Although one cannot be completely sure what the future holds, one can always dream of what may happen. Personally, I dream about leaving the United States and teaching somewhere in another country; specifically in a Latin American country. I would love the opportunity to teach for an under developed school that is located in a Spanish speaking community. However, if I end up staying in the U.S., my ideal job would then be a teacher in a dual language school. Either way, I would ideally like to teach in a diverse setting.
Living in America, where there are a multitude of different languages spoken and cultures represented, I feel as though it is very important to be aware and knowledgeable of the issues in regards to TESOL--especially those who are teachers. Knowing about the problems that speakers of other languages may face can give an individual a better understanding of how to interact with others who may not speak fluent English. A person can learn so much about other groups of people and/or individuals, if they take the time to learn. Teachers could reach more students in their classroom through having a better understanding and knowledge of how to create a learning environment for all students—including ELLs. To turn a blind eye towards the difficulties and problems English learners may face is ignorant and only makes matters worse.
As a possible candidate as a language teacher, I have made it my goal to learn how I can create an environment in my classroom where my students feel comfortable, challenged to grow as an individual, and to learn. I recognize that if a person does not feel as though they are part of the classroom community, then their ability to learn can be negatively affected. In addition, not providing my students with opportunities to grow as a human being can cause them to not be considerate of others. Finally, the most obvious goal for my classroom would be for my students to learn academically.
