My name is Sandra Benkovicsová and I am 27 years old. I studied English Language and Literature at the Department of Language Pedagogy and Intercultural studies, Faculty of Education at Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra.
Right after graduation I applied for a job at a Primary school in Nové Zámky. Like most new teachers, the first months were a struggle to master – new place, new people, and basic classroom skills. Later I gained experience and slowly improved. Helping a lot of students learn every day was still a challenge. It was rewarding and fun but also exhausting – often all in the same day. Later I realized that this job is not only about teaching but also about the understanding of my students‘ behaviour and thoughts. I have to understand my students‘ lives, and motivate and inspire them. I would say motivation is something that takes a really big part in my job. How to be motivated? How to motivate others? The university helped me to be a good teacher in all of these spheres. This is maybe a good chance to say thanks to all of the professors at KLIŠ. They were, and I am sure they still are, warm, helpful and family-like. I cannot forget our seminars with Mrs. Kováčiková. She taught us everything about motivation of students, the methodology of teaching. She is still my idol in teaching because of her passionate teaching and great sense of humour. I loved our Phonetics and Phonology classes too, where we practiced the pronunciation. I am sure that everyone wants to have at least similar pronunciation like Mrs. Reid has. I cannot forget our literature classes as well, with lots of interactive activities which were also very inspirational.
The department organizes events such as Halloween and St. Patrick’s day with delicious „green“ food, good people, and funny but at the same time educational activities and competitions. These were the events where we celebrated together, spoke and practiced our communication skills.
I find my job very responsible, challenging and of course interesting. On the other hand it is very easy to lose your motivation and excitement but after a well-prepared lesson when I see the faces of my students and their smiles I say to myself: „It was worth it!“ My greatest joy in teaching is helping them to become aware of their own potential. I also teach because sometimes I know I am the only person in a students‘ life who they can trust. I have also found that students can teach me too, about different cultures and abilities.
I would definitely recommend to future KLIŠ students to travel a lot. Try to be a part of every event, activity or any other great ideas of this department. Everything from those mentioned above will give you self-confidence, great experience and fun. Good luck everyone and enjoy your studies here!