Rike Neville

ESL is in my blood. My mother arrived in the United States at age 18 with almost no English skills and had me at 20, so I grew up in an ESL home.  She was learning English from TV and then teaching it to me. (No one could have ever guessed I'd eventually earn a master's in TESL!)

I taught ESL/EFL students in the private sector for almost 20 years in the United States and South Korea. Living in South Korea certainly gave me a lot of insight into what it's like to be fully immersed in a foreign language.  I drew upon that while teaching and still draw upon it now with the resources I create.  I taught adult international students in Intensive English Programs in the USA, and I make my resources with those students in mind.

I try to fill in the gaps between what my students and I had available and what we needed.  Many of my students are still in my resources, some by name and some only by inside stories and jokes. They have also been invaluable as resources--I often received constructive feedback when trying out a new resource on them.

I began my TpT store in 2015 with grammar guides I made initially to help me explain concepts to my students.  They found them on my desk and requested copies.  The director of the school where I was working at the time remarked that my grammar guides were more useful than the ones in the books we were using, and that's what encouraged me to start a store.

What I create reflects what my students have needed.  You know how it is--no matter the "level" of a class, you have students of varying proficiency levels, and they all have language gaps.  Many of my resources are very specific--one grammar concept, two sounds that are often confused, and a single topic for vocabulary. That's to address those gaps. 

I never liked teaching only the required content as that too often increased their language gaps.  Are they really ready to be in an advanced-level grammar class when they don't understand active vs. passive voice?  Is academic vocabulary truly the right thing to be teaching them when they cannot communicate with their host families?  Is focusing on test-taking skills really going to help them more than learning how to communicate in day-to-day life outside the classroom?

So, I guess I'd say that my teaching style was to meet my students where they were and then prepare them to move forward without me.  This philosophy is still reflected in what I create now.

Yet to be added

Oklahoma state certification: English 5-12, ESL PK-12; (2015-2020)
M.Ed. in Bilingual/TESL Education in 2013
100 hour TEFL Certification in 2007
BA in English in 1997

When I'm not crafting new resources or adding to older ones, I am into nature walks and yoga. I love to read, compost, spy on birds and squirrels, and find new ways to live with less.  I make grand plans to take vitamins on a regular basis.  I always try to cook enough food to have leftovers, but I always discover all over again how much I love my own cooking and eat every bit of it. I enjoy my small life in my rural town.

Read about teaching adult ESL at my website, rikeneville.com.