Blog March 14, 2014 by St Giles

Our Teachers

At St. Giles Vancouver, two of our fantastic teachers have been awarded “Teacher of the Year” and “Peer of the Year.” Our Director of Studies, Vern, recently asked them about how they became teachers. These are their stories:

Corinne (Peer of the Year):

“I fell into teaching. I was working in Social Services and felt a little burnt out. A friend of mine was teaching in Korea and I thought it sounded interesting. Suddenly I found myself in Japan as a teacher! The plan was to stay in Japan for a year and then go back to my old job. Eight and a half years later, I moved to Vancouver. I had fallen in love with teaching in Japan.”

“I have been teaching now for almost 18 years. I love everything about teaching except for the paperwork! Whenever I have a tough class, it makes me work harder to try and figure out how to hook them. I actually like teaching all classes but I think that Pre-Intermediate is my favorite level. Students at this level are very enthusiastic about learning and really put in an effort.”

“When you work with lower classes, you really see their improvement. It feels like a mother bird kicking her babies out of the nest when you move them up.”

(Corinne has taught Platinum courses, CAE, General English and EAP during her time with St. Giles. She is the go-to teacher for any kind of documentaries and has published a book about using songs in the classroom.)

Katie (Teacher of the Year):

“I started teaching in 2011 after completing my B.Ed at UBC. Initially my plan was to teach elementary but that plan came to a screeching halt and I needed a plan B. My plan B was getting my TESL certificate, which ultimately turned out to be a very good decision on my part.”

“I’ve been very lucky at St. Giles to have had the opportunity to teach all levels, including Cambridge. Furthermore, my luck hasn’t stopped there. I work with a fantastic bunch of people, students and coworkers alike, who make my job extremely enjoyable and rewarding. I appreciate all the positive feedback I have received. It pushes me to always provide the best learning environment possible for the students I am fortunate to teach.”

(Katie is a very hard-working teacher and mother. When not teaching, Katie is usually doing something ‘sporty’ like playing football!)

If you would like to Learn English in Canada, come and visit our English school in Vancouver!  Please e-mail us at english@stgiles-canada.com for more information.