TEFL Pawling New York

I can't imagine going into my future classes without taking this class. In 1 month, I will be moving to Korea to teach english. This is already a daunting idea-especially with my limited teaching experience. This class was optional, but I figured it would be a good way to make me a more valuable commodity. While it was the case, I ended up opening the scope of what I knew (and furthermore did NOT know) about the english language! Though I understood at a base level how difficult the english language would be to learn to a non-native speaker, in just these last 20 units I saw how many facets there are underneath every rule one might think they know! Something technical I took from this course was the method of creating a lesson plan. When I turned in my sample lesson plans before taking this course, they were largely scattered in that they had no semblance of as ESA format. They made an attempt to follow a path, but without knowing any tools in creating an effective lesson plan, they were not terribly useful. Creating all these lesson plans helped me see what important factors are needed to shape a class and give the students a we--rounded session with me to that we are hopefully standing on the shoulders of the course before and giving us momentum for the course after. It has been a while since I have been in school, and taking this course also put me back in the position of having to read, digest, interpret and produce again. While it was very difficult to do in my college days, this time around I took much more pleasure in the engagement. Even though there were times when my units were not done completely right, I never felt that I was simply handing something in because it was required (as perhaps happened once or twice in school). I was taking time to really show what I was learning and standing behind my work. This gave me pride in my work, and when I put myself in the position of imagining myself as a teacher, I have high hopes for what I can do for the students. On that note, I started to think about students who don't put forth the necessary effort. I started to think how a teacher can feel-dare I say-disrespected when a student is not giving their all in class. I thought about how much work I was putting into my units and how much work I would be putting into my classes, and it made me wonder how I would handle when students aren't showing their appreciation and attention the way a young idealistic teacher may expect them too. But this doesn't discourage me. I know that students will be students will be students and all I can do is my best to reach them. Fortunately, I think my best will be pretty good, and though not without it's downfalls, an effort I can be proud of. Or, rather, an effort of which I can be proud.