Teach English in Heyan Zhen - Chongqing

Why complete a TEFL courseFor educators hoping to get into the field of English teaching of foreign students, the requirement of taking a tefl course should be mandatory. As a long time instructor of children and adults in various different subjects, I personally had never seen the value of getting a tefl certification. Like so many of my fellow instructors, I could not see the value of going to another course to learn how to do something I already knew how to do, and had been doing for years. As far as my employers were concerned, I had been hired without this certification, so it did not appear that I needed to obtain certification. But as is customary in many professional fields these days, the only constant is change. That change by my employer, to require some sort of certification in teaching, was what led me to finding a tefl certification organization. From the minute I started interacting with my tutor, and started reviewing the material in the course, I was finding that I not only did need the tefl certification, but I also could use the information contained within the course materials. All of the things that I thought I knew about teaching were changed as I went through module by module of the course. For someone that had been a lifelong student, getting back into the swing of studying and doing homework was fairly simple. What was surprising though was how little I seemed to remember about teaching English. Then it dawned on me ? I was teaching British English, and not American English like I had learned for so many years. This realization was what made me wake up to the need to study harder, and pay attention in my classes. From the first module that spoke about ?tenses? in English, I could see that this was going to be like starting over. While there are a number of similarities between British and American English, there obviously were a number of differences as well. Relearning the proper usage of these tenses was paramount to understanding the language basics. While this was not something I had very little experience in, it was invaluable in refreshing my mind of what was proper, and what was used in day-to-day speaking. Having just started teaching English last year to Turkish students, the module that dealt with Managing Classroom Behavior was another valuable resource. While I knew plenty about classroom management already from past experiences, the module was very informative in giving new insights to what could be causing the disruptions, and what might be done to prevent them in the future. What really gave me the most benefit though, was the module that spoke about lesson planning. I have always considered myself a person that was highly organized, so creating a Lesson Plan to me, was unnecessary, and a time waster. As I got further into the lesson though, I found the benefits of using the Plan format. While I may be a very organized person, the Lesson Plan format forced me to write that mental organization down on paper. In doing so, I was able to better manage my thoughts, and then plan for any contingencies that might arise in the presentation of the material. It also made me think about what materials I would need to make sure the lesson went off without a hitch. Having things written down, helps to assure a person that they will indeed have all necessary resources available for the lesson when it begins. While I had not forgotten many resources in the past, there had been times when I needed to improvise because of not having a specific item with me at the time of the class. Without a doubt, having a checklist of resources was one thing that everyone could use to assure a successful lesson. If for no other reason, I would recommend the tefl course to prospective educators, to help them organize their thoughts and resources before the lesson is to begin.