OISE University of Toronto TEFL

My experience during the online course was excellent because of parts of teaching that I was not aware of. A lot of resources were suggested that would make life easier during a teaching abroad experience.

Comparing to what other TEFL programs people have taken and the knowledge I gained, I believe this one is the most complete and resourceful. Specially if you want to take teaching seriously and make a difference for the students while you teach.

I found that having a university backing up the program gave it that much prestige; I know some people say it doesn't matter where you get your TEFL from, but if the university is recognized overseas, that might just be the difference.

The course is linguistic basis and some prior knowledge in this area is an advantage. It offers some excellent teaching strategies, not only for teaching outside your immediate area or overseas, but also in any school environment from primary through to senior secondary. However, I found the blockage annoying. For example, when you have to wait to have the Journals marked and cannot move to the next module. The timed tests also posed a problem. For people like me who work full-time as a senior secondary teacher with 2 year 12 classes, a family to run and grand children. There was an occasion when I failed an exam because I had to attend a very young grand child's needs. There was also a time when I had planned to work on the course and your URL was down. This put me very behind in my schedule. You do need a very good internet connection to do the course and be able to be flexible with your time to complete the course. Overall a worth while course and for myself a very good review of what I had learnt awhile ago.

I have taken numerous online courses over the years, but I have no problem rating this course the best so far. The lessons were well organised and covered a lot of material (history of language, teaching theory, fundamentals of language/grammar). I wasn't expecting such an abundance of material, but know that it's necessary in order for language teachers to perform at their best in the classroom.

I liked the combination of visuals and audio components (PowerPoint, YouTube). The personal anecdotes that the professors and teachers shared helped me to understand the options that seasoned teachers have used when dealing with classroom issues and/or learning issues.

The reflections journals, quizzes and unit tests gave me the feedback I needed on an ongoing (and immediate) basis so that I could review and feel confident with my grasp of the materials.

I would strongly recommend this course for anyone who is interested in having a thorough knowledge base going into the classroom. It's a great confidence builder for new teachers.

The impression of OISE left only positive one. They reply on questions asked promptly and clear.
In general with the course, the experience has been more then good but not great.
From bright side the program has excellent study materials, I really proved my knowledge, got more confidence and made my outlook wider! That's what I am grateful for!
On another hand, course has 120 hours which has two sections, 100 hours of ground knowledge and 20 of chosen specialty. The thing is, that after some lesson (I would say roughly after 60th hour) the materials are repeating itself, it is boring. The materials have identical meaning but presented in different ways. I have got an expression that those materials made to fill up the required 100 hours. The 20 hours of chosen specialty has its advantages of being short and clear on the subject.

My name is Pauline Mwendwa from Nairobi, Kenya. I am a 27 years old adventurous and spontaneous teacher. I teach English and Literature both at Middle school and High school Level. I am currently teaching at Oxford School of English here in Monterrey, Mexico. I have been a teacher here for almost three years now.
This is my story. When my Best friend Flevian and I decided that it was time we diversified our dreams and move at least to a different country, I personally had no idea which country would be my destination. All I knew was that I needed to experience a new culture and learn a new language. So I went online and send out over 100 applications to all parts of the world. I received a couple of offers but some of them required huge amounts of money to move. Mexico was the option that I felt comfortable going for especially due to my financial situation. Also, it was intriguing for me because guess what, I had never thought of Mexico in my whole life and to be honest I never knew where Mexico was, and I never knew even a single Spanish word!
It wasn't the easiest decision to make moving to Mexico and I have never regretted it either. My teaching experience for the first year was not an easy one due to very many challenges such as language barrier and culture differences. After 3 months of working at Lincoln School in Guadalajara, Jalisco I was fired! Yes you read that right. That was my most devastating moment in my life. I was in a foreign country, I did not speak their language and I had no relative around. I contemplated going back to Kenya for a few days but I knew I had so much to accomplish in Mexico before I called it quits. I knew I could make it and God had better plans ahead. So I stayed without a job and with no means of survival. With my little savings that I had, I took a flight to a different State, Nuevo Leon where I am right now. This is where I learnt about the TEFL course through my online research in pursuit of understanding and solving the challenges of teaching English as a second Language. Before coming to Mexico, I had been teaching English for a couple of years in Kenya. I knew I was a competent teacher and an excellent one for that matter. Lo and behold! Teaching English and Teaching English as a second language are two different worlds altogether. With TEFL course you can easily be both. Through this course I learnt a lot that I wouldn't have known. If you are considering teaching in a foreign country you are on the right path. But, first things first. There are things that you might need to consider first. Learn the culture of your country destination, familiarize yourself with their religious believes and political views and if possible learn a bit of their language. Most importantly, take a TEFL course. This will make it easier for you to kick start your adventure. Also, you might need to be careful about the institution you choose to undertake your TEFL course. There are numerous institutions offering the course, but reviews should be your guide. After my research, I chose University of Toronto because of the positive review I read from different people, and true to the word, it was an amazing experience. The organization of the content, the constant online support and above all the prompt feedback from the tutors was my best part.Today I am proud to be one of the most outstanding graduates from OISE University of Toronto TEFL.
My most outstanding testimony is how much I learnt about classroom management. Any teacher would concur with me that this is usually the most challenging aspect of a teaching career. Being able to manage 25 to 30 different personalities with different background, interest, talents and challenges in the same room and at the same time is not a walk in the park. Since I took my TEFL course, my teaching experience has never been this exciting and lively. Lately, my students give me a reason to look forward to my next day, unlike before. I am looking forward to an even more adventurous and exciting teaching career in different parts of the world.
Lots of love to everyone and always be wild!

I enjoyed the content of this course as it highlighted information that I was not familiar with in an accessible and simple format. I felt comfortable learning at my pace, and was challenged to apply what I had learned by tests and reflection journals. I also found it very useful to recount earlier information that was reviewed as the course went on, further indicating which skills were the most useful while overseas. The lesson planning course I found particularly useful, as was the lesson pertaining to how different students learn. I would prefer for some more evaluation in between the beginning and the end of modules, as I feel like it would offer a better assessment of what has been learned. I felt like every lesson had something of value to take away, and I am looking forward to applying what I’ve learned in the global classroom.

The course was well laid out into smaller pieces o that one could concentrate on certain portion at a time. The timing was good. Whenever help was required, it was there. The staff at the University of Toronto teachaway were very patient and friendly. I would certainly recommend this course to anyone who would like to teach English as a foreign language. It would be wise to take note as you go along, so that you would be able to do the quizzes. The quizzes were very helpful. They were a good source of feedback to keep me motivated to hang in there. I enjoyed the material in the course. It really prepared me for teaching. It was informative and interesting as well. The journals also played a good part in helping us to apply what we had studied in the lessons. Also the little excises with our suggestions were very important as well. The structure of the course was great because we got feedback all the way.

I was enrolled and completed the Teachaway TEFL 150-hour certificate. I found that it covered a good and wide range of topics and lessons that one could use when teaching English. The topic I struggle with most was the English grammar portion. There was a lot of English rules and word types that I just took in as how to use without really know the facts and logic behind it. There were several that even now I get stuck with. During the course the tests would tell you which lesson to review so you could help yourself succeed. I took my own personal notes throughout the course and took pictures of slides and diagrams I wanted to remember which help my own testing and reviews. I found this course easy to narvigate and the marking was done efficiently.