AN INTERVIEW WITH MRS. WILCOTT
Written by Cici Liu
Edited by Tina Vu This is an interview with the new English teacher at our school, Mrs. Wilcott. Question: What do you like about our school and what improvements do you think can be made? Answer: I really like how respectful all the students are at U-Hill, and how willing everybody is to work really hard. I would say the effort level at this school is really high, everyone works extremely hard. Also, it is happy to be in this school, since students are really respectful toward their teachers. One thing I think U-Hill students can do a little bit better is to relax a little bit. I don’t think everyone always takes time to balance school and regular life stuff, and as a result, there’s a lot of stress and anxiety when it comes to school, because everyone is very serious about it. So I think just relaxing a little bit more, trying to find a better balance between life and school is something that all students can work on. Question: What do you think is the most efficient way to improve English? Answer: Generally if you are learning a language you should try and immerse yourself in that language as much as possible. I always tell students to switch their devices and all their applications to English, like your email, your phone, and the apps you use. That way you are always seeing English in front of your face. Also try to do at least 30 minutes of English TV, or English radio every night. The above ideas are especially for English language learners. If you are already pretty fluent in English, and you just want to improve your vocabulary and get better at writing, I recommend doing 15 minutes of writing every day, so I try and do that with my students in my class, and if they don’t have me that day, I would say that they should write at home for 15 minutes. I would also suggest you to always have an independent piece of literature that you’re reading. It can also be a fun thing, it can even be a magazine or blog that you like to read online, but some sort of reading that you do outside the school that’s enjoyable. Question: What are some important skills (abilities) do you think students should learn in high school? Answer: I think a really important skill is being able to advocate for yourself. It means being able to speak up and ask questions, and to ask for help if you have any questions. It means if you don’t understand something, having the courage and the ability to go ask an adult; if you miss something or you’re not there, being brave enough to go and figure out what you missed. So being accountable to your actions I think is a really big skill. Another really important skill I think is helpful to build up in high school is the ability to communicate. There are a lot of different ways you can do that, such as writing and public speaking. The more you are able to communicate the better you would be able to connect with the people around you. I think any subject you decide to study later on, whether it’s business, science, engineering or arts, the communication I think is probably the number one skill that most schools and employers will look for. |