Things To Do In A Gap Year

Latrice Coates TEFL Information Alumni Experiences I am sure you’ve seen the sponsored posts floating around your social media feed of travelers in these candid, well-desired places with the caption “I quit my 9-5 to travel the world & so can you”. You immediately get excited, then you look at the stack of bills on your dining room table then your bank account, and then instantly become discouraged and continue scrolling through your feed. Ha...yeah… that was me two years ago too. But now, here I am.. I DID quit my federal 9-5 job to travel the world full time and I’m here to give you the scoop that most influencers don’t tell you about moving abroad... Most of us did not just walk into work one day, went to our...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Although students may be in the same class, they may not necessarily have the same ability level. This can be seen in all classes; however, this can become very noticeable in a class designed to teach a language to someone who is not a native speaker. It is up to the teacher to notice these differences in ability levels and restructure their lessons accordingly. There are a few different strategies that will help with gaps in ability levels, which consist of the use of different materials, providing the same materials with a different task, paring weak and strong students together, and even doing nothing. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Brook S. Please note that this blog post might not...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences When I moved to Japan over two years ago, I had no formal teaching experience. I hit the ground running, visiting five different elementary and junior high schools in my small town, and getting to know the students and teachers I would work with there. I made many mistakes but also learned a lot about teaching along the way through my own experience, observing the teachers I work with, and taking an online TEFL course. I hope to use this knowledge to further improve my teaching skills. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Anna G. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. There are many things about teaching that I was able to learn...  [Read more]

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Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Spanish is my mother tongue; however, I also managed to learn English and French at a young age. Both of these languages stuck with me even years after I had left the countries where I learned them. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Jorge P. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Despite staying in those countries for a short time (less than a year), it surprised me how, when comparing myself with people who had had similar experiences, my language skills were much better than theirs. Looking back on those days, I believe that it’s because I was not learning the language for itself, but rather as a means to an end. I was using those...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Olga S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Referring to the "Cambridge dictionary," "confidence" is "the quality of being certain of your abilities or of having trust in people, plans or the future." Another source such as "collinsdictioary.com" defines confidence as: * "Belief in one's abilities; self-assurance." * "A feeling of trust in a person or thing." Some of us often say: "I can do it!" but some of us, unfortunately, do not. Those who are doubting themselves and their abilities need to build their self-esteem or...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Reflective teaching is not a contemporary science however, to find evidence of when this science began it would be an impossible task, like accessing the Vatican library. One could presume the first person which taught another something resourceful dedicated some time to reflect on its delivery and considered observing research, and planning. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Stephen A. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Generally, reflective teaching is the process of self-observation and self-evaluation i.e. looking at what you do in the classroom, thinking about why you do it, and thinking about if it works. The aim is to...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Hello guys, please let me know in the comment section that you can see me clearly and you can hear this video so that I know that my equipment works smoothly. I'll be very thankful for that. To start with my name is Liza and I’m an ITTT TEFL expert and an online English teacher and today we will talk about one of the most important things in TEFL teaching, online lesson planning. Well we will talk about lesson planning in general, but as I’m more specialized in online teaching I'll try to share my personal experience in planning online classes. Thanks for joining me, I hope that you are having a great time especially after your long winter holidays. Let me know where you are...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Destinations TEFL Information Welcome to another live session. My name is Linda from ITTT and you can find me on social media at @lindagoeseast. Thanks for tuning in, let me just see that everything's working. If you can see me and if you can hear me, please leave a comment as always. I have been living in South Korea for five and a half years. I am about an hour and a half South of Seoul in a city called Cheongju. It's kind of in the center of South Korea. We are the only province that doesn't border the ocean but it's really great and it's actually snowing right now. I’m excited to be here today as you probably already know what the topic is going to be about today the best countries for teaching English in...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Alumni Experiences Many people may think that the worst part of being an Uber driver are the belligerent midnight trips from downtown to the suburbs or the aggressive pre-coffee commuters or the fact that a five-minute drive can take thirty minutes because of gridlock. However, as an Uber driver of one year, I believe that the worst part about the job are trips to the airport. When I interacted with passengers going to the airport, I would think of all the new things they would get to try and the different cultures they would learn about. The problem with these trips was they were a constant reminder that the world is just waiting for us to explore it, but I was stuck leading a conventional and mundane life. This post was written by...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears” - Mark Antony. I have a tall tale to tell you. A story filled with unspeakable horrors that make men dishonor all they have stood for; that pushes the statement “it is better to be feared than loved if you cannot be both”- Machiavelli. To tales of living in a land down under and learning the language of the locals and communing with them in a peaceful manner. Before ending with a tale as old of time, which is empires rise and fall, similar to teaching materials that are created and become outdated. If we are to succeed we must evolve or we will just get caught up in the churn with the changing tides. Let us begin with what truly motivates the world of men....  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Learning English has become a necessary extra-curricular activity for many students in China. Since China has become a global giant as a result of her rapid economic development, many parents have picked up the momentum in raising their children’s proficiency in English. From learning and studying the TESOL and Young Learners’ sessions, there are three areas of hurdles observed. They are learning environment, technical differences, and students’ mindsets. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Angela W. Although English is taught to children since pre-school years, many students do not have the exposure to this foreign language outside of the classroom. There is no encouraging learning...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Many non-native English speaking countries only require teachers to have a bachelor's degree, and it can be in any field. It can be a degree in anything at all, thus not having prepared the future teacher for their new job and life. Some other countries don't require a bachelor's degree at all. With the rise in demand for learning English as a second language has come the increased relevance and need for courses such as TEFL. I'm an example of someone who had no background in teaching, and I also didn't take a course before I dove in. I had to "fake it till I made it" and looking back, that was unfair to the students. Even if I wasn't breaking any laws and I was doing everything I could to do a good job, I could...  [Read more]

Jon ITTT Alumni Experiences I have been a teacher with 51 Talk for three years now and to improve my career and teaching skills I have learned some things on this TEFL course that will help me brush up my skills in teaching. Though I have been a teacher’s aid before, as well as a bright student who used to tutor others during my school years, it was now that I realized how hard teachers used to work for us to become good learners in school and understand the subjects. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Saba S. Also read My Experience Taking the 50-hour Teaching English to Young Learners TEFL Course from ITTT I used to not really like tests that much but now I realize how important they are for teachers to learn about where...  [Read more]

Kavinna Batra Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas English is a fun language to learn; however, it can even throw off the most professional learner with complex spelling rules and difficult grammar. Learning English quickly could seem difficult, even though it is considered to be accessible and reasonably easy for many to learn. I'm here to tell you that as long as you have the right plan, you can learn English quickly and easily. If you start to feel like you're not making ground, which at some stage happens to all learners, don't say, "I don't speak English," or "I'm never going to get this." Honestly, ban those words from your vocabulary! They just blur your comprehension of the progress you are making and remind you that it is...  [Read more]

Federico Riva TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Hello everyone, how are you doing? Linda from ITTT, back again with another live session. I’m super excited to be here today to talk about this exciting topic, teaching English abroad and how it enhances your career prospects. I'm just going to wait for a couple more people to join, you know how it usually works. Once we are a good sized group of people we can start diving into this topic. If you can hear me and if you can see me please leave a comment. We are live on Facebook and on YouTube at the same time, so wherever you're watching from just leave a quick hi or hello in the comment section and also let me know where you are watching from. I am in South Korea about an hour...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Teaching English online has been a great experience for me. For the past two years, I have been able to provide English lessons to Chinese students between the ages of 4 and 14 through a platform called VIPKID. It is a platform that allows Chinese parents to partner their Children with North American English teachers via the Internet. The platform provides all of the lesson materials that are easy to follow after training and participating in workshops with more knowledgeable teachers. It is an impressive platform that has positively impacted my teaching experience. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Sarah Z. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or...  [Read more]

Federico Riva TEFL Information Teaching Ideas Hi my name is Linda from ITTT, international TEFL and TESOL Training and I'm back again today for another live session. If you can hear me and see me please let me know as I'm trying out a new mic today so if that is working well it would be good to know. So please leave a quick comment to say hi and where you're watching from. I have been living in South Korea for five and a half years, so for me right now it's 10:00 a.m. Friday morning. Let me know where you are tuning in from and what time it is where you are. We can get started on today's topic which is the best government programs for teaching English abroad. If you're interested in teaching English abroad then you should...  [Read more]

Francesca Marchi Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas What do you imagine there may be behind a group of old learners? Well, whatever comes to your mind, I can tell you it sounds like having an extended family that warms you up and makes you feel at home. Older students could be like loving grand-parents, great-uncles or great-aunts, and apart from relatives, caring neighbors and dearest friends. Actually, you may find out they are active pensioners, retired teachers or scholars, culture lovers, as well as humble workers without school-leaving certificates and, above all, passionate people and happy learners: these are senior students. In the following lines, I'm going to share my classroom experience with you. Join me to the end...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas The best thing I learned from the TEFL course cannot be explained in one thought or topic sentence because it was significant. However, for this essay, I will narrow it down to one concept. I am an experienced licensed teacher from the United States, but there is always more to learn. In the United States, I would have one or two students in my class each year that were not native English speakers. So, the idea of teaching a classroom of students where all the learners are not native speakers is new to me. I was unfamiliar with ESA's acronym (Engage, Study, Activate) until I took this course, and I appreciate this concept the most. ESA was the best thing I learned from this...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Teaching Ideas When the aroma of gingerbread and eggnog is in the air, you know it’s time to translate your love for the most beautiful season of the year into your TEFL classroom with winter ESL activities! While this is the perfect time to embrace winter in TEFL destinations with changing seasons, it’s also ideal to educate your students living in places with tropical temperatures and other cultures about the holiday celebrations. Here are 7 amazing winter and Christmas ESL activities your students will love! Tell your students to imagine the following: You wake up in your bed and look out the window when you see a brightly decorated Christmas tree. It’s cold and even looks like snow is slowly falling from the sky. The...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas When entering the realm of teaching, lesson planning is a very beneficial skill to have. Lesson planning is done in many different ways; many educators create their format over the years that cater to their teaching styles. However, the typical lesson planning methodologies include ESA (Engage, Study, Activate) and PPP (Presentation, Practice, Production). For this task, we will be diving into the ESA methodology. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Gabrielle R. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The first stage of the ESA format is ‘Engage’. In this stage of the lesson, the focus should be on getting your students as interested...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Well, before starting this summative task and as I was going through the list of topics, I noticed this one…TEFL for non-native English speaking teachers (N°30) and thought: that’s the one I want to talk about. Yes, I am a non-native English speaker and months ago, I have given to my life a completely different orientation, leaving behind nearly a 30 years career spent in the financial and business fields. As being one important step included in this global professional and personal project, I decided to apply for a TEFL course and graduate in June 2019. However, before committing to the ITTI TEFL course and even until now, I am still reflecting upon what TEFL means for a non-native English speaking teacher....  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Language has always played an important role in communication between people. Today, in the globalization, the importance of mastering a foreign language has become increasingly prominent. English is the most widely used language in the world. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Xiao W. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. In the 21st century, English is not unfamiliar to us Chinese. In our life, we can find English everywhere with little attention. Most Chinese learn dumb English. Few people can communicate with foreigners without barriers. Some Western netizens can't help wondering why English is so difficult for Chinese to...  [Read more]

Anastasiya Akpinar TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas The Covid-19 pandemic began all of sudden and covered the world with silent panic and frustration. Quarantine rules provided by governments influenced all social spheres of life, including education. Schools were closed, and the teaching process was stopped. A solution was quickly found: universities, schools, and even pre-schools started giving lessons online. Most of them use the same application for online studying – ZOOM. Why, among so many other video-communication applications, do most of us choose Zoom for teaching? Let's have a quick summary of the tool. The Zoom application was designed for online business meetings and...  [Read more]

Federico Riva TEFL Information Teaching Ideas Hello everybody, I'm glad to see that some people have already joined me. My name is Liza, your ITTT TEFL friend and today we are going to talk about the most interesting topic from all of them I suppose. We are going to discuss online teaching and during this session I am going to share several ideas on how to enhance your online classes in 2021. I hope you enjoy it because it's something really cool to try and before we start let me quickly check if the equipment is working, if you see me clearly and if you hear me clearly please let me know in the comment section. Okay. So it’s nice to see you guys and thanks for joining. I see several comments but I'm not sure what they are as...  [Read more]

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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]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Having recently moved to Spain with the full intention of completing a TEFL course and making a new life outside of the UK, whilst studying how to teach English, at the same time as learning Spanish so that I can communicate reasonably, it is this juxtaposition between this my English competence that has underlined for me just how difficult it can be for anybody to learn a new language, having been humbled by the gaps in my knowledge. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Justin S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Broadly speaking the first two questions to ask when considering the differences between the formal and informal sides...  [Read more]

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