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 (except for #4 and #5) 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 to This" 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 (hover over "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 (the big blue arrow on your course page) and find a word from one of the glossaries that you do not know.

4. Check out the Forums section of the site and watch Bill Harris' demo lesson: (VIDEO) Demo Lesson: Elementary Level Speaking/Pronunciation/Vocabulary Focus. Make a comment about the lesson on the video's discussion thread.

5. Choose another topic on the Discussion Forum section of the site to read/watch and comment on. Or, you can create your own new discussion related to teaching ideas/questions or international jobs.

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

7. 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 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,

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Karen R. DeLisle on August 5, 2011 at 7:07pm

Karen DeLisle

2) Institut fur Auslandsbeziehung (IFA- Stuttgart)
I chose this school in particular because of my plans to move to Stuttgart proceeding the course. This school has one of the strongest reputations in Stuttgart, and also is an affiliate school of the University of Cambridge.
3) CELTA 5
6) Personal Goal: I believe to have had rather insufficient prior instruction concerning the English language, and thus have not had an adequate foundation in which to learn a second language. My goal is to learn a second language by first becoming more of an expert in English.

Permalink Reply by Daniel Phillips on August 7, 2011 at 10:56pm

Hey Karen,
Seeing as you already have a solid plan for working in Stuttgart after the CELTA, do you have any tips for gaining a work Visa/permit in the EU? I've been told that it's next to impossible these days for non-EU citizens to qualify for Work visas without being married to an EU citizen.

Permalink Reply by Yekaterina Sochilovich on August 6, 2011 at 1:55pm

2. I'll answer this question a little bit later! I need a little more time to go through the schools and choose.
3. Cuisenaire Rod
6. My goal is to extend the area of my work due to new knowledge.
I teach only general English classes however I want to do more. I'd like to teach TOEFL and IELTS and other courses preparing students for exams.I believe that this course will give me an opportunity to learn lots of new information and to become a better teacher!

Permalink Reply by Rachel Lasser on August 7, 2011 at 2:37pm

Hi all! Looking forward to meeting everyone tomorrow...!

2- I'm "planning" on teaching in Taiwan and found a high school in Taichung that looks good. Not quite sure what the school is called but the organization affiliated with it is "International Avenue Consulting Company."
3-Realia.
6-My goal is to learn how to be a kick-ass English teacher! Hopefully an organized one, too.

Permalink Reply by Rachel Lasser on August 8, 2011 at 1:05am

i meant great..!

Permalink Reply by Mi Hyun Yoon on August 8, 2011 at 1:47am

Hi Rachel,
Do you speak any Chinese? If so, do you plan to incorporate Chinese at all in your teaching plans?

Permalink Reply by Hilary Simon on August 7, 2011 at 3:53pm

2. I am not sure yet where I would like to teach, but I think I would like to stay in New York for the time being. I’m fortunate that there are many opportunities to teach ESOL in New York, and I would like to work for a private language school. Unfortunately, my Firefox server is down, and I’m not currently able to open the window with Internet Explorer! However, I have an interest in EF International Language Schools because I took a Spanish course there in Barcelona. I felt that the teaching was very helpful and professional. The teacher helped foster a sense of camaraderie amongst the students, and it was an educational and fun experience. I think it would be a great opportunity if I could teach there (there is a location in Tarrytown, New York).
3. Concept Checking
6. I have had many wonderful language teachers (in both English Literature and Foreign Languages). I have teaching experience as a TA and tutor (though not in ESOL), and I would really like to share my love of the English language with ESOL learners. When I was researching ESOL training programs, the CELTA course stood out immediately because it definitely meets my goals in terms of the type of teaching I would like to pursue (for example, teaching adults). It is going to be very challenging I’m sure, but I feel that I will learn a lot, and it will prepare me to become a qualified, educated teacher.
7. Karen, I think that is fantastic that you would like to teach in Germany. My grandmother is German, and I took some German in college (although now it is really, really rusty!). My grandmother’s best friend is my German penpal :). I absolutely love Germany and seeing my relatives. I've briefly visited Stuttgart and a little bit around there (Pforzheim); I am so glad to hear you have had such great experiences there.

Permalink Reply by Daniel Phillips on August 7, 2011 at 10:48pm

Hi everyone! I look forward to meeting you all tomorrow!

2) Location: Aix-en-Provence, France. School: Inlingua language school. Ideally, I would like to teach in France in order to further my language skills. I have heard how hard it is to get an EU work visa as a non-EU citizen, so I definitely have my reservations; but since I haven't done any exhaustive research on the subject, I thought that, for now, I might as well look at schools that interest me.
This school in Aix-en-Provence looks interesting because, as a private institution, it offers a wide range of class and individual settings, which I think might create a nice and varied work environment.

3) Back-chaining.

6) To learn the skills necessary to become a confident and effective ESL teacher!

Permalink Reply by DIANA BALLESTEROS on August 8, 2011 at 12:24am

2. UNIvERSIDAD EAFIT (MEDELLIN, COLOMIBA)
First of all, I chose this country because I am moving to Colombia no later then Oct 1, 2011 and I chose this
specific private university because it has a great reputation in every way possible and also because they work
with the University of Cambridge by offering the CELTA course.

3. Cloze exercise

6. My goal is to learn all I can in order to be a great English in Colombia.

7.

Permalink Reply by Mi Hyun Yoon on August 8, 2011 at 1:43am

2. My plans have changed since I first applied and went through the interview process so I'm not sure when I will start teaching. However, I know that I want to teach in Korea, and looking through the directory of schools, I think it would be exciting to teach at the Korea Herald Institute. It is in Seoul, which is where I want to be in Korea, and since one of my majors in college was Journalism, I have a great interest in media.

3. Yekaterina also posted this word - Cuisenaire Rod. At first glance, it looks like it's maybe related to cooking.

6. To be a great English teacher, one that will hopefully leave a lasting impression on students.

Looking forward to seeing everybody in roughly T minus 7 hours!