TEFL Chaires

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I have been teaching English to young learners in China for almost a year and I tried to make my lessons with and without flashcards. And I can say for sure, that it’s really hard to teach children (3-12 years old) if you don’t have prepared flashcards for your classes, but only an interactive whiteboard and some stuff to play games. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Kelly P. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. I’d like to reveal a paragraph about games more deeply, because games in a classroom allow you to keep your students motivated and interested in what’s going on. Also Read: "7 Great Games for Your ESL Conversation...  [Read more]

Mudita Yajnik TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Classroom setup is an important part of setting up a welcoming and friendly environment. It is the foundation on which a teacher can build strong relationships with their students, and build a more student-centered class while incorporating their passions into their work. The way a classroom is set up is a great first impression for students, which means it’s important for teachers to put in an effort to make their classroom a welcoming environment. Moreover, a fun classroom set up can reflect your personality or what you’re passionate about as a teacher, and it can be a fun way to introduce yourself to the students. Even having speakers so that you can play music in the...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Today, as English teachers, we have better equipment and materials, improved teaching methods and techniques, endless ideas and tips on how to maintain discipline and keep our students motivated. Sounds impressive, doesn’t it? It seems that we should just enjoy our classes and drink some nice tea during the breaks. However, along with all these improvements come greater demands. Each year more and more parents would like their children to learn English to ensure a better future. In our time, knowledge of English no more is your advantage, but the number one requirement for a good position. That is why our students are getting younger, sometimes to a point when they don’t...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I love flashcards. Honestly, I really do. For me, they are a never-ending source of games and activities. Nowadays I work as an ESL teacher in a training center and I teach mostly young learners (students from 3 to 8 years old) and I am strongly convinced that this age group may learn a foreign language only through games, entertaining activities and live communication. Therefore, I am trying to be creative and use plenty of teaching aids and props, such as IWB, OHP, whiteboard, course books, board games, balls, balloons, hoops, various arts and crafts, etc. However, I find that using flashcards is simple yet one of the most effective tools to increase my student’s vocabulary. And here are some of my favorite...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas For nearly a year, I have taught four to six-year-olds residing in the outskirts of Beijing. My students do not sit at desks. They instead sit side-by-side on a line of chairs, all of which face an interactive whiteboard complete with pre-designed flipcharts. As my students are still learning essential words for everyday English use, drills and flashcards are crucial within our lessons. However, drilling can quickly lose a young learner's interest. To remedy the monotony, I have used the following five activities: One-Step, Monster, Bomb; Hopscotch; Fly Swat Race; Tic-Tac-Toe; and Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament. Each game proved to be an...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Flashcards tend to be the most commonly used and popular teaching tool during any of my lessons performed regularly. I come across them so often during my teaching practice that I eventually decided to write my essay on this very topic. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Mikhail E. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. It is basically an ultimate flat piece of paper (carton) usually with fancy picture on it that can be easily touched, carried, thrown, stepped on, folded, hidden etc There are practically no limits to the ways of its usage in the classroom plus most of the flashcards carry sharp, clear and colorful message about a...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Classroom management is the skill of organizing and managing a class to ensure that students can learn effectively. There are many different methods teachers can use to create an environment that will help students learn, such as classroom arrangement, conducting yourself correctly, grouping students in a sensible way for each task, and also establishing a good rapport with students. The teacher must apply these techniques to create a learning environment for the classroom. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Christopher J. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT....  [Read more]

  The dynamics of classroom interaction is often dictated by the arrangement of the classroom itself and the way in which the classroom is arranged could depend upon a number of factors and they might include things such as the age of the students, so for example we're unlikely to have the same arrangement for adult learners as we would have for young learners. It could also depend upon the actual physical space available. The physical space may determine how we have to arrange our classroom to maximize the opportunity for interaction and so forth. It will also depend on what material is available and by material in this case we're talking about the actual desks and chairs and so on and so forth. Perhaps the final thing we might put here is that it could also depend upon the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In this essay, I am going to talk about classroom management. The reason why my choice stopped on this topic, It's because I had some classroom management problems before. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Fei W. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. I will talk about managing young learners and about short and long term problem-solving methods. The first possible reason may be the lack of experience. Experience comes with practice, and if you didn't practice many times you will probably face some management problems during your classes. A lot of researchers talk about how to successfully manage a class, they are providing many...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Anyone could learn a syllabus and regurgitate it to a group of people, however, teaching involves more than just the transference of information. Teachers must learn to be able to engage their students with the content, while also building a rapport with the students and managing the classroom as a whole. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Kate M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Rapport building with a new group of students or an individual student is a vital first step as well as an ongoing task for any teacher. Encouraging students to introduce themselves to you as the teacher as well as to the rest of the class is a great way...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Managing the classroom is a task that should be considered among the first things for a TEFL teacher when preparing oneself for a new class. The way that it is arranged can be the deciding factor of efficiency for teaching. There are many variables to consider when preparing a classroom for students who will be attending. One of the variables is the amount of physical space that is available in the classroom. It is essential to know how much space you have to work with to plan accordingly. Another thing is the types of desks and chairs that will be used within the classroom. With this in mind, the teacher can strategize how they will optimize the desk formation to more...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Classroom Management is the skill of organizing and managing the class, having a friendly, relaxed manner and maintaining discipline. Keeping a classroom under control is often my biggest challenge mostly with the pupils. With the help of the ITTT 120-hours TESOL/TEFL course, I've finally found some classroom management strategies that actually worked and eventually turned things around. These strategies apply to all levels of learners and even to new and existing classes. I can now say things have got to the point where my classes are now under control, focused, on task, and learning effectively. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Cheng Y. Please note that this blog post might not...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas This essay discusses the various ways in which teachers can more effectively manage their classroom. Understanding these methods and having them as a toolkit for everyday lessons can help to minimize student distractions, increase motivation and concentration and ultimately allow the students to learn as much as possible. I will briefly discuss the 9 key considerations below. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Phoebe C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Looking for your students in the eye has many benefits, such as maintaining discipline, encouraging contributions and illustrating that they are all involved in the lesson. Be...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Everyone and everything that exists in this world have what it is called or known by, and that automatically is the name of that person or that thing. We can then define a noun as a name given to persons, places, animals, objects, substances, qualities, actions, and measures. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate NICODEMUS U. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. This is a name given to each member of a group of persons or things that share some common characteristics. Examples: car, television, girl, boy, house, man, book, cup, student, home, watch, leg, hand, clothes, cap, goat, pen, chair, bulb, pencil, door, window, fan, marker,...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences A seating arrangement sometimes called a seating plan is used by teachers to organize their classrooms. It indicates the placement of desks and chairs that work best for both the students and the teacher. Here we will be seeing the different seating arrangements and how each of them affects learning or classroom dynamics. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Emilie J. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. When we think of a classroom, the usual image that comes to mind is one of a classic class with rows of desks one behind the other. However, if you step into a classroom today, chances are you’ll see a different setup that is...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas When thinking of teaching, adults generally don’t come to mind. Teachers are associated with children, and people might often associate their childhood with teachers and schooling, either good or bad. There are quite obvious differences between adults and children that make for different teaching environments and experiences. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Anuhea N. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. An obvious example is the use of singing or chanting, which even after children reach a certain age shouldn’t be used. The use of music and songs, however, can still be utilized, by emphasizing lyrics and the use of tenses, as...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Controlling the class is one of the most important skills of English teachers, which helps the teachers and learners have a perfect lesson. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Hue D. 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 prevention of disruptive behavior preemptively, as well as effectively responding to it after it happens. To manage the class, we have good preparation, appropriate classroom design, and flexible...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Classroom management is an important topic to be familiar with especially when you are teaching young learners. Bad classroom management skills can result in a very unproductive lesson for you and the students, leaving the students with not much to take home and leaving the teacher exhausted. The main classroom management situation I will be talking about today is managing student behavior. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Tarryn-L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The first thing we going to look at is what are the results of a badly managed class. Most of the time it is usually one student that is being disruptive or badly...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Teaching Ideas Teaching new tenses to students of a foreign language is often not as easy as you might anticipate, especially when the tense you are trying to teach them does not exist in their native language. The following 7 activities for teaching the present perfect for the ESL classroom will help your students pick up the tense in no time! This is a great warm-up activity to make your students understand what the present perfect is all about. After teaching the structure of the tense, have your students write down 2-3 things they have accomplished in their lives. When they are finished, have your students share their statements with the class, for example, “I have won a speech contest,” “I have traveled to America,” or...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Teaching Ideas You will find the web full of ideas for teaching vocabulary and, although most of them are undoubtedly good activities, some are only suited to a particular level. Here are some tried and tested activities that can be adapted to suit any level of student and a variety of class sizes. This is a great activity that can be used as a warm-up at the beginning of a class, or as a game at the end of a lesson. It’s suitable for any class size over 4 students and requires minimal preparation. Divide the class into two teams and have two chairs at the front of the class, set up to face away from the board. Have one student from each team come and sit in the chairs and tell them not to turn and look at the board. The premise...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas After doing some research online and asking some of my friends who are experienced teachers, I have compiled a list below of what we believe to be the five favorite flashcard games. Until I am a practicing teacher myself, I cannot come up with my favorite list and it would also, of course, depend on the age and ability of the students. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Alessandra F. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. This is a classic game from our childhood and always guarantees to make everybody laugh. The way it works is, you place a flashcard on each chair, and there is one number of chairs less than there are students. You...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Anyone who has ever been in a classroom knows how much students enjoy playing games. Playing games is exciting and a great time for the students to get to know each other better as well as feel more at ease with the teacher. Consequently, a good English Teacher should know how to use games I order to achieve goals like reviewing previously learned vocabulary, enhancing spelling skills, practicing grammar points, promoting a nice and positive attitude in the classroom and many more! This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Xenia P. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Students of all levels and ages usually like playing games in the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas As a children’s English teacher, course materials are very important. There are many kinds of materials that we can use in the classroom, flashcards are the basic one. We can present the new vocabulary and practice with flashcards, and children can understand the word directly through the picture on the flashcard, which is very effective. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate YULUN H. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Besides, there are many games with flashcards that we can use as activities in the classroom. Here I will list 5 of these games I often use in my classes. The musical chair is a fun game for group classes which need...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas There are six factors to consider when analyzing the differences between teaching English to high-school students and university students. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Anh N. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Firstly, one of the most noticeable distinctions between college and high school is the role of self-study. Self-study means self-awareness in learning and is regarded by some researchers as an initiative in thinking and assimilating knowledge. Self-study allows training not only in the classroom but also outside the school. Traditionally,...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Classroom management begins well before the lesson commences and is vital so that the lesson can flow continuously without gaps, therefore, maintaining students interest. This post was written by our ITTT graduate David D. Strategic placing of student seating arrangements can have a positive effect on the class in a number of ways, pairing a quieter student with a more vocal can have involved the quieter student and gain confidence from the experience. Placing the students' names on the chairs or tables can also help in a variety of ways it can save moving the students later for a planned activity such as pair or group work and the students' mix with different personalities. Also...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In this summative task, I am going to speak about teaching skills, as I think that this is one of the important topics that every teacher should pay attention to. I have been teaching for 5 years and during my teaching years I have got my year by year and when I remember myself a few years ago I can say that it was not so skilled. Of course, I have studied much at the University how to teach, what to teach but the main experience I have gained while teaching. So I am going to speak about the skills that are very important for every teacher to have. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Lusine P. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Teaching English as a foreign language with little to no experience is a daunting task and one that should be seriously considered. There are many aspects to teaching that I was expected to know and implement while teaching English in another country. I had to learn how to teach in about two weeks and although I learned many techniques and strategies, one of the most important tools and one of the most effective was including games in the classroom. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Patricia C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. I was slightly skeptical at first because, even though games are fun, I hadn’t personally experienced...  [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 From 2018 to 2019, I taught two eighth grade English classes in the rural Thies area, experiencing some of the challenges and advantages to teaching students who were just embarking on their language study. I was paired with a long-term Senegalese teacher who walked me through the basics of teaching a foreign language: engaging the class, developing study materials, and creating activities. What stood out to me was his emphasis on showing up as a role model for the students, as well as integrating other modes of learning into the classroom, such as art, singing, and dance activities. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Elise L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences My personal teaching experience is the reason why I love teaching and hopefully after this essay, you would understand why. Let me begin by giving you a short description of myself. I was born in South Africa, I had a normal childhood and I did not enjoy my schooling career. I am currently living in Turkey teaching English to kindergartens. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Cihan C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. When I arrived in Turkey I realized that English was a need and a want by many people of all ages. Knowing this I chose to work as a welder because I did not have enough confidence to use my English as a tool to...  [Read more]