How are the trainees assessed?

[Duckie2011]

Hello everybody,

I'm thinking of applying for the Celta course but I'm worried about the teaching practice. I hear there is an awful lot of criteria you've got to meet. Surely you cannot be perfect from the beginning? Would I know how I'm doing and whether I'm passing the course or failing it? What I mean is - can I mess up a lesson or two and still pass?

I'd also like to ask how long lesson plans should be (let's say for a 40-minute lesson). Do the centres tell you that or is it up to you?

Thank you for reading this and if you have time to reply to this thread, it'll be appreciated;-).

 

[I'm With Stupid]

The teaching criteria gets more difficult as time goes on. And as you might expect, the lessons you do later in the course have a greater weight when it comes to deciding whether you pass and what grade you get. So yes, you can mess up a couple of lessons, just as long as they're not your final two lessons.

I don't really understand what you mean by how long the lesson plan should be. It will be as long as it needs to be based on the number of tasks you plan in the lesson, surely? You also have to do a language analysis as part of the plan after your first couple of lessons.

 

[5jj]

If you look at the list of criteria, you'll think that it's impossible to meet them.However, they are there to remind the assessors of what they should be looking for evidence of. Some them are met automatically by people with some awareness of what teaching should be about. Your trainers will guide you when you are not meeting certain criteria.

I never had a trainee who gave perfect lessons from the start - indeed I have rarely observed any teacher who has delivered a 'perfect' lesson.

Your trainer's feedback on your lessons may be initially painful if you are sensitive, but it will help you improve.

 

[Duckie2011]

Thank you both very much for your helpful comments. As far as the length of a lesson plan is concerned, I take it's partly up to each trainee how detailed their lesson plan is?

I assume the safest option is to follow the Celta book guidelines (e.g. the stages of grammar presentation) and apply them to the actual coursebook page(s) you're supposed to teach. Am I on the right path?

Thank you again for your support and patience;-).

 

[Tdol]

Yes- follow their guidelines while on the course.

 

[Duckie2011]

Thank you Tdol, I guess reinventing the wheel would be a bit risky.

 

[Tdol]

While it may seem to be restrictive, it does make sense as employers will know that people have been seen to do something a certain way, which is one reason for its popularity with them.

 

[Duckie2011]

I guess you've got a point:up:.

 

[Psiconaut]

I guess you've got a point:up:.

Me too =)