Ok, so the last time I blogged was the beginning of January. It's now April. How fast is this year going?!
The first three months of 2016 went by in a flurry of lesson plans and PowerPoint presentations. Thankfully my hard-work paid off and I passed my CELTA with a Pass B, which is only awarded 24% of students worldwide - woohoo! Though achieving a 'Pass' is a feat in itself and is really all you need to be able to teach afterwards.
The course was full on and threw me right in the deep end of teaching English Language. Fortunately, I didn't have other work or family commitments so I was able to keep on top of the assignments and lesson planning - organisation is key to surviving and passing CELTA! I also didn't have to resubmit any assignments which helped me to keep on track. Knowledge of English Language is vital, or you'll find yourself trying to learn grammar alongside all the other work you have to do - Martin Parrott's 'Grammar for English Language Teachers' is a godsend.
Our daily structure was input sessions in the morning, where we would learn about teaching methodologies, and then teaching practise in the afternoon. I loved that the methods taught focused on involving the students as much as possible and keeping 'teacher talk' to the minimum - pretty much the contrary to how most of us were taught in school. At first I was so nervous about teaching practise, but as I taught more lessons my confidence grew and I ended up loving the challenge of creating a lesson and delivering it in a successful, fun way; there really is nothing better than seeing students progress and learn new things, and comment on how much they enjoyed and benefited from the lesson.
I would 100% recommend CELTA to anyone who is interested in teaching, or wants to further their skills and 'add another string to their bow'. I love that I now have the freedom of travelling pretty much anywhere and being able to teach English to adults or children. The course challenged me in various ways and the trainers encouraged us to be as independent as possible, so even if I don't end up teaching EFL I have gained so many transferable skills as well as a strong awareness of English.
Now, to the future *dun dun dun*. I had a battle deciding whether to stay in the UK or start teaching abroad. I've decided to stay where I am for now and get a Teaching Assistant job in a local school, so I can continue to dip my toe into teaching and get more classroom experience. If I get the itch to go abroad then I think English summer camps will be a great short-term option.
Who knows where the future will take me, but for now I'm pretty happy just trying to get as much experience as possible! If you have any questions about CELTA, leave a comment and I'll get back to you.
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