Responsive Teaching Strategies

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Urban education can be described as a complicated topic for school reformists in America. With critical issues, such as inadequate funding, lack of resources, and uncertified teachers, the myriad of problems with public education has reached a new high. Many big-city public education systems have turned into melting pots by bringing together members of different racial, social, economic, and ethnic groups. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Crystal H. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Per the Bureau of International Information Programs (2011), the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) involves dynamic, cross-cultural English language instruction, requiring a level of intentional, service-oriented cultural sensitivity and awareness with new English learners that may not be so readily understood or relevant with native speakers from the United States of America. Beyond the memorization of rote grammar, language proficiency, public speaking, reading comprehension, and other elements of linguistic aptitude, there must first be a deliberate recognition of the unique challenges of a non-native speaker of the English language. While our units do not suggest that instructors allow learners to speak in their native tongue regularly, its use does not...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) involves dynamic, cross-cultural English language instruction, requiring a level of intentional, service-oriented cultural sensitivity and awareness with new English learners that may not be so readily understood or relevant with native speakers from the United States of America. Beyond the memorization of rote grammar, language proficiency, public speaking, reading comprehension, and other elements of linguistic aptitude, there must first be a deliberate recognition of the unique challenges of a non-native speaker of the English language. While our units do not suggest that instructors allow learners to speak in their native tongue regularly, its use does not...  [Read more]

Jon ITTT Alumni Experiences Upon completion of my TESOL course, the best thing I have learned is actually plural and not limited to one item. Most importantly a TESOL instructor needs to be able to reach all students with varying needs, styles and preferences of learning in order to ensure the highest degree of probability that his or her students learn English, while keeping all students in the class as engaged as possible at all times. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Dina P. For this reason, I have developed an ongoing list of strategies and techniques that I have learned that will hopefully reach all learners using visual, audio, tactile and kinesthetic materials and approaches which include: responsive, collaborative...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Cultural capital according to French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu is the gathering of knowledge, skills, and cultural traits that a person obtains from their personal, social and educational environment (Bourdieu, 1991, p. 14). The educational system in a Korean society differs from the learning practices in Western society. Asian societies such as South Korea, prioritize a teacher-centered learning style where students are expected to respect teachers and not solicit too much information since communication is often indirect and implicit. This group-focused thinking is a main cultural learning difference from Western teachings where individualism is more emphasized and students can freely interact with the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences A smaller class size becomes more popular these days, especially for language courses, since it encourages students’ participation and interaction with teachers and peers. Different from a big class of 25 or more students, a small class requires less teacher’s instructions and more students’ discussions and cooperation, so effective classroom management strategies should be adopted and applied to the class. According to unit 5 of the course, classroom management is “the skill of organizing and managing the class, having a friendly, relaxed manner and maintaining discipline” (1). Focusing on the teacher’s role, seating arrangement, discipline maintenance, and rapport building, this essay will...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Classroom management is a term teachers use to describe the process of ensuring that classroom lessons run smoothly without disruptive behavior from students compromising the delivery of instruction. The term also implies the prevention of disruptive behavior preemptively, as well as effectively responding to it after it happens. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Miaomiao H. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Classroom management is a term teachers use to describe the process of ensuring that classroom lessons run smoothly without disruptive behavior from students compromising the delivery of instruction. The term also implies the...  [Read more]