My teaching philosophy

"Let children feel you learn with them!"

I've been teaching English in Bosnia and Hertzegovina and in Croatia for 30 years now. The idea of life-long learning has found me excited and prepared: my students have been my best teachers to develop my ICT abilities! One of them, Aleksandar (14), used to tell me that I was a slow student but hard-working and demanding. I asked him millions of questions and often it drove him crazy!

My teaching philosophy generates from my own personal attitudes towards learning. I have always been interested in teaching others – as a child I've always been a teacher in "playing school" and tried to teach other children in my neighborhood. Since then I've been constantly evolving my desire to improve my abilities in all fields of teaching and even now, when I'm so called "veteran teacher" and have a long experience, I feel as I'm right at the beginning of my career, totally devoted and opened to new challenges searching constantly for better and more effective strategies that would be available in my work with children. I don't need many special tools or expensive equipments to keep my enthusiasm constantly on a high level; my students obviously feel that and try hard to fulfill my expectations. Conclusion: I'm a happy teacher, indeed!

Up to this point in time, my beliefs are focused on some general strategies:

• I use the language as much as possible in the classroom. It reflects my students in a way they use English when they meet me in the school corridor or in the school library.
• English is important! I announce this sentence clearly to my students. We live in a small country and learning languages is of great importance.
• Fun and enjoyable classes are a crucial point for the students in primary schools. I try to identify the children who has a sense of humor and involve them in various class activities as much as possible. They are great motivators and good learners. They are also precious models for others to realize that learning can be a joy.
• Two years ago I established a "student-helper" activity. Now, I have more "helpers" than weaker pupils. Both groups have developed a connection of common benefits, they take care of each other and learn from each other. Often they don't need me when they work.
• The use of technology in my teaching is an excellent way to put children in the center of various activities and international communication. It enhances my experience and students' achievements in great deal.
• I have made many wonderful collaborations with teachers from around the world. That's why I'm encouraging my pupils to take part in projects and expand their horizons.
• The only chance most of my students have to pick up English language is to take a class in school – so the classroom instruction is crucial. I firmly believe that classroom instruction should focus on creating an environment where children can feel that they can make most of their different abilities. That's why I make every effort to put in action all children's abilities in learning the target language and encourage them to realize that participation and communication is the key. Grammar structures will come later.

In my school students don't ask what they are ever going to use English for in future any more. They are not forced to learn something that they consider useless, they are highly motivated to learn it in school as well as by their parents. English is the most popular foreign language in Croatia. It means, therefore, that it's my responsibility to demonstrate to the students that the language they are learning is important for many reasons and that their learning will have life-long rewards. Modern technology is a perfect way to achieve this goal – movies or popular music in English classes are great ways to empower the students' motivation in the English language learning.

The use of technology in my job, as I've mentioned above, will make my classes more enjoyable for my students as soon as I get all necessary devices in my classroom. Then my students and myself will have a permanent access to high quality resources on Internet and groups of students will be able to work their projects any time. This is important, because many students have computers at home so they will be motivated to work independently too and finish projects faster. As I have a very supportive and ICT oriented school principal, Mr. Zlatko Bagaric, I do hope my classroom will be equipped

I believe that weaker students who are sometimes bored and disinterested in a class or have not a computer at home, are more likely to improve in foreign language if she or he is invited to partake in using ICT encouraged by "helpers" – such students will probably be more likely to learn and improve the foreign language. Creating a communicative, tolerant environment enables weaker students to participate, at the beginning, to write a simple message to someone he/she knows, to take over the responsibility for safe ICT equipment in the classroom and then to be involved in active communication. Communication, individual or in a group, with our partners in the world, works pretty well with weaker students. Offering weaker students to learn with ICT improves enormously their spoken production and spoken interaction.

According to my experiences, teaching with technology ensures honest openness of my students towards the classroom activities up to a greater number of possibilities for their (and my) involvement and communication, for our amazing learning about others. I do let them feel I learn with them, because, working with them and for them, using some of modern ICT in the classroom, I learn more than ever!

As I learn new things, together with my students, I'm obliged to constantly modify my teaching methods and search for the most optimal way to help students learn language. My former and present generations of students have given me a wonderful gift: to work on my professional development during all these years.
It is the first time I write my teaching philosophy. I've been thinking a lot how to express my feelings and stay professional. As a teaching philosophy is a work in progress, I'm sure it will change as the time passes, but the main idea will be the same:

Let children feel you learn with them!