Meet Heather R., an Education Major from the United States that decided to complete her TEFL certification course online because of COVID. Here is her experience.
I am a senior at High Point University in North Carolina majoring in elementary education with a minor in special education. I’m currently a student teacher in first grade. Outside of school I am Phi Mu’s philanthropy chair, Teachers Of Tomorrow president and 1,000 Miles For Kids fundraising and sponsorship chair. I’m originally from Massachusetts. I was interested in obtaining a TEFL certification because I currently work in a refugee county, so I have an extremely wide range of students. I was seeking this certification to better understand them as well as to pursue a career as an international educator moving forward. I learned about TEFL originally from my university’s fellowship department, but I found this program through internet searches through different international internships.
I was originally interested in traveling to Prague to complete this course but due to COVID-19 restrictions the online choice worked best for me. I am hoping this experience will assist in my application process when I apply for a Fulbright scholarship. It is my desire to use this to pursue an international education career. Before this I had no experiences that were anything like this. I do not come from a very diverse area, so I was quite eager to learn about and how to educate a population that I wasn’t as familiar with.
One of the most challenging parts of this course was writing the lessons only in accessible language. As an education major I have no problems writing the lessons themselves but making sure all of the words that I was using were in the students’ zone of accessibility was hard to do. With this being the online version, I did not get a lot of time to talk with students about where they were at language wise so I was basing my lessons off of where they should be. There wasn’t really any information that I wish I knew before starting the course. I was very well informed going into this program and while it was happening.
Since I am still working through my main course load in America, I did not apply for any jobs in the international teaching market. That being said, my advisor provided me with tons of useful resources to begin my job search when I am ready. She also offered her services as a lifelong coach if I am ever to need an assist. I will feel much more prepared for this career with this certification as I think it should be required to teach English. I spent a lot of time breaking down English to find where areas of confusion may be a skill that is quite beneficial for English Language Learners. If a TEFL certification is not required, one similar should be. Personally, I see myself teaching English for the foreseeable future. Past that I wish to focus on younger grades in America to which English development is happening for them as well. The skills I have learned in the TEFL course will be of lifetime benefit to me.