Bringing the World Closer

First Assignment

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

We are presently developing Generation 2 of the MyTeachingHouse site. It’s a great resource both on the course and after the course (in finding work and 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 manyof 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 acomment about someone else’s comments, for example, “Lizzy, I agree with your comment about the job listings section…” or “Abby, I saw that you 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 info@teachinghouse.com with any questions.

All the best,

Christen

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Quang Q. Lam on March 18, 2011 at 11:01pm

2. Some schools do not have a link to their website so not enough information can be accessed and I’m not sure if I will be applying to any of the schools listed. I am hoping to find employment in Japan or Korea. I may apply to the Jet Program for Japan or EPIK for Korea. If my first two options don’t work out, I’ll take it from there and figure something out.

3. Realia. I have never heard this term before. I suppose it’s possibly due to my lack of teaching experience.

4. I would like to see more online video tutorials. I saw one as I was browsing the site.

5. One personal goal of mine is to teach English overseas. It will allow me to travel and work at a job that isn’t a non-skilled profession.

6. I like how Devin stated that a Celta certification isn’t necessary for some teaching jobs but is taking the course to be prepared as a qualified ESL teacher. That is the same reason I’m taking the Celta course.

Permalink Reply by Marc Haynes on March 21, 2011 at 1:25pm

Hello. The Wall Street Institute seems like an organization I would like to be employed by. They have locations around the world and at some point I may be interested in opening up my own franchise in another country.

“Cloze Exercise” is new to me. I am familiar with the technique but I never heard this term before.

My recommendation for the website is to make jobs searchable by region and/or country.

A personal goal of mine is to build strong relationships with my classmates and be able to maintain contact even after the program is over.

I agree with Elia (and others), I too would like to become a better ESL teacher as I begin this new career path.

Marc

Permalink Reply by Sofya Ruzaykina on March 23, 2011 at 10:06pm

I was so happy to read the poem by Jeff Moss "On the Other Side of the Door". I would like to thank that person who decided to include it into the blue binder :)

I think I will be interested in applying to every school in NYC after I finish the course. I just want to teach, and at this point it doesn't really matter at which language school. I will enjoy teaching at any place, that's for sure.

The word that I didn't know was back-chaining. It's an interesting approach to drill the sentence. Can it be related to "bottom-up" theory?

For MyTeachingHouse.com website, maybe it would be convenient to have FORMS as an available link somewhere on the top of this page?

My personal goal for taking CELTA course is to learn and master teaching methods. And after that - be able to find a job at a language school. That's what everybody whom I met wishes so far. So good luck to me and to you guys!

By the way, don't be confused with my name. Sofya is my passport name, and friends and family call me Sonya. Because these two names are the same in Russia, like Alexander and Sasha - and that's my father's name!

Permalink Reply by Christina Leano on March 26, 2011 at 11:50pm

Hi Everyone,

I usually look at Dave's Cafe in order find possible job opportunities in varied countries. I specifically would like to teach in Chile, Brazil, Turkey or Thailand. They all seem like very fascinating places with diverse culture each belonging to a different economic stratosphere in global economy. I am taking the CELTA course for several reasons:

1. I love adventure and travel. Being a tourist for two weeks doesn't appeal to me, I really enjoy living in different countries and becoming part of communities. But mainly I want/need to gain enough international work experience in order to apply to graduate schools. I am looking to study international relations with a focus on foreign policy and economic development. While I am abroad I would love to be able to work with an NGO or develop specialized after school projects specifically for girls to combine English learning with other skills (computers, business) in order to foster more independence and empower women, something that I believe is lacking in third world/peripheral nations.

2. While I am teaching abroad I hope to be able to do intensive travel in the neighboring regions. I also hope to teach in several different countries. I speak french but ideally I would be able to pick up more language fluency skills maybe in Spanish or Portuguese or Arabic (eeeek!); this is another requirement for Int'l relations grad programs.

3. My ultimate goal is to live in different countries and immerse myself in different cultures in order to come back to America and get a M.A or Ph.D. I really would like to teach university students about international relations/human rights and I think the only way to really convey knowledge is if I had experienced it living in the regions first hand. Also I think that CELTA does a great job of teaching how to teach and be an effective teacher in which the students are the focus. Often times, I have had professors who lecture and jabber on while students are mentally checked out. I think that this course is giving me a great head start and practice on how to be a good professor who is aware of student's learning and not just a professor who lectures to death.

Other goals would be to pass the foreign service exam and be able to work at diplomatic missions wherever I am sent.... and to live in the present moment, going steadily without fear.

Permalink Reply by Barry De Saw on March 27, 2011 at 3:51pm

Excellent, Christina! I too am very fond of international relations (international politics, etc.) and human rights. There is so much to be done! Good luck to you, Christina. I won't forget you again.

Permalink Reply by Marc Haynes on March 27, 2011 at 5:18pm

Christina,

I agree with you. A two week vacation does not appeal to me either but I would make the best of it. I too would love to immerse myself in different cultures, get to know the people and their customs, learn and grow. Maybe later on I can write about my experiences.

See you in class.
Marc

Permalink Reply by Christina Leano on March 27, 2011 at 10:04pm

Yes it would be amazing to blog about experiences in other countries. I would actually like to make videoblogs of all of the countries and communities I get involved with. One of my dreams is to create documentary films on specialized topics maybe centered on women and microfinance in the third world. Its great that it is so much easier to do now with internet and video. I am really excited to go places completely different from NYC.

"Educational exchange can turn nations into people, contributing as no other form of communication can to the humanizing of international relations." - Senator J. William Fulbright