Best Way To Become A Teacher In Texas

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Reading is one of the two receptive language skills that might seem easier to teach. When learning to read in a foreign language, a student doesn't have to deal with accents or pronunciation problems, as it often happens with speaking and listening. What's more, learning reading skills does not necessarily imply high teacher participation and can generally be done independently. Much as with writing, it might seem tempting to relegate most of reading to homework, especially in one-to-one teaching. The easier way isn't always the best one, and paying enough attention to this aspect of English during one's lessons offers many benefits. This...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas When we are born, our first contact with our native tongue is one hundred percent oral. Our mother is the first one to speak to us in her native language and as we grow we are constantly exposed to words, expressions, and conversations that we take in and start to understand in our everyday life. Once we reach a proper school age everything starts to change because we are introduced to a new way of communication that goes beyond body language and oral expressions. We are introduced to written language. This rite of passage is as normal as it´is expected to be, but we must take into account something that in the last couple of decades has become part of this experience; the simultaneous learning of a foreign...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Young children, even when they are learning their native tongue, learn the words before they learn how to apply them correctly and as a result, children often make mistakes in their grammar, however, even when they do, it is mostly the vocabulary or the order of the words which still provides a degree of context which makes the message they intend to convey understandably and thus susceptible to improvement. It is exactly because of this fact that in this essay, I would like to dive into teaching vocabulary. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Johnny B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. About teaching vocabulary, I could say that...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Every fresh teacher, once starting his or her career, has this question: how should I teach English? What is the best way to organize my classes to make sure students would not be bored and learn something? And how to keep them motivated and enjoy every lesson? I did have all these questions at the beginning of my teaching career, and by trials and errors, I found the approach this TEFL course is based on – ESA. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Angelina G. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. My English journey began long before I became a teacher myself - as an ESL student. However, my own experience was not that enjoyable:...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences Most of the Mexican learners have difficulties with English due to a lack of the use of English in daily life. Most people in Mexico do not normally have real contact with English outside the classroom. They are usually only exposed to it through the media, such as online channels or music videos but most of them never listened to a real conversation in English or practiced a real-life situation (as asking for directions, ordering food, etc). If you are interested in teaching English in Mexico, this article will be very helpful as it highlights the most common problems students in Mexico face when learning English. This post was written by our ITTT graduate Pablo P. Only a minor percentage of Mexican students...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences There are many challenges for second language learners to gain the fluency with the English language. That includes reading and listening. It is found that with second language learners there is a sense of being lost when they are attempting to speak to native speakers. Simple greetings are something that is learned to the point where a second language learner would have mastered that concept. But what would happen if the native speaker speaks too fast or they don’t enunciate like their teachers do? This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Callie L. There are also instances where the native speaker will use a more complex string of vocabulary that is uncommon for the learner since they are more...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences I’ve taken four years of college Russian. Throughout my time at my university, I learned a few things about both learning and teaching a language that have helped me become a better ESL teacher. This post was written by our ITTT graduate Leif O. One crucial aspect of learning a language is making sure that everyone in the class is comfortable. While this is true with young learners, this is especially true for adults. Adults don’t want to make mistakes. Business professionals have devoted their lives to one of the hardest areas in which one can make money, and if they are doing it as a career, they are most likely succeeding at it. This means that the business professionals may very well be unaccustomed to...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The United Arab Emirates though being a discrete country is a league of 7 states comprising people whose first language is Arabic. UAE being a prominent Arab country in Middle East homes to a myriad of Arabs from neighboring countries. Hence, the challenges that a learner's faces are also varying depending on the nativity of the person. I firmly believe there are four basic challenges that learners face in the UAE. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate MANJU A. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Culture plays an important factor in learning a language effectively. Language defines the environment and vice versa. Hence, the traditions...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Ever since I was a little girl, education has been a huge part of my life. My mother was a teacher at the elementary school I attended and also taught me and my sisters Japanese after school in our home. I have always been inquisitive, constantly asking questions to my parents and teachers about topics I was interested in and about things I didn't quite understand. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Kim S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. I always enjoyed learning and loved the feeling of accomplishment when I received high scores on tests and other assignments. My favorite subjects were reading, writing, and spelling....  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Who was your favorite teacher in elementary school? Mine was my 5th-grade Teacher, Mr. Powers. Not because he was super cool, or cute, or wildly entertaining. It was because he was an amazing teacher. He was a retired Air Force pilot, yet was never very hard on us and I can’t think of a single time that he got upset with us. I believe this is completely due to his amazing classroom management skills. I try my best to model my own teaching skills after Mr. Powers while teaching here in Istanbul, Turkey. Cultural and economic differences are actually the least of my problems while working with these amazing children. The most challenging aspects happen to be making the most of classroom space, ensuring the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I’m writing this essay from the perspective of young learners (4-10years of age) and the role their parents play on their English learning journey. I have been an ESL teacher for nearly 10 years and I’ve been teaching my private students in my private classroom for about 8 years. It has been an incredible journey. During this time that I’ve been teaching, I’ve learned many wonderful things about teaching ESL and I have spent much time analyzing and contemplating, trying to puzzle together a clear picture which aspects of the learning process breeds the most conclusive success. I’ve come to realize that this jigsaw is extremely complex and many little pieces don’t always fit neatly together to form a...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences Many texts on this subject begin primarily by defining the term 'classroom management'. I equally think it is not out of place to begin a discussion on classroom management from the same perspective. Classroom management refers to the variety of skills employed by which teachers and schools to curtail disruptive behavior of learners so as to create a congenial environment for teaching and learning. It is the case from the definition that the classroom setting may not always be as well-ordered and peaceful for teaching and learning as it should be and may require certain organizational skills and the ability to create of a friendly and disciplined atmosphere in order for teaching and learning to be effective. In...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Throughout history, several different teaching approaches and methodologies have been tried and tested with some being more popular and effective than others. There are various teaching methods and techniques that are employed to help students learn a new language and this critique explains the advantages/disadvantages and effectiveness of some of the more important approaches. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Thomas C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The first technique (dominantly used ‘up to the 1960s’) (Lier and Lier, 2001) is the Grammar Translation (or Classical) method based on the translation of words/passages from...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences The English language has become so essential in china because the country wants to successfully promote internationalism and keep the lines of communication open for trade and business matters. As one of the global powers, it’s in the country’s best interest to keep afloat of shifting trends in international matters. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ramy M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The government has recognized that English is now the preferred language used for international purposes, and is becoming an increasingly necessary skill for its people to have. So, as an ESL teacher, I must know the problems and...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Fears of declining reading rates have long plagued the United States. In 2007, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) released To Read or Not To Read: A Question of National Consequence, a report showing that reading rates for all demographic factors had declined. The report shed light on the potentially devastating effects that such a decline may have: this was not about mourning the loss of book sales, but about reading’s impact on citizens’ abilities to comprehend written material, improve their socioeconomic standing, and maintain a successful career. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Veronica B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences In recent generations, the English language has merged as the language of choice for international interactions and transactions amongst individuals due to globalization and the use of technology in communications and business. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Juan Pablo L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Many people from around the world, especially those from non-English speaking countries find it more and more necessary to complement their education by learning how to communicate in English. Regardless of the subject these individuals study, or what their career plans may be, they have recognized that it is crucial to...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas One of the most challenging contradictions I had to face as a high school language and literature teacher in Germany was the principle that each child should have equal opportunity when, sadly, the inequality often starts long before high school, and that as a teacher, you should give every student the chance to achieve excellent performances when, in reality, the latter also depends on factors outside of the classroom. In conversations with parents, I often pointed out specific deficiencies in their child's essays as I was taught to. I made suggestions on how to improve them, hoping in vain that next time, the student would get a much...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The theory of multiple intelligences, suggested by an American developmental psychologist Howard Gardner in 1983, considers human intelligence, not as a dominant single ability for perceiving information, but the one in a variety of specific conditions. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Olha K. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. This approach differentiates human intelligence into specific interacting modalities, rather than understanding it as the one dominated by a single general ability. The author thought that this theory would allow us to be able to teach different people more efficiently. Gardner claims that there is a wide...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I have wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember. I love learning new things; my thirst for knowledge has always seemingly been unquenched and I have always been excited to share that passion with others. What's more, my love for world cultures and the history of diverse peoples drove me into a career in education. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Melissa T. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. I have been teaching 10th grade World History now for seven years in a suburban high school in Fort Worth, Texas. I am truly passionate about education, and although I don't claim to be an expert, I have picked up some...  [Read more]