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 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 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 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 Dustin Lilleskov on March 27, 2011 at 5:29pm

Looking through English Language Schools in China, I thought Shane English School in Shanghai (http://www.shane.com.cn/index.asp) looked like a good school to teach at because of its location in Shanghai (known as a cultural center of China), its course emphasis on all 4 language skills, the way it leads students through levels of fluency while immersing them in the language and reinforcing it with English-speaking culture, and because it offers learners different settings to learn the language in (one-on-one, small groups, themed activities).

Permalink Reply by Dustin Lilleskov on March 27, 2011 at 5:38pm

One suggestion I have for MyTeachingHouse.com is to make my group a part of my home page and profile page. Instead of going to Groups and finding my group, I think it would be easier and more organized if it had a link I could click on from my profile.

A personal goal I have for the CELTA course is to learn to make effective lesson plans and feel comfortable planning out my lessons. Related to this, I'd like to be able to plot out a course over a semester and be able to identify what I'll need to teach my students and what kind of lessons, resources, and assignments I'll use to teach them.

Permalink Reply by David Goldberg on March 27, 2011 at 7:02pm

The choices in the international directory of English language schools were dizzying, but I choose IALF Bali, partly because there was working link to a web site to get more information. They have schools based in East Java and Bali, two places I would like to return to.

A word I did not know from the glossaries: Back-Chaining.
It sounds like an old farming practice – “They back chained the lower acreage to improve drainage.” Who knew it meant: “When drilling a longer sentence, it’s sometimes useful to break it down into chunks. Starting from the end of the sentence and working back chunk by chunk helps to maintain rhythm and correct word stress.”

A recommendation for this web site:
Include a way to delete photos in the “My photos” section. Wouldn’t you know I put the profile picture in the wrong spot!

Goals:
My personal goal in taking this course is to pass. In addition, there are two concrete tools I will gain once I do pass. I will become a better teacher to my students in NYC, and this certificate will open doors for overseas work.

Permalink Reply by MJ on March 27, 2011 at 7:50pm

I agree with your request for a delete option when posting images.

Permalink Reply by Jackie on March 30, 2011 at 7:24am

Hey David! Backchaining is a drilling technique. I will demonstrate it in the Phonology 3 session. However, I can kind of show you here in very simple terms so that hopefully you get the idea. Here's a sentence: We're going to the beach tomorrow.
T: tomorrow
Ss: tomorrow
T: beach tomorrow
Ss: beach tomorrow
T: to the beach tomorrow
Ss: to the beach tomorrow
T: going to the beach tomorrow
Ss: going to the beach tomorrow
T: We're going to the beach tomorrow
Ss: We're going to the beach tomorrow

basically, we start from the back and go forward. this is used for mostly difficult -to-pronounce sentences. i used a very basic example.

clearer?

Jackie ;-)

Permalink Reply by David Goldberg on March 30, 2011 at 7:28pm

Yes, clearer, thanks - but I thought we had class tomorrow! ;-)

Permalink Reply by MJ on March 27, 2011 at 7:48pm

A SCHOOL of INTEREST:
ALC in Nepal - http://www.alc.edu.np/professional_english.php
This American Language Center a school that I think I might be interested in applying to after the course is competed. It states it is the oldest and best teaching program in Nepal and for more than thirty years. The center designs and teaches custom made and special needs courses and addresses the adult learner.
Examples of programs I would be interested in teaching:
English for Tourism
Survival English Skills
English for Hotel Personnel

Permalink Reply by MJ on March 27, 2011 at 7:53pm

GLOSSARY WORD:
A word I never heard of from Glossary of ESL Terms is ‘Cuisenaire Rods.

Permalink Reply by Jackie on March 30, 2011 at 7:30am

MJ: I took this from Wikipedia to try to make it short and sweet:
The rods are named after their inventor, Georges Cuisenaire (1891-1976), a Belgian primary school teacher, who published a book on their use in 1952 called Les nombres en couleurs. The use of rods for both mathematics and language teaching was developed and popularized by Caleb Gattegno in many countries around the world.
Though primarily used for mathematics, they have also become popular in language-teaching classrooms, particularly The Silent Way. They can be used to teach items such as prepositions of place, sentence and word stress.
Basically, they are colored wooden or plastic rods of various sizes used to point out grammar, or pronunciation, as stated above.
Mostly used in the Silent Way, which is another approach to teaching which we won't cover in this course. It is what it says it is...virtually no talking by the teacher...the Ss are directed to speak with uses of cuisenaire rods and maybe some pictures.

Hope that helps,

Jackie

Permalink Reply by MJ on March 27, 2011 at 7:53pm

RECOMMENDATION:
A recommendation I have for MyTeachingHouse.com. is to check for working links in the School Directory.
It would make researching the database a more efficient use of time.

Permalink Reply by MJ on March 27, 2011 at 7:56pm

GOAL:
My current goal is obtaining the knowledge and skills necessary to be a successful instructor of CELTA methodology and receive CELTA certification.