About this episode

The episode reflects on the impact of CELTA training and the experiences that shape English teachers over time.

What stays with you after years of teaching English? And how much of the teacher you become comes from your original training? In this episode of How to English: Teach and Learn with Gav & Em , we look back at our TEFL journeys and the experiences that have shaped us as English teachers. We revisit our CELTA training and talk about what we still use today, what frustrated us, and whether teachers sometimes spend too long eliciting an answer when it would be easier just to tell the students! We also get into the unmistakable influence teachers can have on their students. What happens when you inherit another teacher’s class? Can you immediately spot the habits and classroom culture that have already been established? Then there’s the pressure of the first lesson : making a good impression, dealing with nerves, making mistakes and establishing the kind of classroom you want from the very beginning. Along the way, we also tackle some rather important TEFL questions: unusual places we’ve taught, ridiculously long journeys to lessons, competitive classroom games, student pets and the essential items that keep teachers going. If you’re an English teacher, TEFL/TESOL professional…

People in this episode

Hosts: Gav, Em

Topics covered

• teacher training
• classroom dynamics
• first lessons
• inheriting students
• CELTA experiences

Keywords

• CELTA
• TEFL
• teacher training
• classroom culture
• first lesson

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: CELTA, TEFL, TESOL

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