Stephen and his fellow trainees headed to Phi Phi for the first weekend of their TEFL course.

The first week of the TEFL course is always impressive. Trainees get to meet new people from different parts of the world, teach real students for the first time and get a chance to settle into a routine. If Week One of Stephen’s TEFL course diary is any indication, his experience was no different.

Let’s find out if Week 2 of the course carried on in the same manner.

What did you do over the first weekend of the TEFL course?

Eight of us went to Phi Phi Island for the weekend. In unseasonably bad weather, it bucketed down all weekend but we didn’t let that stop us having a good time.

Are you settling into the TEFL course routine?

Very much so. Knowing in advance what we are doing every day and when we are teaching makes it easy to get into the routine.

Freakish rains hit Phuket in January and Stephen was not happy about it.

How did you feel before your 2nd teaching practice session?

I was more nervous for the 2nd than the first. It may have been because it was on the Monday straight after the big weekend and I was tired.

Did lesson planning get any easier?

It should have. I got way too consumed by the board work being perfect that I did three drafts. This took up way more time than necessary. However, I did go into the lesson very well prepared.

We covered a bit of classroom management in Week 2. Have you been able to put this to good use during your teaching practice?

Classroom management is one of many components of teaching. The biggest thing that any teacher will encounter is that the students will want to slip into their native tongue when talking to each other. By learning the subtle techniques to get them to speak English (without singling out or getting angry – both big no-no’s especially in Thailand), it was easier to manage this.

After six hours of lecture on English grammar, does it seem daunting or interesting?

Having not studied grammar for more than 30 years, the first three hours made my brain hurt. However, the second lesson was much easier to comprehend. It is important to understand how different grammar points are used when planning lessons. When you get a grasp of it, grammar can actually be interesting.

What do you think of phonology and the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)? Are you more aware of how we make sounds within a language?

This is like learning a brand-new alphabet all over again and it isn’t easy. Sounding out words is very important as it is the main way we teach English. By the end of Week 2, it is obvious there was a lot to learn and reviewing what we’re learning in class is starting to be another key component of successfully completing the course.

What better way to meet buckets of rain than with buckets of fun?

The TEFL course finishes on Friday at 12.30 every week. Is this enough time to relax over the weekend and have some time to explore Phuket?

For those students who don’t have Thai Language classes on Friday afternoon, 12.30 is the perfect time to get out on a Friday and get a start on recharging the batteries. But here’s a tip: after the second weekend of the TEFL course don’t go out and party the whole time. There are assignments due and revision to be done. Make time for this or you will get behind.

Read Stephen’s account of Week 3 here.

The post TEFL COURSE DIARY: Stephen’s 2nd week at TEFL Campus appeared first on Teaching English in Thailand.

Colby and Quico posing for a pic with Thai students back in August ’16.

Since TEFL Campus opened its doors, we have constantly tried to ensure our TEFL course is as good as it can be.

One of the best ways we do this is by asking our graduates to assess their trainers, our course and our facilities. This method of evaluation gives students the chance to rate their overall experience at TEFL Campus, and it is only fair we should receive feedback after spending a year assessing over 100 teachers.

 

How do we get the graduates’ feedback? At the end of every TEFL course, we ask graduates to fill out an anonymous survey. We make it clear to everyone that we won’t open the surveys until the course is finished so they have no fear of repercussions if they wish to express dissatisfaction.

Amy’s Thai students took her out for dinner and karaoke on her last night of teaching.

Trainees are asked to rate us on a 5-point scale in over 40 different areas of the course. Areas include everything from curriculum and accommodation, to job support service and our Thai staff. Our lowest rating in 2016 was a 4.1 for our computers–an issue which we’ve already addressed by upgrading RAM, internet speed and hardware.

We’ve included a summary of the most important aspects of the course below.

The majority of reviews and comments — even the critical ones — we received from past trainees were constructive, which is hopefully a reflection of the constructive advice and criticism our trainees received during their teaching practice.

Soaking up the sun over a well-deserved weekend on the beach.

All of us at TEFL Campus are thankful for our graduates’ feedback. Because of this information we are confident we’ll improve our weakest areas in 2107. We’ve already implemented plans to update our technology used in lessons, purchase new course books and consolidate course materials into one course manual.

If you’re looking to improve your teaching skills, or to simply enter the classroom for the first time as a certified EFL teacher, the best thing you can do for yourself is to take a TEFL certification course.

Contact us now for more information on how we can help you achieve your goals in 2017.

If you’d like to read comments graduates have made in their surveys, please visit the testimonials page of our website. Comments start just under the orange line, slightly down the page.

The post Learning from learners: TEFL Campus satisfaction ratings are in appeared first on Teaching English in Thailand.

Kathy poses for her official TEFL course photo.

Kathy has finally finished her TEFL training course in Phuket. She passed her exams, finished all of her assignments and completed her observed teaching practice. Although she’s too modest to say it, she excelled in almost every area of the course and we’re sad to see her go.

Was her TEFL training a success? Will she get a TEFL job in Thailand? Is Kathy happy TEFL Campus Phuket’s onsite training course? By the sounds of it, it seems everything worked out better than expected.

(Be sure to read Kathy’s diaries for Week 1, Week 2, and Week 3 before reading on.) 

You said you’d be sleeping and studying over the weekend leading up to Week 4; is that what you ended up doing?
I studied a bit but I also all meet up friends and explored Phuket. I also got my first case of food poisoning, but it was pretty mild.

Everyone took the grammar/phonetics mock exam on Monday; how did it go? Did it help prepare you for the real TEFL course exam?
I felt much more confident after the mock exam because it let me know exactly what I needed to work on and what I had already mastered.

Were you happy with your final teaching practice session?
It wasn’t my strongest lesson because I was pretty nervous and excited to be done with the course, and to find out what I had gotten on my exam. I was a bit distracted to say the least.

Teachers often need to conduct a demonstration lesson in order to land a good job. Do you think the course prepared you to successfully deliver a demo lesson?
It definitely gave me the framework to create a successful lesson. I will have to adapt it to young learners but with my experience working with children that shouldn’t be hard.

Trainees tend to get stressed out about the final exam. Was it as difficult as you thought it would be?
There were parts of it that seemed quite difficult at the time, but they were also the parts that I did the best on for some reason.

Kathy and her cohorts celebrate passing the exams.

How did you and your fellow trainees celebrate the completion of your course?
We all went to dinner then came back and had beers at our Sakul House accommodation. It wasn’t the wildest celebration but everyone was in a great mood.

How does it feel to be a newly TESOL certified teacher?
It feels great and  I’m so happy to be done…now to find a job (she did, see update below).

Are you happy with your decision to take a TEFL course?
Yes, and I know it actually prepared me to teach English in Thailand. It was also filled with great people and we genuinely had a good time in class every day.

Now that you’ve been in Phuket Town for a while, how do you rate it as a location in relation to the rest of Phuket?
I do really like it but I wish I was closer to the beach.

Emily, Arlene and Kathy taking in a sunset over Patong Beach.

What was the toughest part of adjusting to life in Thailand?
I am constantly getting lost on my motorbike because I can’t use my phone for GPS while I’m on my scooter. But that is just me and my bad navigation skills, not really with Thailand.

Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently?
Maybe I should have put a little more effort into one of the big class projects. I just wanted to get it out of the way so I could study for the exam, but I could have done a better job on it.

Are you looking forward to getting out into the real TEFL world and find a job?
Definitely, and I’m really hoping for a kindergarten teaching position either here or in Chiang Mai. The job hunt will start this Monday.

Would you say that TEFL Campus lived up to your expectations—be honest.
It really did. The TEFL course was difficult but I knew it would be going into it. It was fun, and I made lots of friends through it. Which was exactly what I wanted.

UPDATE:
We’re happy to announce that Kathy was offered a job up in Chiang Mai and in Phuket. She decided to work for  the highest-paying entry-level school on Phuket. She’s earning more than 40,000 baht per month and that’s not too shabby for just coming off our TEFL course.

We’re very happy to hear our TEFL course exceeded Kathy’s expectations and that we were able to help her find a job.

We hope Kathy’s TEFL course diary helped illustrate just how easy is it so achieve your goals of teaching English abroad. Kathy’s story is similar to that of hundreds of trainees we’ve helped over the years.

To find out more about how we can help you achieve you reach your goal of teaching English abroad, be sure to contact us.

The post TEFL Course Diary: Kathy’s last week in Phuket appeared first on Teaching English in Thailand.