One/five years later – A Language Teacher’s Reflections on Students and Teaching

I’ve been teaching at Drexel as an Adjunct for 5 past years at the same time working as an administrator, but only last September I joined the force of the full time faculty. I’m new to ONLY teaching, but not totally new to the teaching itself.

As I come from different university system ( Poland), it was hard at first to remember that the subject that I teach ( Spanish) is not the most important here ( isn’t it?) and the only subject that the students need to focus on and dedicate to.  Students are required to take certain classes, but it does not mean that they need to shine in all of them. 

Although it would be a dream if all  students liked our subjects and were good in them, the reality is that they don’t have time for everything. Have an interest in asking your students what their major is and figure out, before you stress out too much about the students’ progress in your subject, if your subject is relevant for their future career.

I love Spanish and foreign languages in general and in my personal opinion, they should always be important, but the truth is that students have different learning potential  and we should let them choose how much they want to learn. I always encourage  and guide my students when they share with me their doubts, but I finally learned that nobody can be the best in all the subjects and still , having an A, does not mean that you are the best expert. 

No matter how much information your students decide to digest, you should always be prepared to give them your best.

Joanna Lyskowicz