we take full advantage of the students’ prior experiences and knowledge and encourage them to engage in collaborative tasks to achieve specific goals. In the classroom, I design pair and small group activities where students work towards solving a common problem or achieving a certain outcome. These activities allow students to scaffold into what Vygotsky called their zone of proximal development, performing at levels normally not attainable in independent work. Collaboration does not stop in the classroom; I also design online activities where students can participate in authentic interactions outside the classroom. Even when I lecture, I make it a point to actively engage students as we discuss new concepts and gain new understandings from each other’s perspectives. Collaborative activities teach students life skills such as team-work, communication, and individual accountability.

The next principle that guides my teaching is that I firmly believe that effective teaching is student-centered. To me this means engaging each student in the learning process and assuming a role of facilitator rather than ‘transmitter’ of knowledge. As a language teacher, I strive to make all learning experiences meaningful and real for students and to maximize the students’ opportunities for language use in the classroom. For example, the use of technology has proven to be an invaluable tool in making my classroom student-centered. My role as a teacher is minimized when my students participate in collaborative web projects, synchronous and asynchronous communication activities, and multimedia applications in the classroom. Also, a successful student-centered technique I often use is to provide students with activities with an element of choice built into them. Students then have the option to pursue the completion of the task using the means that would be most effective for them. I also believe in building relationships with each student in my class. My students often comment that what separates me from their other teachers is that I ‘really care’. I conduct individual meetings with students three times a semester, I schedule tutoring sessions with low-performing students, and I ask each individual student about their understanding of each new topic. Finally, a crucial mainstay in my teaching is to get continuous student feedback about the class, the activities, their learning, and my teaching. The students’ input helps me mold my teaching techniques and activities to their needs in the class.

Another central principle in my teaching is balance between challenge and enjoyment. In each lesson, I strive to find a delicate balance between providing students with a relaxed, engaging, and stimulating atmosphere while at the same time setting high expectations for them to reach their highest potential. In a safe environment, students feel comfortable with each other and are more willing to take risks. When students are enjoying the learning process, learning takes place almost effortlessly. One of the most rewarding comments I received from a student was: ‘In your class, I learned almost without realizing I was learning. I don’t know how it happened, but that’s how it was.’

The last vital principle is that motivation is key to ensuring successful learning. A motivated student assumes responsibility and ownership for their own learning and goes beyond any requirements to pursue their own interests and goals inspired by the course. By including community projects, multimedia technology, reflection activities on learning progress, student active participation, and etc…, I engage students in the course content and encourage them to pursue their own learning interests.

I find no other job more fulfilling and rewarding than teaching both language and language-related content courses. By having students come and hug me when they see me, tell me that they have become language teachers themselves or Spanish majors, or that they greatly appreciate my class despite all of the hard work because they learned so much, or that they are finally able to communicate in Spanish with their grandparents, I know that I have been successful, which continues to fuel my passion for teaching.