TEFL So Hi

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences At the cafeteria during lunchtime, a student of mine approached and asked me, “Why did you become a teacher?” Dumbfounded by this brazen question, I did not know what to say. I could have chosen motherhood statements like “I want to make a difference in the world,” “to have a positive impact on my student’s lives, “or that “I love children.” I ended up saying to him, “Well, I am good at teaching.” However, the truth of the matter is, I needed a job and there was an opportunity so I took it. You can say it was fate that called me to be a teacher. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine myself being a Grade 3 homeroom teacher! After having experienced a variety of jobs in my life from...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences What does it mean to volunteer? According to the Oxford Dictionary: "A volunteer is a person who freely offers to take part in an enterprise or undertake a task", according to me, volunteering is a life-changing experience where you are able to help others. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Zayra R. I volunteered for the first time 7 years ago and I remember to be very excited and a little nervous, not knowing what to expect. The moment I arrived at the shelter house for abandoned girls, I knew right away that I had to give my best every day. During that week, we fixed the garden, planted flowers and vegetables and I also helped building rooms and decorating them. I taught basic English to...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Until now, I have been an English teacher for 6 months. Before that, in 2016 I was a teaching assistant. That is my part-time job. And this is a journey even though I have not yet taken a TESOL class but I am still confident that I can become a teacher. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Tieu T. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. For the first half of the year, I was an assistant tutor for the preschool. I had very little contact with kids before so I was very confused at the time. I told the teacher that I couldn't make them obey. She is a master of special needs education. She told me to play with them and not to care about...  [Read more]

Jon ITTT Alumni Experiences Growing up in a minority family, the language barrier was always a boundary that I had every intention to overcome. With this in mind I am in a unique position to relate to other students whose mother tongue is not English. Learning a new language is not an easy task, so is teaching English to students of different backgrounds. The combination of cultural differences and assimilation to a new environment snowballs into a dilemma that a teacher faces when teaching students of different nationalities. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Blia Y. In my experience working with autistic children, there are times I carry out specific actions with the intention a child will grasp the full meaning of how or...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences The introverted Nathaniel struggled immensely through primary, high school, college, and music school. His first battle was learning how to read. At this point, no one knew he possessed a learning difficulty. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Nathaniel F. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Although he had an impressive spoken vocabulary for a boy, when he looked at words on a page he could not match them to their sounds, therefore pronunciation was not possible. This struggle with phonetic decoding was overcome over a few years by reading books borrowed from the library, tracing the words with a finger while listening to the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Teaching as a general concept is a word derived from "to teach" which means to instruct, it means a process in which one individual makes something known to another individual, it is a system of actions intended to produce learning. As Morrison said, "teaching is intimate contact between a more mature personality and less mature one which is designed to further education of the later". This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ghaith F. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. As we see teaching is a kind of influence aimed at changing the behavior potential of the student. In this situation, the teacher needs to overcome gaps and...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Since I remember I have always been thinking about becoming a teacher. In the end, I decided to study at the Technical University, however, the idea of teaching experience was still on my mind. I have not finished pedagogy, so teaching was for me just a hobby (since I was not a certified teacher). This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Natalia A. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. It was a private class of mathematics, the student was in middle school. The experience was very good, I started teaching mathematics, then also other technical subjects. I was very satisfied because the student was progressing. Since I was preparing the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences To be a great teacher is always my dream. In order to gain more experience in teaching, I started to teach my foreign teachers' Mandarin when I was a freshman in university. After I graduated, I chose to work as a teacher without any hesitation because I love the English language and I really enjoy teaching. So far, it has been for about 11 years. I have taught so many students. My youngest student is a 6-year-old boy and my oldest student is 76 years old. My class types range from tutorial classes to big lecture classes. How time flies! This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ling Y. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Teaching is...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas In education, intelligence is not the only factor but maybe one of the most important ones. Regardless, many factors affect the children's education, such as financial situation, social structure, and even whether it is a developed country or a developing country. However, the role of the parents can not be ignored as it is essential as intelligence. Because children like to imitate what their parents do, parents should be more aware of what they are doing to avoid negative situations. For instance, if parents do not interest in their children's case at school, children will realize this and they begin not paying attention to their education...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Punishment is the reaction to a lack of discipline, so the final step for preventing the need for punishment is to teach and encourage discipline. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Nisham M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Teachers need to be able to set boundaries in their classrooms. A classroom without boundaries and consequences is a great disservice to every student in the class. When a child misbehaves in school, he/she is cheating the other children out of their education because the teacher is not teaching when he/she is dealing with behavioral issues. Teachers have to tread carefully when dealing with disrespectful...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Teaching profession today has become more challenging due to the constant development and innovative experiments in the field of education. A role of a teacher is significantly changing. In this era of technology-based teaching, a teacher has to keep himself or herself updated with the latest happenings taking place in the profession. Apart from the personal growth, the teacher also has to focus on professional growth. There are many options available outside in the market which offer help for the same. The best way to achieve this is through ‘Self Analysis’. A teacher must need to evaluate himself as well as his teaching techniques which in result will help him to find out the components he has to improve in,...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas During the lessons, teachers usually use a variety of materials and teaching aids. One of the most common is flashcards. They have so many benefits: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Oksana K. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Flashcards can be used both for learning new vocabulary and for revision. Here are some of the activities with flashcards that I use working with children starting from 3 to 9 years old, mostly beginners. These activities can be changed a little and transformed into activities for older children. After the new flashcards were...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Howard Gardner, Ph.D. was born in 1943 in Scranton, Pennsylvania in the USA. He is a Cognition and Education Professor at Harvard University and the author of hundreds of articles and more than 30 books translated into several languages. He has received numerous awards and honorary degrees worldwide. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Natália S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. As a developmental psychologist Gardner believed that his multiple intelligence research would have repercussions on his peers, however, his Theory of Multiple Intelligence made him known worldwide and studied primarily by educators. He has been focused...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Grammar or grammer! The most common error in the spelling of ‘grammar’, however, it is still debatable among few teachers, whether grammar or vocabulary should be considered the most important aspect of the English language. A balanced diet makes a person healthy similarly a balanced understanding of all aspects of a language makes it complete. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Annu M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. English is widely spoken across the globe and most nationalities are now able to communicate using the basic structure. Once a learned man said, “You need not have a great grasp of the English language, as...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas As a part of receptive skills, reading is so important that children start to read both English and Chinese books at the very beginning of their lives. Reading is a beneficial way to learn English well, especially for young learners. They can accumulate more and more vocabulary as well as the way native speakers communicate with each other by reading various kinds of books. As we all know reading a good book just like talking with a great author. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Xiangnan G. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Here I will share my experience of teaching English reading to young learners. I worked in an...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas What do you normally hear when you walk into a convenience store? Do you hear a man tell you, “Hello, how are you doing today?” or “Good morning?”. The answer is likely no. More often than not you hear someone say “Sup, dude!” or “What’s happening?” or some other kind of non-conventional English that would normally not find its home in the ESL classroom. Therefore, it is vital to teaching the students slang and idioms so that when they get into a real conversation outside of the classroom, they aren’t thrown off or left in the dust by a few turns of phrase. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Tanner M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences We can notice two approaches of teachers to the possibility of teaching to beginner students: the first is the craze, the second is the fear. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Cassandre F. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Indeed, an experienced teacher will no doubt look forward to introducing a new language to novices who are most motivated and interested in learning English. But if the opportunity to teach novices materializes, a young teacher still inexperienced will feel apprehension and fear in the face of this ambitious challenge. Fear of not knowing where to start his lessons, fear of failing to instill in his...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Ever since I was in elementary school, I have always looked up to teachers. They have inspired me all my life, the role they play in a child's life is one of the most amazing things ever. That is the main reason I decided that I wanted to be a teacher myself. I have a few years of volunteer teaching work and from it, I have learned many things. Some of the main things are discipline, atmosphere, and education. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Christopher C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. First, discipline. This is extremely important in the classroom. To have a controlled class who wants to also learn but also have fun is...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences Grammar is the whole system of language. It includes a set of rules known as syntax. Occasionally when working on the computer you may get a message “Error Syntax; code 141” this means you have typed into the computer something that did not fit into the rules. This is not allowed and the computer will reject it and force you to obey the rules. When speaking English we have no restrictions on the structure or form and no computer monitoring us to stop us from speaking incorrectly. We can say anything anyway we choose, well-spoken or poorly spoken. There are some common words which are frequently misused. They are, affect, that, and whom. This essay will look at each of these in an effort to clarify their use....  [Read more]

  And now let's look at the pronouns. Simply put, pronouns take the place of a noun. We have various types of pronouns. They are personal pronouns, which can either be subject or object. We have reflexive pronouns, relative pronouns and possessive pronouns. With our personal pronouns, we have to decide whether it's the subject or the object. The subject is the doer of an action, whereas the object is the one that receives the action. Subject pronouns are: I, you, he, she, it etc. Object pronouns are: me, you, him, her, etc. In the sentence "Greg hit Pete," the subject of the sentence is "Greg", therefore I would say "He hit Pete," or I could put a pronoun in for the object of the sentence, where "Greg hit Pete", now, I go into "Greg hit him." With our reflexive pronouns, these are...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas A lesson plan, developed by a teacher, is a detailed description of the lesson. It can be also considered as a guide providing step-by-step the direction in which the teacher designs his/her lesson. Is it really necessary for an effective lesson? If so, What makes it so crucial? This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Beste D. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. As mentioned above, being a teachers' route-map, a lesson plan sheds light on the procedures of teaching in a definite way. It benefits teachers in more ways. First, it maintains perfect time management. As organized teaching saves time. When a teacher comes to the class with a...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas A lesson plan, developed by a teacher, is a detailed description of the lesson. It can be also considered as a guide providing step-by-step the direction in which the teacher designs his/her lesson. Is it really necessary for an effective lesson? If so, What makes it so crucial? This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Beste D. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. As mentioned above, being a teachers' route-map, a lesson plan sheds light on the procedures of teaching in a definite way. It benefits teachers in more ways. First, it maintains perfect time management. As organized teaching saves time. When a teacher comes to the class with a...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Anyone can be a teacher but not every teacher is likable or caring. I found in my experience as a student, especially as a child, I would find myself dreading the classes with the teachers that had bad attitudes and would look forward to the ones who not only kept the class interesting but showed true interest in the student's lives. The truly talented teachers would take examples of scenarios people had discussed from their personal lives and use it as a tool in their teaching strategies. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Priscilla L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The only thing that separated these two types of teachers...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Punishment can be defined as an inflicted action in a person’s environment that occurs after a given behavior, or a response which reduces the likelihood of that behavior occurring again in the future. There are a lot of reasons why people use punishment, but the main reason is to change someone’s behavior. There are two types of punishment known in Psychology: negative, and positive punishment. The first consists of taking away something very desirable for the person and the other one is about inflicting undesirable stimuli to that person, whose behavior we want to change. Motivation, on the other hand, can be defined as an internal willingness to undertake actions that would result in the achievement of a...  [Read more]

Catia Pereira dos Santos Teaching Ideas What kind of teacher do you want to become? Can you picture it in your mind? Well, I did it! When I first started my journey as a Portuguese and English online tutor, I asked myself this question and it landed me on a few ideas which are also present over some units of the ESL teachers course. I've been a student for a while, and I am still today. This year, I merged in the education field, taken this bright decision had brought me a lot of joy. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Catia P. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. During my TEFL/TESOL teacher course lessons, I recognized some of the do's and don't's of my past...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas My friends and I live in a predominantly Indian neighborhood in a suburban Midwest town in the United States. Most of our neighbors are Indian nationals who are in the US temporarily on corporate-sponsored work visas, families where one or both parents work outside the home during the day while their children attend local American public schools. One of my friends, a high school math teacher, was asked by her neighbor to tutor two elementary school-aged children in English, her son in first grade, and her daughter in third grade. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Rob Q. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Teaming up to help one...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Learning a foreign language is quite challenging and reading has crucial importance in learning the vocabularies of the language and also learning vocabulary can affect reading texts. Knowing vocabulary is an important factor in language acquisition. Although grammar is very important too but to understand the meaning of the text, the students need to know the meaning of the words first. So reading offers the learner a wide range of words, different grammar and makes them more successful in speaking a language compared to those who don’t read much. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Mercan H. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT....  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Isn't this a great question? No matter who you are or what your background is, everyone who reads this question automatically has an opinion on it or might have answered it in their head before they’ve even truly thought about it. The psychology and intricacy behind this question are what drew me to it, so here is what I have found… I have been a teacher for many years, in many different capacities and have had to try and come up with various alternatives to ‘punishing’ misbehaving and uncooperative students. What I’ve found is that the approaches can generally be categorized according to age. Also, that punishment comes in many forms and does not always have to have a negative connotation to it. This...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Since I previously worked as an English teacher in China, I also have my own experience. What is important to me as a teacher? First of all, the personality of the child. He's a human, and I want him to stay that way. Therefore, I need to teach this person to learn, not just to know and be able, but to teach him to use knowledge for the benefit of himself and those around him. Knowledge is a power that can destroy and create. And the child learns to make a decision and be responsible. 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. Of course, there are errors and problems. Together with our...  [Read more]

Jon ITTT Alumni Experiences Teaching classes containing a wide variety of ages can be a great challenge. I have recently experienced such challenge. Below I am going to share my teaching experience and how I managed to overcome the difficulties. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Yan Z. In Spring this year, I was asked to teach an English Drama class in a children’s training center. Before the class started, the students were recruited and assigned by the center, which was not in my control. There were 12 elementary-school students in the class. Students were age-mixed, ranging from 7 years to 12 years old. Two thirds of the students were from Grades 1-3 and one third were from Grade 4-6. In order for the younger students...  [Read more]