Hi to one and all.
I've nearly finished my 120hr course - thoroughly enjoyed it but it was tougher than I expected it to be, though I've passed it all so far. I'd just like to pass on some things regarding assignments to anyone just starting out - hindsight is a wonderful thing...
Give yourself plenty of time - don't sit down on a sunday afternoon and think you're going to do a whole assignment, plan to spread it over two or even three days or else you just end up going over the same things and coming up with no sensible answers - yet the next day it all seems to drop into place.
On the subject of time, whilst looking for help with assignment questions I got so sidetracked reading round the topics on the net my assignments took me ages. It's all beneficial, but it eats your time away.
Save everything you type as often as possible - I know it says so, but DO IT. It's annoying having to scroll up and down the page to get back to where you were, but not half as bad as having to re-do (and re-remember) everything you wrote because you accidently closed the wrong window or hit Ctrl and shift by mistake! There are several false keystrokes that will wipe out all your work.
Read the whole assignment before you start. While searching for help with one question you might spot things that can help with a later question and it gives a more rounded approach to your work.
Use all the material that you are given - don't just download it for later, use the Teachers toolkit and the lesson plan book, but stock up on printer cartridges if you want to print it all out - there's a mountain of it! Watch the videos and look up the 'net references.
Get cracking - don't cut it fine, you might have to re-do a question. Just remember, i to i make money from you if you need to extend, so they're not going to give you way too much time are they?!
Good luck. P.S for anyone doing Young learners there's a brilliant list of games on eslkidstuff.com For the rest of the stuff you have to subscribe - £16 but it looks good.
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Well I didn't make the deadline so spent another 'ton' but the system was nice enough to give me $25 discount which was MUCH appreciated. I did get my Grammar Course completed and am looking at completing the 60hr one in a couple of days, so the 'hurry-up effect' of the 30 day deadline has had a positive effect.
Good point about power cuts, Jason, which means I guess I'm obliged to mention the other tech issue which is - ensure you BACK UP your work! It's bad enough getting computer gremlins at any time but when you've got these sorts of deadlines and all your hours of work at stake, my advice is clear - DON'T take silly chances and put everything onto a thumb drive as you end work for the day. A second copy is also a good idea, particularly if you intend taking one on a international trip. Keep that backup drive in a safe spot for access if required. In fact being a belt AND braces man, if I was off tefling to Thailand, I'd take two back up copies with me PLUS leave my master copy back home with my Dad.
Congrats on completing your course, Jason, and all the very best to you too, Ian
I just finished my course and yes your right on all those points, made me laugh on your comments about reasons to save your work. You forgot to mention power cuts, yes I really did have this happen to me lol ;)
And the advise about giving yourself plenty of time is a must, I took the hard route and left it till the very last month. Maybe it's not that difficult for some people on a 120h course which I think takes 240h, but nearly one week later and I still feel exhausted uuff. Enjoyed reading your post and good luck.
Hi Tina,
Sorry for the very long respone time- I have had to buy another 30 days and then leave tefl for 3-4 weeks to focus on my UNI TESOL studies. I have 12 000 wrds to write for my UNI study - whew! Only 5 days left in my course so unless a miracle happens, I reckon I'll bebuyhign ANOTHER 30 days. Should have gone for the 3 months for $250 and just been done with it and taken the pressure down. You are SO right about the money thing you mentioned. Now I know about the help and guidance available on the Chalkboard, I'm hoping I can scrape through by the deadline.
IN hindsight I wish I'd signed up for only the 60hr General Course and the 20hr Grammar Course this semester and bought into the others later on in the year.
Your tips are excellent I would certainly join with you in recommending these things as a way of studying and learning more efficiently.
Some of the research papers in pure linguistics are pretty heavy, more like pure science and branch into the relatively new and rapidly-advancing field of neurolinguistics - a very interesting area! Others are more general especially pragmatics which is the field that delas with the subtleties and nuances of English as it is spoken. I have done a paper looking at euphemisms, political correctness also touching on dysphemisms, (bad language!) and things like metaphor and politeness. This has been really interesting there are several good books available on Amazon most are for the popular audience and can be quite entertaining. This is an area that is really difficult for non-native speakers to negotiate. It also offers an fascinating window into human nature, as euphemisms are common throughout languages and usually arise from taboo topics in different cultures - all of course, reflected through language idioms.
I'd better get back to it. One essay to finish by tomorrow and I hope to be tefling again over the weekend. Ciao Ian
Hi Ian,
I thought I was the only one who had noted down all my quizz scores!! I even noted the time taken as I thought it might be useful, but when I got to the grammar module with 58 quizzes I gave up!! Like you, I also wanted to know the right answers when I got a question wrong and if I couldn't see straightaway what I'd done I did the tests again until I go it all right.
I wish I'd noted the total time I spent, because (like you), I spent way more than the 120 hours if you include the online research and poking around on chalkboard that I did. One other tip I would give people, in hindsight, is to write the assignment questions on a piece of paper so you can look at them when your not logged on - that way you can think about them while you're doing the washing up - and you can flit from one to the other in your mind rather than staring like a zombie at your acreen until nothing makes any sense at all!
I assume your university course gives you a lot more depth - does it? Some of the things I found on the internet - research papers on subjects such as how people learn, phonetics, linguistics - eeekk!
I didn't get to do the classroom module in the end as it was cancelled due to low student numbers and I could manage another date. Hope you've managed to pass everything OK. What are your teaching plans when you've qualified?
Excellent advice, all true in my experience. Best bit is: GET STARTED! Like many I found the first few Modules and 2 Checkpoints easy but it gets more involved. Also because I want to become really at this game and learn the ropes thouroughly, I have spent WAY more than the suggested hours at each stage. I have found it easy to pass everything, but I have carefully made a second attempt on ALL my Quizzes to lift my scores from 18/20 up to 20/20, simply because it means I get to learn the finer points I bungled on the first go. This has generally only taken me a few minutes or even seconds so it hasn't added onerously to the time taken BUT in the Summary/Review assessment section of the first Grammar Course module, it certainly did.
I signed up for the 140hours, will do my Classroom stuff mid-year in Melbourne - I am nearly finished the 120 hours online with only two days to go. I've spent at least 90 hours on the 60hour Course and so far 15 hours on only 1/4 of the so-called 20hour Grammar Course. I reckon that my 120 hr course will be more like 180-200 hours by the time I've finished. Good value, - oh yes I think so, even though I'm going to have to blow another $125 on an extension, I'd say it is very good value and I haven't even used the Resources section much as I'm also studying fulltime at Uni for my Grad Cert in Education (TESOL) at the same time(!), but not actually classroom teaching.
SO a tough semester's study, but ultimately very rewarding. I DO wish I'd followed up and found out that so much online guidance was available for the Checkpoints though - until last night, I have done the entire course in isolation. Folks seem to really enjoy the chat, the support and the encouragement.
Blessings to all, Ian in TAS
Hi liiani, it's definitely worth the effort to do the course for what you will get out of it, apart from the certificate. Even if you don't start teaching straight away or even if you never teach seriously, if you live in a non English speaking country there will always be someone who asks you for a lesson. Some good friends of mine asked me to teach their two children last year and I made a right hash of it - I felt so guilty as they willingly paid me. I have had other similar experiences too. This was my motivation to do a TEFL course - so I could help people who want to learn and not just take their money for nothing. I don't know that I will ever make a living at teaching, although the idea is quite attractive. As for feeling ready, all I can say is that I now feel ready to try.
thank you for the hindsight. I'm working through the 120hr course myself now and some days are more task-oriented than others ;) I was wondering, when everything was said and done, do you feel ready? Does it feel worth it?
Congratulations on nearing the end of your course!
I'm sure Chalkboarders will find your top tips useful, thanks for sharing!
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