TEFL Violet

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas This essay seeks to discuss the possible disadvantages of negative reinforcement, specifically corporal punishment, as a means of discipline, when used by educators teaching young learners. Also, positive reinforcement, such as praise and feedback, as an alternative method to discipline young learners will be discussed. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Desriel G. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. As mentioned, the negative reinforcement measure that will be discussed in this essay is ‘corporal punishment. The definition for ‘punishment’ when referenced herein, follows that of The Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2001,...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Destinations TEFL Information Many women around the world are eager to start a new career in teaching English as a foreign language. Whether it’s straight after graduating from college, in their mid-20s or 30s or later on in life, women from all backgrounds are intrigued by the thought of living and working in a different country abroad. However, many of them feel reluctant and ask “Is it safe for single women to teach English abroad?” The answer is: Absolutely - and here is why. You might be surprised to hear that around 60% of all English teachers abroad are women. In fact, there are usually between 500 and 5,000 foreign teachers, men and women, living in many major cities across Asia, Europe and Latin...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Completing a TEFL course is useful in many ways. Firstly, it is useful to complete a TEFL course because of the knowledge it provides. Before starting this course I had an English background, but I wasn’t aware of all the grammatical points I was missing out on. This course has made me think and taught me some very new ideas that I had not previously known before. Aside from grammar, I had picked up some very useful communication skills and problem-solving skills. When in a classroom I learned how to keep people engaged and active. A very useful technique is the ESA technique. That stands for engaging, study, activate. In this technique, you can use the straight-arrow method, boomerang method or the patchwork...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas There is an ancient Chinese quote which says: "Tell me, and I forget. Teach me, and I remember. Involve me, and I." - We can apply this old quote to our days, even though our challenges may be more extensive. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Rodrigo O. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Today anyone can go through the web and seek information; this made the task of teaching a bit harder since we have to deal with an immediate gain of information. It is easy to open a Wikipedia article and just read what happened 100 years ago somewhere, but it is the teacher's task to involve the students, to connect the facts, to know details...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Discipline issues are common in every class. Nonetheless due to their curious nature, active imagination, and short attention span it might sometimes feel as if children- in particular, enjoy misbehaving in a class. Thus, some cultures as well as some individual teachers promote punishing any problematic behavior. However, in my personal opinion punishment is not an appropriate action to teach discipline in a classroom or even its general meaning. In this essay, I am going to present four major drawbacks of punishing children in a teaching-learning environment. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Shoshrin S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Managing a class is a huge topic to talk about: in a nutshell, it 's focused on the teacher's duty to organize a classroom properly, maintaining discipline and setting the tone. The teacher must be able to inspire confidence, shaping a relaxing atmosphere among students, irrespective of his/her teaching style and personality; furthermore, an essential point implies the teacher's capability to pay attention to the variations of activities and situations and be able to modify his/her role according to that. In other words, being a good teacher requires a high awareness about the role to “play” (when being an assessor, prompter, facilitator, tutor, participant, observer, model, manager, and organizer) to optimize...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences For centuries, punishment, including corporal punishment, has been an integral part of family upbringing and schooling. Such rigorous practices exist in some cultures to this day. Are they effective? To a certain extent, yes. For example, punishment helps to maintain discipline. It also helps to learn one simple but important truth: whatever the person is sowing, this he will also reap; in other words, every action has its consequences. Thus, a person who has been accustomed to discipline and responsibility for his actions since childhood can better cope with the problems of adulthood. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Dmitrii T. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas As a teacher you are in charge of a classroom of children, it can be relatively hard to meet all students needs and maintain control. A lot of teachers develop alternative ways to manage students. This can be by establishing classroom rules right from the start and to maintain these rules right throughout the year. Popular discipline techniques are positive discipline, these techniques use positive reinforcement to encourage students to behave, this is a much better way, rather than negative reinforcement, with punishment and humiliation. The teachers turn to problem-solving and then use classroom discussions, so opinions are heard and self-awareness which resolves the problem...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Destinations Thailand has been a major destination on the Southeast Asia backpacking trail for many years and it is now also one of the biggest employers of foreign teachers in the region. So what is it about Thailand that attracts thousands of teachers every year from all corners of the Earth? And what is it that makes many of them stay for far longer than they ever intended? This list of 8 Reasons to Teach English in Thailand should provide some answers to these questions and maybe put it on your radar of potential teaching destinations. Anyone who has visited Thailand will know that the local people are among the friendliest and most welcoming in the world. As a popular tourist hot spot, the Thai people are no strangers to foreign...  [Read more]