Best Place To Be A Teacher In Us

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Everyone has a personal genius. It's not up to us to change people, but rather to help individuals be the best they can be with the skills, strengths, and abilities they already possess. The way we go about teaching individuals with learning disabilities will require us to be creative, looking beyond conventional teaching methods. Humility will also be necessary, for we may be the problem rather than the learning disability itself. Will we be humble enough to accept this truth and then use it to improve our skills as teachers? As teachers, the ability to look outside the box and to be able to assess ourselves honestly will be essential if we...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas First day as a teacher. The first day of any new job is going to be difficult. You are likely to be excited, after all, you have worked hard to get to where you are now. All that studying, finding a position, applying and being interviewed and then preparing for this day. Chances are that you didn’t sleep well last night, you find yourself rushing this morning, the last-minute forget and just getting there might involve some mishap, all increasing the tension you are feeling. And, unlike many other jobs, this one is in the spotlight with everyone looking towards you. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Kevin A. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Destinations TEFL Information Mainland China and Taiwan form a very large part of the Asian ESL market. There are obviously many similarities but also many differences. In this blog we will look at some of the major differences in job requirement in these two regions. It is said that there were around 100,000 foreign teachers working in China until recently, so that's a huge number. China is a vast country with huge demand for EFL teachers. There are opportunities at public schools, kindergartens, boarding schools, universities and international schools. However recent regulations have changed the Chinese EFL market drastically, so it's not as easy to find work as it used to be. Basically the government has placed...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Learners, whether children or adults, tend to lack attention in the classroom at some point. Certainly, this problem varies from one type of age-range to the other. Indeed, this issue may be due to different reasons: mature students may be tired from work, whereas youngsters may struggle to keep up with the content. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Debora M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Moreover, additional factors may come to decrease motivation in the classroom. For instance, some learners find the topic being at hand particularly difficult; others may just be bored or going through tough problems at home, and the list...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Classroom management can be referred to as the wide variety of skills and techniques that teaches us to keep students organized, orderly, focused, attentive, on task, and academically productive during a class. The strategies and the instructional technique used by the teacher to manage student behavior and activities related to learning can also be termed as classroom management. To keep the students organized, orderly, focused and attentive, the teacher must create a set of expectations that will be used in the classroom environment. It includes routines rules and consequences. In managing the classroom, the teacher must develop some management techniques that will support the teachers' expectations. This post...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Learning a new language is a collaborative effort between students and teachers, and while students may have different levels of motivation to learn, a teacher can and should develop the skills needed to adapt to ensure the student can retain the most knowledge possible. Teachers should have the flexibility to adapt instruction based on student personal factors such as age, cultural impacts, and prior student experience with English. Teachers also have the ability and responsibility to adjust instruction based on classroom limitations or to take advantage of all available resources. Finally, teachers need to be flexible enough to take an objective look at the effectiveness of their instruction and adjust as...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Alumni Experiences From my own personal learning experiences, as well as what I have learned from my TEFL certification course, I believe that the seating arrangement used in the EFL classroom can have a major effect on learning outcomes. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Daniel B. I always remember one teacher in college because her class stood out from all of the others. In her Greek history class, we were forced to place our desks into the form of a circle a vast majority of the time. She warned us from the first day that this would be a class far different from the normal teaching style. She told us that this style would help ensure we stay engaged, listen to others as well as her, and would help to keep us...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In this essay, I will debate whether or not teaching slang and idioms is important for ESL students and whether or not it has a place in the ESL classroom. Teaching phrasal verbs and idioms can present many issues in the classroom, and some teacher would choose to avoid this altogether, instead choosing to stick to the safer, more tried and tested topics that are available to us. However I think that this is a mistake, as students often want to know how the language is actually used in real-life situations and how they can best prepare themselves for a trip to a particular place in the world, furthermore, these language tools can provide a great deal of motivation in the classroom. Throughout this essay, I will...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences Establishing rapport with students is important as it encourages higher motivation. When students generally feel rapport with their teachers and feel that their teacher's personalities are similar to their own, motivation is higher. This will lead to an enhanced understanding and sometimes trust is necessary for rapport to develop. The teacher has a wealth of techniques and tools at their disposal to develop and maintain excellent rapport with their students. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Barry P. A new teacher is most likely going to be teaching a class or group of students who are established and well known to each other. The teacher is in essence the newcomer and as such needs to...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Teaching can be a very fulfilling and enjoyable occupation. It is, however, also filled with a lot of challenges. The workload can be high, the hours long, the course material may be difficult, and the students themselves can make a lot of difficulty for the teacher. As most teachers will attest there will be students who are difficult to deal with. They can be unmotivated, distracted, tired, or even purposefully disruptive. Many teachers have quit the profession because of unruly classes. Many more teachers have lost their temper and ruined a class because of this. There are, however, many ways to manage unruly students. Sometimes, they even become the very best students. This post was written by our TEFL...  [Read more]

  Mexico City, otherwise known as the City of Palaces and former capital of the Aztec Empire, is a large, complex and breath-taking city. A modern, cosmopolitan and diverse country, Mexico is one of the best destinations to take a CELTA course in the world! Mexico is a place where different cultures meet, different cultures that have inhabited the country throughout many centuries in the past. The pre-Hispanic remains of Aztec art and culture can be seen in the preserved ruins throughout the city. Lovely structures from that period, as well as modern buildings and parks can be found in abundance here. The schools in Mexico where CELTA takes place are located in colonial buildings which have a good number of classrooms, beautiful terraces and patios where students can socialize, and...  [Read more]

  Mexico City, otherwise known as the City of Palaces and former capital of the Aztec Empire, is a large, complex and breath-taking city. A modern, cosmopolitan and diverse country, Mexico is one of the best destinations to take a CELTA course in the world! Mexico is a place where different cultures meet, different cultures that have inhabited the country throughout many centuries in the past. The pre-Hispanic remains of Aztec art and culture can be seen in the preserved ruins throughout the city. Lovely structures from that period, as well as modern buildings and parks can be found in abundance here. The schools in Mexico where CELTA takes place are located in colonial buildings which have a good number of classrooms, beautiful terraces and patios where students can socialize, and...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences One of the most useful decisions that a teacher can make is the choice to know his or her limitations. Realizing one's shortcomings does not excuse an instructor from conveying the lesson. Instead, this determination means that a teacher needs to employ supporting tools to help reach the students. One such possibility is the use of teaching aids. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Derek G. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Teaching aids can provide an educator with an active choice for classroom lecturing. When used correctly, an instructor can use teaching aids to stimulate, engage, and develop a lesson plan in a way that he...  [Read more]

  http://www.teflcourse.net The future perfect continuous is not used a lot in everyday English usage. However, it does come up in when your EFL students get more advanced and if you plan to teach English overseas it is important to have an understanding of the less frequently used tenses. As the future perfect continuous is not often used it can be a struggle to think up teaching ideas for it. The trainer in this video shows us one idea that can be used for the tense. For this activity the students conduct a survey to find out how long someone will have been doing something by a certain point in the future. For example: Student A: How long will you have been learning English by the end of next month? Student B: I will have been learning English for three years. To find a...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas For this task, I have selected the course structure. As a teacher, a lot goes into the daily operation of the classroom. They need to consider their classroom setup, their management style, and the students they will teach. However, one very important facet of teaching is lesson design and teaching students appropriate standards to help them in their English acquisition. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Heejeong K. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Even though there are lots of teaching methodologies such as grammar-translation, audio-lingual approaches, task-based learning and PPP (presentation, practice, and production), it...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The classroom embodies a space where students learn. That space is usually a mixture of varying personalities, learning styles, and student levels. A teacher’s role in ensuring that students learn is of great importance seeing that the teacher serves as a facilitator for all, counselor to some, mentor to some, and disciplinarian to others. Teachers must possess or learn certain skills to be effective in the ESL/EFL classroom. While many factors are influencing the actual outcome of an EFL/ESL lesson, teachers of young learners must be patient, adaptable, and possess good classroom management skills. These skills are crucial for young learners because, on the one hand, they have shorter attention spans, they have...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Teachers may already have a vision in their head of what kind of teacher they will be and what their class will be like. They might imagine how organized their class with being or how well behaved their students are. One thing they must consider before they start teaching is which method or methods of teaching they will use to help their students learn. Each teacher must evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching and be able to adjust their teaching style for one that may be better suited for their particular class. There are many ways to teach a class but which is best and how should teachers be conducting their classes? This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Kendyl W. Please note that this...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The more a teacher speaks the less attention the learners will pay. Decreasing teacher speaking time can be done with a few practical steps and wonderful teaching methods. It all starts with proper planning. When designing a lesson plan be sure to include assignments and activities that will engage your students and do not call for a teacher dominant role. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Johnelle M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Using activities in the classroom that engage the students is very important. For example, instead of going right into a lecture, using a pass the ball activity allows the students to get engaged...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences In everyone's life, there is at least one person that can be called a teacher, and it doesn't matter who is it — our older neighbor living next door or the person standing at the blackboard in a classroom for hours and trying to give you a piece of knowledge in some way. Anyway, we get something in the result. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ivan S. The teaching profession is very difficult. Teachers are people who play a big role in the formation of personality. Any teacher needs to realize what a huge responsibility he has. He can reach out to every child, pass on his knowledge, and even become a good friend. Trying to find the answer to the question «Who is a teacher» I would...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Programs in English as a second language (ESL) generally take place in countries where English is the dominant or official language. People participating in an ESL program likely immigrated to an English-speaking country from a non-English speaking county and so are learning English as a language to be used in their everyday lives. In contrast, programs in English as a foreign language (EFL) generally take place in countries where English is not the official or dominant language. People participating in an EFL program are likely still in their home country and may or may not ever use English outside of the EFL classroom. This fundamental difference between the two types of programs can lead to differences in...  [Read more]

Lydia Pincott Destinations Alumni Experiences For being a fairly small country, Japan sure packs a punch for the endless amount of things to see, do, and eat! As teachers though, we aren’t living that high roller, bullet train life, yet we usually have enough days off for a decent holiday. So how do you get out and see Japan, while still having a few yennies left over for fried chicken at Family Mart? Often with transport passes in Japan, you’ll be traveling the ‘scenic route’. But during periods like summer vacation, there’s time for this. Though it takes a little longer you can enjoy stunning views of rural Japan pass by while reading, listening to a solid podcast, or sketching. The Seishun 18 Kippu is a pass that...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences “Teacher”, this word is linked with everyone’s life in a very sensitive and special way. Have you ever observed a child who has just started his/her school life? If you have, you will see that the child follows his/her teacher blindly. The very common reply a parent gets when they try to teach their child some new math technique or holding the pencil etc. is “No, my teacher showed me this way.” At home, they often start speaking the way (I would not say imitate) their teacher speaks with them. They admire them so much that they never stop talking about them after returning home. And a common role-play game we all play during our childhood is being a teacher. So, it’s quite understood how important...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Classroom management is the skill of organizing and managing a class, having a friendly, relaxed manner, and maintaining discipline. It can affect the students' learning outcomes and can have an impact on the teachers' wellbeing. Good classroom management provides a productive learning environment with dedicated students who can learn without distractions. It helps reduce poor behavior and distractions so students can remain focused on the lesson. It encourages social and emotional development with positive interaction between students. Classroom arrangement, establishing rapport with students, and knowing how to use your voice are some of...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas One of the greatest and most spoken about topics I have come across, both in the English language classroom and in general conversation with people from all walks of life, is the use of US English and British English, and which of the two is more ''correct'' or ''better'' to learn, or even what sounds nicer to the ear. This is a controversial topic because the ideas surrounding these questions will be more favorable to one use or the other, depending on the influences both English types have in the country the student is studying in. Another factor that will affect opinions and thoughts on the subject is the personal history each student has...  [Read more]

Michela Coticone TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Classroom management creates a set of rules and guidelines that helps to keep an organized classroom environment. Having a good structure for classroom management opens the door for the teacher to engage in the students learning and development. It would be almost impossible for the teacher to be able to do his/her job effectively if a classroom is disorganized and fails to have effective classroom management expectations in place. To practice good classroom management the teacher must be patient and set clear boundaries throughout the course This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Sarah C. Please note that this blog post...  [Read more]

Ramon Perez Teaching Ideas With each passing day, we learn something new. We build upon the previously attained knowledge and expand our understanding of various subjects. As teachers, we have the responsibility of expanding our students’ knowledge and abilities. As much as we would like to provide fun and innovative ways to present the information, it can be difficult to keep it fresh on a daily basis. There are many factors to take into consideration when teaching a new subject: what, when, how, where, and why. Because we have many factors to consider, it’s vital to be as organized as possible. The tool we use to achieve this, is a lesson plan. In today’s blog, we will briefly discuss what a lesson plan is, the 5 elements mentioned above,...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Alumni Experiences Teaching English to young learners is quite different from teaching English to adults in many ways. One of the differences is that young learners do not learn the language in a conscious process, mostly they acquire the language. For young learners, it can be said that it is easier for them to acquire and learn English as long as they are exposed to the language. Since learning languages differs from age to age, teaching styles and strategies also change accordingly. As English teachers, we have different approaches, methods, techniques, and tools which gravitate towards different needs and levels of young learners. So, as English teachers, we should address those needs. This post was written by our TEFL...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Change is something that does not come naturally to us human. It requires us to go through the process of learning. It is especially hard for us to assimilate anything that is not so much used in our environment. I grew up in the French-speaking country that is the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I have gone through the entire process of learning English not as a second, nor a third, but as a fourth one. And that is the case for most Congolese as well. Although it came quite naturally to me. Most of my classmates seemed to have been introduced to another world. It is easy to assimilate a new language when it is widely spoken in the area you live in. However, when it comes to the Congolese population English...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Can you imagine being in a foreign country and you don’t speak the language? You are a new student, who is shy, nervous. You haven’t made any friends yet and you don’t have confidence in your speaking skills. A classroom could be a terrifying place to be which is why the role of the teacher is so important. Since most non-English speaking students are typically shy in English class, teaching English through various types of methods such as “groups” can be beneficial to the students. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Mohamed A. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. When listening to students in groups, a teacher will notice...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The fundamental of lesson planning is just like how someone would be planning for an upcoming vacation trip. This planning includes an objective, anticipated problems, places to visit, and also the amount of time needed for each activity. Lesson planning is similar where it will lists out how the lesson will proceed step by step through the different activities within different phases and also how much time each step will take. Although planning is required, it is best to be flexible to slight changes as long as the end objective of the learning lessons is achieved. Lesson planning should not be over-planned like a script, but when lessons are under-planned, there will be no direction and end objective achieved...  [Read more]