Initially, when I found out that I was required to write a reflective blog for this course, I believed that it would be a daunting experience. Although I’ve always privately reflected on my teaching, the idea of writing about myself for others to read is something I’m rather self-conscious about. However, I am hoping it will also be fulfilling and that through this reflection, I will develop a better insight into my teaching, and ‘hopefully’ become a better, more informed teacher by developing awareness and ultimately improving the kind of support I can give learners.

My teaching story began in 1998 when I did my CELTA course at International House in Hastings. A few months later, like many other teachers, I began working in a summer school teaching teenagers. I relied heavily on a mixture of rapport and fun activities in those early days, but my love affair with teaching definitely began that first summer. When I got my first job abroad, I was given more challenging classes, including a couple of exam classes. Needless to say, just getting by on rapport wasn’t going to cut it. I think in those early days, I was often just a page ahead of my students and ended up massively over-preparing for my lessons. However, I definitely feel like that was the first stage, of many, in my development as a teacher. By the time I ended up in Saudi Arabia 10 years later, I had improved not only my understanding and knowledge of the language but also my teaching skills and awareness of learner needs.

I’ve been teaching for almost 20 years now, and despite the fact I believe I have developed a lot as a teacher, I am increasingly realising the importance of continued professional development. I do feel that there are some areas I have not sufficiently developed and hope that this course will give me the opportunity to be more reflective about what I teach, and how I am teaching it.

In all honesty, I should have done a course like this years ago but a mixture life, self-doubt, and a big chunk of  ‘I’ll do it later’ have led me to putting it off. Now, though I feel ready (although the self-doubt never really goes away). However, my motivation for doing the Dip TESOL is not just professional. Two years ago, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, and after a difficult period of coming to terms with it, I was reminded of what was really important to me and the things I wanted to achieve in life. So far in addition to starting this course, I have swum with dolphins and done a skydive.

Through the Diploma course, and specifically, this reflective blog, I hope to be able to evaluate which aspects of my teaching I need to improve on. Although I fully expect to make mistakes during the process, I also hope that learning from those mistakes will be a significant part of my reflective journey.

My main goals of this reflective blog are:

• To be able to assess my teaching in both a positive and critical way.
• To think about what aspects of my teaching could be changed and to develop strategies to become a better teacher.
• To have a better understanding of how the techniques and procedures I use every day in class relate to different theories and methodologies in second language teaching.
• To be able to plan my lessons from a more informed perspective, and to be able to select materials with a clearer understanding of how they will benefit the learners.