Russell

Currently Teaching:

Background

I've been an English teacher since 2006, and I've worked in Canada, Japan, and China. In China, I learned a lot about what it means to be a teacher: I have my patient and generous students to thank for that! In Japan, I learned a lot about customer service, and how I can help make my lessons useful for each individual in my class. In Canada, at Hansa, I've learned so much about being a skillful teacher from my talented colleagues.

Teaching Style

Listening: in my listening class, I promise that you'll learn key vocabulary before we listen, and that all the questions you'll answer will be asked at the start. This is the way we listen, naturally, in our first language, and it's how it should be done when practicing your second language.

Reading: when we're reading for comprehension or for vocabulary, we'll study those key words first. In my class, we can use good reading strategies to skim the text to identify the topic, and develop useful study questions to help us understand the text.

Writing: I like to give a lot of ideas that get you started on a writing assignment, but I also like it when students write independently, too! I promise that any writing you bring me, I will look at, correct for mistakes and give you a lot of written feedback on, so you can improve.

Speaking and Pronunciation: I use report cards to give you a lot of personalized feedback about your speaking, so you can use this to practice pronunciation at home, on sounds that are hard for you (most students just need practice on a few difficult sounds, I find!) These notes I write about you in class can help you review and study at the end of the day - I hope they help!

Class Materials

[Check back for this, later!]