There Are Things I Can't Tell You

Federico Riva TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas In this blog post, we will look at an actual example of an ESA straight arrow lesson plan. We will include examples of the activities used and their purpose. You can adapt this plan to a variety of other uses and levels. Straight arrow ESA Lesson Plan Class level: Elementary Number of students: 8 Lesson aim: After the lesson the students should be able to look at an animal and make sentences to say what it “can and can’t” do. Sample sentences when looking at the picture of an elephant. It can walk. It can’t fly. Show the students a video of animals and they are going to say what they like about those animals and try to create a list of...  [Read more]

Russ Tuff TEFL Information So you are in two minds whether or not to do a “Teaching English as a Foreign Language” course. I get it, I was there as well. Trust me, I understand; that’s a lot of money to outlay, and what’s more, you don’t even know if you are going to pass the course. Any of those statements or questions starting to sound familiar? Let me tell you a bit about those statements and questions; those statements and questions completely disappear once you commit to your future. And when I say “completely disappear” I mean, you don’t even think about them again until you are asked to write a blog about your experience whilst studying. First, I’ll give you a bit of background on myself, trusting that you’ll be able to...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Visual images aids can add interest and often add meaning in a way that words can’t. This is especially true for ESL students who don’t have sufficient words to understand detailed spoken explanations. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate JunCui Z. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. People learn in different ways. For example, some people learn well by listening, some by movement and touch and many people respond well to seeing things. There are many different learning styles, so having variety in your presentations gives attention to these different styles and helps everyone succeed. Bringing something of interest in the...  [Read more]

Karah Musani Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas I started teaching online two years ago. With no training, it was a bumpy start. If there is one thing I want you to take away from this post, it’s this: relax. It gets better. Be ok with not being great when you start. Teaching is a craft. No amount of school can fully prepare you to teach. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t study before you start teaching. Studying can help you be better equipped when you do start. But there is an intuition you have to develop when you begin teaching. You will learn with practice how to connect with your students, how to identify what areas they are struggling with, and how to best teach different concepts. Odds are, your first classes...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences There are several pronunciation problems that students of English will face in Japan; however, I will focus on two. 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. The first of these problems they face is the fact that Japanese doesn't have some of the same sounds in its' alphabet as English does. For example, Japanese does not have a hard R sound; instead, it has a sound that is a mix of R and L. So, when students from Japan go to say rice, for many it will come out sounding more like lice. This can cause some confusion as not everyone will understand that this is due to a lack of having this...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The role of the teacher, without a doubt, is the most important factor when you begin your teaching profession. For it is here--where you start and then continue to educate students your entire life. Everything a teacher does is what leads to the success and failure of the students. For a teacher to achieve success, they must want it internally. Some teachers enter the field because they want summers off. I know it sounds absurd but it's true. The teacher must be dedicated to their profession and show that every day when they walk into the classroom. The old phrase, "what you see is what you get" applies perfectly. If the teacher's appearance and demeanor are poor--chances are so will their teaching efforts. This...  [Read more]

Federico Riva TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Hi and welcome to another live session. My name is Linda from ITTT and I'm back again this week, who would have thought? No, we're actually pretty consistent with our live events. So we are going live twice a week. Me once and then my colleague Liza once. I’m so happy to be here today guys, let me know if you can see me and if you can hear me, and also where you're watching from. Just drop hi I’m watching from so and so into the comment section, that would be really great. I'm super excited to be here again today. Normally I go live on Fridays, well Friday mornings in South Korea. But today I'm going live on Thursday because we are actually going into the Lunar New Year...  [Read more]

  In her TESOL review video, Reena tells us about the things she learned from her 120-hour online TESOL course with ITTT. The course helped Reena to strengthen her knowledge of English and also taught her essential teaching skills and concepts such as teaching methodologies, classroom management, lesson planning and more. Reena had a good experience studying with ITTT and looks forward to sharing her knowledge of English with others as a teacher. 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 get to grips with each section before...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Parents always want the best for their children. It’s an understandable desire. But sometimes they think that they know better and try to influence teachers’ work and set their own rules. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Valeria S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. If you work at some language school and parents pay money for the education they have a strong feeling that they can come and tell teachers what to do. Unfortunately in most cases, they know nothing about teaching. Some of them believe that homework is unnecessary; others believe that a child has to spend hours every day learning English and if there is no...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Teaching Ideas There are a myriad of ways to talk about the future in English, so it’s important to have a variety of activities for students to practice what you’ve taught them. Here we’re going to focus on various usages for future simple and describe some fun teaching ideas that match them. One of the most common ways we use future simple in our day to day lives is to make spontaneous or unplanned decisions. For example, when choosing food from a menu, (I’ll have the fish please), or if you have to make a change of plan (a friend calls to say they can’t pick you up to go out and you might say “It’s ok, I’ll take a taxi”). A fun way to practice this is to have card prompts with scenarios on, and have a game of...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences It has been the most extraordinary experience in developing my skills as a teacher. My own personal philosophy is that life has no finish line, it’s just a struggle uphill were you are continually overcoming adversity and constantly improving. This philosophy applies to many facets of life but few things better than the art of teaching. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Jack W. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. I think of the great teachers that I have had. I think of their various breadths of experience. To be sure some are born with a natural talent, a knack as it were, to teach and connect with pupils, but some of the...  [Read more]

Dorothy Brown Smith Destinations Alumni Experiences I have always wanted to travel and go abroad. I talked about it with family and friends on many occasions. When the opportunity came for me to teach in China, I immediately said, “NO!” I was thinking of traveling to places like South America, France, Italy, Greece, etc. because I had romanticized these places in my mind from what I had seen on television and read about in magazines. China was not even a thought in my mind! The opportunity kept coming to teach in China. I would see advertisements, run into people who had just came back from China. I even met someone studying Chinese to be an interpreter! I kept running into people who had some kind of connection with...  [Read more]

Simon ITTT Teaching Ideas The number of combinations of modals and usages is enormous, so TEFL certified teachers often spend a lot of time trying to find an activity that suits their particular teaching point. Here, we give you some adaptable ideas which should save you time thinking or searching, assuming you already have good grammatical knowledge of the subject and a little bit of creativity. It’s often better to spend a bit of time creating your own material rather than looking fruitlessly on the internet. You will also be able to personalize the content for your students, improve your own skills, and build up a great resource bank. If you need to improve your knowledge of modal auxiliary verbs, look at your ITTT course materials. A...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Language is amazing. It is not only a skill essential to human communication but also an instrument of thought. Every day, and from a very young age, we use language to express our feelings, needs, and frustrations. We also use it to bond with others and create connections, thus making life more meaningful. So how do we learn this beautiful thing called language? Is it an innate ability that we are born with or do we have to learn it from scratch? These questions have always divided linguists and elicited a great number of theories. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Sara B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. It is a normal thing...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Teachers teach children to much more. They use games, videos, computers, and other tools to teach children different subjects. Teachers show students skills. They also explain the information. Teachers plan their lessons before they teach. Planning takes a lot of time. Teachers try to make their lessons easy to understand. Teachers might use a chalkboard, a projector, or a computer. They make posters or worksheets before class starts. Teachers plan the schedule for the day. Most teachers have to teach what the principal tells them. Teachers also assign homework and class projects. They often have students work together to do projects. When students are not doing as well as they should, teachers help them....  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Learning difficulties means difficulty in learning but its not globalized. most kids get cold feet in the course of learning a new thing or a new language, some become shy, while some are not motivated or have confidence. I have been around kids for years and I can say that I understand them in some cases or scenarios.when we are working with kids that are shy, less motivated or lack confidence we should use materials that will help to solve that problem, same goes for an adult. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Chilotam O. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. There are cases of learning disorders like Dyslexia which means...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Every teacher in his/her career is faced with the first lesson in a new class. This lesson is vital for the teacher to establish rapport and set the tone for the rest of the course. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Irina B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. First of all the teacher should introduce her/himself and write her/his name on the board, in case the students forget it. After that, ask the students to make a card with their names and put it on the desks. From this time the teacher should call her/his students only by their names. It is a pleasure for every person to hear his/her name. So the teacher and the students have...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas A lot can be said about the connections teachers make when coming face to face with their students for the first time. Eye contact and smiles are tools teachers should use to immediately create a welcoming environment. There is nothing better to put a nervous child at ease, especially when spoken words are not an option. Can these same tools be effective through a computer screen? Can a child, half a world away, learn from a stranger they can’t understand? Is it possible to convey warmth and a desire to teach through a screen? Is it possible to teach a language? This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Stacey S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or...  [Read more]

Maria del Carme Domínguez Félez TEFL Information Alumni Experiences I moved to Argentina almost 2 years ago now, and, surprisingly to most of my family and friends, I started teaching Catalan in a language school. I say “surprisingly” because they have made fun of my Catalan accent since I can remember, as it is more of a mix of accents put into one. Fun fact: you can’t really tell from which part of Catalonia I am only from listening to me. Although I try my best to speak “standard Catalan” when I teach, my accent does slip away sometimes, which makes it quite interesting. The sentence “all’s well that ends well” comes to mind in this situation. I ended up turning this into an opportunity to teach about the...  [Read more]

Federico Riva TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Please let me know where in your TEFL journey you are at right now? Are you currently taking a course? Are you thinking of taking a course? Are you already teaching English as a foreign language? That'd also be really cool to know—somebody from Brazil, UK. Two people are from Brazil awesome, okay, with Bolivia amazing UK, Philippines, somebody is also from South Korea. A lot of people are thinking of enrolling, great! Then, this life will be perfect for you. Somebody is from Canada, Mexico, and Mongolia. This is our second live Q&A sort of video that we've been doing. We started last week, and last week we sort of did a general kind of...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Budget and Salary Have you just graduated or are about to graduate college and face a massive amount of student loans? You are not on your own. In the United States alone, the national student debt totals over $1.4 trillion this year. This number means that the average graduate in the US owes $17,126 and this number is rising year after year. When you are this much in debt, you can’t possibly think about moving abroad - or can you? In fact, thousands of graduates every year head abroad to teach English in order to pay off their student debt - and most of them are debt-free much faster than if they stayed at home. Here are 7 steps to paying off your student loans while teaching English abroad. I know what you are thinking. How is...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Teaching Ideas You will find the web full of ideas for teaching vocabulary and, although most of them are undoubtedly good activities, some are only suited to a particular level. Here are some tried and tested activities that can be adapted to suit any level of student and a variety of class sizes. This is a great activity that can be used as a warm-up at the beginning of a class, or as a game at the end of a lesson. It’s suitable for any class size over 4 students and requires minimal preparation. Divide the class into two teams and have two chairs at the front of the class, set up to face away from the board. Have one student from each team come and sit in the chairs and tell them not to turn and look at the board. The premise...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Teachers’ role in the educational process is very important, but so as parents’. Teachers’ work can’t be successful if the student focuses on English only in classes. Only working together as team teachers and parents can create a good studying environment. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Anastasiia C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. There are many ways parents can help their children. Their help is a multi-faceted process. Small steps combine to create an eager and capable student. The first and most important step is letting your child understand the importance of English. Parents must first understand and believe...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Child Development is a complex topic and can be described with a myriad of approaches formulated by scientists, psychologists, therapists and teachers alike. These approaches can break this topic down for those of us who work with children so that we may have a framework for what we are observing. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Karen A. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Theories can also be used to help explain to us the various factors that impact a child so we can feel empowered to understand or help. Methods give us the tools to do so. Sometimes, we use theories or methods for career preparation, to give us a basic...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Destinations TEFL Information Hi and welcome to another live session from ITTT. My name is Linda and I'm here today to talk about teaching English in South Korea. Let me just show you today's topic so that everybody who's joining knows what's happening today. Today we're talking about teaching English in South Korea and I'm so excited about this topic and it's actually been a super requested topic every time I do a live session. I've been living in Korea for almost six years and I have been teaching a few different classes. I have done summer camps and winter camps and teaching kids and teaching adults, teaching business English, teaching conversation, teaching full-time at a kindergarten and elementary school...  [Read more]

Carrie Kellenberger Visa and Legal TEFL Information Using a recruiter to help you find a teaching job abroad can be a rewarding and satisfying experience for many, provided you choose the right recruiter and you know what to expect and which questions to ask. Teachers use recruiting agencies for many reasons, including relying on a recruiter to find a legitimate contract that offers a fair salary package. A recruiter will work with you to help you find a position that meets your requirements for a teaching position and they’ll help you break down the application process step by step. Recruiting websites should have plenty of information about the job application process and they should be able to explain this process to you...  [Read more]

Federico Riva TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Hello everybody, it's Liza here. We are just about to start today's live session that is devoted to ideas on how to improve English skills. While I'm waiting for more people to join me let me just tell you about these live sessions. So we are doing them weekly and right now there are a lot of videos to check out on our YouTube channel and our Facebook group. If you missed any of these live streams you can go to our social networks and see any of them there. Welcome to the new session and if you haven't heard already my name is Liza and I'm a non-native English teacher from Russia. I can see that there are some people from the Philippines here....  [Read more]

Federico Riva Destinations TEFL Information oday’s exciting topic is the top hiring seasons for teaching English abroad. We're going to go over different countries on different continents and what their hiring seasons are, so when's the best time to go job hunting. Also there will be some tips for job hunting in those places as sometimes you need to get hired in advance when you're still in your home country and you can do online interviews, but in some countries you need to apply in person. So we're going to talk about that as well. Thanks so much for tuning in and as always please don't forget to like and subscribe so that you never miss a live session. We go live twice a week, one time with me on Fridays, or Thursday...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Teaching Ideas Hello everybody and welcome to the ITTT weekly live stream. It's Liza here and I'm super excited that this stream happens every week and we can talk about teaching and TEFL and stuff like that. So welcome and thank you for joining me. Today, we are going to talk about online ESL game design. Last week I started showing you the game I was designing, it was Monopoly. Today I'm going to show you the outcome of the game and also tell you a little bit more about online game design. Thanks a lot for letting me know that you are watching and right now please let me know at what stage of your ESL career you are at. As for me, I'm an online ESL teacher currently. I used to teach in a real classroom several years ago, but then...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Destinations TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Hello everybody, Liza here and I'm super happy to welcome you to this ITTT live session. It's a bit of an unusual time to meet because my sessions are usually on Tuesdays and today is Saturday. Anyway, I'm super happy that you could make it. Today's session is going to be slightly different because we are going to talk with my good friend about teaching in China. I know that many people are interested in this topic, so stay tuned because in a moment he will join me to talk about working in China and stuff like that. If you guys have any questions, feel free to ask them via the comment section. As for the timing for today, we are going to talk for...  [Read more]