Mary Goodman, "La Gringaquileña". An interview (1).
BIO: Mary Goodman is an ESL
instructor, born and raised in New “YAWK”. She considers herself to be half-Ecuadorian
since she lived & worked there for 20 years, first as an English Instructor,
and then as an Academic Director and teacher- trainer. Mary speaks fluent Spanish and understands
basic Portuguese.
Mary earned her M.A. degree in
Administration of ESL & Bilingual Programs from UEES in 1999, and her
Undergraduate degree in Latin American Studies/ ESL from American University. Since
returning to the USA in 2001, Mary has taught ESL in Florida at Miami Dade
College, Palm Beach State College, and Lynn University. She has presented her “famous” Aerobic Pronunciation
seminars in Ecuador & Peru, and in the USA at International TESOL &
Sunshine State TESOL conferences. She is also a certified IELTS examiner, and
has edited ESL manuscripts/ textbooks for four publishing companies.
Mary came to Everest in 2005 as an ESL
lead instructor. In addition to her
position as IES program coordinator, she has been the INSPIRE facilitator (teacher
trainer for new faculty) at the Pompano Beach campus since 2008.
Mary loves teaching her international
students about American idioms/ vocabulary, pronunciation, holidays, songs,
videos, customs/ traditions, and current events. Around campus, Mary is well –known for her positive
energy, favorite teal/ turquoise attire, “Terminator” sunglasses, upside-down pineapple
cake, and editing talents (grammar, punctuation, & spelling)!
Her favorite expressions are: “Yesterday is the past, tomorrow is the
future, but today is a gift. That’s why
it’s called the present.”, and “Success isn’t just about what you accomplish in
your life; it’s about what you INSPIRE others to do.”
Mary
E. Goodman
I ES Coordinator/ Inspire
Facilitator/ Tel # (954) 935-7459/ Email: Mgoodman@cci.edu
1. You were one of the most well-known English educators when you were in Guayaquil and worked in several institutions back then. What memories have you kept from the time you resided in Ecuador?
What memories have I kept from the time I resided in Ecuador?
I lived in Guayaquil for 20 years, so my proudest moment was when I was nicknamed, “La Gringaquilena”!!!! I have many fond memories of my many years working at the Universidad LAICA, Colegio Moderna, and of course, my MANY YEARS teaching (and directing) at the
Espiritu Santo (CEES- Masculino, Academias, Tecnologico, & SPIRIT School of Languages). I have too many crazy things that happened to me & I can’t remember them all now, but two that I’ll never forget are the following:
-At the Colegio Masculino/CEES, I was teaching 11th grade boys who were more interested in girls than in learning English. I remember I had to get up soooo early to teach there & one morning it was so dark when I got up that I didn’t notice that I had put on two different colored shoes- one green and the other purple! The whole day, my students (and everyone at the CEES) laughed at how the crazy gringa had come to school with two different colored shoes.
-Another funny time was when I had to substitute for a 3rd grade class at the Primaria Espiritu Santo. I was totally unable to keep those kids under control; the kids were like monkeys- running all over the class. I left the classroom in tears, promising NEVER again in my life to teach primary school kids (and I kept that promise!). Of course, years later I can look back on that and just laugh, but that day I was sure that I would never teach again.
-Probably my favorite ESL activities involved teaching Aerobic Pronunciation to my students at the LAICA University. For example, teaching the words THIS/THAT/THESE/THOSE was done by throwing my shoe/shoes in front of me or across the classroom. Most of my ex-LAICA students still remember the minimal pair phoneme cards I had them prepare!
-I remember when teaching with an Overhead projector was the “latest” technology! Imagine that!
-I also remember when the electricity went out (which frequently occurred), we taught the class by candlelight!!!!
2. Many say that Education is a challenging activity. How would you respond to that? What rewards has this activity brought into your life?
Education IS a very challenging activity because it involves keeping students’ attention spans via interesting methodologies & trying to control the class (classroom management) all while being very flexible & using appropriate EQ (emotional intelligence). I have gotten many rewards from 30 + years of teaching. 20 were spent in Ecuador and 15 in the USA (in New York, Wash., DC, and in Florida). Of course, none of the rewards were monetary in nature. Over the years, I have received some awards & recognition (Best Teacher of the LAICA award, Employee of the month awards & Starfish Award at Everest University in Florida, etc.), but even they were just a “pat on the shoulder” (which we all need as teachers sometimes!). However, all of my rewards have come from students who appreciated my classes or told me (years later) how my “crazy” style of teaching INSPIRED them. In a few cases, some of my students told me that I was the one who inspired them to pursue ESL teaching.
3. EFL is ever growing but it doesn’t do it without facing any number of difficulties. From your unique perspective as someone who was the director of a prestigious English academy in Guayaquil, what do you have to say about that?
There are many difficulties, especially in teaching/directing ESL programs. One of them is the lack of recognition about what we do & how hard it is, and unfortunately, that is reflected in the very low salary most ESL teachers make. In addition, very few ESL instructors receive the benefits (health insurance, vacation, sick days) they deserve. Other difficulties involve not having a budget which allows instructors to pursue professional development (attend seminars/ conferences) and permits ESL directors to buy the latest ESL books, CDs, & technology (Smart Boards/IPads/computers) for their ESL program. Another problem is that frequently, administrative people who know nothing about ESL try to put all of the students in the same level instead of allowing the ESL director/instructors to group students (perhaps with a diagnostic exam) by level of ability; for example, separating the students into Basic, Intermediate, High Intermediate, Advanced, & TOEFL/IELTS levels. Just as a school would never mix math students (algebra/geometry/statistics with Addition/subtraction/multiplication/division), the schools really should try to offer levels of instruction. It would make the class more interesting for the students & easier to manage for the instructors.
(To be concluded next entry)
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