"I believe that a great teacher is a great artist and there are as few as there are great artists. Teaching may be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit" (John Steinbeck).

Una de las profesiones más lindas y gratificantes es sin duda, ser maestro. Un maestro no solo enseña un contenido o transmite información, sino que su labor va mucho más allá, un maestro es segundo padre o madre, un amigo, un héroe o un ídolo, un maestro moldea y forma para la vida.

One of the most beautiful and rewarding professions is undoubtedly being a teacher. A teacher not only teaches content or transmits information, but his work goes far beyond that, a teacher is a second father or mother, a friend, a hero or an idol, a teacher molds and forms for life.

Mi Carrera Profesional.

Recuerdo que comencé a enseñar empíricamente, en mis años de colegio. Con la creciente influencia de series americanas como F.R.I.E.N.D.S, Two and a Half Men, Mad about you, fui poco a poco desarrollando inconscientemente habilidades en el Inglés, aprendiendo vocabulario, expresiones básicas, listening, que me ayudaron más tarde a tener buenas notas en la asignatura y entonces me convertí, en la tutora informal de mi grupo. Aprovechamos los recesos, o nos reunimos después de la escuela para explicarles el contenido, y entonces supe que quería dedicarme a la enseñanza.

My professional career.

I remember that I started teaching empirically, in my college years. With the growing influence of American series like F.R.I.E.N.D.S, Two and a Half Men, Mad about you, I was unconsciously gradually developing English skills, learning vocabulary, basic expressions, listening, which later helped me to get good grades and then I became the informal tutor of my group. We took advantage of breaks, or met after school for me to explain the content, and then I knew I wanted to become a teacher.

Disfruté mucho mis años en la universidad. Me encantaba seguir aprendiendo más del Inglés, además de que la universidad me dejó amistades tanto con compañeros como con profesores que aún mantengo y me ayudan a seguir creciendo.

I really enjoyed my college years. I loved learning more about English, but also, the university allowed me to make friendships with both classmates and professors that I still maintain and who help me continue to grow professionally.

I obtained my degree as an English Teacher, and later, with the help and encouragement of one of my best university professors, I also completed a Master's Degree in Teaching English as a Foreign Language.

Comencé a enseñar, incluso antes de haberme graduado, en un colegio, con niños de bajos recursos, pero de un corazón inmenso. Siempre intenté que mi enseñanza vaya más allá de estructuras gramaticales, y explicar contenido, sino en un contexto significativo, que el niño logre identificar y comunicarse, que logre expresar de manera significativa, así sea pocas frases, que le ayuden en ciertos contextos. Nos divertíamos en clases, con juegos, dinámicas, manualidades, pero sobre todo con las ocurrencias de los niños. Recuerdo que lloré en nuestro último día de clases, porque estos niños se habían ganado un lugarcito en mi corazón, y probablemente sería una despedida definitiva.

I started teaching in a school, even before I graduated, with children of low resources, but with a huge heart. I always tried that my teaching goes beyond grammatical structures and explaining content, but instead, to incorporate meaningful context, where the child can identify and communicate, that he/she can express in a meaningful way, even if it is only a few sentences, and that help him/her in certain contexts. We had fun in class, with games, dynamics, crafts, but above all, with the children's witticisms. I remember that I cried on our last day of classes, because these children had earned a little place in my heart, and it would probably be a definitive farewell.

Por razones económicas, tuve que abandonar el colegio, ya que en mi país, como en muchos otros de latinoamérica, la educación es una de las profesiones públicas peores pagadas por el sistema, por lo que entré al sector privado, en uno de los mejores institutos de Inglés de mi ciudad llamado Fyr Lois, y donde trabajé por los siguientes 10 años de mi vida. Fyr Lois fué, en definitiva, uno de los lugares que más influyó e impulsó mi carrera como profesora, en cuanto a preparación, entrenamiento, y fue allí, donde más adelante pude obtener, junto a otros de mis compañeros, un certificado CELTA, un certificado para la enseñanza del inglés para adultos, validado internacionalmente.

For economic reasons, I had to leave school, since in my country, as in many others in Latin America, education is one of the worst paid public professions by the system, so I entered the private sector, in one of the best English institutes in my city, called Fyr Lois, and where I worked for the next 10 years of my life. Fyr Lois was definitely one of the places that most influenced and boosted my career as a teacher, in terms of preparation, training, and it was there, where I was later able to obtain, along with other of my colleagues, a CELTA certificate, a certificate for teaching English to adults, internationally validated.

En Fyr Lois, no solo me desempeñé por muchos años como profesora de Inglés, sino que avancé rápido a otras posiciones como Director Académico, encargada de la gerencia del personal académico, pero también pude desempeñarme como Entrenadora Académica, que es uno de los trabajos que más me ha llenado y hecho sentir orgullosa de mí misma, porque logras pasar a otros profesores tus conocimientos y experiencias en cuanto a la enseñanza, que es, sin lugar a dudas, muy gratificante.

At Fyr Lois, not only did I work for many years as an English teacher, but I advanced quickly to other positions such as Academic Director, in charge of the management of the academic staff, but I was also able to work as an Academic Trainer, which is one of the jobs that has completed me the most and made me feel proud of myself, because you get to pass on to other teachers your knowledge and experiences in terms of teaching, which is undoubtedly very rewarding.

Resourceful.

Cuando trabajas en la enseñanza, hay una palabra en Inglés que describe casi a totalidad la labor de un maestro y es “resourceful”, que lamentablemente en español se pierde un poco el significado en la traducción, porque ser resourceful implica, ingenio, creatividad, variedad de actividades y recursos que te permitan llegar al estudiante, mediante diferentes medios, porque, como es bien sabido, cada estudiante aprende de una manera diferente, y es labor de un buen maestro, lograr nuestro objetivo.

When you work in teaching, there is a word in English that describes almost entirely the work of a teacher and it is "resourceful", which unfortunately in Spanish it loses part of its meaning in translation, because being resourceful implies ingenuity, creativity, variety of activities and resources that allow you to reach the student, through different means, because as is well known, each student learns in a different way, and it is the job of a good teacher, to achieve our goal.

Within a language classroom, monotony is doomed to failure, that's why having a variety of resources is vital. We must also remember that teaching a language is similar to learning to drive, you can read a manual, you may watch videos, you learn related vocabulary, but it is not until you get in the car and start practicing, that you really discover and advance in the learning. Likewise, learning a language comes with practice, jumping in the water, getting in the car, and trying until you get it right. That's why oral activities are so important.

De igual manera, la enseñanza es una puerta para aprender otras habilidades. Yo, por ejemplo, siempre me consideré pésima para las manualidades, pero tal vez solo me estaba subestimando. A través de los años, he venido descubriendo que sí puedo hacerlo, crear, junto a mis alumnos, arte, creatividad, que nos ayudan a aprender significativamente, más sobre el lenguaje y la cultura del idioma.

Likewise, teaching is a gateway to learning other skills. I, for example, always considered myself lousy at crafts, but maybe I was just underestimating myself. Over the years, I have been discovering that I can do it, create, together with my students, art, creativity, which help us learn meaningfully, more about the language and culture of the language.

Los pequeñines.

Trabajar con niños es, sin duda, una de las partes más gratificantes y divertidas de ser un maestro; te conviertes en un niño más y recibes las más hermosas muestras de amor espontáneamente. Recuerdo que al comienzo, tenía miedo, por mi personalidad, siempre había sido un reto para mí, ser el centro de atención, mostrarme divertida y espontánea frente a un público, pero luego descubrí que los niños no te juzgan, y honestamente, lo amé.

The little ones.

Working with children is, undoubtedly, one of the most rewarding and fun parts of being a teacher; you become just another child and receive the most beautiful tokens of love spontaneously. I remember that at the beginning, I was afraid, because of my personality, it had always been a challenge for me, to be the center of attention, to show myself funny and spontaneous in front of an audience, but then I discovered that children don't judge you, and honestly, I loved it.

Nada más hermoso que el abrazo y muestras de amor de un niño, y eso, es lo que recibes a diario. Me reía con sus ocurrencias e historias, bailábamos y cantábamos, aprendíamos jugando, disfrazándonos, pintando o coloreando, pero, como les transmitía a los otros teachers en los entrenamientos, siempre estas actividades, con un propósito académico.

There is nothing more beautiful than a hug and love from a child, and that is what you get every day. I laughed with their witticisms and stories, we danced and sang, we learned by playing, dressing up, painting or coloring, but, as I transmitted to the other teachers in training, these activities should always have an academic purpose.

Adultos

Mucha gente piensa que las clases con los adultos deben ser más serias, más rutinarias, más estructurales, pero difiero totalmente con este concepto. Un adulto, así como un niño, requiere de diversidad de actividades, muchas de estas, dinámicas y significativas, para consolidar su aprendizaje. Recordemos que un adulto, viene a nuestras clases mayormente después de un largo día de trabajo, con problemas personales que le atañen, y lo menos que necesita, es una clase rutinaria. Los adultos también disfrutan los juegos, levantarse del asiento, moverse, por lo que nunca está demás, incorporar alguna de estas actividades para romper la rutina e impulsar su motivación en la clase. También es importante mostrarles las funcionalidad del lenguaje, aprender de la cultura, realizar proyectos y presentaciones, que, les aseguro, les permitirán obtener un aprendizaje más significativo del lenguaje.

Adults

Many people think that classes with adults should be more serious, more routinary, more structural, but I totally disagree with this concept. An adult, as well as a child, requires a diversity of activities, many of them dynamic and meaningful, to consolidate their learning. Let's remember that an adult comes to our classes mostly after a long day of work, with personal problems that concern him/her, and the least he/she needs is a routinary class. Adults also enjoy games, getting out of their seats, moving around, so it is never too much to incorporate some of these activities to break the routine and boost their motivation in class. It is also important to show them the functionality of the language, learn about the culture, do projects and presentations, which, I assure you, will allow them to obtain a more meaningful learning of the language.

Y llegó la pandemia…

Antes de la reciente pandemia, estaba trabajando para un instituto en Colombia, pero, como todos saben, muchas empresas se fueron abajo presupuestalmente, y se vieron en la necesidad de reducir personal y dejar ir a muchos de sus empleados, y entre esos, estaba yo.

And the pandemic came…

Before the recent pandemic, I was working for an institute in Colombia, but, as you all know, many companies went down budget-wise, and they found it necessary to reduce staff and let many of their employees go, and among those, I was one of them.

Fuente del Fondo

Definitivamente es un reto, sí, lograr captar la atención de los estudiantes, preparar material visual atractivo, encontrar la manera de que el estudiante se levante y pueda descansar de estar sentado un gran rato, involucrar los recursos que tienes disponibles en casa y usarlos a tu beneficio para que sea más significativo, ingeniartelas en cómo promover la interacción cuando todos los participantes están a kilómetros de distancia. Pero, te confirmo, que sí se puede, no es imposible dar una clase virtual de dos o más horas y aún así disfrutarla.

It was a time of great concern, since I was in another country, with few resources, and with debts to pay, until I received a job offer. It was Fyr Lois, but now, in its online modality. I really had to evaluate it, I worked for 8 years in a classroom, and the idea of teaching online was difficult to conceive. It was something new for me, something very different from what I was used to, but the proposal was promising, and I decided to do it. Little by little, I adapted and discovered that it was not so different, that it was much more comfortable and honestly, today, I prefer to work remotely.

It is definitely a challenge, yes, to capture the attention of the students, to prepare attractive visual material, to find a way to get the student to stand up and take a break from sitting for a long time, to involve the resources you have available at home and use them to your advantage to make it more meaningful, to figure out how to promote interaction when all the participants are miles away. But, I confirm, you can do it, it is not impossible to give a virtual class of two or more hours and still enjoy it.

Fuente de Fondo

En fin, muchas personas pueden hablar un idioma, pero no todos pueden enseñarlo. Enseñar es un reto, es un arte, trabajamos con personas, con personalidades, con estilos de aprendizaje distintos que requieren preparación, ingenio y experiencia.

In short, many people can speak a language, but not everyone can teach it. Teaching is a challenge, it is an art, we work with people, with personalities, with different learning styles that require preparation, ingenuity and experience.

Remember to be kind, be strong, be you.

A warm hug