Our September 2023 TEFL course just graduated, and before they departed for the last time, we asked them what advice they would give to the new course attendees.
Here’s some of what they said:
- The course goes by really fast so you can take opportunities when you aren’t doing TEFL work to be sociable and explore the city as much as you can and get different experiences. Like look into events, festivals etc that are going on in the city.
- Be honest with the trainers as they are very understanding people so if you’re struggling with work or deadlines you can always explain this to them without any judgement. Their main aim it to make sure you are leaving feeling confident and happy with teaching so any troubles you have they will help out as much as they can.
- Try to immerse yourself in the mindset of the student. Pay close attention to the demo lessons in order to realise the objective of each stage and task. Take a step back while you are lesson planning to try and rethink things from a learner’s perspective.
- Have fun in the classroom. When you are teaching English, it is so important to incorporate activities, tasks, and discussion that are enjoyable to the students. If the students aren’t having any fun at all, then they will not enjoy the lessons.
- Make sure that you check in with yourself after your teaching practice and value your own self-feedback as well as your supervisor’s.
- Remember that joining a TEFL course is an opportunity for personal and professional development. Embrace the experience, stay organized, and don’t be afraid to seek assistance when needed.
- It’s okay not to know everything and if you’re having challenges during the program, communicate with your Trainers before melting down.
- Be patient with themselves. Becoming an English teacher is a big journey and it doesn’t end when the course finishes, it continues until the end of your career. You are always going to make mistakes, have struggles, and doubts about yourself. But, if you persist and stay true to yourself, then you will strive in this industry.
- I would say that having structured lessons, is very helpful and can be applied in the future in an informal way.
- Working on tips and tricks of how to use the whiteboard, error correcting, and time management are drilled and can be useful in daily life to be more organized.
- It does get easier and the staff as well as the environment is very accommodating and is with you during the planning sessions on how to enhance each lesson as well as give ideas for the lesson and lesson plan.
- Fake it ‘til you make it! Step into your role as a teacher with confidence and kindness and your students will have confidence in you.
- Take criticism and feedback constructively, and not personally. All of the trainers are very experienced and are committed to making us the best teachers we can be.
- Stick with it. The course can seem daunting when you are first learning to lesson plan, but it does get easier.
- Be confident, there isn’t anything to worry about. The struggles and anxiety you have at the beginning of the course soon goes away towards the end and things start to make more sense and you leave feeling confident.
In just 4 weeks you can be teaching English abroad. TEFL Worldwide was awarded as the Top TEFL Certification Course of 2018 and 2019! Courses offered monthly.
