So, it’s finally happening. In just a few weeks time I will be starting a 4 week CELTA training course in San Sebastian. As the start date, the 27th July, approaches I’m becoming increasingly nervous; will I keep up? am I doing enough preparation? will I survive?
Everyone has told me that this course will totally consume my life for it’s four week duration and be be an exhausting experience. So, the kids are having summer holidays away with Grandparents and all house decorating is going on hold. The aspects that probably worry me the most about the are my whiteboard work in classes; completing the weekly 1000-word assignments; juggling all the tasks and studying; and also dealing with the intensity of feedback from the observed practice sessions.
In terms of course preparation, I have completed a 20 hour basic grammar review course which was recommended to me by one of the centre’s course instructors. The Grammar for Language Teachers (GLT) video course was very interesting, and interactive video presentation course by Jo Gakonga. As well as filling in many gaps in my grammatical knowledge, I also became conscious of how the course used it’s unit review questions: not as test questions, or to try and catch out the learner, but instead to reinforce what was covered in the unit. This is something else for me to ‘take-away’ and try to put into my own practise.
Now I’m currently working my way through the 35-page pre-course activities pack and trying to keeping up with ELT podcasts, bloggers and Twitter feeds. Will it be enough to help me through the course? Hopefully it will all help.
Now, with anticipation and nerves building and just two weeks left to go, it’s time to finish off the activities pack and pre-course reading as well as try and get in some time with family and the kids.
Glyn's English Online 
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