After completing
ITTT's
120 hour online
tesol program, I believe that I have gained invaluable insight in how to organize, prepare and instruct L2 learners. In addition, I have been able to brush up on my grammar skills which will allow me to approach the subject in a more confident manner.
From the get go, it was abundantly clear that the best
efl methodology was Jeremy Harmer's ESA approach. This approach allows for all of the other various methods to be implemented, yet provides a great deal of flexibility and is likely the most effective approach to teaching
efl. Due to the fact that we were always required to incorporate the
esl methodology into our mock lesson plans, it was evident that this is something that
teachers should continue to use, even after the completion of the course. Personally, I have come to see the merits of using the ESA methodology, and have already implicated it into my teaching regime. Unfortunately, the company I work for is very rigid in their teaching approach, and most of the lessons do not allow for deviations because the academy makes their own course books. After learning about the different approaches and methodologies, I have come to learn that our lessons are too
teacher centric, and because the
teacher is too often in the role of the controller, the students are not able to freely experiment with
english.
Furthermore, I have also begrudgingly gained a sense of appreciation for the lesson plans that provided. For the last three years I have used a more basic lesser plan than the template provided by
ITTT, so I found it to be both mundane and redundant to be filling out a lesson plan for an imaginary class. However, after completing so many of them; and already using another type of lesson plan on a daily basis, I have come to embrace lessons plan and am an advocate for their use. Lessons plans help
teachers become more organized and allow for the
teacher to create goals for each class. Lesson plans are much like road maps, and can certainly help one find their way.
Overall, the
120 hour
ITTT course has allowed me to think outside the box and see things from another perspective. Being someone who has five years of experience teaching
english in South Korea, it's easy to assume that you know ‘everything' because the knowledge gained from being in the classroom. However, to get a more theoretical based approach, along with a dose of grammar, has allowed me to remodel my approach to teaching. As someone who has been somewhat effective and successful as an educator, it is easy to become complacent and rigid, but this course has allowed me to take my teaching to a more effective, professional level. While I hit some bumps along the way, I certainly do not regret taking this course, and would recommend it to others who plan on teaching
efl.