Teach English in Chester - TESOL Courses

Teaching english as a Foreign Language (efl) can be a learning process for the students and the teacher if they have no prior experience. After studying the ITTT tefl course it has helped me learn how to handle situations such as classroom management, continuity, and knowing how to handle certain situations with different kinds of learners. This paper will discuss a few of these areas, and how one can learn to adjust in their teaching environment of kindergarten students. When starting to teach a kindergarten class a teacher should be aware of some of the different types of classroom management they will be faced with. A good teacher will begin with a stern approach to the class and learn to relax after the students understand that the teacher is the one in control. Often teachers will try and rush lessons leaving the kids with many questions and confusion about what the teacher is saying. If the students are confused then they may become disruptive to the class. So it is important for the teacher to go slow, very slow and make sure all the students comprehend the lesson. ITTT stated in their course material to, “Make your lessons fun, varied, lively, involving and interesting” (Unit 19 pg. 7). By doing this it will help keep the students from becoming bored. In order to establish continuity in your kindergarten classroom teachers need to have a routine for their students to follow. It is important with younger learners to have a system/schedule so they can have expectations. It is also important for the teacher to be consistent with their attitude and teachings towards the students. This includes giving praise, discipline, and approach to shyness as such. In an article written in Yahoo Voices Spyrou has stated that, “Kindergarten teachers cannot "cure" shyness in esl students, or in any of their students for that matter, but they can be patient and do their part by not picking on newly arrived immigrants in the class and working gradually to help them make academic progress. Even small achievements should be acknowledged and praised” (Spyrou 2008). If students feel like they are being made fun of or picked on then they may not want to engage in the lesson. So it is important to have a continuity atmosphere in your classroom. While teaching efl to a kindergarten class it is important to show progression of the students learning. A teacher can do this by giving their students a bi-weekly, monthly speaking/written/listening test. This will help the teacher know which students are in need of help and what kind of help to give them. There can be all kinds of learners in a classroom: visual, audio, or kinesthetic. When a teacher can learn which students are not progressing so to speak they can make the appropriate adjustments to that student in a way that they can learn. These test/quizzes help show a student's weaknesses, so a test should be tailored with different formats to help get an understanding of where the problem may lie in order for the student to advance on to the next level. In conclusion, studying the ITTT tefl course has helped me learn how to handle these situations in classroom management, continuity, and knowing how to handle certain situations with different kinds of learners. Work cited Spyrou, Sophie. “How Kindergarten teachers Can Help esl Students Overcome Shyness.” Yahoo Voices. September 11, 2008 Accessed 07/18/2012 . “Unit 19 Teaching special groups.” ITTT 019 Copyright 2011 International TEFL and TESOL training. Page 7.