TEFL Worden

  In her ninth video diary instalment, Chantelle discusses unit 9 of her online TEFL course from ITTT. This unit covers lesson planning and the importance of being well prepared for your lessons. The unit discusses whether there is a need to plan lessons, how a lesson plan should be written and what should be included in a lesson plan. It also looks at ways to plan a sequence of lessons and how important it is for teachers to reflect on past lessons to help improve future classes. 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 quickly...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas When I first started as an EFL teacher two years ago, my senior colleagues would often advise me to create a lesson plan well in advance of an upcoming lesson. Having had no formal teaching experience back then, it surprised me because I assumed that simply creating lesson materials for students was sufficient. I did not think that lesson plans were necessary because when I was a student, I had never seen any of my teachers referring to them on the job. It seemed to me that teachers were natural improvisers and could deliver lessons without any referenced document. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Qi Lin L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or...  [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 Alumni Experiences There are many behaviors and simple acts of conduct that may or may not be considered appropriate in any given circumstance or country. There are multiple examples for specific regions of this world. In this assessment, I would like to focus on China. Mandarin is the main language, within which there are multiple dialects. In a way, I can see a similarity between the English language and that of China. Taking the major English speaking countries of the world, that’s including the United Kingdom, United States, or any other speaker of English in the first language including Australia. Every country has words that if not in slang, are spelled, worded or pronounced differently. This leads me to the following...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences There are many behaviors and simple acts of conduct that may or may not be considered appropriate in any given circumstance or country. There are multiple examples for specific regions of this world. In this assessment, I would like to focus on China. Mandarin is the main language, within which there are multiple dialects. In a way, I can see a similarity between the English language and that of China. Taking the major English speaking countries of the world, that’s including the United Kingdom, United States, or any other speaker of English in the first language including Australia. Every country has words that if not in slang, are spelled, worded, or pronounced differently. This leads me to the following...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The Vietnamese learners of English share with those of other nationalities almost every difficulty in learning English. However, there are several issues in learning English that can be viewed as particularly perceived in the classrooms in Vietnam. Those particular issues may have originated from the country’s specific culture and language. It might be useful to point out several typical difficulties and their causes, and propose a couple of techniques for an EFL teacher to tackle them. Below are two groups of difficulties, one is psychological, the other is more or less physical. Although they are very common in Vietnam, those issues are by no means unique to that country and therefore can be seen elsewhere, at...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Classroom management deals with role flexibility, organizing and maintaining discipline. The student’s confidence and learning effectiveness will depend on the teacher’s classroom management skills. The teacher must know when it is time to be firm or when to leave students alone. The level of firmness depends on the age of the students. Overall, it is best to keep a controlled environment at the beginning then tail it off with a relaxed environment especially with kids or younger learners. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Victoria G. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. One of the disciplinary methods of classroom management is...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Teaching English to foreign-speaking students comes with much responsibility, creativity, patience, and kindness. On the opposite end, learning another language is challenging, requires practice and can be frustrating. To make the teaching and learning exchange seamless there are a variety of lesson structures and independent/ group activities available for teachers to implement into classrooms. Although many methods can be used, grammar, vocabulary, reading, listening, writing, and speaking are all important structures taken into consideration as learning the language comfortably and fluently is always the end goal. Throughout this summative task, different methodologies will be paired and compared to find...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas A good student-teacher relationship inside the classroom is necessary for the instructor to teach efficiently and for the students to learn effectively. Several factors need to be taken into consideration to manage the classroom well. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Roxanne C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. First of all, good eye contact should be established within the classroom. This signifies the connection between the teacher and students and it shows sincerity on the part of the teacher. Eye contact is encouraged during a teacher-centered activity but not in students- centered activities. Proper use of gestures, on the...  [Read more]