Kiki Miller English

“My child doesn’t have time for English homework Kiki!”
I hear this all too often!

At times it is challenging trying to convince parents about the importance of spending five to ten minutes on homework after class, but once they have seen the results, they agree with me completely!

I always believe that homework shouldn’t be a long and strenuous exercise… you need only take a few minutes for this.

Homework reinforces what is learnt in class, not only adding value to the lesson long after the teacher has left the classroom, but helping set a firm foundation of knowledge on which to build in the following class!

Step by step, little by little, we achieve our goals!

What makes a good teacher?

There are so many things I could mention, but I believe that above all else, having the HEART and PASSION for teaching is what makes a good teacher.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week ahead, with many happy lessons!

My happiest day is making a difference in the lives of children!

Wishing everyone a happy weekend!

I love this picture!

It shows so much joy and happiness!

I always endeavor to bring joy and happiness to every class that I teach.

A year ago, a mother reluctantly approached me. She wanted her child to improve her English skills, but she was afraid I would be unable to help. She shared her past experience with me:

"My daughter has been studying English for two years and she can't remember anything she has learnt. She attended online classes three times a week, but I feel that she has learnt nothing. She can't remember the words that the teacher taught her. She can say only a few words in English. I feel like we wasted out time and our money."

I felt this mother's frustration, as well as her fear.

I knew that I could help her and her daughter and so I guided her through a list of items that I believed made me successful as a teacher.

The most important place to start, I told her, was to conduct a full assessment on her child. I did this for free and it showed that, at the age of 10, her daughter's phonics skills were extremely limited. She was not even able to say the sounds for the alphabet letters, the very first stage of learning phonics.

Phonics forms the foundation for all of the English skills. When a child's phonics improves, their reading, writing and speaking improves too. This in turn leads to increased confidence and a greater motivation to learn.

After talking to this mother, I discovered that her daughter's previous teacher had never conducted an initial assessment and that she had just been placed on a level in the English course that "most children her age would benefit from."

The child's weak points had never been identified...

She had NO confidence in herself or her abilities.

With a lack of confidence, she was demotivated to learn.

Her foundation of English skills was very, very weak and she was guided to build on this weak foundation, without every really fixing the core of the problem.

Although an assessment was key to success, I explained to this mother that there were other important things to focus on during class as well:

*Connecting with the student on a personal level

*Using different error correction techniques

*Using singing and varying tone of voice to help gain and keep the child's attention

*Making each lesson a fun and happy experience

*Using TPR (typical physical response) and images to convey meaning of new words and phrases

*Giving the student homework specifically designed to address problem areas discovered during class

*Creating an atmosphere where the student is not afraid to make mistakes or ask questions

After a few conversations, the mother agreed to start her daughter on 2 classes a week with me at Kiki Miller English.

We worked through the four stages of phonics learning and slowly but surely, we were able to solve the core problems she was experiencing.

She started on the Beginners level and gradually progressed to the higher levels in the curriculum.

The growth I have seen in her is remarkable.

During class she is confident and engaged.

What a privilege it has been to teach this little girl and I am so excited to see her future progress.

Teaching is a passion! I am so grateful to be living my passion each and every day!

Thinking back to my school days, there were some subjects that I absolutely HATED! I never felt motivated to learn them or to excel in them...
Now, as an adult and a teacher myself, I understand that it was really the teachers that I didn't like and didn't connect with. They didn't inspire me to love these subjects, because they didn't feel the inspiration themselves.

It's important to inspire a love in your students for what you are teaching! We need to constantly pass our passion onto them.

Kiki Miller English is live!

https://teacher-association.com/kikimillerenglish

Learning a language is a JOURNEY and it does not happen over night.
It is a PROCESS of small, baby steps... every single day.
I always encourage parents to understand this concept and to celebrate the successes along the way!

Teaching online is completely different to teaching in person.
You are trying to connect with an individual very far away.
In addition to this, most children are attending your class after a full day of school and extra mural activities.
Taking all of this into consideration, it is important that we try and make our classes fun and happy, filled with a lot of engagement!

This is the secret to truly successful online classes.

Passing on knowledge through a passionate teaching heart is what ignites the spark in your students!

I showed my Christmas tree to one of my students and I was amazed by his response.
He told me that, while it was beautiful, it was cruel to cut down pine trees and that next year I should rather buy a plastic tree…
What a thoughtful ten year old boy!
I continue to be amazed by my incredible students!

Over the years, I have come to understand and appreciate how very different children can be from one another. What encourages and motivates one child may not have the same effect on somebody else. I have learnt to become perceptive to the personalities and specific needs of each child and this has had an incredible impact on my teaching and teaching style.

Every day I am able to connect with these different personalities from all over the world and I'm so privileged to be invited into their homes as we find the joy in learning English!

Something that I have learnt as a teacher, is that building confidence in your student is as important as the actual knowledge you are teaching.
Once your student is confident within themselves, the sky is the limit!
I love making a difference, one class at a time!