Teach English in Qingfeng Zhen - Chongqing

I have a gained a structural component to the way I teach. I have been coaching basketball for almost nine years. I am a business major and my previous occupations have nothing to do with children, sports or teaching. However, through my volunteer work I became the organizer, the disciplinarian, the mentor, the teacher I became a coach. I organize my practices with times, activities and goals. However, I had no idea that I was actually making lesson plans this entire time. I now have a formal lesson plan template to organize my thoughts and lessons. Another point with this realization is that I gained more confidence because I had been doing this type of planning for years without even knowing. When you are the only person in charge of teenagers, logistics, potential problems and worrying if its interesting enough to keep them in the gym (or classroom) is always on your mind when planning practices and/or games. Ive also learned the different language levels and teaching methodologies. This gives another nod to the teaching structure that I lacked before taking this course. ESA, boomerang, and patchwork all have new meaning. When I start to teach english in a foreign country, I will remember these tactics and analyze each lesson plan with great detail to fit the needs of my students. There are also some great engage, study and activities listed throughout this course. I will definitely keep them in mind and modify them to my lesson plan. On top of how to teach, I received great refreshers on the english language. I did very well in english in high school. However, my post-secondary was unfortunately filled with more math courses than english courses (trust me, I wish it was the opposite). Having taken only one english course in the last seven years, I am just a tad bit rusty. I grew up in Canada and it comes very natural but to try to explain why things are the way they are without knowing the exact rules is very difficult. Before the course, I wouldnt be able to tell you the difference between a present continuous and present perfect continuous or what a transitive inseparable phasal verb is (answers are in unit four and eighteen). Robert Frost said Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper. Patience is a virtue, not a skill. From working with youths for almost a decade, I know I have the patience but now I also have the formal teaching skills to go along with it. I have developed as a teacher. I think of the english language differently because I had previously never given a thought to the forms or structures of sentences. They just come out of my mouth or my hand with ease and I dont know how. I never question why? Now, even when my parents ask me why this sentence is correct instead of the other, I can draw on the forms, tenses, usages and common misconceptions. I have an answer other than, it just is! This TEFL course has provided me with a proper format. I have ideas for worksheets, activities and warmers. I can tell potential employers that I coach basketball but my lesson plans were scribbles on a piece of paper. There may have been a couple of columns and pictures but it is nothing I can show to companies. However, writing that I am TEFL certified on my resume allows me to have more opportunities I didnt have. The lessons I learned throughout this course, I can apply to more than just teaching english. I hope in the non-distant future I can activate these skills in another country.