Please take a moment to write a 500-1000 word essay detailing your experience with the English language and

any future plans you hold for once you have completed the TESOL certificate training, and submit it to me by return email.

MY TEACHING EXPERIENCE Teaching English is a wonderful profession and I have always been motivated to share with others the mysteries of the English language. From my first years of teaching, I tried to find the best methods of teaching English to students in order to facilitate their contact with the English culture and civilization . I always tried to have an open dialogue with my students asking them what they enjoy about my lessons, what they would like to be different in my lessons . It is important when working with students to help them to be and stay motivated to learn more and to learn better. Finding the best methods of teaching has always been a challenge for teachers everywhere on the globe. It is a continuous and constant work for every teacher working in the educational system. In my teaching career in Romania, I tried to pass all the exams that were necessary in order to secure a place at my high school: I passed the Definitive Exam in the august of 2008 and the Second degree exam in the august of 2010 and I also passed my Master degree in the February of 2009 . I continued my professional development with training courses in computer programming, revising the basics of Microsoft Office in a Training session that I achieved in the January of 2009. I continued my personal training by going to the British Council where I attended Courses for teachers of CPE and CAE and YLE . All the training sessions were great and I obtained a diploma for each of them. I have continued my research for the best methods of teaching English. I have taught in a vocational high school of boys mostly, and as one might expect I had to comply with their requests of having more communicative classes, based on interactive speaking activities and less on grammar. I tried to find the most suitable textbooks for them appropriate to their grade and expectations. I have worked in the translations domain for three years, with two companies from Ploiesti. I had the opportunity to work in a great environment and I am still working there. One of my resolutions for 2012 was to do a TEFL course in France .I plan to attend such a course and then to work as a teacher in a primary school in France. I hope that in this way I will be able to improve my fluency in French, while advancing in my teaching of English . Teaching grammar plays a central role in every ESL / EFL teacher's classroom. In other words, how do I help students to learn the grammar they need.? Students need to know exactly HOW an activity is done, otherwise they will be out of control when the activity starts.

Students also need to know WHY an activity is being done. Dictations are done to train the ear, so they will be more successful in learning in the future. Pair practice is a simulation of real-life conversation, so they should not show their questions to their partner. Without understanding why, many students think an activity is not important and give up or practice half-heartedly. I always make sure to include goals and instructions in my lesson plan. That way, I will be sure to remember to do them, and if I have any problems, I will easily see how to fix them in future lessons. Students usually know exactly what will happen in class and answer questions mechanically. By adding surprises to my lessons, students will be forced to think about meaning and will pay more careful attention. For example, if I ask students ordinary questions such as whether they like pizza, or if they like chocolate, I then ask them if they like chocolate pizza. I might ask students about their families, then ask if they are married, or if they can drive a car. Students who are answering without thinking will say "yes" automatically. In such cases, their classmates will usually laugh at their mistake, and they will realize the importance of paying attention. Of course, laughing is good in general, so saying anything strange will improve the class atmosphere. Whenever I have a list of questions or a lot of language to cover, I add something funny or strange at the end of the lesson. I may add some intentional mistakes to see who will find them. In a sense, this is a kind of listening exercise. A variation of the Surprise Principle is called the "information gap". When students all use the same textbook, they already have the same information. But if you give only SOME students certain information, a text or picture for example, the other students must use English to find out what information they are missing. Successful pair practice and language games include "information gaps" to encourage students to discover what information they do not have. In all my teaching career, I tried to prevent the boredom of my students. After some time, students become bored doing the same things, and this wonderful technique no longer looks very good. In reality the technique is still good, but variety is required to keep students' attention. Various activities can be organized according to how communicative they are. Start with a simple, mechanical activity, then continue with something more meaningful, and finish with a communicative activity. When students do a variety of activities, classes are not dull for either students or teachers! Competition automatically grabs students' attention. The easiest way to have friendly competition is to divide the class into two teams and play some kind of game. You could have the left side of the room against the right side, boys against girls, or each row against all the others. Competition can be used on an individual level as well, by giving points to students for their work. I generally make sure all students have a chance to

succeed at getting some points so that nobody feels bad. I can give points for any written work such as dictations or mini-quizzes. Students enjoy seeing their progress over time, keeping them motivated in the long term. I generally keep a teachers diary, where I write at the end of every day, observations about my classes, who answered the best, who was disobedient, who participated in my projects and so on . Teaching can bring a lot of satisfaction, especially if you have receptive students who are willing to take part in the activities that you provide them. Acquiring a TEFL is a great step in my career and I hope I shall be able to do it this year in order to be able to teach and travel everywhere in the world!

Plesoianu Haricleia Romania 2012