We heard the results of our recent training today and all the students who finished the course managed to pass, and gain the TESOL qualification. It's particularly encouraging as it was the first time we had taught the course, and we didn't always get the clearest advice as to what areas we should be covering or how the students' work would be assessed by the certificating body in the USA. It bodes well for future courses though and is a nice encouragement to end the year.
The month-long training TESOL course is nearing its end. I've really enjoyed the whole process, despite preparing and delivering the materials alongside my full-time job and a low-level cold. The trainees have been excellent throughout - hard-working, thoughtful and up for anything. They did very well on their written tests yesterday and complete their demonstration classes tomorrow. That will end the first course, but we are assured there will be a rolling programme of such courses continuing in the new year. I really hope so. I enjoy "training" more than "teaching" - always have - and would like to move yet further into that area, even it if means fewer lessons with children. Our regular "Lattitude" training course is next on the horizon - thirteen Australian teenagers arriving in February!
Dosed up with cold medications, I managed to get through my four hours of TESOL training yesterday. We started with "Educational Methodologies" (yawn) followed by "Lesson Planning" and "Teaching Speaking". It seemed to go fairly well and we're lucky to have very good bunch of teachers. Three weeks to go. Our school's first TESOL course started today, with Robert doing the first 4 hours (aided by fellow teacher Monique, who taught for 40 minutes in Dutch to give the trainees a flavour of how it felt to be a bewildered student once again). I attended and joined in for the afternoon to get a feel for the trainees and learn their names. It seemed to go very well. But as the day wore on I started to come down with a bad cold and by the time I got home this evening I was sneezing, coughing and running a temperature. Straight to bed - my four hours' training is the day after tomorrow! This last week I, along with my boss Robert, have been putting together a 32-hour course for "ATI", the American TESOL Institute, who recently opened a branch in Kunming. They are accredited to grant the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) certificate - an internationally recognised teaching qualification. Our course starts this Monday, so we've only had a week to put it together, and I'll be teaching half of it. Hopefully it will go OK, but it's had to be something of a rushed job. Fingers crossed! |
AuthorPaul Hider started this blog to share his rather odd life living in China for over 20 years. Since returning to the UK in 2024, the blog now records his more "normal" lifestyle! Past blog entries
September 2024
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