Teaching ESL

I have wanted to be a teacher since I was about 10 years old. Although I tried to consider other careers, I finally realized during my sophomore year in college that teaching was what I was supposed to do. I have not regretted my decision since.
I first started teaching ESL August 2009. I am still learning a lot about ESL, but I always love learning new theories, techniques, and strategies, and applying them into my classroom. Teaching in general is a very rewarding career. However, I especially enjoy teaching ESL students because these particular students are motivated to learn the language in order to survive in their new environment.
The county I work for is a small, rural area. I am the only ESL teacher in the county. I travel to different schools and utilize the pull-out method in order to teach my students. Even though I have only taught for two years, both years were vastly different from each other. The first year I was trying to "get my feet wet" and adjust to the job. I was also trying to get to know my students. This past year was completely different because I had a lot more new students, plus most of the ones I had the previous year. I am sure there are going to be a lot more changes to this coming year as well.
Teaching ESL students definitely keeps me on my toes. When a potential ESL student walks through the doors of any of the schools in my county, I find out about it quickly. Then after they are placed in a classroom, and they test as an ESL student...the adventure begins. I love getting to know each student, learning their strengths, learning what they know about the language (if anything), discovering who they are, and what they can bring to their classroom and school environment. My favorite part about teaching ESL is when they start speaking English. I feel immediate satisfaction even if they only utter one intelligible word.
A teacher who taught ESL in my county before I did once told me, "You never know with ESL. You could get one new student the whole year, or a whole bus load." In my case, that's definitely true! No matter how many students I teach each year, whether it's 1 or 50. I am glad that I have the opportunity to help these students. I hope I am able to do what I do for many more years.