Dec 23

TIPS FOR TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING

Posted on December 23, 2011 by rida

TIPS TO HAVE TECHNOLOGY IN YOUR CLASSROOM TEACHING

By: Rida Afrilyasanti

teaching technology

teaching technology

Technology is not something anymore in the classroom teaching as it effectively engages students’ interest no matter what application or curriculum it is used for.

Here are some tips you need to consider as you decide to have technology in your classroom teaching:

1. Have some training.

Some training will give you some basic understanding how computers operate and what to do when they do not work properly. You do not need to be an expert on it because schools usually have an instructional technology specialist that will help you if you find problems that you possibly cannot solve. Be familiar with some web browsers and websites that provide tech-integration tutorials and teaching resources.

2. Collaborate with your students.

You may be so surprised to know that your students know more about technology. That is not impossible as your students are 21st century learners. Cooperate with your students and keep in mind that it is all about and for your students not you. Therefore, it does need their role into the activity employed. Your students, moreover, will probably appreciate you asking for their help and it may spur them to take ownership of the program.

3. Always have plan B

There are always some possibilities that you may not be able to employ technology in your classroom although you have already planned it well. Although you can minimize unwanted surprises by getting some training from an instructional technology specialist, electrical or connection problems can still occur anytime. Always try to make a backup lesson plan.

Furthermore, you also have to consider some guiding principles regarding to the use of technology in classroom teaching below:

1. It must be engaging.

Make sure that all of the students have can to participate on the activity employed using the technology you bring up. It is proven that students love anything to do with computers or laptops in the classroom or any types of digital equipment. Technology is always able to make them curious and attracted into the teaching and learning process

2. It must be in hands of the students.

Let the students participate. Your students will learn best with hands-on implementation rather than passively observing you demonstrate it.

3. It must be in hand with the curriculum standards.

The materials you teach must be still within the curriculum standard and technology is just a hook to get your students’ interest.

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Dec 21

ESL TEACHER GUIDE

Posted on December 21, 2011 by rida

GUIDE TO BECOME AN ESL TEACHER

By: RIDA AFRILYASANTI

ESL teaching

ESL teaching

ESL career offers a unique multi-cultural opportunity. Becoming an ESL teacher provide you international travel opportunities, multi-cultural training, and job satisfaction. It always becomes a good idea to work abroad while thinking about what you really want to do. Like a coin, it also comes up with some negative aspects; therefore, before deciding to have ESL teaching career, learn a guide to what to consider before deciding to become an ESL teacher below:

  1. Learn and understand about the ESL/EFL teaching market. Get to know the demand for English teachers out there. You can browse lots of information on ESL Job Market Demand. Knowing the demand will help you to decide whether or not to track this career path besides to give an idea of places in which you are probably going to teach.
  2. Get inform on how ESL is taught. You also have to know and learn about standard ESL jargons as well as familiarize with ESL lesson plan format.
  3. Find out main teaching areas in which you will be responsible for teaching. Learn more about specific teaching areas such as conversation, grammar teaching in ESL/EFL setting, and others.
  4. Choose the teaching materials that can help to develop you own lesson plans. You can browse more information and get tips for choosing the most appropriate teaching materials for ESL/EFL classroom.
  5. Learn some different lesson plans. It is a good idea to take a look at some lesson plans to understand the process of teaching English to speakers of other languages. By learning from the professional and other previous ESL teachers you will be able to construct and elaborate the best lesson plans for your teaching.
  6. Recognize the way to teach; teaching techniques. Have a look at various ESL/EFL teaching methodologies as you will have a lot of materials to cover and a number of skills to learn and you have to make your students be interested and active in your teaching.
  7. Get qualified to teach ESL/EFL. There are different levels of ESL/EFL teaching qualifications. However, basically, if you would like to teach abroad for a few years, you’ll need a TEFL certificate. If you would like to have a career in the profession, you’ll have to get a Master’s Degree.

 

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Dec 19

DISTANCE ENGLISH TEACHING

Posted on December 19, 2011 by rida

DISTANCE LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING

By: Rida Afrilyasanti

distance teaching

distance teaching

There are many internet companies nowadays that can provide free voice, chat, and video; for instance: Google, MSN, Yahoo, and Skype. They help to fuel the interest on distance education and online tutoring. Online tutoring help ESL/EFL students learn English easier and more comfortable in their own home. What the students need is just a computer running the program, an internet connection, and of course an ESL/EFL instructor who is willing to tutor them online.

This kind of learning has been becoming a popular alternative for classroom learning due to its instant and interactive service. Moreover, student can practice their English more effectively as they learn individually; they can get personalized help such as grammar, sentence construction, essay writing, proof reading, conversational English practice and much more.

For the teachers, distance language teaching of course provide benefits as they can conduct their own private online classes with an ESL/EFL student from any part of the world. VoIP software such as Skype, YM, Google, and others have empowered and allowed TEFL/TESL teachers to work from home, allowing them to start up their own online tutoring service with low risk, and little to no capital investment. The features offer support teachers to have excellent communication with their students; the useful features provided such as chat, voice, file transfer, and video conferencing.

However, in conducting an online English class, what you have to consider is the internet connection and electricity. Make sure that you have a good internet connection. You do not want your class end up in the middle of conference because of your bad internet connection, do you? Besides, learn about the VoIP software first before deciding to use one of them. Browse for information on their benefits and weaknesses. You can also directly try them to have conference with your friends or relatives before really having it with your students.

Check other related articles: tips for classroom success, ESL certification tips, TEFL online course

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