Whataburger Teacher Appreciation 2024 Texas

Teaching is the highest form of understanding. (Aristotle) A culture is a grouping within which values, norms, beliefs, patterns of behavior, rituals, customs and traditions are shared. To best serve their students, teachers at any level need to be especially sensitive to differences between their own culture and that of their students. This may begin with a careful look at their own worldview. Unintentional biases should never be promoted and are very easily overlooked, especially by the western mind. Changing family composition, socio-economic status, ethnicity, and religion are all areas teachers need to pay special attention to. There is often an inclination among Americans, especially those who have not lived outside their own culture, to be overly...  [Read more]

Teaching is the highest form of understanding. (Aristotle) A culture is a grouping within which values, norms, beliefs, patterns of behavior, rituals, customs and traditions are shared. To best serve their students, teachers at any level need to be especially sensitive to differences between their own culture and that of their students. This may begin with a careful look at their own worldview. Unintentional biases should never be promoted and are very easily overlooked, especially by the western mind. Changing family composition, socio-economic status, ethnicity, and religion are all areas teachers need to pay special attention to. There is often an inclination among Americans, especially those who have not lived outside their own culture, to be...  [Read more]

The Cambridge online dictionary defines culture as ‘the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time’. Education, and thus teaching, are widely believed to one of the most fundamental and essential elements in human life. Therefore cultural awareness in the education environment is of paramount importance. To effectively communicate in any classroom, the students must feel both at ease with, and a sense of respect for, their teacher. To achieve this, the teacher must be aware of the norms, customs and beliefs which have nurtured the minds and personalities of those he or she intends to educate. Any offence or disrespect caused would be of detriment to the crucial rapport building and mutual respect. As ...  [Read more]

The Cambridge online dictionary defines culture as ?the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time?. Education, and thus teaching, are widely believed to one of the most fundamental and essential elements in human life. Therefore cultural awareness in the education environment is of paramount importance. To effectively communicate in any classroom, the students must feel both at ease with, and a sense of respect for, their teacher. To achieve this, the teacher must be aware of the norms, customs and beliefs which have nurtured the minds and personalities of those he or she intends to educate. Any offence or disrespect caused would be of detriment to the crucial rapport building and mutual respect. As ...  [Read more]

A balanced approach to using a combination of created and authentic materials can be beneficial to both the students and the teacher in an ESL classroom.Created materials can be either a previously published course text or something the teacher has specifically created to supplement a lesson. Often students will expect some published materials such as a course book and view it as a form of security as well as a way to gauge their progress, i.e. how many chapters of the book they have completed. Published course materials have generally been tried and tested before release and thus are graded to a level suitable for the students and contain a balanced mix of vocabulary, grammar and skills exercises. As well, they can be very useful in pointing out certain structures or language...  [Read more]

A teacher is one who helps children grow, helps them learn, helps them to discover their own potential and gives them the perfect knowledge and skill they require to succeed as adults. A good teacher should be kind, patient, enthusiastic, be able to motivate students, etc. and it is only through these skills can a teacher be able to manage the classroom well. Classroom management is a skill that develops through time. It requires a teacher to be well organized and systematic in his/her approach to teaching and handling students. Effective classroom management creates a healthy relationship between teachers and students and also a healthy environment for teaching and learning. ...  [Read more]

Although, at the beginning of an English course, students can be very excited and enthusiastic when first confronted with their teacher, the person who will introduce them to a new, fascinating, foreign language, as time goes by the sense of novelty and curiosity that seemed so strong at the beginning, seem to gradually subside in the eyes of the pupils, especially those of young age, leaving the teacher with the sometimes difficult task of re-building their general interest in learning and not least, their level of motivation, which in nearly all warps of life, is the key to success. Motivation, in the field of learning, is a quality that can be more practically viewed by splitting it into three values: „XPure love of and interest in learning.The more fun and exciting the...  [Read more]

Reading is a process by which a reader gives meaning to text. The reader relies on a series of skills which they, depending on the age of the English language learner, may already possess in their native tongue. An older child or adult reader will read text knowing its purpose and meaning i.e. to give or request information, persuade, criticise, to give pleasure to or entertain. Further, they can make logical predictions as they read because of pre-existing experience or knowledge. All these skills are used by fluent readers, and as such, will be second nature to an older child or adult. A young English language learner may not have these skills or are developing them at the same time as learning a new language. This will necessitate the adoption of differing texts for reading....  [Read more]

Although, at the beginning of an English course, students can be very excited and enthusiastic when first confronted with their teacher, the person who will introduce them to a new, fascinating, foreign language, as time goes by the sense of novelty and curiosity that seemed so strong at the beginning, seem to gradually subside in the eyes of the pupils, especially those of young age, leaving the teacher with the sometimes difficult task of re-building their general interest in learning and not least, their level of motivation, which in nearly all warps of life, is the key to success. Motivation, in the field of learning, is a quality that can be more practically viewed by splitting it into three values: ?XPure love of and interest in learning. The more fun and...  [Read more]

  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. After studying the unit on Coursebooks and Lesson Materials, I learnt some valuable lessons regarding the way one would use these resources in a classroom. It became clear that these resources, like texts books, should be used as guides, and that a teacher should to the best of his/her ability, try to adapt teachings to the need of the class. It is important to use the reference and guide that one does get...  [Read more]

Volunteer English teaching has been an important part of the TEFL world for many years, with countless schemes operating in many parts of the world. Most of these opportunities are located in developing countries where access to affordable language lessons is not widespread and where people often see improving their English as a clear path towards better jobs and a better future for them and their families. However, while these schemes provide a very valuable service, there are now increasing numbers of online volunteer based teaching platforms that are able to provide help to even more people worldwide. There are many individual reasons for wanting to offer your services as an online volunteer English teacher. For many people the reward of helping someone in need and seeing them make...  [Read more]

  In her TEFL review video Francesca from Germany talks about her 120 hour TEFL/TESOL online course. The course gave her a greater understanding of grammar and phonology. It also gave her many insights into how to structure her lessons. She now feels very confident in her ability to be able to deliver productive lessons to her students. She now plans to further her job prospects by completing ITTT's Teaching English to Young Learners course. 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]

  Lenin from the United States found our 120-hour TEFL course very helpful. He especially enjoyed looking into the grammar units and found the view from an English learner's point of view very interesting. He also found the units on lesson planning and classroom management very useful for his own future classroom. 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. Listening is a harder skill than reading due to the lack of time to comprehend and also the...  [Read more]

On the subject of new technology in the classroom, I'd like to address a source of materials with which I'm extremely familiar. I spent a number of years selling textbooks to college professors and as a result, was trained on some of the most recent developments in classroom technology. Many of the largest higher educational publishers take great pains to create resources and materials that, they hope, will make their text the most attractive to professors. In recent years the development of the companion website has become almost expected from every major textbook. As I worked my way through this course, I was struck by the similarities between TEFL instruction and the field of developmental English. At Pearson Education, there are a number of developmental texts...  [Read more]

  This video is part of our video series on "Evaluation and Testing of Students". In this video, we cover the different types of tests teachers will come across. These include placement tests, diagnostic tests, progress tests, practice tests and proficiency tests. In the next videos, we will take a look at each type of test in detail. 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. In this unit I learned about the receptive skills - reading and listening and...  [Read more]

In 1893, Dr. Howard Gardner an educational professor at Harvard University developed the theory of multiple intelligences. According to Dr. Gardner, there are eight different personal intelligences that make up an individual. These intelligences work jointly to create the whole individual. As teachers, it's important to teach to all of these intelligences, in order to allow all students to meet their full potential. The eight intelligences identified by Gardner are linguistic, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, spatial, interpersonal, intra-personal, and naturalistic. Schools often teach towards linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligences, as this is what our culture deems most valuable. This is unfortunate for those students whose strengths lie in...  [Read more]

This particular subject appealed to me. I whole heartedly support the idea of teaching slang and idioms to students learning English. If you were to listen to any conversation taking place, you would hear slang and idioms being used very frequently throughout the conversation. You can teach a student how to speak proper English and they would, by right, be very proud of what they had accomplished. Then put those very same students in a situation such as a business meeting or conducting a conversation with a potential client and these students would be totally out of their element. For instance, if a former student were meeting a potential client from the South, as in texas perhaps, the student would of course introduce him/herself and then ask how they were. Being...  [Read more]

  Edina decided to take a TEFL certificate course with ITTT after joining an NGO providing English teachers to students in Turkey. In this TEFL review video Edina talks about the many benefits of taking the course, including the extensive materials covering grammar, classroom management and lesson planning, the post course support and the fact that the certificate is recognised around the world. 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. Learned about...  [Read more]

This particular subject appealed to me. I whole heartedly support the idea of teaching slang and idioms to students learning English. If you were to listen to any conversation taking place, you would hear slang and idioms being used very frequently throughout the conversation. You can teach a student how to speak proper English and they would, by right, be very proud of what they had accomplished. Then put those very same students in a situation such as a business meeting or conducting a conversation with a potential client and these students would be totally out of their element. For instance, if a former student were meeting a potential client from the South, as in Texas perhaps, the student would of course introduce him/herself and then ask how they were. Being from...  [Read more]

Multiple intelligences is a fascinating topic that really caught our attention for writing our final article. This topic broadens minds and gives strategies and resources not only to psychologists but also to teachers who are willing to do whatever it takes to help students give their very best and learn at their own pace and through their individual abilities or skills. There are students who like music, others who like numbers, and others who like sports. The different likes are non other than the special characteristics each human being was born with and traits of the different kinds of intelligences.When you study the work of people such as Howard Gardner or Elaine de Beauport, you start to understand why some students react to certain teaching modes and some to others....  [Read more]

Our online Diploma in TESOL is a good choice for anyone who wants to gain a higher level of study and a distinct advantage in the EFL job market. The course is open to complete novices, as well as those with some experience, as it begins with our standard 120-hour TEFL certification course that covers all the basic skills required by teachers before starting on the advanced diploma section of study. There are a number of very good reasons for undertaking the diploma course, including: The course is divided into 11 separate modules as outlined below: Each module requires about 21 hours of study which includes a multiple choice test. The summative task requires about 20 hours of study. The total study time is therefore about 250 hours. With the added 120-hour course the total study time is...  [Read more]

Teaching English Online is a rapidly expanding area of the TEFL/TESOL market. Estimates show that beyond 2020 there may be more people learning English online worldwide than face-to-face. No previous experience or training in education is required to complete this course. The course is designed for anyone who is currently working, or intends to work within the field of Teaching English Online. On completion of the course, you should have gained a basic knowledge of teachers and their roles, students and their needs, how to manage a classroom and the all-important skill of creating your own lessons, all with specific reference to teaching English online. Further topics of study include the practical requirements of hardware and software needed and how to use this. The course concludes with...  [Read more]

For each of five countries in each region we will consider factors such as a general statement of opportunity in the region, monthly salary in US$ equivalent and finally a typical current job posting from the region. It is important to view salaries in the context of a typical citizen’s average income. What may appear to be a low salary may in fact put you in a high income bracket (and vice-versa!) All figures were correct at the time of writing but are subject to change. There is a vast range of opportunity from high income first world countries like Japan and South Korea, to less-developed countries throughout the region. Salaries and conditions therefore vary due to those constraints. 11 schools available across Thailand (kindergarten, primary and high school level) You will teach...  [Read more]

If some burly, impatient builder were to shout 'Slab!' at a construction site, and subsequently stare in my direction, what is my reaction to be' As his stare transforms to a glare, his eyes becoming more savage by the second, I begin to feel rather ill at ease. What meaning am I to extract from this single word statement' Am I to ponder the nature of the object just uttered' Am I to shout something equally arbitrary back in his direction' Or am I to fetch this object post-haste' As anyone familiar with the 'language-game' of a construction site might tell me: surely the latter, if I don't want to be thrown from the side of the scaffolding.The term 'language-game' was coined by the Austrian-born philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) to refer to the idioms adopted by and...  [Read more]

Writing may be the most difficult and the most neglected of the four cardinal language skills.1 Speaking gets the most attention followed at some distance by listening, and reading. Writing, in comparison, is often ignored all together. The website www.englishclub.com calls it the 4th language skill.2 There are reasons for this. The simple fact is that most people, teachers included, never really learned how to do it and therefore are unable to pass it on. Another reason is that it is lonely, tedious work. (No teacher ever had to carry home a bag full of speaking assignments and labour into the wee hours marking them for return in the next day.) Still there are those of who continue to make the effort. What follows are a few suggestions on how to ease the burden.Adjust your...  [Read more]

The best teachers I remember in my life were respected by their students, and seen as mentors and role models. I hope to be such a teacher. My class is a place of mutual discourse, where students feel comfortable speaking their minds, a place where discussion and cooperation are encouraged. I believe learning is a social-cognitive interactive process.My classroom is not a classroom of rules. Students assume the responsibilities for many of the tasks that need to be done. These responsibilities are rotated among all students on a regular basis. Discipline in the classroom hopefully follows from the students' interest in the subject matter, and a sincere desire to learn.Learning in my classroom is collaborative. While I do see a role for the traditional lecture, where I impart my...  [Read more]

There are many employment options for individuals who obtain the TEFL Certificate. One need only look on the numerous internet websites (1) that post such positions and see the variety of offers available around the world. By far, the most advertised jobs are teaching in elementary and secondary schools. (2) Careers are even available at the University level in many countries. Private language schools and private businesses also are looking for teachers. Tutoring, either privately, through a school or an agency is yet another option. Many who work at teaching jobs will take private tutoring jobs as a way to enhance their income (3). Future teachers who lack either experience or perhaps a college degree may want to look into volunteer work. Many TEFL students...  [Read more]

There are many employment options for individuals who obtain the TEFL Certificate. One need only look on the numerous internet websites (1) that post such positions and see the variety of offers available around the world. By far, the most advertised jobs are teaching in elementary and secondary schools. (2) Careers are even available at the University level in many countries. Private language schools and private businesses also are looking for teachers. Tutoring, either privately, through a school or an agency is yet another option. Many who work at teaching jobs will take private tutoring jobs as a way to enhance their income (3). Future teachers who lack either experience or perhaps a college degree may want to look into volunteer work. Many TEFL students come to the...  [Read more]

The topic of teacher accents in the ESL classroom is much debated. I am sure most teachers can relate to a story or experience. In South Korea, like many Asian countries there is a strong focus on the 'American English'. All listening tapes, dialogues, transcripts and texts use American linguistics and accents. Even the international TOEIC and TEFL tests for a long time were using American accents. As a New Zealand citizen being strongly advised to develop an American accent can be hard to comprehend.Kachru 1986 writes 'what actually happens is that language and power go together. American English is accepted for the power and superiority which America as a nation has acquired in the areas of science, technology, commerce, military affairs and politics'. I tend to agree and...  [Read more]

Universally recognized is the advantage of one teacher for one student. It is an evident need for students in school requiring help with a specific subject. Also, advanced students benefit from being able to progress at a more rapid pace. Shy students find this very helpful in overcoming their hesitancy to speak out. For those with a busy schedule and disciplined progress is very difficult, one on one teaching is almost a must. These are just a few examples of why there is a boom in requests for this type of teaching. Of course, this type of teaching situation can cause some problems for the teachers that they would not encounter in a classroom setting with many students. There is a great intensity and often a need for very precise preparation. The material...  [Read more]