How Many Days Is It Going To Be Halloween

Discipline in the classroom is many faceted. In this article, I will focus on being proactive with discipline. I have been a teacher for over twenty-five years and have always worked to create a positive, caring and supportive classroom for my students. In a classroom, there must be rules, positive consequences and negative consequences. That is part of creating a positive discipline plan. If teacher is proactive, she will have much less difficulty with discipline. The goal i s to be able to teach the curriculum in a comfortable classroom atmosphere-for you as a teacher and for your student. The single best resource I have found for discipline is a book entitled The First Days of School by Harry Wong. Harry says, ?What you do on the first days of school will...  [Read more]

The first major factor that has an impact on how long it will take to get TEFL certified is which type of course you choose to take. There are three main TEFL course types to be aware of: The most common form of in-person TEFL course is the four-week, 120-hour TEFL certificate. Trainees on this course usually travel from their home country to one of many locations around the world to take the course. Courses should involve a theory component, covering language awareness and teaching skills, and a practical teaching component where trainees teach classes of real English language learners and receive feedback. These courses usually take four weeks to complete and therefore some form of accommodation is required for the duration of the course. This and the travel aspect, make this form of...  [Read more]

The term Active Learning means ''student interaction with content, with materials and with peers in a multi-disciplinary, multi-sensory and multi-graded approach' (Meyers, 1993 pg 39). Active learning helps the teacher handle the diversity of student levels in the classroom.In an Active Learning classroom the student is provided with the time, the materials, and the organized classroom routines and expectations they need in order to allow them interaction with their learning. It is important for educators to realize that Active Learning supports not only English-speaking students but second- language learners as well.If we think that students are learning English so that they can use it in their everyday lives to better themselves and their opportunities, we must realize that...  [Read more]

If you plan on teaching English in Europe you might have come across something known as the Schengen Area. This area is currently comprised of 26 countries with a combined population of over 400 million people. The area was set up in 1985 with the intention of removing border controls to make moving between countries hassle free. The Schengen Area should not be confused with the European Union which is a separate institution. Before its creation you would have to show your passport at every border to receive an entry stamp, while now anyone including TEFL teachers can move freely from one country to another without any restrictions. Essentially, by entering a country that is a member of the Schengen Area you are entering the area as a whole. Regardless of which country you enter first, the...  [Read more]

Teaching adult true beginners from day one is an interesting challenge and requires a strategy which must be formulated in advance. Do you begin with phonics' Can you start with rote memorization' How can you approach people with different learning styles' What has been the students experience in school previously' There are many considerations but in the end a good plan smoothes the way to the first day. When teaching the alphabet the issue of using phonics comes to the forefront. Many programs use a system of phonics instruction along with grammar and vocabulary topics. Teaching the sounds rather than the letter names per say has advantages and disadvantages. The learner will make more progress in speaking skills when he starts by learning the sounds. He will be able...  [Read more]

By joining our TEFL course in Peru you are choosing to study in one of the most fascinating cities in South America. Cusco is the historic capital of the Incan Empire and a gateway to exploring the history of the wider region. Many people find teaching English in Peru to be a truly rewarding experience and our TEFL course in Cusco is increasingly popular. Once you have graduated, we will provide you with lifetime job placement guidance helping you to find work in Peru or wherever else you choose to move onto. The city of Cusco is Peru’s premier tourist destination and has been designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It serves as a jumping off point for those wishing to visit Machu Picchu, one of the new Seven Wonders of the World, and other historical sites in the region. There...  [Read more]

  This presentation is going to focus on the ESA methodology of teaching. In our teaching methodologies section, we briefly had a look at what ESA was about, but in this presentation, we're going to look in greater detail about that particular methodology. This particular methodology is accredited to Jeremy Harmer from his "Practice of English language Teaching" book. It's a three-stage methodology and what we're going to do is to look at the purpose of each one of these stages and some typical activities that take place during those stages. So, the first stage is known as the engage and its sole purpose, as the name implies, is to get the students talking and thinking in English. There is no reason whatsoever, when these students come to your class, that they should have said a...  [Read more]

The TEFL International course in Mexico is in historic Chiapas, the southernmost state in the country. Chiapas is bordered by the states of Tabasco to the north, Veracruz to the northwest, and Oaxaca to the west. To the east Chiapas borders Guatemala, and to the south the Pacific Ocean. Chiapa de Corzo, where the TEFL training centre is situated, is an often overlooked small attractive colonial town with an easy going, provincial air, according to the 2009 edition of the Mexico Lonely Planet. This sums up the little town, with an emphasis on overlooked; which is what probably makes Chiapa de Corzo so special. There really is so much to do in the town and in the surrounding area, and hardly anyone knows about it. Chiapa de Corzo has quite a bit of day tourism during the high seasons, as...  [Read more]

In general, most schools and language centers will expect their job applicants to commit to contracts of between 10 and 12 months. However, if you are looking for a short term adventure during the summer break, there are a few options to explore. Although you might find some employers who will take on teachers without a long term contract, most short term opportunities are found in English summer camps or via a volunteer organization. English language camps are a popular fixture during the summer months in many countries across Asia, Europe and Latin America. These usually involve around one to two months work teaching English to young learners from primary age right through to university level, depending on the location. Although this type of work is only short term, it still provides...  [Read more]

This marks my thirteenth week as a new teacher of sixth and seventh grade students, ages eleven to thirteen. I teach history and my class sizes range from twenty-three to twenty-seven, with a total of one hundred and fifty students throughout the day. As one can imagine, classroom management and discipline are extremely important with groups this size and with children in general. In an effort to improve the effectiveness of my current teaching position and to set the tone for my future ESL/EFL classrooms, I consulted the Phi Delta Kappan, an excellent resource for teachers both beginning their careers and those who are seasoned veterans in the field. Metzger, Margaret (2002). Classroom Management: Learning to Discipline. Phi Delta Kappan 84, 77-84. Metzger is a life-long...  [Read more]

Online TEFL courses come in a variety of formats and their popularity grows year after year. One of the most appealing aspects of this type of study is the ability to study on your own time from wherever you are in the world, as is the relatively low cost. However, before making a final decision on which type of course is best for you, make sure you know all the options out there. Our 120-hour online TEFL course and our in-person TEFL courses cover nearly identical topics. The one area where the two versions differ is observed teaching practice (OTP). Our in-person courses include extensive time in a real classroom where you can hone your teaching skills under the supervision of experienced trainers. As a result, in-person courses are generally valued more highly by employers. While we...  [Read more]

Before we look at this question closely, we should first make an important distinction. The number of hours you teach in the classroom (often called contact hours) are not the same as the number of hours you will be expected to be in school, often confusingly called contract hours. Next, it is important to appreciate that different teaching jobs have different typical hours. There are basically three types of jobs available. Most schools abroad work normal office hours so you will probably need to be in school, Monday to Friday, from 7:30 a.m. (in many Asian countries) until 4:00 p.m. This equates to around 40 hours per week. You will not have to teach for all of those hours but a typical teaching load would be around 20-25 hours per week. When you are not teaching you will be expected to...  [Read more]

The TEFL International course in northern Thailand is held in Chiang Mai, which was once the capital city of the Lanna Kingdom and is now the capital of North Thailand. Chiang Mai was founded more than 700 years ago, and is one of the oldest cities in Thailand; it’s recognized as having an independent cultural personality of its own. The Thai people love their beloved northern capital; a quaint, walled and moated city surrounded by a beautiful landscape nestled in a valley surrounded by national parks consisting of mountains, rivers, forests, waterfalls, meadows and rice fields. As a location, Chiang Mai offers a unique experience for TEFL International TEFL Courses in Thailand. Many feel that Chiang Mai is an essential part of any visit to Thailand. Located more than 700km northwest of...  [Read more]

I started the course on 8/1/07.I was quite nervous in the days prior to starting as I haven`t really studied intensively for a number of years. I was also a little worried about standing at the front of the class teaching English but not speaking Thai. I hadn`t done any reading about how the course actually works and I now know that it would have been a good idea to have done this.The first day you get thrown in at the deep end because you have to stand at the front of the class and talk for 3 minutes about a subject of your choice.The three minutes seemed a lot longer than it was.At the time I didn`t really see the point of this exercise but now I can appreciate the relevance of it.It`s basically a confidence builder and also gives you some insight into what it will...  [Read more]

The bottom line is that teaching English abroad is just a job like any other. If you are unhappy with your employer or things simply aren't going as you had hoped, you are free to quit and return home or look for another job at any time. Of the tens of thousands of ESL teachers working in countries all over the world, the vast majority do see out the length of their contract. However, there are always going to be some teachers who decide that the best course of action is to terminate their contract early. Whether it's due to an emergency at home, problems with work colleagues or poor working conditions, if you feel you have to leave you are perfectly at liberty to do so. For teachers who are employed on an hourly contract there should be few consequences to worry about. This would...  [Read more]

Although it is theoretically possible to teach the English language without any form of training or qualifications, something that was quite common in years gone by, it is now almost universally accepted that the ability to speak a language has little bearing on an individual’s ability to teach it effectively to others. This change of attitude among school directors and education departments has led to the development of TEFL certification courses that are designed to give native and non-native English speakers the skills and knowledge they require to provide effective language instruction to their future students. So what does a TEFL course actually teach you? The mere mention of English grammar is often enough to strike fear into the hearts of potential EFL teachers. Ask any native...  [Read more]

I chose to write my article on this subject because I feel like I have so much to say about the course and how great I think it is. Wow! I don’t even know where to really begin because there is a lot that can be said about the course, but I will keep it to a minimum. I guess I would begin by saying that when I first registered for the course I thought it was going to be a breeze, because how could it not be' I am a native English speaker after all. I will say now that anyone who thinks this is in for a rude awakening. This course is very in depth and has taught me things that I would never have even considered before in the subject of teaching English as a foreign language. The first few lessons seemed to be pretty straight forward and I still thought it would be fairly...  [Read more]

  Okay, so we're going to use this pro-forma as our lesson plan and we're going to fill one out as though we were planning for an actual lesson. So, we start off with some basic information about the class. So, the name of the teacher, date and time and the class level. In this particular case, our class is going to be an elementary class and the room will be room 3. Having looked through the registers we see that the expected number of students for this particular class is going to be 10. This will help us in creating our worksheet copies. The context of the lesson for this class is going to be present continuous tense and it may well be the first time that this particular level of class has been introduced to this tense. So, our focus is going to be fairly general and it's going...  [Read more]

Fill out the form below to contact ITTT and select the type of request, so that we can manage it as quickly as possible. If you have already purchased one of ITTT's courses and you need help or additional information, please contact us using the form below. Make sure that you specify, in the subject and in the text field, what the issue is and what kind of help you require. If you have signed up for an online course, you should also specify your user ID. We will get back to you as soon as possible; usually within 12 hours (during working days) but often within as little as 2 hours. We at ITTT know that you might have many questions before choosing a course that best suits your individual needs and circumstances. We encourage everyone to first read over our FAQ pages as many questions are...  [Read more]

With a highly developed infrastructure, a stable economy, plenty of job opportunities, high salaries, and a relatively low cost of living, Taiwan has become an increasingly popular destination for teaching English abroad. Native English speakers with a TEFL certification should have little trouble finding a suitable position in a public school or a privately owned language academy. Teaching jobs can be found right across the country but are most numerous in large cities such as Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taichung, and Tainan. There are several types of schools that employ foreign teachers in Taiwan, all of which offer various salaries depending on your previous classroom experience and level of teaching qualifications. Many positions are paid on an hourly rate that starts at around 600 NTD...  [Read more]

The brazilian ITTT course is located in the amazing city of Natal. Aptly known as the ""city of sun"", Natal enjoys a pleasant 360 days of sunshine a year, with a comfortable average temperature of 28°C. Natal is one of the closest spots in Brazil to both europe and North America, receiving direct flights from a number of European cities. Natal is also famous for having the best air quality in the Americas and is blessed with more than 20 incredible beaches with crystal clear waters and coral reefs along the coast - a spectacular destination for your TEFL course. Every year, thousands of tourists are attracted by the gorgeous dunes, balmy weather and calm ocean, making Natal one of the most visited places in the north-east of Brazil. If you prefer your water just as wet but not as wild,...  [Read more]

  Hello. This presentation is going to cover this section on lesson planning and what we're going to do is to have a look as to why we go about planning a lesson, what do we actually put in it? We'll create an empty lesson plan pro-forma and then having done that what we'll do is to fill in that lesson plan for a particular teaching point. So, our starting position is going to be: "Why do we plan lessons at all?" There are a number of reasons why we need to plan a lesson. The first and foremost perhaps is that it's going to create a logical sequence for our lessons. If we didn't have a lesson plan, it is quite possible that we could go all over the place and it would become confusing for the students. By having this plan, what we've created is a structure that we can work from. So,...  [Read more]

During the past 10 years, more and more teachers have opted to gain their TEFL qualifications online. This was further accelerated due to the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent restrictions placed on international travel and business practices. However, onsite TEFL training and hybrid type courses that combine online and in-class training are still viable options in many areas. The most commonly taken ESL teaching course is a 120-hour online TEFL certification course. Originally taught across 4 weeks in a classroom, the course content has been adapted into a popular online course by highly experienced TEFL trainers at ITTT. Access to our online courses is possible at any time of the night or day, from any location with an internet connection. Participants can work through the course...  [Read more]

  Besides the four future tenses in English (future simple, future continuous, future perfect and the future perfect continuous) there are three additional tenses we can use when speaking about the future. These include the 'going to' future, the present continuous and the present simple. This video gives you an overview how to use them for future statements. 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 moving onto the next. Managing a class room is, at the end of the day, the...  [Read more]

G - Get-together A - Achieve the Aim M - More interest E - Easy Learning Many years ago teaching was only recognized for only getting knowledge but now a days as the world has become modern with different scientific techniques only giving knowledge to the students has become old fashioned. Nowadays students and teachers both like to take and give knowledge with fun. So game has become the part of the class. Games also make the students to catch the subject more spontaneously and with great interest. Game is a form of play especially with rules. If it is played in classroom it makes the classroom atmosphere playful and keep the students engaged with their study with interest and fun. Not only small children but even big people like to learn with fun. Fun makes the topic...  [Read more]

A TEFL course is a very unique course in that once qualified the world is literally your oyster!! Or as quoted by TEFL International ?the world is your classroom? (2) For all those hungry for travel but thought they were too old, for those who didn?t want to book the standard RTW trip or waste a year of their life saving for it!, for those that want to travel whilst learning a new skill, for those that want to seek out the more remote parts of the world and experience living in and with different cultures, for those who want to meet like minded people, for those who want a career break, for those who want a career!, for those who want to better their teaching skills, for those who want to make their dreams come true, for those who just want to get away from their...  [Read more]

The human mind loves simplicity and to generalize complicated matters. Talking about non native English speaking would assume that at least our English would be on the same level.The truth is that even among native English speaking people there is huge difference between understanding and knowledge about the language. That's why I can only share my thoughts on the course. Quick look on my background, I am 22 years old guy from Sweden that grew up with two Swedish parents.Understanding the courseA few days in the course we were asked to perform a simple task. We had one hour and I got in the same group as two native English speaking persons that both were 10 to 20 years older then me and with teaching background. We spent our first 30 min to discuss what we were supposed to do. ...  [Read more]

  When our answers are not correct then, obviously, they need to be corrected but it is quite important that we go through a process of correction that will help students. Quite often they've made a mistake simply because of something like reading the incorrect answer out or misrepresenting what they've actually written down. So, always give the opportunity when a mistake has been made for the student to self-correct first. We can often do this in a nonverbal way to show them that they're not actually correct. We might repeat back what they've said to us in a questioning manner or we may just make a gesture to make sure that they understand that they're not correct. So, we allow for a process of self-correction. It may be that the student has actually got the answer wrong and so we...  [Read more]

'English' Who needs that' I'm never going to England.'-Homer Simpson from The Simpsons Homer Simpson's brief yet brilliant delve into an analysis of the English language might go unrecognized by some, but I feel it succinctly introduces some of the language's most current, hot- debated questions. The first question sounds like a simple one but has in fact recently proven itself a slippery monster. What is English' The dawn of ultra-globalization begs for the answer to this question as more and more people all around the world attempt to understand each other better using the new lingua franca. As mega conglomerates deal and governments negotiate (this just being the most obvious end of the spectrum) we must also ask can there be any room for misunderstanding' But English is...  [Read more]

Cape Town, located at the southern tip of the African continent, is one of South Africa’s capitals and has won numerous accolades from international newspapers and travel magazines. Surrounded by a beautiful natural environment and with the infrastructure of a modern international city, Cape Town has plenty to offer visitors from all over the world. Cape Town is known as the “Mother City” and is the oldest city in South Africa. The area that is now Cape Town was first noted by Portuguese explorers in the fifteenth century. Visitors to the city will have the chance to explore the long history of Cape Town at the many museums throughout the city. Cape Town has plenty of attractions for travellers to explore including beautiful beaches, refreshing botanical gardens, picturesque...  [Read more]