CELTA Course with Teaching House: Locations Throughout the Globe!

To be honest with you, I had no idea what I was getting myself into and I did have breaking points and moments when I just thought I would quit the Course because yes- it is that hard!
When you don't have extensive lesson plans to work on you will have even more comprehensive written assignments where you will be expected to quote from certain authors and at least gist the books to get an idea on what you are supposed to write about.
Your typical day starts with a morning input where you get an insight of teaching methodology that you will be expected to apply the next day, if not that same afternoon. Inputs are fun and educational and super interactive so no dozing off in the back of the classroom, participate and engage yourself in debates, you will need it later! After the input, you will have a Guided Lesson Planning if you're teaching the next day while those teaching the same day will be running around the school preparing lesson materials.
Teaching Practice happens every day between 2 and 4 pm. Your tutors and fellow trainers are sitting in the back evaluating your teaching methods and efficacy which they will later present in the most crucial part of your day- Feedback! That's where all the juicy stuff happens, where you get constructive criticism and key points to work on for your next lesson. Be open to constructive criticism, be humble and ready to change the way you think about teaching.
Your day ends at around 5.15 pm and don't think now you can have some dinner and coffee with your friends because chances are-you can't! You have tons of work to do on your lesson plan and assignments which will extend to stupid o'clock, sometimes even pulling an all-nighter.
So eat well, sleep as much as you can, try and get some rest over the weekends if you don't have assignment re-subs and be super determined to do the best you can.
Work with your classmates because you will often have connected lessons and make sure students come first- they deserve an awesome class that I assure you- you can deliver.

It's been, by far, the best four weeks of my life and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who is serious about EFL career.
I met a whole heap of amazing people and I honestly miss working with them and going through all of that together.

So my advice is don't hesitate and do it! And while doing it, take it step by step, work with your classmates, believe in yourself, work hard and enjoy it, and if you're not a coffee drinker-now might be the time to reconsider that because you will need caffeine in unlimited amounts :)

9am - Be at Teaching House. Begin morning lessons.
12pm - Lunch break for one hour.
5pm - End observations and teaching demonstrations.
12am - Finish preparing/homework.

A month might not seem like a long time, it is when you have a daily schedule that lasts this long. You get crammed full of experience and you're genuinely prepared for your first classroom when you step into your first job abroad.

Because you will get a job abroad. And pack your bags as soon as your done with this course because you'll get a job quickly. And barring any novice mistakes when you're job searching, you'll get a good job. CELTAs are world-renowned for producing quality teachers and that's what you'll be when you step outside this course. Some countries/jobs even hold CELTAs almost as high as teaching certificates in your home country (which means you could be working at a high-paying public/private school job, like me). You can also work at an international school, which would be otherwise closed to you with just a regular TEFL certificate.

You'll do a lot of paperwork for each teaching demonstration you do, not because you'll have to do that on your job, but because it is all good things you should be thinking about before you step into the classroom.

And you're working with genuine ESL/EFL students which is great because you get to know them, but not as well as you'll get to know your fellow classmates. I'm still friends with many of them and almost all of them are teaching abroad somewhere.

The staff, towards the end of the course, will have a day that you choose where in the world you want to teach and you'll have a sit down with a staff member who has been to that part of the world and you'll talk to them specifically about what kind of work you want to do and where you can begin looking for jobs. The staff is also there to bounce ideas off of when you're planning your lessons, which is a lot like the real world (teachers are kind of like blobs that roll around and stick to other things from other teachers and then the things become a part of them).

It's expensive. Yup. But if you look at it like you'll be getting paid higher with this certification than friends that don't have it, then it evens out. Ya know, like what a college education used to be.

Take the course. Study hard. Drink lots of coffee. And get a job abroad.

It's been a few years, but when I decided that I wanted to teach abroad, I went to Teaching House New York to get CELTA certified. Overall, the program was rigorous and intense, but it really helped prepare me for teaching abroad. They gave great instruction in methodology, and integrated practice teaching into every day of our program. Support was great, and they have a job search engine exclusive to Teaching House alumni that later helped me find a substitute position.

The course is the best thing I've done! The tutors are super helpful and the staff was incredibly nice and available.
The input sessions are very good and as a trainee you receive one to one feedback in every point of your lessons, and suggestions on how to prepare your lessons effectively.
Looking forward to the DELTA.

Overall experience was rewarding as I felt that I left prepared to teach English effectively and professionally. It was also quite revealing in bringing out the good and bad in both my teaching style and methods so I left confident of my ability yet well aware of where I needed to polish things up. Considerable tedious homework and detailed class plans make things very hectic so long days, very long nights and full-time weekends are prerequisite and even then good time management is essential to keep up. Teaching theory given in the mornings is well presented and expected to be applied in the observed practice teaching sessions in the afternoons. Pre-course reading of textbooks by Jim Scrivener (Learning Teaching) and Jeremy Harmer (The Practice of English Language Teaching) are definitely recommended. Lastly, having 24/7 internet access is helpful.

The overall experience I found was good.

Here are the Pro's

First, I found the staff at the Teaching House and IH very friendly and helpful.

Second, teachers conducted engaging Teacher Input sessions, and provided constructive feedback and support.

Third, The location and the House itself is nice and controlled (you can't get lost or walk to far to come in and out).

Fourth, the overall program is good in that it is a hands on experience teaching. And it is good that the students in the class know we are being monitored, so that they can forgive our mistakes.

Con's or at least some things to consider improving.

Seating - while I understand that it is expensive to bring in bigger desks. My experience with seating is that my papers and books would constantly fall off the desk during input or trying to work on guided discovery planning. This would cause me to lose papers and important notes on occasion.

Printing - I'm sure I am not the first to say that we definitely need more printing pages (and maybe a lecture from teachers at the beginning of the class on ways to save space and paper when printing lesson materials.

Binders and Additional notes from each class - It would be helpful to have dividers in the binder that categorize each stage / category of the program, so that it reduces the time of organizing multiple papers handed out throughout the day into the appropriate section of the binder.

Language Analysis for Grammar and materials for lesson plans.
If someone is enrolled into the program I believe they should either be strong on their pre-interview grammar test, or in the beginning of the course be offered a separate or additional grammar analysis course to help them. Although our teachers taught briefly on language analysis, I feel the instruction wasn't focused enough here especially for those of us who needed it.

There were others in my class who like myself struggled with this task - us mature, professional working folk who graduated from college many moons ago (or who didn't have sufficient grammar teaching in our school days, were slightly at a disadvantage in this area). It was especially difficult completing this task at length when there are other materials to prepare and cover.

Computer (Lab) Rooms, in the lab students (especially in my class) were pretty loud in talking to each other. Their talking usually did not involve working together on their teaching projects. - In the evening, after class, I found it difficult to focus and get my work done while students were talking (non related to their work). I know there is a sign in there about talking, but I myself didn't notice this towards the last week of my being there. I know students should naturally be aware of this but a more prominent sign asking students to speak lower plus a word from the teacher themselves might make this more effective.

At times I felt one of our teachers was giving more praise to some students over others, during their feedback, which had more to do with the student's lengthy language analysis work than their actual lesson execution.

Schedule, The shift in the middle of the course from teaching Pre-Int to Upper Int cause discrepancies in our teaching schedules. What the teacher was scheduling us for (days and subject) conflicted with the schedule that was handed out to us in the beginning of the course.

Overall it was a good experience and I met some friendly people and learned a lot about teaching english, about people and myself.

From my first interaction with Teaching House, when I was researching programs in the fall, the enrollment staff were very pleasant and helpful. They gave me honest advice about where I could expect to get a job once I graduated. I spent nearly half an hour on the phone with them. They didn't rush me, and they helped me understand every step of the process. During the course, any time I needed help, they were always willing to drop whatever they were doing to assist with printers, help locate materials, books, supplies or CDs. The Director of the school would even pop into the computer lab from time to time when we were working on assignments late at night and she would check in on us to see how we were doing and provide technical (or emotional) support.
The teachers were awesome. I had Fiona and Sharon. Other reviewers have mentioned more one-on-one time with the teachers, but I felt that when I sought the teachers out for help, they were always willing to set aside time to provide feedback.
This course is intensive, but I feel like if you set aside enough time for it, and you are the type of person who made decent grades in college, then you probably won't have trouble on this course.

The first day included a T/F exercise - " I will have time to go away for the weekend" - How little did I realize the truth of that statement being False! Intensive is an understatement of the time and commitment needed to finish the course successfully.
However - I can think of no better way to spend a month if you are looking to move into the ESL field. Our instructors, Amir and Robert, were exceptional. Information was coming fast and furious, but they somehow managed to give a sense that all can be accomplished with hard work and discipline. Teaching every other day was a critical part of feeling like what you learned could be put into practice. Assessment by instructors as well as classmates proved invaluable for improvement in lesson planning and teaching. Saturdays in the computer lab were an integral part of finishing all assignments with the support staff and classmates.
The surprise of the course was the relationships that were formed. Being surrounded with people with very similar goals and appreciation for all cultures is something that will not soon be forgotten. The CELTA experience added so much to my life. Not only an immediate job ( I know I was lucky to get one close to home until I can go abroad ), but friends and colleagues who will remain an integral part of my life.