Top 10 Places to Teach English Abroad

Here is an excellent place to start your search for the perfect country in which to teach English.
"Top 10 Places for Teaching English Abroad"

A Long Time Comming

I have officially settled in here in Ukraine and am a week into my first summer vacation. My first semester of English Teaching in Ukraine definitely had its challenges and successes. I worked with a group from third through eleventh grade, and have developed, borrowed, and stolen some great language games. Now that I have a reliable internet connection I will be sharing reflections from the semester, game and lesson plan ideas, and more. To kick things off, here is a list of the things that I would do a bit differently if I could go back and start the semester over again. Learn from my mistakes : )

I wish I had's:
1. I wish I had asked the students' regular English teacher to sit in on my lessons at the beginning of the semester. It is very nice to have freedom in teaching, but the students tend to behave better when there is a teacher who speaks their language sitting in the back of the classroom.

2. I wish I had insisted on giving grades to my students. I don't know if the school I was working at felt that it would be too much work for me to give grades, or what, but they told me not to. This was my #1 mistake of the year. I hate to say it, but sometimes the quest for knowledge isn't enough to motivate all of our students. Grades are an important and motivational carrot that I did not have the privilege of dangling this semester.

3. I wish I had observed more classes. The education system is different here in both blaring and subtle ways. Watching host country nationals work with students more would have given me insight into what pupils are used to (especially when it comes to grading and classroom management) and what level my students are truly at with English.

4. I wish I had integrated more thoroughly with the rest of the staff. When teaching at a school where you barely speak the language it can be very intimidating to strike up a lunchtime conversation. My advice, try your best. People are curious about you, and you are probably as intimidating to them as they are to you. Bring in a baked treat, show up to those staff meetings you don't understand, and for the love of goodness if they invite you over to their home or out on the town GO!

5. I wish I had developed a clear goal for my English clubs from the beginning. I came in with guns blazing. After about a month at school I started three English clubs (elementary age, middle school, and high school). However, I didn't exactly know what my students or I wanted to do at the weekly club meetings. By the end of the year I was still working consistently with the elementary group, but my older students had lost interest. Trust me on this, have a plan before you set the first meeting. It is very nice to think that your students will come in with the great idea to study poetry or throw a spelling bee... but it's not likely. You are the teacher. You make the plan. Integrate input as it comes.