Having obtained my Trinity TESOL Certificate from Sheffield Hallam University in the Summer of 2006 my teaching since has seen me teach learners of a variety of ages and levels.  In 2010 I completed my Trinity Licentiate Diploma, also at SHU and I have enrolled on the next sBelow is a brief synopsis of the schools, my students and my roles as a teacher in those schools.

My first role as a new teacher of English was in the quaint town of Pyrgos in Peloponnese on the coast of the Ionian sea.  Situated next to Olympia, the famous site of the Olympic Games, the area was flooded with culture and students with a thirst for English knowledge.
As a direct result of the Greek Government's language planning policy, English was paramount to a young student's progress through the schooling system.  Consequently my teaching at a private language school, Lexis School, concerned teaching youngsters from the age of 6 upwards specifically aimed at the exams and qualifications that would see the students prosper.  My work saw me commute between schools on three sites around the city, teaching directly from text and course books.
In their teenage years the students were learning English to pass exams, therefore I gained very useful exam preparation teaching, working with students aiming to pass ECCE, FCE, CPE qualifications with high grades.  My class sizes ranged from twelve students (ECCE/FCE) down to two (CPE).
This first teaching experience was very valuable for me.  Although I was asked to follow a strict syllabus of exam oriented practice, and therefore not developing my materials making skills or independent methodology thinking, I did develop my classroom management skills and was given positive exposure to lesson timing, marking, and understanding of the importance of the 'teacher' role.  Lexis was, and still is, a great organisation with plenty of support and guidance from the owners and the staff.

My first role in China was with an organised school in the heart of the international city of Zhuhai.  Teaching in China proved to be entirely different to teaching in Greece in that, although I had coursebooks to follow, more of the lesson was created by myself.  As opposed to Greece the lessons were based around developing the communicative ability of my students and not preparing them for essential exams.
However, this was my first incursion into Business English.  Teaching from the Cambridge BEC coursebooks I found a natural ability in communicating the sentence patterns and varied vocabulary of business, therefore I found myself teaching to international companies of this Special Economic Zone.  I am proud to add companies such as Philips, Actions and the German company Ormazabal to a satisfied clientèle. 
Fountain also gave me the opportunity to teach youngsters over the weekends during my year at the school.  This was a daunting but thoroughly inspiring challenge.  The pedagogy and general methods of teaching were totally different to anything experienced before, and along with teaching to 'in-house' Business classes and General English classes to a variety of levels I believe that in Fountain school I really developed as a teacher and my beliefs began to emerge.
Having already gained confidence in classroom management and time-keeping, here I used my skills as a materials designer, creating colourful and interesting lessons where the students needed extra work on a language point or function.  I began to develop an understanding of what the students wanted and therefore was able to cater for that need.  In Fountain I established myself as a teacher and earned a great deal of respect from students, peers and employers through my diligence, commitment and style of teaching.

The UIC University is affiliated to Hong Kong Baptist University and is still in its early years as an institution.  At the university there were a number of challenges not experienced through my prior teaching placements, and therefore I look on my brief time at the university as contributing to my learning curve as a teacher.
My work was split evenly between teaching a General English course to Year 3 students and an EAP course with Year 1 students.  It was in the EAP course that I experienced most success and further improved as a teacher.  Teaching Academic Reading and Writing to three different classes I found that my background as a successful English student myself helped enormously in identifying student weaknesses and strengths.  Writing for academic purposes is becoming more prevalent with students from all over the world finding that, in order to communicate with international business and partake in global economic trade, you need to have high qualifications or abilities in English.  Hence there is a large percentage of students travelling abroad for further education with English as the core language.  The main difficulty that students encounter, from my point of view, is to rid their English of the inherent mistakes of English instruction from school age; for example: Did the Etruscans secure power?  In a word, they might have done but it seems that no agreement has yet been reached by historians.  If you don't see the problem, you obviously haven't taught Chinese students.
UIC provided me with evidence of how far I have come and proved my abilities as a teacher of English.  However, due to the location of the institution and inconvenience of the environment for the first time my disability begat my downfall.  With consent from the Head of English, I tendered my resignation.  

Feeling unusually dejected by my experience of teaching in China my next position reversed those emotions.  After leaving UIC I felt I had something to prove to myself and joined a school in a more local area that teaches students of university age.  With SOHO school then I was given the best of both worlds, teaching willing students and giving them the language and skills that they felt were necessary to achieve their targets.
My time at SOHO was split four ways, between developing bespoke Business English courses for a growing clientèle,  delivering General English classes following the Interchange series of coursebooks, producing novel complementary communicative lessons for all ages and levels, and delivering small, targeted IELTS, TOEIC, TOEFL classes for students preparing for exams.  
Business English courses were designed for low level staff at a steelworks company where ad hoc communication with foreign businessmen was the key driver.  Office staff at a manufacturer of kitchen goods engaged in lessons aimed at organisation and negotiation.  And a software company were delivered low-level vocabulary courses for English in ICT.  These business ventures were all supported and applauded by Zhuhai's Chamber of Commerce who worked in partnership with SOHO in delivering English learning to companies.
Teaching General English from the Interchange series, a communicative coursebook from Richards, my experience as a teacher allowed me to recognise which sections and units were appropriate and which needed additional materials and time spent.  The most prevalent difficulty encountered was in the listening exercises, which resulted in considerable additional, remedial work.
In the complementary conversation lessons the teacher would take centre stage, but for me taking centre stage meant that I instructed, monitored and facilitated language use as a partner with the students and left the stage free for them to practice and use the language they knew and what they had been taught.  Most importantly we discovered language together and it was here that my beliefs about what teaching is and who I am as a teacher really took hold.
Perhaps the work giving me the most satisfaction, however, came from teaching for IELTS and other exams. Having experienced this form of accuracy in teaching from my first position in Greece, I believe I naturally blended my beliefs about teaching with the exactness of the instruction, resulting in happy students who had a confidence in achieving their goals.  When you see that kind of student walk out of your classroom, you know you are in the right job.
SOHO, I believe, was where I brought all of my experience together in one school and as a result my skills, beliefs, and understanding of ELT developed along with the reputation of the school.  It was in SOHO, thanks to the staff and DoS, that I was encouraged and supported during my recent professional development.  I have to thank them and in particular the students for allowing me to bring my study and new practice into the classroom.

Joining BNU in late 2010 I found myself returning to Zhuhai after completing my Trinity Licentiate Diploma with Sheffield Hallam University in England.  A considerable workforce with an even more considerable student contingent the BNU streets are filled with hustle and bustle.  Lessons involve both conversational classes to first and second year students and also lectures for English Major students.  The lectures are also available as an elective course and entail lectures to classes of 60-70 students.
My experience of Chinese students has held me in good stead in my preparation for classes and the actual delivery and content of them.  However, a new challenge is always just around the corner, and working at BNU is no different.  The size of my classes and the style of working at BNU has seen me develop a website especially for these classes.  This is my first serious attempt at using technology in assessed education, and thankfully things are going as planned and should develop further as my work continues.
Living on campus in a comfortable and modern apartment, with very reasonably priced cooked Chinese food available has made my stay, so far, very comfortable.  It has also meant that the money earned goes straight toward my further education.  My return to university teaching will hopefully give me the experience and qualities to cement a career in ELT and allow me to carry on my studying in TESOL so I can finally attain the long awaited MA.