TEFL Westview Circle

Federico Riva Teaching Ideas English is increasingly becoming a ubiquitous language. Whether written or spoken, you can see the presence of English even in the most remote parts of our world. Its overwhelming presence does English essentially means it is a lingua franca. It is the standard for global diplomacy, trade, communication, and business. It was not always the case, the French language used to be the preferred language of global diplomacy and trade. As a result of the British colonization of large parts of the world, English has become the lingua franca for all of the former colonies once the British left. Globalization in the last century only made English even more ubiquitous. With the spread of neoliberal economic policies of the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas As an Early Childhood Educator, circle time is really important. It provides a great opportunity for language practice, it is fun and students enjoy it. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ligia O. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Circle time can start at the beginning of the day as it is a great way to greet students and set goals for the day. Teachers can have a specific space in the classroom for circle time. Some have rugs and give each student a specific place to sit down. Greeting students is a great opportunity to sing and practice English. The teacher greets every student and students greet each other. The song must be the...  [Read more]

Federico Riva TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Every preschool/ kindergarten level teacher will swear by the need for excellent constructive circle time. It sets the tone for what is to follow throughout the day. A good circle time should be welcoming, engaging, and informative. Children should not be forced into participation; instead should be drawn into it. Circle time is the classic example of a good "engage" stage in an ESA teaching style. Therefore, during circle time, you introduce a topic that is to be covered that day or week. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Najia S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of...  [Read more]

Michela Coticone TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Teaching a new language to children can come with many challenges because there is limited time and sometimes limited attention spans. To effectively teach a new language, children need to have a feeling of confidence in the fact that they can perform what they are being taught, and the element of having fun while learning. Children, just like adults, need repetition to effectively learn a task. Repetition Repetition alias Drilling: Is it an Effective Way to Remember Language Points? will allow a child to mentally prepare themselves for a task that will happen at a certain time of the day, therefore they can begin to anticipate what their...  [Read more]

Shirin Sophy TEFL Information Teaching Ideas How the seats are arranged in a classroom can convey numerous implicit messages about the pedagogical approaches and methods employed in a specific school and the teacher who works there. A well-designed seating arrangement not only facilitates the interaction between the teacher and the learners but it also enables the students to interact together, which is a paramount feature of a student-centered class effectively. There is a wide variety of interaction patterns that each can be appropriately applied considering the aim and objective of a lesson and the ongoing task; however, a well-adjusted seating arrangement may pave the way for the flow of the information during the lesson...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas If you teach English to Young learners, then you will know that flashcards are one of the best tools a teacher can take with them into the classroom. So here I want to share five activities with flashcards. I hope you like my flashcard activities in this essay. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ma M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. But before I share these activities, I want to write some tips about them. First, flashcards are mainly used to review and reinforce the language. If you are using flashcards with a new language, make sure you pre-teach the vocabulary on the flashcards before going ahead and playing any activity....  [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]

Mark Crocker Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Having spent more than 20 years as a marketing consultant, I decided to change career, to become an English language teacher. Hence, I took up the 120-hour TEFL course with ITTT, along with a specialised course in teaching young learners and another one in teaching business English. Even before I finished my TEFL course, I was offered a teaching job with a private school in Bangkok, Thailand. I have since been teaching kindergarten kids for about 8 months. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Albert P. Teaching kindergarten kids is definitely a lot more fun and less stressful than working for corporate clients in my previous job. I start work at 8:00 a.m. and...  [Read more]

Kavinna Batra Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Interactive education is all about teaching students in a way that engages them directly in their learning process. There are numerous ways of building an engagement like this. Most of the time, it is by You inspire the students to be involved in class participation, think independently, and use their minds, leading to a longer memory retention. The students' awareness grows, but their interest, strength, expertise, team spirit, and freedom of speech will also increase. I will speak about the use of interactive teaching approaches in this blog post, urging more attention to the content of the lesson. We're going to see some interactive instruments, concepts, and games for...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The average four-year-old has an attention span of eight to 12 minutes. Kindergarteners typically range from four to six years in age so at best, an instructor has approximately 20 minutes in which to work when teaching kindergarten children. Teaching aids are critically important to maintaining the attention of this age group! When teaching four-year-olds their second, third, or fourth language, good teaching aids will keep the child's attention while also simultaneously teaching them critical content. This paper will explore how to create a schedule in an EFL kindergarten classroom. For simplicity sake and congruence of understanding, I will write from the perspective that the kindergarten classroom is a total...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas To keep the Activate Stage more fun and lively, offer your students one of these cool speaking activities. They will definitely enjoy the conversation and get creative with the tasks. Remember that any of these exercises can be easily used online. Students share their ideas on how to make class more interesting and engaging. Let them discuss an ideal day in your ESL class and then propose their ideas to you. Give each student an unusual photograph (use photostocks for that), and ask them to create a story to go along with the picture. After they have planned their stories, have them share their pictures and stories. Also Read: Is Punishment a Good Strategy for Teaching in the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Speaking is one of the most important skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing). We do not only help students to understand, write and read it, but also speak it fluently. Teaching speaking skills for a mixed-ability classroom is not easy. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Huyen N. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. When we are teaching a class with has students who are clearly of different levels. They may have different starting levels of English or they may learn at very different speeds. the teacher easy to get frustrated in a class of mixed ability. The students also feel bored and frustrated. The stronger students may...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The Oxford Dictionary defines learning ability as the ability to comprehend or understand and profit from an experience (Vocabulary.com, 2019). The reality is that in any classroom, a teacher will be faced with teaching children of varying learning abilities. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Liezl S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Constructivism is a theory about how people learn and acquire knowledge and can be a tool for effective teaching when faced with students of varying abilities. The theory states that people construct their understanding and knowledge of the world, through their experiences and by looking back or...  [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 Alumni Experiences My teaching experience began in a whirlwind. I graduated from college a semester ahead of my class, married, lived with my husband in my sister’s basement for two months, and moved to South Korea. We had no idea what to expect. Sure, we’d read the blogs, talked to the director of our school, and even talked with people we know who had lived and taught in Korea. It still didn’t fully prepare us for what to expect, how amazing it would be, and how hard. We lived in South Korea for 19 months teaching three through seven year olds daily and first through third graders several times each week. This post was written by our ITTT graduate Sarah S. When we first moved to Korea, our head teacher had to teach us how...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate EUNICE E. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Players stand in a circle, with one player in the middle. Each player in the circle has a picture or word flashcard. Call out two of the picture card items. The two players holding these cards have to change places without the person in the middle taking one of their spots in the circle. When the person in the middle succeeds in taking a place in the circle, the other player hands over his or her card and takes a turn in the middle. At any time you can call out "All change!" and this means that everyone has to change places. Use this if you see someone...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Destinations Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas This blog post was writeen by an ITTT TEFL alumna who shares their experience of working with Chinese students. ✅ They share the most common problems for ESL students in this countries. Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas In this blog post, our TEFL graduate shares their experienc of taking a 60-hour TEFL course with ITTT and talks about several milestones on building a successful EFL career. Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences ...  [Read more]

Federico Riva TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas In this live session, native English-speaking teacher Linda from the United States and non-native English-speaking teacher Liza from Russia discuss the differences between native and non-native teachers, TEFL/TESOL course options, misconceptions, and career options. Elizaveta Pachina Destinations TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas In this blog post, our TEFL alumnus shares their experience of teaching English in Saudi Arabia. ✅ They share the most crucial factors to consider when working with ESL students from...  [Read more]

Federico Riva TEFL Information Teaching Ideas Are you interested in online English teaching but do not know where to start? In this online session, we will overview teaching platforms and their main requirements. Don't miss it! Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas In this blog post, our recent TEFL graduate shares their personal experience of teaching ESL students and explains why oudoor activities might help increasing ESL classroom productivity. ✅ Read this article to learn the key-points. Federico Riva TEFL Information Alumni Experiences ...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I have been learning English my whole life and I have been teaching the language for the last nine years in three different countries, and in both roles (student and teacher) flashcards have been part of my learning and lessons; in fact, almost in every lesson. Most of the teachers and students with whom I have used these resources to work vocabulary and create different routines to learn and drill it, have really enjoyed it. It goes further than showing a picture and repeating the words which the teacher says: using flashcards opens up a wide world of possibilities to put into practice in our lessons. They can be games, drills, memory activities… It allows us to work either individually, in small groups, or...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences For the past decades, English plays a major role in the international arena. It keeps us competitive for the rest of the world. It’s not a secret that for many countries English is a foreign language. In accordance with Kachru “Three circle model of World Englishness” (1988), Turkmenistan belongs to the third circle – expanding the circle and for us, English should be the target language. The target language due to cultural various and globalized world. This post was written by our [TEFL c5 Things You Can Overcome If You Prepare Your Lesson Planessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The rapid spread of English language shifts the traditional form of English as a native language to teaching...  [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 Arranging seats in your classroom can be an important task, though it may not seem like it when you first are thinking about it. There are so many different options when it comes to how you can arrange seats. There is the full circle, semi-circle, giant square, U-shape, grouping tables in several desks, two desk pairs all facing forward, or the single file rows facing forward, just to name some of the many you can choose from. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Brandie K. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. All of these arrangements have good and bad points to them. The circle is good because it is easy for all the students to see...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I would like to introduce five flashcards activities which I found fun and practical to enhance a student's vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, listening, and speaking. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate MOHSEN H. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. This activity is designed to teach vocabulary as well as practice listening. It can be used for teaching various categories (animals, food, fruits, …) or a mix of them. The teacher gives each of the students a set of flashcards and asks them to show him/her the correct card when they hear the item spoken. For example: “Show me a pig” “Hands up if you’ve got a banana” “Stand...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas In this blog post, our recent TEFL graduate shares their personal experience of teaching ESL students and explains why oudoor activities might help increasing ESL classroom productivity. ✅ Read this article to learn the key-points. Federico Riva TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas In this blog post, our recent TEFL graduate shares their personal experience of teaching TEFL students and explains how to build a successful teaching career and why it's important. ✅ Read this article to learn the key-points. Federico Riva ...  [Read more]

Dana W TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Online learning has become extremely popular over the last several years. Many people take college courses and several other types of learning classes online, especially now during this global pandemic. If you’re considering online learning, you may have questions. What makes it different from taking a class in a language school? Are online teachers just as qualified to teach me? Will I learn the same information as I would face to face? I’d like to provide some clarity on what to expect when learning a language online. Anastasiia Ovchinnikova TEFL Information Alumni Experiences ...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Teaching Ideas As every TEFL certified English teacher will know, it is all too common to find you have completed the lesson but there is still time left before the end of the class. While first-time teachers might panic in this position, experienced teachers will always have a few go-to activities to use in these situations. To help you out we have put together the following suggestions for fun, educational activities that can be brought out with little or no preparation. This is a classic old classroom game that is still great fun to use today. First, you need to arrange the students in a circle. To get the game going, the teacher or a student comes up with a relatively long sentence (ideally using vocabulary or grammar points...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas This paper will answer the question, "What are five flashcard activities for teaching English to young learners?" Young learners are defined as students attending elementary school, aged between six and twelve. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Tristan K. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. This activity is a great warmer and an effective way to introduce or review vocabulary. This activity works well with both small and large groups. Students sit in a circle with the teacher. The target language is elicited and chorally drilled. The teacher then shows one...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas It is a very well known fact that English is a very melodic language, it sounds very soft and children love singing in English. When you keep a certain rhythm, rhyme, and pace, it is very likely to learn faster and better almost any topic. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Valeria T. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. For a group of very young learners, it is quite a must to use songs, to put the students move and have some action in the classroom as their attention span is quite short and they need entertainment, fun, and playtime. I will take as an example of body parts. If I were to teach the body parts, I would choose the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas This blog post contains information on some methods of organizing your ESL classroom. Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In this blog post, our TEFL graduate shares their thoughts on teaching a circle time. Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences In this blog post, our TEFL graduate shares their experience of teaching. Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In this blog post, you can learn about "Observed teaching practice". Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In this blog post, our TEFL graduate...  [Read more]