How to become an English Teacher

Teaching requires applying knowledge, expertise, skills, and qualities to offer services to students for their educational needs and overall personality development. For example, an English teacher teaches English language and literature to students, both in writing and communication, using various techniques and teaching methods for practical and engaging learning.

• Assess and grade students based on their class work, assignments, and exam papers
• Plan, develop, and revise course content, syllabus, homework assignments, and worksheets
• Start, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions on various topics
• Record attendance and grades for administrative purposes
• Plan and develop novel techniques and methods of instruction
• Plan and deliver engaging lectures on prose, poetry, grammar, etc.
• Provide additional help to students with coursework after class
• Stay updated on recent developments in the field by reading literature, attending seminars, and communicating with colleagues
• Counsel students on academic and vocational courses and related career concerns
• Develop interactive, collaborative, engaging, and fun learning teaching methods
• Communicate teaching and research concerns with colleagues
• Draft letters of recommendation for students
• Choose educational materials such as textbooks for students
• Contribute in academic or administrative boards dealing with institutional policies as well as departmental and academic concerns
• Suggest extra reading materials outside the coursework
• Encourage students to take part in cultural and literary events and activities
• Mentor students in recruitment process, internships, and research
• Meet parents to discuss student progress
• Develop a student-friendly, easy-learning, and knowledge-gaining curriculum
• Create online and technology-inclusive teaching methods such as presentations, models, tools, etc. apart from the blackboard use
• Prepare student reports as needed by administration and other concerned authorities
• Endorse extracurricular activities like book clubs, student organizations, academic and extra-curricular competitions like debates and quizzes
• Advise authorities for educational needs like selection of course and program, class scheduling and registration, study habits, and career planning and development
• Challenge students with professional-based tasks to provide them with learning opportunities
• Introduce self-help or informative lectures on educational subjects, career planning and development, and social concerns like bullying, sex education, etc.
• Keep regularly planned office hours to counsel students and assist them
• Recognize students’ educational requirements, establish formal education, training programs, or courses; and guide them accordingly.

A prospective English teacher must be well-versed in sentence structure, semantics, grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and literature. In addition, they must be able to successfully deliver and express course knowledge to a group of students in a language that they comprehend.

Apart from teaching aptitude, one also needs good communication and leadership skills and time management abilities in order to manage a class and teach effectively in a limited time period. In addition, to handle students, administrators, and parents, they must be active listeners with excellent interpersonal skills.

A teacher must also be organized, detail-oriented, disciplined, and composed. They need to be highly intuitive to understand a student's problems and have strong problem-solving abilities to help the students.

They must have excellent verbal and written communication abilities, particularly in English. In addition, they must possess technological and creative skills and critical thinking to come up with newer and better teaching methods.

They must be physically fit since they conduct their lectures on their feet most of the time. In order to evaluate performance, one requires having analytical thought.