ESL Teacher

I can’t draw.

I REALLY can’t draw.

If I was really ready to embarrass myself, I’d draw a little picture and paste it here. But I’m so bad at it that I don’t want to expose myself on the internet. It’s bad enough that hundreds and hundreds of my past students know it.

Unfortunately, drawing is a really useful skill for an ESL teacher. When someone doesn’t know what a word means, drawing a quick picture really can be worth a thousand words. However, in my case it’s not quite so valuable.

I especially have trouble differentiating between a moon and a banana. Kids and adults alike guess that what I’ve drawn is the opposite to what I’ve intended. And when I try to draw the shape of a country (like Australia), my students inevitably guess that I’ve drawn a potato.

So my tip is: get one of those how to draw books and try to teach yourself something. I’ve tried and I don’t think I’ll ever actually make a recognisable banana or moon, but I think I am a lost cause. Try to save yourself before it’s too late.

The up side of this drawing disability I have is that it helps students to laugh at me. And I (honestly) believe that’s very important. When the students know that the teacher is also not all-knowing, then they’re more likely to participate and not worry so much about making mistakes. And it can also give students a nice warm fuzzy feeling if I ask them to come up to the board and “correct” my drawing.

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