Getting Some TEFL Experience: Teaching ESL in K-12

Getting Some TEFL Experience Featured Image

Since my Jeep article, I’ve been pretty busy on my TEFL course. In fact, I did my first couple of hours of observation last week on my day off for Veterans Day. But, I don’t want to give it all away here in the introduction!

Table of Contents

TEFL Observation

Last Friday, Morgan let me come into her classroom to watch her teach some ESL lessons. Let’s just say I really don’t remember what it’s like to be a kid. Clearly, school is not the most exciting part of a kid’s life. As a result, I got to see a lot of excited kids acting out.

The biggest challenge for me was to avoid laughing. Some of these kids were just too funny. For instance, Morgan ran a competition. The entire time one of the kids kept shouting “first” (aka WINNING). Since there was some extra time, Morgan ran a second competition. This time the kid was not first, and everyone knew it. Now, that’s not because it was obvious in the game. Instead, this kid kept telling everyone to stop bragging. Oh, the irony! How can you not laugh at something like that?

Beyond that, there was an incident where a kid licked a book. Another time there was a kid talking about getting a “plus A.” Oh, and there was a kid who shouted “hola novio” at me first thing in the morning. I was dying.

TEFL Course

In addition to the TEFL practicum, I’ve also been taking the actual course with Morgan. We’re about five weeks in now which means we’re about halfway done. In that time, we’ve covered everything from grammar to cultural sensitivity as well as activity and lesson planning. It’s been pretty fun so far though we’ve been a little frustrated with the grading. Of course, you’ll have that with any class.

Since the class kicked off, I’ve ridden several small essays and lesson plans. I’m getting pretty excited at the idea of possibly teaching abroad despite how negative everyone is about it. That’s why I tend to on subscribe to Ben’s beliefs.

He keeps me positive.

Song of the Week

Alright, the song of this week was a really easy decision. No, I’m not going with Taylor Swift despite being a huge fan. Instead, I’m going with one of my biggest influences growing up, Eminem. If you have not heard “Walk on Water,” do yourself a favor.

This song is a masterpiece.

Coming Soon to The renegade Coder!

So as usual, I don’t have too many plans. I have several articles in the pipeline, but I’m not really concerned with getting anything out at the moment. It’s been nice to step back and think. For instance, I’ve been going on a huge YouTube spree over the last couple of weeks. I’ve been taking the time to explore my core values a bit while learning a lot about astronomy, law, and politics (not exactly related subjects…).

As for the long term, I have a series of articles I plan to release around February or March. Then, I also have a handful articles that might go out sometime later next year. The reason being that many of the articles are controversial and time sensitive, so I have to be careful when I release them. Other than that, I do have some regular articles. However, I’ve been trying to space those out to avoid burnout. For now, what you see is what you get! 🙂

The Legacy Newsletter (56 Articles)—Series Navigation

For a long time, I used to try to write a custom newsletter every week which eventually became every month. If you’re interested in browsing those old posts just to see how this site came to be, I’ve created a small series for you. Check it out!

Today, the regular newsletter is issued via email which you can access by becoming a member of The Renegade Coder. Alternatively, you can subscribe to the newsletterOpens in a new tab. directly through MailChimp.

Jeremy Grifski

Jeremy grew up in a small town where he enjoyed playing soccer and video games, practicing taekwondo, and trading Pokémon cards. Once out of the nest, he pursued a Bachelors in Computer Engineering with a minor in Game Design. After college, he spent about two years writing software for a major engineering company. Then, he earned a master's in Computer Science and Engineering. Today, he pursues a PhD in Engineering Education in order to ultimately land a teaching gig. In his spare time, Jeremy enjoys spending time with his wife and kid, playing Overwatch 2, Lethal Company, and Baldur's Gate 3, reading manga, watching Penguins hockey, and traveling the world.

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