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Testimonials
Wendy Kohn
WL-SIT TESOL Certificate Course Alumni
"Even four years after taking the SIT TESOL course, I still think about--and use--the things I learned in it almost every day in my teaching. One of the final assignments in my course was to create a 'survival kit' from our course materials, a compilation of the most essential materials we would need to tackle any class. I actually took my survival kit with me when I went to Mexico to teach!
"The best thing about this course was how practical it was. I believe that the lesson planning and classroom management skills that I learned there were the sort of things that distinguished me from new teachers I met later on who did not have formal training. The practice teaching hours also set this course apart from other similar certificate courses. I was comfortable on the first day of my first real teaching job because I had already had real teaching experience in this course, with constructive criticism from my peers and the trainers.
"The trainers, by the way, were fantastic. They were so supportive and dedicated, and I had so much respect for them. They were wonderful mentors to me. Also, SIT's course is respected all over the world. People are impressed when they see that you have a TESOL certificate from SIT, and they know that you know what you're doing."
Danielle Mairowitz
WL-SIT Certificate Course Alumnus
"Language learning is something that I've been interested in from a very young age. I have studied many languages with the focus always being on communication and ways to open doors to opportunity. I always thought that if I could somehow help others open their doors of opportunity, I would truly be satisfied with my job. Then it hit me. I realized I needed to become an ESL teacher. I conducted a lot of research comparing the variety of courses that were available and based on a friend's recommendation, I decided upon the SIT course.
"Soon after the course began, it became clear to me why SIT was the course that was going to give me the skills I needed to be the teacher I had always strived to be. In the SIT course, much of the focus was on self exploration and the experience of becoming a teacher -- not only on achieving the goal. The learning process of getting to that end result was the most valuable lesson. By exploring and analyzing the way we felt throughout the entire course, it put us in touch with the root of ourselves and what type of teacher we were going to be. The course equipped me with the tools to be able to push myself to a place of being both an effective and confident teacher while maintaining an enjoyable and comfortable atmosphere. A teacher is there to facilitate learning, not to spoon feed the information.
"The course taught me to always continue to push myself as a teacher. The moment you become bored, your class notices. The more energy you bring to the class, the more energy your students will have. Always remember that the relationship between the teacher and the students is a two-way street. The students are not only learning from the teacher, the teacher is constantly learning from the students as well. Without the give and take of those two parts, the classroom learning experience can't evolve.
"Going through the SIT program allowed me to be exposed to a variety of learning styles and personalities. The trainers demonstrated their extensive knowledge and experience. The relationships that were formed during the course became the support system to get me through the challenging moments.
"Being part of the SIT program is being part of a family. Now whenever I encounter other SIT graduates, there is an unspoken connection because of the superior learning experiences that we all experienced."
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