Teach Now (Teaching Certification): First Day In a Virtual Classroom

Module 1: Day 1

There are many reasons why I was hesitant to start this teaching certification. First of all I am not very good with computers or technology, and second of all, I am swamped with SOOOOO much work at the moment finishing my M.Ed in Education and yes, third of all, I am also doing my Advanced Raja Yoga Teaching Certification simultaneously with this virtual program I just started.

There are also many reasons why I decided to go with this program. First of all, I've done a lot of research and this program is completely legit. I was going to go with Teacher Ready at first but not being American, I could only get a piece of paper at the end of it saying that I have done exactly all the courses that a teacher in the state of Florida would have done to get certified.... except that I would be able to get a legit certification  (BTW I checked their website out but it wasn't as helpful as when I contacted cshears@teach-now.com as he had more information for students teaching outside the US). Second of all, I don't have to quit my job completely to go and finish my certification like many of my peers have. I CANNOT afford to do that!

So what was my first day of virtual class like?
Well the platform they are using is called Adobe Connect, and I have to say it was pretty. darn. cool. Everyone's faces appears in small boxes, there is a chat box, a poll box, and a board box. I will try and get a screen shot in my next class and post it on here.

What did we do on the first day?
Emily, the brain and CEO of Teach Now, introduced herself and the program, and made us all feel really comfortable that this program is truly legit and just as intense and as valuable as any teaching certification program in Washington DC. We then went around introducing ourselves one by one, and at the end, she was open for any questions or concerns we were having. THAT took an hour and it was over.

What is my first impression of this program?
I think it felt a little overwhelming at first, but I am writing 3 days after the start of this class and now that I've had a bit of time to browse around their classroom, like anything, it is starting to become more familiar. The only downside I see to this platform is the speed. I live in S.Korea, so I am accustomed to incredibly high speed internet and yes, I know I only have to wait about 3 seconds between clicks... but still. I AM spoiled..LOL! Looking at their homework, I have a feeling that it's going to be very similar to the Ed. Tech. class that I took in my master's courses, where one of my assignments was to start my own educator's blog.... sooooo I thought, I already have this anyway, and why not just document everything I do in this program to help others see if it's for them too :)

One to One Classroom Expectations

Here are my 1 to 1 classroom expectations.

Incorporating New Tools in My Classroom

I can’t believe 2 things. Number 1, I finished all my course work, phew! Number 2, our course for Creative Teaching Techniques and Utilization in Multimedia is overL .

I have seriously learned a whole bunch from this class and I had a hard time picking one thing I would incorporate in my class because I am honestly just about to use everything I learned starting next semester.

One tool I have already started using in my teaching is the Prezi. I have already been upgrading my PowerPoint presentations finding them very effective in teaching or demonstrating lessons for my students.

Because our classes are supposed to be gearing towards conversation, I think implementing audio assignments would add something new to my classes and the students would have a chance to practice their speaking more. I could give them help and feedback with their accents, word choices, etc. , to make their speaking sound more fluent. The students can always have their recordings to refer to in the future. They can listen to themselves and see if they have improved over time. 

One other thing I would like to mention that wasn’t an actual assignment, or project for this course, are the various websites that Professor Katz has recommended. I plan to use sites such as comiclife.com to make comics related to some units. There are a whole bunch of other websites that I would have never heard of, if it weren’t for this class. Just having them introduced to me really got the creative juices flowing in my head and I will also find a way to implement those with a purpose, into my classes.  

Website For My Students

Here is my sample website for my students. Students can search their class, put in a password that I will give them, so they can access exactly what the lesson will be for the day, and also what assignments they have.

In the home page, I will also update links for my students every month, that they might find useful or interesting. If they are interested in my thoughts, there is also a small link to this blog. 

My class syllabus and contact info is also included and finally, I also have a small notice board with information on class changes, or anything urgent from my part. 

Here is my webpage link.

Here is my full webpage address: http://analiakim.wix.com/myclasses

My Favorite Restaurant

Here is an audio recording of a project for students to do after a food and taste unit. They have to record themselves talking about their favorite restaurant, or a restaurant they would like to recommend. An added benefit to this exercise is that the teacher might discover new and great places to eat. I know I did!





Here are the guidelines and the pdf for the teacher to explain to their students.

Here are the handouts and the pdf for the students to complete before they do their audio recordings.

How to Properly Tie Your Shoes

This is a movie example for the students to refer to, when they are doing their "How-to: Life Hacks" movie project. This clip shows an organized way to film their movie with a few sound effects and other additions. I have embeded the handouts for the teacher and the students below. Thanks to my partner, Ian Pollard, for working on this project with me. We had a great time filming this together.




You can get the movie description and the rubric handout for the teachers here or on pdf form.

You can get the guidelines handout for the students here or on pdf form.

My Favorite Tool Recently

To be completely honest, this class has been probably one of the most useful classes I have ever taken. It has been very practical.  Everything I have learned, I was able to implement in my classes right away. It definitely was a lot of work, but I can see myself continuing on with my blogs, screencasts, prezis, etc.

My favorite lesson is getting more familiar with blogging. I like that this class forced us to write blogs to keep track of our work. I wanted to start writing about various subjects but it has been something I have put off for so long and getting started never came around. It is my favorite tool because I always have different projects on the go, and I really want to start collecting and recording all of these in one place. It will hopefully also help me build my educator’s portfolio.

Blogging is something I can use with my classes, as a go-to for any information about classes, projects, or announcements that I have for my students. I can also help students set up a blog for themselves and have certain assignments posted there, and maybe spark up interest for them to continue and develop their English writing skills.  

Thanks again Professor Steve Katz for teaching us so much in such a short time J