Who+Am+I?

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My name is Heather Perry and I have been teaching or communicating ideas ever since I can remember. I played "teacher" as a child, tutored those with learning difficulties in high school; taught piano to children and teenagers; and now training teachers to teach ESL as well as teaching international people to become fully engaged members of a community. =====

Testimonials:
Heather is an awesome instructor. I really appreciate her enthusiasm ad support throughout ” ( a participant in the ACE TESOL teacher training course)

“You have found an excellent teacher! Very engaging and sincere. ” (participant from the Professional Preparation Exam, part of the ASET Management Essential series) Of the attendees who participated in the Technical Writing course, 92% strongly agreed that the presenter was engaging, interesting, informative, and well prepared.

“Heather is just the best English teacher I ever had. She is patient with the students, she gives her best to try to make you understand every little thing. She makes fun the class and makes you feel comfortable even at the beginning when you don’t know nothing yet ” ( a former student taken English classes at Olds College)

My Experiences:
I have taught ESL to a variety of situations. I used to live in a rural area, so my ESL class was the only gig in town. I have held class above a skating rink with tables and chairs; in a community center with just my own portable whiteboard and in the basement of building (which I still don't know what went on during the day!). I have had face-to-face multilevel classes while delivering the same class via video-conferencing to another multilevel class in another small town. I have had face-to-face classes as well as online classes, Skyping with students on the other side of the world.

Why ESL? Good question! As a daughter of immigrant parents, I grew up with stories from my relatives about how it was like moving to Canada from Holland during the 1950's. Back then, there were no English classes to help an immigrant assimilate into the Canadian culture. Learning English was just something they had to do with little help along the way. Oh, there were well meaning people who took the time to help with some lost word or pronunciation, but not a dedicated class for them. My parents did what they could in order to give me the best of educational opportunities. They wanted my path to learning to be much smoother than what they had experienced. I guess, in some way, teaching ESL seems like a way to make up for the difficulties that my parents had. If I can make my classroom a 'safe' place in which to learn the language, then somehow my parents' hardships and what they gave up for me will have meant something.

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My heart almost races when I see people get excited about communicating effectively in some way. It skips a beat when I see the proverbial "light bulb" go on. I have a desire to communicate and I have a passion to release others to reach their level of communication as well. As communicators, we often get "stuck" or in a rut when it comes to our teaching and ideas. The presentations provide attendees new ideas and strategies to incorporate in their teaching; as well as confirmation that attendees are on the right track. =====

My Expertise:
I have a Masters in Educational Studies with a post-graduate diploma in TESL. I have consulted for ACE (Advance Consulting for Education, INC) where I train teachers to teach ESL as well as involved in training the trainers. I have given presentations as part of their professional development to teachers; trained new and experienced teachers as well as acted as a practicum supervisor to student teachers.