Bringing the World Closer

First Assignment

Hello everyone! Congratulations on completing your first task: successfully logging in to the MyTeachingHouse.com site!

We arepresently developing Generation 2 of the MyTeachingHouse site. It’s a great resource both on the course and after the course (in finding workand keeping up with friends you’ve made during the course). As this site is under development, we’d appreciate any feedback or suggestions that you have.

I have a few more tasks for you to complete—it may take about an hour or two. Please read the instructions below and complete it before next Monday.

Directions: All written answers must be posted on this thread (First Assignment) within the discussion forum in your course group. Since there are many of you, it's important to post only on this thread (click "Reply toThis" at the bottom) so that we can keep the forum from getting full and messy-looking. However, if you have any other comments or questions you are welcome to start a new thread.

1. If you haven’t already, edit your profile with your current location, status and photo

2. Browse through our international directory of English language schools (hoverover "RESOURCES" in the toolbar at the top of the page and click "SCHOOL DIRECTORY" ). Post the name of a school that you think you might be interested in applying to after the course, and (briefly) why you liked that school.

3. Go to Course Forms and find a word from one of the glossaries that you do not know.

4. Post one idea or recommendation for MyTeachingHouse.com.

5. Post a personal goal related to taking our Teaching House CELTA course.

6. Post a comment about someone else’s comments, for example, “Lizzy, I agree with your comment about the job listings section…” or “Abby, I saw thatyou wanted to work in Paris. I was thinking about that myself—is it hard to find work in France?” If you're one of the first people to post, come back later with a comment after your peers have caught up.

Good luck and keep coming back to our site! You can email me at christen@teachinghouse.com with any questions.

All the best,

Christen

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Demetrius Stott on January 15, 2011 at 8:23pm

A recommedation that I have for My Teaching House is to continue to expand your web site. Flood the web site with information about everything that would be useful for CELTA participants. I found the website very useful and user friendly, however, the website left me wanting more.

Permalink Reply by Demetrius Stott on January 16, 2011 at 5:28pm

"Marshalette, I saw that you were interested in teaching in Africa. I think that is so awesome! I would like to spend sometime in Africa teaching as well. Good luck with your future plans.

Permalink Reply by Demetrius Stott on January 16, 2011 at 6:37pm

I would like to attend Al-Faisal International Academy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. I have always wanted to work in Africa and Saudi Arabia because of the rich history of the lands. I admire the people and the culture. I would be thrilled to death to expeience the Kabba in Mecca and the Pyramids in Gaza, personally.

Permalink Reply by Erica Boney on January 16, 2011 at 7:40pm

2. I would choose to apply to Direct English Women's Center in Saudi Arabia. The reason I chose this school is because I previously lived and worked in Saudi Arabia. I really like the fact that the country is totally segregated.

3. The one glossary word that I didn't know was Elicit(v).

4. A recommendation that I would have for myteachinghouse.com is for them to have more cost effective housing resources for out of state trainees.

5. A personal goal I have related to the class is to absorb everything that I can daily so that I can successfully complete the class. I plan to get a job in Saudi Arabia so that I can move my family there to live.

6. Marshalette, I agree with your recommendation about the traveling. I am coming from Charlotte NC and it would have been helpful to have more resources.

Permalink Reply by Ceren Guney on January 17, 2011 at 3:18pm

Hi Erica, I really agree with your suggestion that myteachinghouse.com offer more cost effective housing resources for out of state students. While I have found (more) reasonable accommodation now, the resources on the website were really out of my price range.

Permalink Reply by Fiona Voss on January 17, 2011 at 9:26am

2. Although I plan to teach in New York at first, I might eventually want to teach in Germany. Berlitz is a school that offers courses in many German cities, and they offer one-on-one and small group (2-3 students) classes. When I was in high school I got to take a French class with only four students, and I though the small size really helped, so I would love to teach a very small class.

3. From the glossary, I had not heard of "information gap," which is an activity in which students have different pieces of information and have to exchange ideas in order to get a whole picture. This isn't an activity I can remember doing in any of the language classes I've taken, but it sounds like it could be very useful.

4. While browsing the School Directory, I noticed that quite a few of the links are dead, so I would recommend that somebody go through and remove all the websites that are no longer functional. Other than that, I haven't yet noticed anything that I would change.

5. My personal goal is to feel comfortable in front of a class. I don't usually mind public speaking, as long as I've been able to plan my speech ahead of time. However, teaching requires you to be flexible and adapt your plan to the students' needs as you are teaching, so I'm sure it's much more difficult.

6. Tatiana, I'm also interested by your comment abut American teaching methods differing from Russian. I know that teaching methods in different countries can vary a lot, for instance some being more creative and others more mechanical and based on memorization. Of course, they vary much within countries as well. Anyway, I'm curious to see what you find!

Permalink Reply by Jeanne Newman on January 17, 2011 at 1:15pm

2. I know I would like to work in Buenos Aires, Argentina. There are quite a number of language schools based there and I have not narrowed it down to any one in particular yet.

3. Running Commentary - Not a term I've heard before but certainly something to keep in mind, especially as a new teacher.

4. I agree with Jane and would have liked to have access to the handbook, as well as the website earlier.

5. My personal goal is to become confident in my ability to create effective and interesting lesson plans.

6. I've noticed a few comments from others that are coming from out of town. I live in New York so if anyone needs any advice or info, I am happy to help.

I look forward to meeting everyone!

Permalink Reply by Ceren Guney on January 17, 2011 at 3:16pm

2. Amity Institute in Peru. I like this school because of its location in South America and the fact that it is a non-profit organisation committed to building international friendships and cross-cultural exchange through teaching exchange.

3. Choral drill.

4. I think a good idea would be to have an online forum where students can discuss the course content. It would be a convenient online study group where students can work through difficult problems together and bounce around ideas etc.

5. My goal is simply to be a good English teacher. I would like my future students to both enjoy my classes and to finish their courses having learnt a lot. To achieve this goal I believe I really need to learn both the content of the course and the skills that are required to be a good teacher.

Permalink Reply by Meira Gottlieb on January 17, 2011 at 8:28pm

# 3 - A word I did not know was phonology

Phonology is the study of how sounds are organized and used in natural language.

#5 - This is just a recommendation for the website design. There isn't a very intuitive approach to finding information. I found I really had to search for how to get to my profile, getting to my group, etc. I didn't even realize "My Page" was my profile page at first. There should be quick links in the personal subnav box that would let you get back to your profile page, and to your groups.

I posted the other answers as blog posts, so here they are below.

#2 Language School - ABC Language Exchange

I would be interested in applying for a job at ABC Language Exchange. The organization is located in New York City, and has excellent online reviews. I would like to stay in New York City for a period of time before going abroad and I believe this would be a good institution to apply my newly acquired skills.

#5 - Personal Goal

My personal goal is to become fully comfortable in front of a class. I want to be a knowledgeable and competent teacher. I think that to be fully comfortable as the teacher, I need have all aspects of the teaching skill-set under my belt. This means being knowledgeable, prepared, and assured in my ability to provide an excellent lesson for the students.