Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified in Michigan? Are you interested in teaching English in Holt, Michigan? Check out our opportunities in Holt, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English in your community or abroad! Teflonline.net offers a wide variety of Online TESOL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Here Below you can check out the feedback (for one of our units) of one of the 16.000 students that last year took an online course with ITTT!
In this unit I learned what it means to be a good teacher and about the various roles that a good teacher needs to take on to lead an effective, student-centered ESL classroom. As a manager or controller, a teacher needs to be able to effectively take charge of their classroom and inspire their students in ways that fit with their teaching style. As an organizer, a teacher must be able to effectively lead a wide range of classroom activities and ensure that they are always in control of their lessons. As an assessor, a teacher must be able to provide feedback to their students in ways that are sensitive to the specific needs and potential reactions of their students. As a prompter, a teacher should be able to find the points of a lesson where encouragement can help a student along while being careful not to take initiative away from their students. A participant teacher is a teacher who takes part in an activity as an equal and does not try to draw too much attention to him/her. A good tutor provides individual attention and support to students without too much intrusion and distributes their time to students in equitable ways. As a resource, a teacher provides an activity that allows students to learn by themselves but the teacher is still available as a resource if needed. As a model, a teacher shows students how to pronounce words correctly and use vocabulary and grammar in correct ways. An observer or monitor is able to take notes about their students during speaking activities, without distracting them, and is able to give clear feedback to them afterwards.
I also learned about what it means to be a good learner. While a teacher must consider specific factors such as culture, age, language level, nervousness, behavior and motivation there are general characteristics that good English learners have. These characteristics include a willingness to listen and ask questions, a desire to learn and experiment, and the abilities to accept feedback and think about their own learning process.
I also learned how to better classify students into language levels. Beginners or breakthrough students (A1 Common European Framework) have little to no language knowledge. Elementary or waystage (A2) students can form basic sentences and can communicate on simple topics. Low intermediate or threshold (B1) students can understand and communicate on many topics but they may still make mistakes with basic english structures. Intermediate or vantage (B2) students can communicate on a wide range of topics but still have limited vocabulary and lack accuracy and fluency. Upper intermediate or effective operation proficiency (C1) students can communicate on most topics but still lack some accuracy. Advanced or mastery students (C2) are ready to study more subtle nuances of the language.
