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I am not particularly nervous about living in China for the next year. Although I have never been to Wuhan, China, I had studied abroad in Beijing during my time in university. What makes me nervous about this particular trip is the fact that I will be going to work as a teacher. I had tutored students of all ages since I was in high school. I have had students from ages 5-17. But, when one is a tutor, one is supplementing the lessons which students had already learned. To actually teach, to organize a classroom, detail a lesson plan, prepare and distribute homework and assignments, etc., would provide a new set of challenges that I have not faced before. This course, through its series of lessons on grammar, classroom management, and methodological suggestions, has provided me with the knowledge and confidence I need in order to be a successful teacher. Before going into the course, I knew I needed a substantial review of English grammar. Though I studied literature throughout my time at university, the level of my studies in much, much higher than would be helpful to students. I had a decent idea of the basic concepts of grammar, but it was helpful to learn some of the grammatical concepts that are so inconspicuous to native speakers, such as phrasal verbs. What I found most helpful, however, were the lessons on methodology and classroom management. The structure of ESA is most especially useful since it is very basic but effective. I also liked the fact that as teachers we are encouraged to mix up the structure and stylize it in a way that would be most effective in teaching. I also really appreciated the lesson on making lesson plans. For my teaching post in China next year, I have been given a lot of liberty to go about teaching in which ever way I want. Though this is really exciting, I felt really intimidated by the amount of freedom. I now know (or at least have a better idea) how to organize a lesson plan for my courses. For me, the most important aspects would be keeping the interests of the students while making sure that we discuss, review, and learn the relevant material. I have no issue in coming up with fun and interesting topics to discuss, but I was hesitant in my ability to presenting these topics in a pedagogical way. The various suggestions sprinkled throughout this course has provided me with enough tools to now be able to structure my topics and discussions in a way that allows for students to practice and advance their English studies. Overall, I gained a lot from this course. I now feel I am prepared to teach. More importantly, this course has provided with the basic tools necessary to begin to prepare my course on EFL. It has allowed me to gain an expanded perspective on what effective teaching looks like, and more importantly, that the method of teaching should vary from teacher to teacher, class to class, student to student.
