How To Become A Certified Substitute Teacher

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences The role of a teacher is constantly changing throughout the day. The teacher’s role can be influenced by: the lesson, the students, and the circumstances that might arise during a classroom session. Teachers frequently perform various roles when teaching students, some of these roles include: instructor, facilitator, mentor, psychologist, counselor, and policeman. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Giuseppe T. The role of instructor is the role most people associate with teachers of any subject – sometime referred to as the expert or the “knower” of a certain body of knowledge. This portrays teachers as being all-knowing figures, with the expectation of having access to a...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences This blog post was written by recent ITTT graduate Kaitlin F., who shares her 10 years of teaching experience with us talking about the many different jobs in the English education field she was fortunate to work in. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Katilin F. An educator by definition is a person who provides instruction and/or education. In my own personal experience, educators in my life have not always been individuals that have gained their qualifications via professional schooling, but also by training or from their own experiences. This has transcended into what I believe an educator truly is. My first experience with teaching began at the tender age of thirteen at my dance school....  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Lesson planning is at the heart of being an effective teacher. It is a creative process that allows us to make our understanding of second language acquisition and language teaching pedagogy with our knowledge of our learners, the curriculum, and the teaching context. It is a time when we foresee the learning we want to occur and analyze how all the pieces of the learning experience should fit together to make that learning a classroom reality. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Eddy P. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. There are several benefits to writing a lesson plan. First, lesson planning produces more unified lessons It...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Classroom management is aimed at providing students with more opportunities to learn all of the things that a teacher does to organize students, space, time, and materials so that students´ learning can take place effectively and efficiently. Students should be able to exert their maximum potential, which allows students to develop acceptable behavior patterns. Teachers should deal with unpredictable problems and have the ability to control student behavior, using effective classroom management strategies. Effective classroom management and positive classroom climate construction are essential objectives for all teachers. Everything a teacher does has implications for classroom management, including creating the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences A lesson plan is the instructor’s road map of what students need to learn and how it will be done effectively during class time. Then, you can design appropriate learning activities and develop strategies to obtain feedback on student learning. Having a carefully constructed lesson plan for each 3-hour lesson allows you to enter the classroom with more confidence and maximizes your chance of having a meaningful learning experience with your students. A successful lesson plan addresses and integrates three key components: Learning Objectives, Learning Activities, Assessment to check for student understanding. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Elorm D. Please note that this blog post...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In my experience teaching elementary and junior high school level English in Japan, several different pronunciation problems appear frequently. The Japanese phonemic inventory is smaller than English’s phonemic inventory, and the sounds present in each language differ from each other quite dramatically. Because of this, it can be difficult for native Japanese speakers to learn and master English pronunciation, but there are a few teaching techniques that can help students overcome this difficulty. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Vladlena H. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Several consonants are difficult for native Japanese...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Lesson planning is, at least to some degree, a vital function of teaching. The degree to which a lesson plan is necessary is often directly proportional to the teaching experience of the teacher. The less experience the teacher has the more necessary and beneficial the lesson plan is and vice versa. Lesson plans give the class structure, hold the teacher accountable, and function as a helpful aide, overall adding to the effectiveness of the class and the student’s opportunity to learn. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Katie A. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Unit 9 from this course points out that lesson plans can range...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas It has often been said that ships cannot navigate at nights without a lighthouse; In the same way, an instructor of learning will find it difficult to operate without a lesson plan. The lesson plan can be described as the teachers' GPS. What then is a lesson plan? The lesson plan is a useful or structured guide that outlines a step by step approach of delivering a subject matter or content. A lesson plan is made up of some key components like objectives, procedures, and assessments. The actual process of writing the plan is lesson planning. Lesson planning plays a crucial role in the teaching-learning situation. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Bevan S. Please note that this blog post might...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas When you select information to teach in your lesson, you need to think about what level the students are at and how well your lesson fits into what they already know and what they need to know. When you begin teaching it can be quite difficult to know what students are likely to comprehend at each level and few EFL teachers follow the same students from beginner to advanced level. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Shorena B. Beginner-level students aren't necessarily children. Many people discover a need or desire to study English later in life. Students at beginner level can't speak or write accurately in the present simple and present continuous tenses. Those who know some words in English...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences “Some theorists suggest that lesson planning is not a good idea as it creates a more fixed, teacher-centered lesson” (ITTT TEFL 009 Lesson Planning, pg 1). However, I would argue that without a lesson plan many inexperienced English teachers may often lack direction. I will discuss how to best use a lesson plan to achieve the greatest successes in each lesson. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Melissa B. There are many important functions in a lesson plan. The first being, it is an aid to planning. It allows you to consider what the students should be achieving in each lesson and how you can make this possible. It allows you to logically move through the engage, study and activate...  [Read more]

Zainab Sadriwala Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Exposure to a language is of prime importance if one intends to excel in it. Like every language, English needs to be practiced in all its integrated skills of reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Vocabulary has always been among a key component of language learning that teachers rely on. The following are 6 great ideas for developing vocabulary in English learners. Students should keep a journal for noting down every new word they learn during the day. It's also a good approach to add example sentences for every new word so that the student knows how to apply it in various contexts. Then, this list of new words should be put into practice by students at the end of the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I have traveled throughout Asia for some forty-five years, Vietnam is now my home. I always found the younger generations had a thirst for knowledge, particularly English as a second language. The difficulties of acquiring the knowledge under what was a repressive regime have diminished somewhat, but the major stumbling blocks to acquiring good English are the lack of experienced Vietnamese teachers, interaction with English natural speakers, and knowledge of the outside world in general. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Christopher M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Learning English as a second language has now become a...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Classroom management is a term teacher used to describe the process of ensuring that classroom lessons run smoothly without disruptive behavior from students compromising the delivery of instruction. Classroom management creates a set of expectations used in an organized classroom environment. Classroom management is a key element to establish a successful learning environment in any classroom. An effective classroom management plan creates a positive learning environment. Classroom management is affected by the affected restricts of students and their behavior. Students' behavior is influenced by their age, academic abilities, goals, interests and home backgrounds. Teachers need a diverse array of classroom...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences What’s the most difficult part of learning a new language? Is it writing? Perhaps it’s the reading or memorizing new vocabulary? Well for some it’s speaking the new language, specifically when it comes to pronunciation. Every language has its unique ways or pronouncing their vowels and constants as well as how they form their sentence structure. Especially this write up will focus on Japanese English as a Second Language (ESL) students and the difficulties they face while learning English and its pronunciation. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Zachary B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. First, it helps to understand a...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences As a developing country, Vietnam currently has an urgent need for the international language English to attract foreign investment and to promote the economy, especially after becoming a member of the World Trade Organisation (Nguyen T.T, 2007). With this growth of international trade and an increasing number of foreign tourists, the ability to communicate in English has become a passport to a better job for many Vietnamese. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Stuart B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. English is taught in schools, universities and foreign language centers across the country. There are now more teachers and...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences Why complete a TEFL course? For me there was never a question, never a doubt on why I should complete this TEFL course. I want to be the best teacher possible and with the help of the TEFL course, I know I can achieve my goals. Though no substitute can be given for actual classroom experience, what I have found throughout this course is that TEFL shows and explains the core basics of nearly everything. Any topic and any subject and aspect that comes with or accompanies teaching within a classroom is covered through this course and to a degree I found to be most astonishing. Not often have I read things this accurate and with this much detail. Its reputation proceeded it well, though at times I did have my doubts....  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The purpose of my essay is to outline some of the most frequently occurred pronunciation mistakes made by Russian learners and share some of the teaching ideas based on a few sources and my own experience of teaching and learning English as a foreign and second language. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Olga R. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Teaching English phonology and pronunciation for Russian learners is always challenging as there are a great number of differences rather than similarities in the pronunciation norms in the English and the Russian language systems. That is why Russian learners experience difficulties...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Having spent more than 20 years as a marketing consultant, I decided to change career, to become an English language teacher. Hence, I took up the 120-hour TEFL course with ITTT, along with a specialised course in teaching young learners and another one in teaching business English. Even before I finished my TEFL course, I was offered a teaching job with a private school in Bangkok, Thailand. I have since been teaching kindergarten kids for about 8 months. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Albert P. Teaching kindergarten kids is definitely a lot more fun and less stressful than working for corporate clients in my previous job. I start work at 8:00 a.m. and...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences In a society where it is much easier for us to become increasingly distracted by some of the banalest things (such as videos of cats playing the keyboard on YouTube), my generation, in particular, needs to establish a strong sense of organization and focus to ensure that these distractions do not leak into our work lives, causing a decline in our professionality and work ethic. Therefore I believe lesson planning is an effective tool in helping to create a stronger sense of organization within the teacher, both in and out of the classroom. In addition to providing a general layout of the teacher’s lesson (including grammar points and step-by-step instructions for particular activities that are more complex...  [Read more]

Regan McAllister TEFL Information Alumni Experiences In our global and connected world, knowing more than one language serves many benefits. Although technology has enabled communication across countries to be possible through translation apps, these apps fail to account for cultural etiquette and language nuances. Metaphors, figures of speech, and tone get easily distorted, which can lead to altered meanings and giggle-worthy translations. On top of the ability to communicate with more people, many researchers have linked foreign language study to enhanced cognition and behavioral skills. One such benefit that I have observed in adults as both a language learner and language teacher is a deepened understanding of your native...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Stefania F. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. English teachers from other countries may think that it is a topic to be skipped or only briefly introduced to students, but it is one of the most important subjects and it should be an integral part of an English course. As a matter of fact, the full understanding of a language and good communication actually depends, to a certain extent, on how correctly words are pronounced. Also, it is not only a matter of pronunciation but intonation. Every language has its own intonation and stress on words, so an English learner could find it difficult to...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Teaching Ideas When you decide to take a TEFL certification course with the intention of teaching English abroad, in your home country, or online, it is difficult to know who you will actually end up teaching. Once you have finished your training you could end up teaching primary aged children, teenagers, or adults. They could be from any country worldwide and they could be at any level of English language from beginner to advanced level. In many ways it is a bit of a lottery, so you should ensure you are ready to deal with all types of environments. After a while most teachers develop a preference for the type of student they prefer to teach, however, the beginner EFL student is often the most feared. So what actually defines a...  [Read more]

William Noble Destinations Teaching Ideas I have been an online ESL teacher to Chinese students for over 13 years, mostly with primary students but also with secondary and adult students. I am also a father and have homeschooled my daughter over her primary years. Like many teachers, I’ve enjoyed teaching at this level of education as it lays the foundation in English. As it set the foundation, my teaching helped students to overcome common errors in production skills, speaking and writing. Teaching both my daughter and Chinese students at the primary level also helped me also to understand the different expectations between first language and second language students. Since English is very different from China, many Chinese...  [Read more]