TEFL Ewa Gentry

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The key things from this course for me can be summarized under the following topics: teachers and learners; theories, methods, and techniques; teaching a new language, and teaching special groups. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ewa T. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. People are all about connection. For a teacher to be able to teach effectively and students to get the most out of a course learning English as a foreign language, is for students and teachers to connect. Therefore, a teacher needs to show her passion for teaching and build a good rapport with her students. From my teaching experience, I was able to build a...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Discipline is an important aspect of classroom life when teaching EFL to adults. It affects the teachers and students and can hold a classroom together. Lack of discipline creates chaos and diminishes the ability of students to learn. In this essay, I will seek to explore what kind of discipline problems there are among adults, why a lack of discipline exists, and some strategies to solving a lack of discipline. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Eva A. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. In a 2016 study done in Saudi Arabia titled, "The Undesirable Behaviors of Students in Academic Classrooms, and Discipline Strategies Used by...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Teachers play an intricate role in children's formative years, both intellectually and socially. For schools to have a positive effect on children, they will be dependent on good teachers. A good teacher has many specific attributes with some being professional roles they have and others being embedded in their personality. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Shelby W. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. During the class, the teacher must be able to manage and control the students. This means the teacher needs to be able to stand in front of the class as a whole and instruct the students in a different way than when they are in...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences One of the most rewarding times of my life is my career of teaching kindergarten for the last fifteen years. These young learners bring curiosity, energy, and enthusiasm to the classroom. Five and six year olds are still accustomed to needing help, and making mistakes; therefore, they are less self-conscious and are eager to learn in order for them to become more self-reliant. My husband and I are embarking on a new adventure to Indonesia where I will be working in a school in the early childhood department. The information I learned from my TEFL course will be very useful. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate JoAnn S. A kindergarten classroom needs to be a pleasant, cheerful and inviting...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Students in ESL classes, especially those newer to English, face what may seem to be a daunting set of tasks related to learning a new language. A teacher's encouragement will ease the students' stress, provide positive feedback and, gently, areas of improvement, and provide an amicable environment conducive to learning. The age and experience level of the students should be considered in what specific words of encouragement are given--too effusive and older, more experienced students may be turned off, while too complicated and the younger students may not appreciate the teacher's phrasing. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Jonathan W. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I think the teacher plays an important part in teaching English. And to be an English teacher needed professional teaching methods and cultural background. Because for many learners, the teacher is the font of all knowledge on English grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation, and in these areas, they have particular responsibility and authority. At the same time, in different lesson parts, teachers need to switch roles to help students learn English. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Shu Y. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. During a different lesson, the teacher will have a different role. And different roles have different effects...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences As both an individual tutor and group teacher of High Beginning Conversational English for the ESL division of Literacy New Jersey, I have become familiar with the benefits and drawbacks of volunteer teaching. While the drawbacks can be challenging, the rewards of volunteer teaching far outweigh any drawbacks that I have encountered. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Charles M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Currently, my tutoring includes students from West Africa and Israel. My High Beginning Conversational English class has students from around the globe including Guatemala, Venezuela, Israel, Liberia and more. This...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences The personality of a teacher, their attitude towards teaching and their relationship with the students have a major impact on the motivation of the class to learn a foreign language. Being kind, patient, entertaining and with a good subject, knowledge is some of the characteristics of a good teacher. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Vladislava B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Their ability to interact with the class, to involve all the students equally through the lesson, to correct them without offending or affecting their motivation and to give individual attention when necessary, proves that a good teacher cares a lot...  [Read more]

Anna Domiczek Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Many research articles demonstrate the effectiveness of chants and rhymes and list the reasons why they should be an important element of ESL instruction. Through the use of chants and rhymes, students get to increase their vocabulary, improve rhythm, intonation, pronunciation, as well as memorization skills. Chants and rhymes are important in language teaching because: "...the literature has recognized the role of nursery rhymes in paving the way for the learners, particularly young ones, in developing their language learning skills." (International Journal of English Language and Translation Studies, Jan-March 2017) Most importantly, chants and rhymes allow for...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Back in Autumn 2017, I faced another career change. To bring the story right to the point of this topic, I, eventually, was guided into the teaching profession by sheer coincidence, or as some would call it, synchronicity. Shortly after my first initial contact with a person in a nice car passing me on a side street, I was approached by other parents and institutions and was asked if I would be interested to teach them English. I said that I need to think about it first and prepare some documentation. So, I went back home, changed, and prepared my C.V. to match it with the opportunity currently at hand and contacted them shortly after. In the few discussions, get-togethers, and meetings that followed I...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas What is the role of the teacher? To meet the needs of the students, teachers will need to take on multiple roles in the classroom. Staying in one role for too long can hamper a student’s ability to learn. The lesson will become stagnant. As the stages of lesson progress, it is important for the teacher to change roles along with the type of activities. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Diane T. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Throughout the lessons, some activities will be more student-focused and others that will be more teacher-focused. It is good to have a mix of both. A role such as a controller is more teacher-focused....  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas While there are many things a teacher can do to prepare for the classroom, the way students interface with their teachers is something that can be both difficult and spontaneous. Building rapport with students is crucial to maintain a high level of energy and focus throughout a class session. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Matthew P. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Even though a teacher may have an entire lesson planned out, if students do not feel comfortable participating in front of their teacher, the pace of the class becomes stilted. A well-constructed lesson plan may be filled with fun activities for the students,...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas It is inevitable that everyone will make mistakes when trying something new for the first time. Because there is no way to avoid them, mistakes should be accepted, treated as normal, and even encouraged. It is always better to make some mistakes in the attempt than not to try at all, and this is particularly true when learning a new language. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Catherine L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. I studied French for four years in high school. By the time I finished my last French class, my speaking ability was still minimal and I wasn’t comfortable with anything beyond...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences A teacher has an important responsibility to get to know his or her students to ensure that they are engaged with the lesson on a daily basis. Learning another language is not easy so it is imperative that a teacher does everything in his or her power to get to know their students and become as familiar with them as possible. One of the most effective ways a teacher can begin to do so is by establishing rapport with their students. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Kathyrine L. Establishing rapport with students is ideally something that should happen at the beginning of the course. It is better to get to know your students as soon as possible rather than later. There is much to be...  [Read more]

Lydia Pincott Destinations Alumni Experiences “But...why are you here?” It’s a phrase often uttered by Japanese, confused about what your reason could be for straying from the usual temples of Kyoto, shops of Shinjuku, and street-food of Osaka. The beaten path in Japan is pretty great and worth exploring thoroughly, but if you’ve done it, or feel like you’ve done it from seeing other people’s pictures, these 3 destinations are for you. Take a 4-week in-class TEFL/TESOL course in Japan and get a headstart in your teaching career! Picture this: Sandy beaches with perfectly turquoise waters stretching out as far as the eye can see, cafes with fresh, flavorful food just waiting to be devoured, and cheerful locals happy...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas There is no doubt that a teacher plays a vital role in the classroom. To become a good teacher, the teacher should pay full attention to their teaching and students’ learning. In particular, teachers serve many different roles in the classroom rather than just convey linguistic lessons such as Controller, Organizer, Assessor, Prompter, Participant, Tutor, Resource, Model, and Observer. Over the years, there are a great number of changes in the teaching approach along with the learning strategies. The classroom becomes ‘student-centered’ rather than ‘teacher-centered’. This will largely depend on which type of activity and what we wish the students to achieve. This post was written by our TEFL...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences It is not easy to describe a nation or a country simply since people should be considered as individuals, but there are definitely some national characteristics in Thailand that make it very different from any other country. When in the Western world, especially in Europe, we need a lot of space and privacy and are often expected to be able to work unprompted, in Thailand things are done collectively. There are no “I's” in a team, literally. Understanding how these teams work and their sometimes not so obvious hierarchy it is much easier to adapt and be accepted as a part of them. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Anniina R. This subject is very extensive and multi-dimensional and...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences Being a teacher is my everyday dream since I was a child. As I believe that the future is mainly based on education and students, how they can make a progress and improve their skills. So I decided to take apart in this great cycle hoping that one day I can leave a mark in student's life. The teacher's responsibility is not only about teaching students and correcting their pronunciation or grammatical mistakes; his/her responsibility includes a lot of roles. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Dina I. Before talking about the roles of a successful teacher, I learned from my TEFL certificate that there are nine basic traits of a good teacher. These traits are divided to four points related to...  [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 Establishing rapport with students can be challenging sometimes, especially if this is a class of students who’ve already had different teachers or the students change around a lot. When there is inconsistency in teaching style or people, it can be more difficult for students to create a more meaningful bond. One of the key things I’ve always found in establishing rapport is to be friendly, positive, kind, consistent and understanding. There are different ways a teacher can show this. The way s/he introduces her/himself and shows interest in students initially, the level of professionalism displayed, the teacher’s attitude towards students, the reward system put in place and the expectations set among many...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas First impressions can be a daunting topic for many, as they will generally set the tone for the rest of a relationship and can be hard to revert. These first impressions will not only be key toward the ease of establishing rapport with someone but also toward what the other party will expect of you in order to maintain an amicable relationship from then on. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Nicolas F. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The number of people that one needs to establish a rapport with will be a major factor in deciding the necessary dynamics to do so. Connecting with individual clients in the business world can be...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The class life must be predetermined and must be appropriate for purposes. The teacher is primarily responsible for classroom management and principles. In other words, the teacher is responsible for the learning environment. In this way, classroom life becomes more charming, productive, and useful for the learning environment. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Elif A. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The first thing the teacher should do to provide the physical and psychological environment required by classroom education. For this, it is necessary to love all students and treat them equally. The teacher is the representative...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Depending on the teaching situation, you might think that maintaining discipline isn't so important. You want the time you spend in the classroom to be fun, instead of wasting time protecting and punishing children. However, did you know that according to estimates, 80 percent of ESL teachers who quit their jobs after the first year do so because of their inability to maintain discipline in their class? This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Tina S. Although the word discipline may seem negative, the purpose of discipline is to teach students boundaries that are necessary if they are to achieve personal and academic life goals. Maintaining rules and structure...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Every English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher desires to successfully teach their students how to proficiently speak, understand, and use the English language. English is a very complex language, and teaching it presents many challenges. Because of this, an ESL teacher must be willing and able to take on various roles throughout the teaching of a lesson. During a typical ESL lesson, a teacher will have some, or all, of the following roles: a manager or controller, an organizer, an observer, an assessor, a prompter, a participant, and a resource or facilitator. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Jennifer N. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or...  [Read more]

  A TEFL qualification allows you to teach English almost anywhere in the world, some countries are more popular than others for differing reasons. Some are popular because of the salary and benefits offered to teachers, others are popular because they offer a better quality of life and others are popular because they provide teachers with plenty of opportunities. The top most popular countries are all in Asia as the demand for English is so much higher here than elsewhere in the world. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can...  [Read more]

Here you can watch a variety of extracts from our 120-hour TEFL course with tutor support. These videos should give you an insight into the innovative nature of this particular course option, with subjects such as methodologies, teaching skills and grammar structures just some of the topics covered.  [Read more]

In this video collection you will find a summary of the most important acronyms and abbreviations in the ESL teaching sector. Make a great first impression at your new teaching job by familiarizing yourself with these terms.  [Read more]

Our grammar expert Linda takes a look at the correct pronunciation of a range of English words that are often confusing for students. Our Ask Linda series is frequently updated so make sure you check for new additions on a regular basis.  [Read more]

If you want to know what it is really like to take part in one of our courses then take a look at the following selection of graduates discussing their own personal experiences.  [Read more]

Our helpful infographics should help you to prepare for your new TEFL adventure. Where are the highest salaries? What are some “Do’s and Don’ts” when teaching in Asia? What games can I use in the classroom? Our infographics will help you with these questions and more.  [Read more]