Glad i got your attention.
How many times do you see the above title and think "not another person wanting help"
I remember when i first started doing the course almost a year ago and i wasn't aware of chalkboard and so if i needed help i either had to get a book, research online or contact my tutor.
In fact these are the things YOU should be doing.
The course is not only for learning but is also a test, an exam...and in exams if you CHEAT, COPY, USE SOMEONE ESLE'S ANSWER you are plagiarising someone else's work - and if you get caught, you fail.
Also in the long run you are not helping anyone, certainly not yourself, and when the time comes to teach for real you're gonna be "crap, i can't do this, where's xxx when you need them, thats who i copied my answer from"
Seriously though, those of us who are teaching and have completed the course we are more than happy to help - we've been there and done it - we know what its like to hit a brick wall...it hurts...it can knock your confidence and make you feel stupid...sometimes you feel like crying and saying to yourself "you cant do it, you're stupid, why bother"
Sometimes you're afraid to fail, you expect 100% and no less - well let me share with you a little secret "NOONE IS PERFECT - NOT EVEN YOU!!!" so stop trying to be.
In fact its better to fail because then you get tutors comments, you get to go back and improve and when you come to teach for real it will stick in your mind and it will give you more confidence.
Also, if you're afraid to fail, when you come to teach you will become predictable, boring and unadventurous and no longer able to maintain your students interest...therefore - dont be afraid to try...everyone makes mistakes and its one of the best ways to learn...if you're not afraid to fail, then your students wont be - remember they look up to you.
I always tell my students to try and to keep trying - eventually it will click - if they really need help i will point them in the right direction - I DO NOT GIVE THEM THE ANSWER - that does not help... from time to time i make mistakes and i love it when a student has the confidence to point it out - it shows they are paying attention AND that it's ok to make mistakes.
this is why the course is designed this way - you get 3 chances to improve on answers - its not a matter of passing and failing - its matter of improving...even if on your 3rd attempt and you still dont quite get it - i-to-i is not out to fail you, the tutor will try to help and approach from a different angle - they just want you to push yourself
---SO HERE IS MY ADVICE IF YOU NEED HELP
1) TRY - you wont know until you try...your tutor will give you comments whether you pass or dont succeed the first time
2) If you dont at first succeed, try, try again! - you have 3 attempts, don't see it as not passing or failing if the tutor says "look at section 2 again"...it just means its not quite right - so its not a fail, its just you didn't quite succeed so have another go
3) if you dont understand a tutors comment, ask your tutor to explain
4) if you dont understand the question - ask! - here on chalkboard our aim is NOT to give you the answer but to help you to understand the question...sometimes you might need to think outside the box, take a risk, take a step back, talk to friends and family about what they would do, stop trying to be perfect
5) RESEARCH!!! - this course is aimed to get you thinking - it doesn't provide you with all the answer - trust me, thats impossible to do because teaching is an art, you can't teach art - only the techniques, the outcome is different for everyone...so sometimes to understand something you have to research it, buy a book, google it etc... for example - if you dont understand grammar GET A GRAMMAR BOOK! this is also useful for when you start teaching...also if you dont know phonetics GOOGLE IT - the internet has websites that can play the sound (something a book cannot)...theres also apps for phonetics.
FINALLY - CHALKBOARD
Yes, by all means you can get help here BUT NOT ANSWERS!
If you are stuck - follows these steps
1) create a new blog with the checkpoint number AND question number
2) first tell us if this is your 1st, 2nd or 3rd attempt
3) if its your first attempt - please only ask if you need clarification on an answer - PLEASE WRITE THE QUESTIONS AND YOUR ANSWER (if you have an answer) we can help you to understand but nothing more - ideally you should at least try for yourself before asking for help
4) if its your 2nd or 3rd attempt please include THE QUESTION, YOUR LATEST ANSWER, WITH TUTORS COMMENTS - we can then help to clarify the tutors comments and/or point you in the right direction
REMEMBER WE DONT ALL HAVE ACCESS TO THE QUESTIONS SO YOU NEED TO INCLUDE THEM - WE ARE ALSO NOT GOING TO GIVE YOU THE ANSWER SO DON'T EXPECT THIS, FINALLY WE NEED THE TUTORS COMMENTS.
IF YOU DONT WANT TO DISPLAY YOUR ANSWER THEN SAY THIS - WE WILL RESPOND WITH A COMMENT AND YOU CAN SEND YOUR ANSWERS IN A PRIVATE MESSAGE.
Example
Title - HELP! CHECK POINT 2, Q1
Hi, this is my 2nd attempt the question is "write a lesson plan for hobbies, use the example to create your own remembering to include...." (write the whole question, im just lazy...lol)
Please comment below if you can help - i prefer to send my answer and teachers comments via private message
thank you
---
Hope this helps! - enjoy and good luck
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Sometimes its hard to know what the question means, what are they looking for exactly. When I did my course, I spent a lot of time researching and reading a wide variety of posts and sites related to TEFL. I found most of my questions answered somewhere on the web.. I was not looking for the specific answer, just to understand what was needed in my answer, as many times I was really unsure. Just finished with classroom module in Dublin last Sat/Sun. So all done now. Am so delighted and relieved to have all completed sucessfully. Now for the hard bit.....
Good luck all and don't feel time researching on the internet is time wasted. If you were doing a course in college, you would be spending a lot of time in the library. We are lucky to have a big library at our fingertips... The WWW.
Happy teaching
Patricia
when i did the course i got an email stating who the course tutor was...everytime it changed i got a new email to state this... i far as i can remember you can respond by replying to the email.
generally speaking the name of the person marking should be on the email - so when you email the help desk you should include that persons name...
furthermore, read the comments carefully - many people do misunderstand them...again generally speaking most tutors more or less point you to where the answers can be found...or they just tell you the one bit to focus on (some people change everything, and then their back to square one.
on top of all this...the tutor is not a 'personal tutor'...this is an online course and generally they are there to mark and give feedback, not give you person help...
if you are not understanding a question or getting answers wrong then you may need to do extra reading!!!...
many people assume that all the info is in the course...anyone who does a course properly, whether it be online, a classroom course, a degree or test review, you should be doing extra reading in the field you are studying...
whilst i did the course i had a big grammar book by my side that i used for extra reading - even though ive completed the course i still read up on teaching methods etc!
the grammar course is difficult and my personal advice is that it should not be attempted without a good grammar book!
Paul,
regarding your comment: "3) if you don’t understand a tutors comment, ask your tutor to explain".
Please can you tell me HOW to get in touch with the particular tutor who marks the assignment? I'm on my third attempt at the Grammar Awareness Assignment, and I'm not sure if the problem I am having is because I am misunderstanding the question or not. When I email i-to-i it is just a general email address and is answered by whoever is 'manning the desk'.
Thanks,
Ruth
Hi RuCo its Tina again, what questions on checkpoint one are you stuck on , is that the exam on Teaching Business English ???? I may be able to give you some ideas if you like , its good we all support one another as we are all striving to the same end, we tefl's. Sometimes we make the questions more difficult for ourselves, we need to think through the eyes of our potential foreign students. Good luck Tina
Paul, thank you - I enjoyed reading your post. I have just started the 140-hr combined course, and have gotten a bit disheartened that I am having trouble with the first Checkpoint, but I feel a little less worried after reading this. I was already quite happy to tackle the questions by myself, putting my own ideas in and making as best a stab at it as I can, but, I have some very small, niggling questions about some of the content of the course which is confusing me (maybe I’m a Theorist Learner!). I have trawled through as much of the ‘extra resources’ as I can to find answers, but I feel like I’m wasting time internet surfing when I really should be learning. I do not have a teaching background so a lot of this is very new to me. Do you know of any board discussions / blogs / anything at all, where these issues are being discussed? I’m hoping someone else may have already posed these questions! (Otherwise, I might just post them under the relevant Checkpoint). Thanks again for the entertaining and candid post! Ruth
I completely agree with Timeflies. I too completed the online coarse before i found out about the Chalkboard.
I remember on my las checkpoint. Had to take it three times. Mainly on the lesson plan question. I knew i was going to have problems, but man that was tough for me. Looking back at it, it was great i failed many times. I completed the main online course and was proud the day that day (sunday).
I'm still continuing my course, but i have learned a lot from failing in the past. Even passed on the one-to-one assesment questions. Passed that lesson plan with almost no qualms.
Failing is great. Teaches you to think different. This coming from a construction worker.
I thoroughly agree with you Paul.
I wasn't a member of Chalkboard when I completed the course. If and when I got stuck, I went back over the module. I occasionally got stuck with answers and ideas but gave it my best shot. Sometimes I sailed through a checkpoint and sometimes it took 3 attempts. I actually found failing taught me more than passing the checkpoint at the first attempt. I found the tutors very helpful and they guided me towards passing. When I got through certain points in the checkpoint the tutors also added extra information and other ideas.
Some good points raised Paul.
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