CELTA Course, Day 20 (16. June) The Final Day

After 4 weeks, the day has finally arrived: the final day.

Last night, I slept the least amount I had ever slept during this course (4.5 hours). It took me so long to prepare for this lesson.

Then, it didn't turn out as well as I had hoped:

I had to skip a kinesthetic activity I spent a lot of time preparing.

I got lost part-way through the lesson (i.e., Where am I? What's next?).

I made-up one stage of the lesson. I thought I had prepared something for it, but I didn't. So I just winged-it.

At least I was able to get through the lesson. The students got the target language (words to express comparisons and contrasts) and were able to use it well--even correcting each other.

That was my final observed teaching practice lesson. Whoa.

After 4 weeks, the day had finally arrived.

One of the teachers who works at the British Council told us that the time would go by quickly. Before we knew it, the course would be over. We laughed at him. He was right. It feels as though we were here for years, but we had learned so much in 4 weeks, that it does feel like 4 years...

...and it is over.

I'm going to miss my CELTA course-mates. We have made lots of fun memories and friendships I hope to maintain and continue.

Good luck and GOD's blessings on your future English-teaching careers!

Kraków May-June 2016 CELTA at British Council

Trainees in the back, Tutors in the front.

CELTA Course, Day 18 & 19 (14-15. June)

Ugh, I actually couldn't post anything Monday night because I lost internet connection from about 21:30 and didn't get it back til 7:45 the following morning.


Anyway, 14. June

I taught my 2nd-to-last lesson on Tuesday. It was ok--it came out better than it could have, but I saw from the students' questions that there were lots of holes I hadn't sealed in my lesson. At least I got immediate feedback.

For the input sessions, we were told about further training and things to keep in mind when looking for a job. Sure, I've already had a couple of jobs, but it was good to be reminded of a few pointers and learn about a couple other things I didn't know.


15. June

Two guys who started their teaching practice 1st, had their last classes today. I watched the one guy's lesson ('cause he was in my group, the other wasn't). I'd say he finished off on a high note: it was his best class. If only I could do the same . . .

The other girl and I in my group were going to teach the following day. We had questions about our lessons. This was our last tutor help.

For our final input sessions, we had a review of everything we were taught, as well as students' questions on grammar. Both showed us that we still have a lot to learn and review.

Now, to prepare for my final lesson . . .

CELTA Course, Day 17 (13. June)

It's the final week.

We're still busy, but things are winding down.

We turned in our final assignments (Lessons from the Classroom). I can say this was our easiest task--it was basically a self-reflection. We had to point out 3 strengths, 3 "areas of development" and 3 ways to improve each of the said "areas of development." We also had to reference what we've seen in our peers' teaching practices, DVDs of experienced teachers, experienced teachers live, feedback from our tutors, and our students' reactions.

Not bad at all.

To think, we've all done, turned in, and got our assignments back. All 4. I have 2 more teaching practice classes to teach--and that's it!

I've got my lesson prepared for tomorrow. We'll see how it goes.

CELTA Course, Day 14 - 16 (8-10. June)

Yeap, this is how you know you're busy: you were going to keep a daily diary of what's going on in the CELTA course, only to find out that you haven't posted anything in 3 (now 4) days.

Really sorry, everyone. Let me try to remember what I did . . .

8. June (Wednesday)

This was the day we had our private 1-to-1 in-depth feedback from our tutors. This was when our tutor would tell us how we were doing, what we needed to do to improve, point out anything we needed to have pointed out to us, the works.

Basically, I'm going to pass; the question is which "pass" will I get? 

Job-wise, it doesn't matter which pass you get, as long as you pass--and it's backed by Cambridge University. But one finds it difficult to subdue the privilege of having bragging rights.

If I can improve my set-ups, monitoring, and the like, then I can get a Pass B (just below Pass A--reserved for the elite. Most trainees get a Pass). I have 1 more week--2 more lessons--to rise to the occasion and prove myself.

That was it! The rest of the day was free to work on/plan our next lessons or whatever.

9. June (Thursday)

The 1st class I monitored (as usual). The 2nd class I taught unobserved. Since we just had an input session on how to teach writing--and I don't have any writing classes--I decided to plan my unobserved as a simple writing class. It worked, but there were definitely areas for improvement. Since this was my 1st time teaching writing through the CELTA method, I think it went well.

Thanks to the extra time on Wednesday, I had a nice head-start on planning my lesson for Friday. I had to tweak quite a few things, but I was able to finish preparing everything. Only 1 minor setback. I finished typing out my procedure, and I was going to save it on top of my older file of the same document (which I've done all the other times before). What happened? I saved the older version on top of the newer. 

Oh man, . . . So I had to do most of it all over again. At least I knew what I was going to do.

10. June (Friday)

We taught our lessons (and they went pretty well). The only difference was that we had an assessor coming from International House Prague to assess how the course is going (if it's upholding the Cambridge CELTA standards or not and such). Basically, the assessor was there to assess our tutors. It was a little unusual having the assessor observe my class and another fellow trainee's class. I kinda knew my class was going to have this guest, but that was by some kind of intuition.

After lunch, we had a private meeting with the assessor, where she asked us what we thought of the course; if there was anything that was going well, anything that could be changed, if we had any other questions, etc. It was short and painless.

After the last input session, we 5 went out to celebrate a fellow trainee's birthday: dinner at a Mexican restaurant (I wouldn't really recommend it unless you were desperate for a Mexican food fix), and another escape room. This time, we were not in a freak-show, but in a murder scene. We actually managed to escape in 45 minutes (we had 60 min.)! Go, team! To celebrate, they had ice cream, and I just had tea (wasn't personally in the mood for ice cream).

Yay! All caught up! Just need to work on the final assignment, due Monday morning. It would be wise if I could get a good head-start with Tuesday's lesson. If I get that far, maybe take a look at my final lesson on Thursday.

Just 1 more week to go! Monday - Thursday, Thursday being the last day of the course.

Shew, the last day of the course already?!

CELTA Course, Day 12 & 13 (6-7. June)

Monday

Us two groups of teachers were switched to different classes--and different levels. I had the lower-intermediate for 2 weeks. Now we will have the upper-intermediate for the next 2 weeks. They are a bigger class, I'd say more enthusiastic, probably 'cause their collective English level is that much better.

I had guided help for preparing my lesson for Tuesday (today). Some things were already prepared, just needed to be fine-tuned--and I needed to write my lesson plan. That's basically the last thing I always do: write my lesson plan. That's just how I work.

Imagine how happy I was to finish everything a few minutes before midnight . . .

Tuesday

I taught my class. Man, I forgot to check if the class understood the vocabulary I introduced to them. I also didn't replay the audio file when I should have. Blast! Oh well, at least I can identify my mistakes. Now, to make sure they are not repeated.

Oh, tomorrow will be a nice day: we only have a 30-min. session with our tutors. That's it! We're free the rest of the day, just need to meet with our tutors to see where we are and how we're doing in the course. I'm looking forward to all this extra time to get a head start on my unobserved lesson on Thurs., my observed lesson on Fri., and my final assignment due on Monday (all about our progress in the course).

I also want to see if I can get a box to send more stuff to the States. I need to lighten my check-in luggage.

CELTA Course, Day 10 & 11 (2-3. June)

I wonder if this means I'll be so busy from now on, that I can only publish a diary entry every-other day . . .

~June 2nd~

Standard day. The only difference was that we needed to interview our students for our Focus on the Learner assignment. True to her word, my student arrived on time, and we had held the interview. It lasted about 18 minutes, which was fine.

Then, since we had an unobserved class to run. The one who was supposed to do it that day didn't know about it, so I was volunteered to help her. Ok, we had to teach a lesson that was going to start in about 10 - 15 min. No pressure.
But seriously, there was no pressure: it was unobserved! So we just played "Hot Seat" and had a random conversation. I think the students enjoyed it--at least they seemed to have enjoyed it.

Ah, and for the 2nd class, which we needed to observe, we needed to observe the other group. Why? Because we are going to start teaching them this coming Monday!

Oh, I had a lot almost/kinda prepared for my class on Friday morning, just needed to tweak a few things here and there. Working on all of that, I was able to finish right before midnight! That's a record!


~June 3rd~

I taught my last lesson with the pre-intermediates. I tried to make it lively, radiating my excitement on them (they're a fun class, I really like them). It seemed to work. A few things didn't go well from my part. For example, abstract questions to generate interest in the topic--too abstract for this level, although they pulled through pretty well; teacher-centered meaning clarification & check, and form clarification (sorry for the big words). The pronunciation drill, restricted practice, and freer practice seemed to work pretty well, though. Anywho, what's done is done. All I can do now is learn from my mistakes and try to not repeat them.

The students from my group invited all us CELTA trainees to the bar just downstairs from the British Council ("Buddha Bar?") tonight. That was really sweet of them. Too bad I can't go. I live kinda far, and I don't want to pay for a taxi--much less have them pay for a cab for me.
Well, I guess I could've taken a tram? But when do they stop running? I don't know. I've never ridden on any type of public transport since I arrived in Kraków.
But no, I don't think that would be the best place to welcome the Sabbath.

CELTA Course, Day 9 (1. June)

Man am I tired.

I just did 66% of my Skills assignment (due Wednesday) and got quite a bit done on my lesson plan for Friday--but still have a long way to go to be really finished. I'm looking forward to talking it over with my tutor tomorrow.

Also, I have an appointment to interview one of my teaching practice students tomorrow morning. We agreed on 8:40 am. I hope she remembers and comes. I also hope that my computer's recording device will work and be ok. It would be great if my computer also didn't decide to die half-way through the interview . . .

I need prayers. Please.