I personally don't agree with keeping the teacher's personal life out of the classroom. If the teacher is not afraid of sharing personal information, suddenly, the "floodgates" of ideas and speech seem to open! Students share their own life or draw family trees, and the like. From this simple beginning, students may share their ideas through realia, pictures and lots of conversation. Learning English has become a fun experience! And isn't that what we truly want for our students?
Perhaps this is because we train adults, not children, but some of the best classes and conversations have come when I let the participants ask me questions. They always have a chance to ask the other participants your basic small talk questions, but they rarely get a chance to ask the trainer. The connection between you and the class improves dramatically when they can see you as a person, not simply as an English resource that visits them for two hours every day. Of course, you shouldn't go into the class and use it as a sounding board regarding the fight with your partner last night, but your viewpoint and background is in some cases an excellent example of cultural differences and I feel is something that can be used effectively in the class.
Of course, we should always keep in mind that the class belongs to our students; so even though I do believe that there?s nothing wrong with sharing personal information, this is simply a springboard for our own students to talk.
