Assignment 4 Celta
Assignment 4 – Lessons from the Classroom
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
I decided to take the CELTA because it seemed like a fairly easy way to make some money while I traveling. However, a mere month's exposure to teaching has given me the confidence to pursue teaching English as a serious career alternative, should I ever get sick of political antics and swindlers' conspiracies. All through my life, people told me I would make a decent teacher. Now, I believe it. I believe it because I have braved the utterly nerve-racking schedule of assignment submissions and lesson planning and teaching without falling apart. Though I learned a lot from our wonderful trainers (full credits to Gabbi and Maureen) and my absolutely wonderful classmates, I really have miles to go before I sleep (literally).
A month is a very short time to learn something but it is admirable that all of us have had such a tremendous growth curve. Personally, I know I have become much more confident about standing in front of a classroom full of students and talking about the finer points of the English language. Not many noticed it, but I avoided writing anything on the board the first afternoon we had Teaching Practice (TP) because my hands were shaking so vigorously. I have definitely come a long way since then. I have learned a lot from the critique and feedback by classmates and tutors, observation of peers and experienced teachers, and from self-reflection. I discovered the very first day that it was important to establish a good rapport with the students and be comfortable talking with them. Observing Darin during his first lesson taught me a very valuable lesson – I learned it was important to engage students in conversation rather than assume the role of a traditional teacher. Though Maureen commented on June 23, the first day of TP, that I
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
I decided to take the CELTA because it seemed like a fairly easy way to make some money while I traveling. However, a mere month's exposure to teaching has given me the confidence to pursue teaching English as a serious career alternative, should I ever get sick of political antics and swindlers' conspiracies. All through my life, people told me I would make a decent teacher. Now, I believe it. I believe it because I have braved the utterly nerve-racking schedule of assignment submissions and lesson planning and teaching without falling apart. Though I learned a lot from our wonderful trainers (full credits to Gabbi and Maureen) and my absolutely wonderful classmates, I really have miles to go before I sleep (literally).
A month is a very short time to learn something but it is admirable that all of us have had such a tremendous growth curve. Personally, I know I have become much more confident about standing in front of a classroom full of students and talking about the finer points of the English language. Not many noticed it, but I avoided writing anything on the board the first afternoon we had Teaching Practice (TP) because my hands were shaking so vigorously. I have definitely come a long way since then. I have learned a lot from the critique and feedback by classmates and tutors, observation of peers and experienced teachers, and from self-reflection. I discovered the very first day that it was important to establish a good rapport with the students and be comfortable talking with them. Observing Darin during his first lesson taught me a very valuable lesson – I learned it was important to engage students in conversation rather than assume the role of a traditional teacher. Though Maureen commented on June 23, the first day of TP, that I