Why did you choose the International TEFL Academy?
Tom: I did some some research on what they could offer in terms of courses and found that I would easily be able to enroll and complete my course even while working full time. The online option ended up working the best for me, but I really appreciated that unlike other schools, I had the choice to decide what I wanted to do and what would allow me to continue working full time while getting certified. It definitely wasn't easy but I was able to complete the 170 hour course and now have the ability to work anywhere in the world as a certified TEFL instructor.
How did the course prepare you for teaching abroad?
Tom: While nothing can fully prepare you for that first day when you walk into the classroom, I think the curriculum did a great job of getting me ready to be prepared, yet flexible with my lesson plans. The International TEFL Academy course taught me how to manage my classroom, how to introduce subject matter to the students, and enlightened me not only to the hurdles that TEFL instructors face, but also several ways to overcome them. There have been multiple occasions where a lesson was not going as well as I wanted and then I remembered how the issues I was having were covered in my TEFL course and I was able to adapt my lesson based on the recommendations I learned in my course.
Describe your day to day activities as a teacher?
Tom I am currently a teacher at a private school in Istanbul, Turkey, and I teach approximately 170 students in 10 different classrooms in 5th through 8th grade. I am fortunate in that my classrooms are extremely nice, with smartboards and a teacher's computer in every room, so my lessons are able to include a lot of online visual and audio content. While a lot of my lessons utilize a textbook, I supplement these textbook lessons with numerous creative writing exercises, presentations and video/audio support.
My average classroom size is around 15-17 students which I think is very manageable, and I try to create a fair mix of discipline and fun to keep the students attentive yet active. My students are taught sentence structure and vocabulary on a regular basis, but we also go into completely different territory at times. For example, I had an exercise in January where my students were tasked with writing and then acting out a 5-10 minute game show. I had them watch an episode of "Wheel of Fortune" and then they wrote their own show to perform in front of the class. My Principle attending one of the presentations and actually asked if I would be willing to have the students perform this exercise on Parents day at the end of the year, to show their own English skills as well as their sense of Humor - of course my response was definitely yes!
How has this experience impacted your future?
Tom: I can't believe the doors that have been opened from this experience. I was not a teacher before I became TEFL certified and I have a whole new appreciation for this profession. I think the biggest benefit to me is that I now have the confidence that no matter where I am in the world, I feel that I can find work easily. That's a pretty great feeling to have, especially with so many people struggling to find work everywhere in the world right now.
My wife is an experienced teacher and we now have all the flexibility imaginable to travel throughout the world with guaranteed employment. I also teach private lessons to business owners and executives since my history is in the business world, but my TEFL certification provided me with the ability to create great lesson plans to ensure a never ending client base for these lessons outside of my primary teaching job, and the money in private lessons can be quite substantial.
What is one piece of advice you would give to those thinking about pursuing a TEFL certificate?
Tom: My one piece of advice would be that in an unsure economy, having your TEFL certificate allows you more freedom than almost any other degree or certification out there. The demand for good English teachers is amazingly high in almost every country in the world, as English has been adopted as the primary global language. I would tell others that we are very fortunate to have been raised as native English speakers and that we have an advantage because of this, and that others throughout the world are willing to pay us good money to help them learn the English language.
With only 37% of Americans having passports, those of us willing to travel and see the world are in high demand and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. An intelligent person who is willing to get TEFL certified, put in a few years of hard work, and then work full time and/or market themselves well can make very good money and more importantly, see an amazing amount of this huge world in the process. It's very humbling to see how much is out here in the world, and I feel as though I've barely scratched the surface...yet.