TEFL Professional 120 hour online TEFL Class
Key:
PPP = Presentation, Practice, Production
STT/STT = Student Talk Time/Teacher Talk Time
Jeremy T:
Recall:
I found the information about the "meta" language to be quite helpful. Even native English-speaker should be made aware of these grammar basics to better understand communicative and historical side of our language. Another aspect which I found to be quite interesting was the very first module which introduced all the types of learning.
Summarize:
It is rather difficult to pin-point just one thing which I thought was the most useful, for all the information proved valuable. The Designer Methods module was thought-provoking in stimulating creative ways to present materials so that students could best comprehend them. Certain modes of presentation (i.e. providing the past simple form and the past participle for students when introducing new verbs) amazed me in its obviousness. Overall, the course's materials ALL helped me become a better communicator - not just a teacher or instructor.
Comment:
I thought the materials were very well-presented and constructed - each module building on the next. The epic amount of information, at first, seemed daunting. But, as I progressed through the lessons/modules/assignments/quizzes, my expectations (of both my personal ability to learn as well as those which I harbored for the class) we exceeded. I learned more about TEACHING the English language than the actual functions of the language, but I will keep the information of the "meta" language with me ALWAYS. As for additions/improvements to the course, I feel rather ridiculous in commenting on this subject because it has been a while since I've gotten so much from a course which was so significantly condensed. I would definitely HIGHLY recommend this course to a friend or a colleague. My undergraduate was in English, and I just know that people who are sticklers for the English language would thoroughly enjoy this course... as I did.
Julia K:
I jumped into my job as a TEFL teacher without much prior experience in classroom teaching. It's been a learn-as-you-go experience for me, and it was really nice to take this course and learn some of the things that I probably should have known ahead of time! Before I took this course' most of my lesson plans were really little more than exercises; things that I found in ESL books and thought looked interesting. This course has changed my teaching style because I now approach lessons with a clear objective and an articulated plan. My workplace is also a conversation school, where grammar never officially "taught." Through this course, I began to see where teaching grammar becomes necessary and helpful, while still being contextual enough to fall into the curriculum at a conversation school. To me, the most useful theme of the course was, "Be prepared!" Whether you are preparing for the culture shock, the actual traveling, or actual lesson, forethought is key in the EFL business. Even when using a pre-set curriculum, or someone else's lesson plans, it is of utmost importance to be ready for any challenges that come up in class. I think that most of this course was well thought-out and presented. I am learning about the process of teacher as I teach, but this course showed me the ideas behind the process, from the psychology of the student to the technical side of the English language. As I stated in my self-introduction, I took this course for professional development (and I agree that it has helped me there!) but also for the connections with overseas jobs.
Rebecca F:
Recall 2 Major Valuable Facts:
Two major valuable facts I recall are learning styles and the various teaching approaches. Although I had realized early in life (as a 15 year old 3rd grade bilingual class teacher's aide) that everyone learns differently, I had not give it much thought as to why until now. Module one's learning styles made it very clear. Different people do learn in different ways. There are many variables to how an individual learns: personality, age, background, culture, previous experiences and teachers; does the learner prefer groups or independent learning; is the learner auditory, visual, kinesthetic or a combination of these three senses. As I have learned that I am a kinesthetic-visual learner. I have been conditioned to learn by seeing / reading and then having to write it for repletion or in my own words for better understanding and memorization. Different learning styles lead to the need for different teaching approaches. I have learned that as an EFL/ESL teacher, it is important to teach using various approaches until you are able to understand your students' learning needs. Regardless of the method or combination of methods used to teach: (1) direct method of listening and speaking every day language, (2) according to function, (3) language acquisition or any of the other methods, it is important to include all 3 senses in a lesson plan (see/visual, hear/auditory, and touch/kinesthetic) in order to meet all students learning needs.
Summary
The main or most useful themes of this course were learning the various ways to teach, using your own creativity, all skills and sub-skills of listening, speaking/pronunciation, reading, and writing/grammar. These skills are learned in what I will call 'indirectly'. I call it 'indirect' learning because EFL/ESL students do not realize they are learning to actually speak English; they get involved with learning about the topic being presented that they somewhat forget they're learning a new language. It was interesting to learn that as long as students are kept interested with real life topics that are meaningful to their daily lives, they will enjoy learning a new language. It's all in the topic of interest and making it fun to learn.
Comments on TEFL Training Course
Materials
This is my first online course and I didn't know what to expect. I did start needing more of a traditional classroom structure with more verbal communication and guidance. I felt it was very helpful to be able to view another class' assignments and their instructor's notes for each assignment. By about the 4th week, I was a bit more comfortable and felt I had full freedom to e creative. There was no right or wrong answer, just room for improvements to my creativity.
What I learned:
Just like students learn differently, teachers teach differently. Just looking at all our assignments, they all were different. I occasionally found others' lessons included something similar to mine. It all depends on your style, attitude, and personal preferences. It depends on what you feel is your comfortable creative level, of course, until you are actually told to teach using specific materials and by using already created lesson plans - in this case you're tweaking it to your style as much as you can. I also learned that EFL/ESL teaching isn't all about grammar (my biggest fear) and that the grammar that needs to be taught is not that bad - as long as I train myself about what grammar to teach and what approach/how to teach.
Referrals / Recommendations:
Yes, I would recommend this course to others. Setting aside my list of 'we could use' items, this was a very valuable experience. I am truly glad to have found information about the TEFL Institute on www.goabroad.com. I feel I have the appropriate training to create lesson that will meet my students' learning needs and goals and be able to understand another teacher's lesson plan to be able to assist with teaching their class (I start Monday evening!) Congratulations to everyone! Good Luck, Be Creative & Have Fun!
Bethany B:
To me, the most valuable "facts" of the course were: 1) the learning styles; these helped me to understand what students need. Not all students are like me, and they must be taught from a variety of different approaches. 2) the examples of lessons for various learning activities. Especially the reading/speaking exercises provided clear examples after which I could model my own lesson plans. Although creating lesson plans was a lot of work, I did find it extremely stimulating and creative. Moreover, now I have over ten lesson plans I could use with my students. It was fun to really dip into my creative bank and try to remember what activities were both fun and effective when I was a new language learner. I also enjoyed tailoring my lessons to the students I will be teaching. Forcing me to do lesson plans was overall a benefit of this course. I enjoyed hearing from some of the students in our class who were experienced EFL teachers – their comments were usually most useful to me. Materials were well constructed, and met my expectations overall. The history of teaching was something that was new to me. It was surprising to see how much (or little, depending how you look at it), our teaching/learning styles have changed over the past few centuries. I always had feedback from our instructor. Overall, I found the course stimulating and helpful.
Rob L:
One thing that I found surprising was the many different established ways to go about teaching English as a second language and the reasons why they were developed. One form of teaching was actually taught to CIA operatives during the Cold War in the hopes that they would learn Russian as a tactical advantage, I found that quite cool. There are many ways to go about teaching and a good teacher is not limited to just one form. I also found the differences between languages interesting because you can see how certain things about the English language are common and certain aspects are unique. Non-animals, for instance, have no gender in English but they do in Spanish and French. Can this difference be accounted for by a difference in world views? Maybe Spanish-speakers perceive the world differently than English speakers because of their language, or maybe their language is shaped by their perceptions. The distinctions between language. The course seemed to focus largely on lesson plans and gave us plenty of opportunities to create them. The instructions gave us the freedom to create these plans and required creativity as well. The beginning of the course asked us to draw on our own classroom experience and try to understand why certain teachers were effective and others weren't. The quizzes were never open-ended and the answers came directly from the text, making them very easy. The modules dealt with many of the issues that a teacher is likely to encounter, from seating arrangement options to correction methods and the creation of actual lesson plans.
Andrea P:
The refreshers in articles, auxiliary verbs, adjective order, modals etc all proved helpful for me, because other than a native speaker, I really don't remember all those grammar lessons from way back when... The terms for those parts of speech are really going to help me become more of an expert. The students will then be able to understand my lessons easier. The lesson examples were really organized and it was easier to learn them when there is a clear cut template you can use-especially when there were actual stories and poems!
Matthew P:
The two facts, which I found most valuable in this course is that a teacher in the modern ESL world is predominantly a facilitator, and that there is a simple but useful method for organizing lessons in the PPP approach. I had been a substitute teacher in elementary schools and high schools, and I brought misunderstandings into the course about the way I would be expected to teach. I welcome what I've learned in this course and I feel I've gained the required skills to begin teaching. The main themes in this course are a balance of approaches and a variety of materials. Professional development also comes to mind as a key component of the course. We have been given the tools to begin our professional development, and from here we will have a good start on following through and applying what we've learned about professional development to becoming better English teachers. I found that many of the principles of teaching we were learning were applied to the mode of instruction in this course. Our assignments were practical. I really felt that the compliance of the course with the principles made the experience more real. My expectations were met. I was given the tools for teaching that I craved. I knew how the machine worked, but now I've looked inside. I was already motivated and knowledgeable and I still learned a lot. I would recommend the course to a friend. It would have been nice to have a live chat session set up for the students. For the next class, I will try to team build more in the beginning, post more questions and encourage more discussion at the beginning when it's essential. That way, I feel that the students will take more time to comment, and feel eager to contact one another even after the course is finished. Overall, it was a good experience and I look forward to teaching another course.
Jihan B.
Recall:
Two facts that I found to be most beneficial were the PPP lesson plan template and the grammar lesson. Although I am not sure if I will follow the PPP lesson plan verbatim, it really provided a concrete and organized example of how to approach lesson planning. Furthermore, it identified key components of teaching English that I may not have considered if I hadn't studied the PPP lesson plan method. The grammar lesson was extremely valuable! I have definitely forgotten many of the grammar rules over the years and will keep the module even after I have completed the course. I also think that it introduced valuable and effective methods in teaching grammar as a whole.
Summarize:
I think that the main or most useful themes of the course are: approaching teaching in a way that is student-oriented, the PPP, different types of lesson plans and the difficulty of English Grammar. Throughout the course, I found myself really learning different strategies and ways that I may have never thought about teaching English. In addition, the combination of the coursework and the observation/practicum hours has really enabled me to apply what I have been learning in the class- it has been extremely helpful!
Comment:
Overall, I give the class a very good rating. I found that the materials were engaging. I think that I learned several different methods that I had never even though of before this class- mainly the PPP lesson. I think that is would be a much better course if the lectures were on video via blackboard. I found it difficult to read along sometimes if I was too tired or distracted. I would definitely recommend this course to a friend - actually, I already have!
Paul F:
This is the first time I've taken a real online class and I must say it was a very good experience. If I could have I would have rather taken this class in person but it fit the needs that I had at the time. The materials and format of the class were very well organized and constructed. It seemed to me that the English language was very simple compared to other languages, but it is a lot more complex than I ever thought. Nothing should be changed for the course, just maybe some kind of different methods of discussion for teachers and students. I would recommend this course to friends and already have because anyone can do it and once taking this course the possibilities are endless. This course has taught me many major ideas and concepts since day one. Most of the material that was covered concerning the actual English language I was ready for and made sense to learn about because this is what we needed to pass on to our students. The four components, grammar and vocabulary are all concepts someone needs to learn a foreign language. One major factor that really caught me was the physical environment that teachers need to setup for students, such as seating arrangements and overall atmosphere. Also the history and the various methods used are very important because I can pull aspects and ideas from each method and try to make myself a well rounded instructor. One of the main themes I believe this course teaches is to be patient, calm and collected while teaching and have a lot of respect for your students. Then the methods of teaching so students can get as much information and learn to their own needs. The goal of an ESL/EFL teacher is to teach students English as well as keep their affective filter low and let them have fun while learning. This course really puts everyone into the perspective of the teacher and explains what to be ready for and what to look for.
Nayo T.:
Recall:
I thought that the PPP lesson planning was the most helpful. I do not have any experience teaching and the lectures and lesson planning activities really gave me an idea of how to structure my class and what to expect. I had no idea how to organize the lesson plans and after doing the activities and from participating in the discussion forum, I was able to get tons of ideas. I also thought that the grammar lesson was extremely helpful as well. I did not realize until after going through this module that I needed to a refresher course on the different grammar definitions and rules. I plan to continue to do research on grammar so that I will be fully prepared before starting to teach.
Summarize:
Overall, I think that the PPP lesson planning activities is the most valuable. If you know how to complete those, everything else will fall into place. In my opinion organization is everything and the lesson planning gives you that guide to stay on track. Also participating in the discussion forum was great because I was able to get ideas from people who do have teaching experience. This whole experience was interesting because I was able to get more then a textbook understanding of how to do things. The quizzes were also helpful because reading the module is one thing but being able to analyze the situation is another. The quizzes gave me an idea on the topics that I needed more help with.
Comments:
I am very satisfied with the class. I almost think that the class should be longer because there is so much information. I would have liked the teacher to comment more on the assignments, but having the discussion forum was helpful because you could get the advice of others. I believe that this course gave me all the necessary tools and resources needed to become an effective ESL teacher.
Emily H:
There were of course more than two specific items that stuck out to me during the readings for the course but two items that made me stop and really think were the following. During module 2 we read that it is best to discuss mistakes after an activity and in a more general context because this makes allows students to not feel singled out and does not raise their active filter. This was a striking point to me, it makes so much sense, but it is not something I would have thought of on my own. I also thought what we learned about grammar being taught as a sub-skill in writing was very interesting. Although I had very little exposure to grammar growing up whatever we did learn was always taken out of context and presented as a separate item, which certainly made it harder to understand. This point of teaching grammar in context makes so much sense and I will definitely try to use this approach in my classroom. The most useful themes of the course for me were: Learning Styles, ESL teaching theories and styles, PPP lesson planning, teaching listening and vocabulary, teaching reading and writing, teaching of grammar, supplemental materials available to ESL teachers, how to design assessments, formal lesson plans and how to deal with cultural differences. Within each of these headings there were valuable insights into how to teach each particular item and which strategies work best for each particular topic. I thought this ESL training course was very well done. I appreciated the materials and the breadth and depth that was covered in the course. I thought the first week started off a little slow, I think it could be a bit more in-depth to begin with, but once we got into the body of the course the expectations for reading and completion of activities was good.
Matt T:
Reflection: I have never taken an online course before in all of my education. It was really interesting for me to adjust to reading the information on a computer rather then take notes and have a discussion in class and I must admit it is much harder for me to do the online way then in a classroom. Although unlike my past school career I am currently working a more than full time job which had its own challenges with this course in finding time and channeled brain power to write the assignments, I look forward to this (teaching) being my only job and I think I will have a much better time writing those lesson plans when that time comes. Two of the valuable things that I will take with me are first Module six. I haven't had a brush up on my "parts of speech" in a very long time so it was good for me to really sit down and analyze the descriptive parts of our speech that we really don't think about otherwise. I found it difficult at first but slowly after reading the Module several times beginning to get more of a grasp of it. Another thing that I found helpful in the course was Module seven where one of the assignments was to find online references. I think in the search we all found things that will be extremely useful in our short future (especially for me, being a new teacher). It was great to have all those references compiled from every student. Some of the main themes that I found useful were of the hardest to do. For me I had my share of problems writing lesson plans. I think the emphasis on writing them constantly is a very good thing. New teachers have to be organized and an important aspect of being organized is the writing those plans. Another theme that I think is very important and that you guys did a good job of conveying was the emphasis on why and how to teach reading, writing and listening. Obviously some of the most important parts of learning an L2 but the units always gave an explanation as to why a particular suggestion is important rather then just saying " this is how you should teach it"” I thought the TEFL course overall was a great learning experience. Students will get out of it what they put into it. I have to say that my instructor Amy was extremely helpful in every part of the course; she always responded in a more then timely manner and was extremely understanding. I have never taken another TEFL course so I have no reference as to what other materials look like but the materials of the course were very detailed and had pretty good explanations for all of the topics discussed. A lot of what I learned about the English language teaching that I didn't already know was mostly about the organization and how to go about it. Some of the teaching techniques and procedures were new but for the most part I learned a lot about the organization of lessons and how to go about it.
Brian M:
I have enjoyed every module in the category of the TEFL course. They have enhanced my organizational skills, allowed me time to be patient in designing the lessons, and aided me in knowing what to expect in another country. I was really impressed at the PPP format, which was introduced in the beginning of the modules. This format gave me the pattern of what I needed to successfully teach what is expected. It also gives me extra time to be creative in the assignments. Grammar is a great topic as well to discuss. I was unaware of how much I need to stay on top of my grammar flaws. I think, we, as EFL teachers need to be in constant study with our grammar techniques because their so important. I believe the main theme in the modules were the basic principles in the English language. If one does not constantly focus on the mechanics of good English, then a sloppy behavior surfaces. The first main theme is the basics of English speaking. I think the other main theme is understanding the mechanics of presenting a lesson. Organization is so important that one has to calm any anxiety and stick to the lesson at hand. The second theme I found was the structure of the classroom and how it's set up. I enjoyed learning how the students can be positioned to be more attentive and involved in the classroom conversation. It was stressed to give students a chance to make a mistake, so it may appropriately be addressed. Sentence structure was another theme that I observed in the class. It is important for teachers to be well equipped with correct grammar and sentence structure. Interaction is something one has to understand. A good teacher has to be aware of who is doing the most talking, then try and balance it out for everyone else in the classroom. I thought that this course helped me understand what I need to do to be prepared for the real world in the classroom. I realize that I have to be a facilitator and resource to the students. I will be there in the classroom for the students. It is my responsibility to set as accurate of an example as possible of an English speaking person. TEFL has showed me to use my non-partiality in other countries to learn and be comfortable with their ways of living. I would definitely recommend this course to other friends.
Carey Salaam C:
I think that the most useful thing to come out of the course was the introduction of the PPP organization format. Without it, I think that I would have just let the lessons run on and on. My favorite classes to design were the listening session and the conversation session. They might be more suitable for an advanced classroom, but, I tried to incorporate students' interests. I thought that if I were a Spanish student wanting to learn English, I might enjoy hearing Penelope Cruz do an interview, or I might want to talk about Spanish architects. (It also depends on the audience. I might do a different plan for a college crowd vs. a community centre crowd)
Ksenia P:
Recall:
There are many interesting facts about teaching English that are presented in this course. I have walked away from it with a stronger understanding of what it takes to be a successful TEFL instructor. Two facts stand out in my mind: There are many different learning styles. If I recognize the different styles of my students, I will be able to tailor the lesson structures to their needs. This will allow for a diverse and interesting experience for both myself and the students since all of them will be engaged in the lessons and materials. The resources are OUT THERE! Resources are available to teachers in unbelievable amounts. They are out there if you know where to look, and what to look for. There is no reason to think that you can't come up with a lesson or that you are "alone" out there. Use the resources, and you will be successful.
Summary:
There are a number of themes presented in the course. In my opinion, the main theme is that EFL students are striving to speak well. They are interested in practical conversational knowledge of the English language. All the modules were geared towards our learning and understanding that we are there to enable the student's ability to speak English well. Increased student talk time is key, and the other skills such as grammar, reading, and writing, come easier to them as they pick up speech. While we planned lessons for the other skills, it was important to incorporate increased STT into each PPP plan. TEFL is about speaking!
Comments:
One thing I didn't know about teaching English, is that teaching English is not as hard as it would seem. You just need to be organized and enthusiastic about the subject.
Michelle G.:
Recall:
Two things that I found valuable in this course were, catering to the different learning styles and the PPP format. From my sales experience I have been taught that if you sell to a customer the way that you like to be sold you will be successful about 25% of the time, but if you can assess the way your customer wants to be spoken to and connected with then your closing percentage sky rockets. That portion in the beginning chapters, about the different learning styles, reminded me of that valuable lesson. Staying in tune with my students needs will enable me to help them learn English from my teaching style at a higher rate. The PPP format was helpful in organizing thought and class time theoretically.
Summary:
The main theme was basically catering to our students needs. We were taught different strategies and approaches to reach our ultimate goal which is to teach English successfully to foreign students.
Comment:
I learned that 20 hours of student teaching is definitely not enough to be prepared to teach overseas. I will be doing a minimum of 60 hours before I leave this country for a personal comfort level. There are too many questions that I still have looming. I hope this helps. I obviously am still on board after I have completed the course. I just want the future students to have such incredible experiences that they can recommend the courses with good conscious and feelings all the way through. That is my intention.
Sandy A:
Module Six had me thinking for days about how difficult learning the English language is. So many complexities were revealed in that Module that I hadn't thought about since grade school! I really know that I will look back for reference and study those grammar rules. Module Seven's assignments made me feel most like a real teacher. I have already come upon some inspiring thematic ideas through surfing the internet for those resources. The theme I found most important was the teaching of literature. Basically you can create many more activities based off one simple piece of writing. I believe authentic literature is more exciting for students. As a student of foreign language I myself have always preferred handouts and projects that were not from a textbook. I really was happy with the order of the material presented for this course. It was clear and logical. I already view teaching in a new light and feel that many ideas expressed in this course will help me in the future. The only thing that I would have liked to see more of was a true EFL lesson plan format that a teacher might use currently. I would recommend this course definitely. It is easy to understand and precise.
Jamie S:
I have really found that it is just so important to teach for all learning styles types and that the PPP template was so useful in helping to cater to each style. The layout made tasks for each style of learner easy to layout. Using all of the aids like visual, audio, listening/hearing and then writing the information down all help in the information being engrained into the brain. Like here in the US, lecturing only will not engage ELL students and they in turn will not learn. I also found the Web Quest assignment very useful. The Net is at the tip of our fingers with some amazing information and its mostly free why not take advantage of it. There are some websites that have ready-made lesson plans, they have audio & visual clips so you can find information that pertains to the lesson you are teaching. I think the most useful main theme is to not over correct students. Correcting every single mistake will one, take forever and the class will never progress and the teacher student talk time will be very high and we want to keep the students talking more then us. It is very important to correct student errors/mistake so they do not develop bad habits, but doing so in a big group at the end of class would be much more effective. Putting students on the spot when they have said something incorrectly can greatly reduce their class participation. If students feel comfortable in their environment they are more likely get involved!! When I was in school I was not one of those students who enjoyed or thrived in English class. It was very hard for me and I just kind of skated by. Now I am at the point in my life where I want to understand the mechanics of English and want to learn. So this class was a good opportunity for me to get a good refresher, learn skills for teaching and then be able to go to an ELL class and observe other teachers teaching techniques.
Kevin W:
Having completed the course, when I look back on what I have learned I see a subject that I more fully understand and appreciate. Like becoming a musician, learning to be a teacher is a never-ending process of trial and error. While not with out its problems, the class I have just completed gives a future of English a strong foundation from which to figure out their personal style. While the text was kind of impersonal, it was filled with information that was very well organized. It was easy to navigate and find information. I particularly enjoyed the beginning when we learned about the different styles of teaching. This is knowledge that I wish I had when I was teaching musicianship and string playing. It will be very useful when I teach in a foreign country or in my homeland. There were two important points that I came away with. First is that there is no one correct way to teach a course. Each class will be unique, as it will be filled with students who all have their own learning styles. As a teacher, to be truly successful I will need to find a balance between their strengths and my own. This can be achieved by using tools I would not have considered as learning tools before I took this class. Before this class I would not have considered using a television show as a resource. Not only is this a valuable resource, but also it has a title (authentic). I also like at the end there was a brief mention about culture. Since we are all going to lands that we are not from, keeping an eye on how we interact with other people will be important. Our learned behavior patterns, while fine at home, may be seen as offensive or rude where we are teaching. This can have negative affects on our health, both mental and physical. The teat of module nine gave us warning signs to look out for and resources to deal with something that may become a reality. That this was mentioned was quite beneficial. The course also helped me realize that my grasp of English grammar is not something that I have learned in depth. While I, usually, have no issues being understood, this is because I have used the language daily rather than studying how the language works. Before this class I was not aware of the different parts of speech or really how complex English verbs actually are. While teaching will help me learn this aspect of my language better, I have already started studying the rules of grammar in anticipation of needing too articulate why something is said the way it is. I believe that the purpose of this class was to help prepare its students to venture out and be successful teachers. The way this class was organized made it very easy for one to get all the necessary information and successfully complete the course.
Daniel H:
I had a good time taking this class. I found the section on exceptions to English rules very useful. It helped clarify a few points I was unclear on. I also learned that blond is spelled differently in masculine/feminine situations. I also was very glad to have had the section on grammar, as my own grammar can be a bit mangy from time to time. I think the most useful theme of the course was understanding and developing a teaching style that is easily adaptable. Once abroad, we will be faced with all sorts of challenges. I feel this class has done a nice job preparing us to be versatile. I happily give the TEFL class my seal of approval. Good materials, excellent English instructional help, and a comprehensive overview of TEFL. I would recommend this class to a friend because it was a painless way to get an important certification that opens doors for international travel and teaching.
Erika L:
When I reflect back on the course it is hard to pick just two facts that stood out. However, I suppose the most valuable would have to be the PPP lesson planning and the resources quest assignment. Having no teaching experience, I would have no idea how to plan any lesson had it not been for the PPP. It provided a simplistic format that made me feel more confident in my abilities to teach a structured lesson day after day. It amazed me on the resources quest the abundance of sources of information available. I thought there were maybe just a few books out there and it'd be a simple choice between maybe 5-10 books. Instead, I found myself overwhelmed with text after text of resources that all sounded good enough for me to want to purchase. I soon found myself trying to figure out how I could use pieces of all of them in my classes. One of the most useful themes in the course to me is again the PPP lesson plan teachings. Without it, I would not feel like we would know how to conduct a single day's lesson. With the multiple modules with assignments involving PPP, I think we all received the practice we needed to know how to do it in the real world. I also think a useful theme to take away was the idea of all the different learning and/or teaching styles. While one always knows that every person does not learn the same, before this course, I do not think I fully understood how people learned if it was any different from me. The idea of all us in this class having different learning styles, it was much easier to see how others learn. I think that growing up, there was typically only one teaching style and assumed only one learning style, so being able to see the differences reinforced the theme of there being more than one way of doing things. That led to the biggest theme to me: it all depends on the class. While we can think we know what will happen and prepare for that, much of what we end up doing will have to have the flexibility to change for any given class. Thanks for everything you have provided for us and I hope I am prepared to continue on to the next phase of this journey!
Sumayyah A:
The TEFL training course was very beneficial in preparing me for an ESL teaching position. I learned many interesting facts including that the four distinct mediums for learning a language, were learned and taught separately. It seems that learning a language that you would naturally excel equally in all areas, however each of these mediums require separate attention and skill building. This notion makes it quite possible for an individual to be able to read but not speak a language. Another interesting fact was the differences and perspectives of ESL learners from various countries. I had never considered teaching in a country with different characters, such as china; however the fact that there are 5,000 characters would add a whole new challenge to teaching beginning level students. Also other facts such as how grammar, conjugation and tenses are used in different languages are very interesting. Some ESL themes I found particularly helpful would be on learning styles and the lesson plan PPP format and samples were most beneficial. The learning styles information not only made me aware of how students learn and the variation in assignments that is needed, but also made me aware of my own learning style. I will definitely keep these skills in mind as I relate to each individual student. Lesson planning will be the most important duty I do as a teacher to keep myself organized as well as provide relevant, organized and interesting learning experiences. I think the notion that teaching and observing give you the most insight are very true. My completion of the practicum hours gave me a very realistic view of the real teaching experience. I thought it is a necessary and integral part of any TEFL certification course, especially an online program. I feel there were a lot of information and perspectives covered in the coursework that adequately prepared me for the teaching experience.
Miriam B:
Two things that I found most valuable in the course were the lessons on the passive voice and phrasal verbs. A friend of mine asked me for help with English homework about both of these and I was not able to help. Although I, of course, speak English, I had no idea what they meant by "passive" and "phrasal," and I was made fun of for "not knowing English." After the grammar section of this course I know how to form the passive voice and I have an idea of how to teach both of these language items to a non-native speaker. Also, the section on how and when to correct students was immediately helpful for me while I was tutoring. I became very aware of my corrections and more sensitive to the student's response/confidence. On of the most useful themes in this course was how to structure a lesson plan. The emphasis on presentation, practice, and production is very useful in understanding how people learn and what type of sequence is needed to master parts of language. Sections on reading, writing, and listening are also helpful to see how the lesson plans for these types of skills can vary. For me the course was relatively well structured. The variety of the assignments was useful, so not everything was about lesson plans but also searching on the internet, etc. Lastly I have already recommended the course to some of my friends at Roosevelt! Thanks!
Jessie H:
In this course, one of the two major facts that stand out the most to me are that different people have different learning styles and it is important as a teacher to not only focus on one style, but to incorporate many in order to reach the students in a variety of ways and allow them to learn the information in a strong way. On that same note, it became apparent to me that teachers I have found very beneficial to me are the ones who used a variety of methods to teach the material. What I found valuable and did not know about teaching English is that lesson plans take a great deal of time and thought to work out and write down. Being organized about writing lessons will allow, in addition to a sub being able to teach the class, greater improvement when teaching the lesson over and over because writing it all out allows a chance to revise it and make notes on what works and what does not. I previously thought teaching English as a foreign language involved a higher percentage of common sense and patience than organized planning. I found this course to be highly informative. If I had a friend who was interested in teaching English as a foreign language, or who was considering returning to school for a teaching degree of some kind, I would recommend this course because it would be highly beneficial. Ultimately, I plan to take away what I have learned from this course and use it when volunteering in the Peace Corps.
Comments from other students:
To begin with, I wasn't sure that I would need to take this course. A friend who taught EFL in Mexico last year said that she had only taken about a month long course upon arrival and she did fine. However, after completing the readings and the assignments, I'm really glad that I did decide to take the class. I think I learned a great deal through the course that I otherwise would not have thought about until it blind-sided me in the middle of class with my new students. Something I really appreciated was the in-depth section on grammar. That particular module has so much good information in it about the various parts of speech. I found the review of the verb tenses especially to be helpful, since I realized with embarrassment after reading that part that I could not identify them myself. I recall reading it over and thinking "Oh my God, twelve?!" After going over the material several times though, I feel a great deal more confident about my grammar even now.
I've been teaching English in Korea for 6 months now, and I fell that I am improving through time. I took this course as I felt that it would give me the opportunity to travel and work in different countries around the world. I am happy that I have taken this course. I feel it would benefit someone who hasn't taught before, but also someone who does have teaching experience. It provides a good insight into what is required of an ESL teacher and covers all important aspects of teaching a language. It has helped me to look at teaching from the viewpoint of the teacher as well as the student. I feel I have benefited greatly from this course and would certainly recommend it to anyone.
I went into this course thinking that it was going to be very easy. As I time went on I realized that I actually do care a lot about being an effective teacher. Reading through the materials, the homework, and examinations proved very beneficial to me. This course in a whole was constructed very well. I learned a great deal about the English language, and other languages as well. For the most part, verbs are what I really learned the most of regarding language. The only thing I would like to see added to this course would maybe be some videos or pictures. Well, I guess it really doesn't need it but it would still be nice to add some flavor. I feel that I have grown a little bit taller with my own self and academic background. Thank you Meg for all your hard work and insightful comments. You did a great job as a facilitator to this class!
Is our class really over already? I feel as though we were all just introducing each other. Now that we have completed all of these assignments, I am very eager to get into a classroom. However, I think the 20 hours of observation will be a perfect transition between learning how to teach English, and actually teaching it myself.