Would like a step-by-step video on how to do the Capstone. Tips and Tricks.

I learned much from the course, for example, how to improve on my teaching philosophy. I updated my teaching philosophy, and used it in my CV. I like the steps for creating and executing a lesson plan. It was a lot of work, but there was a lot of learning activities and authentic activities to foster my learning. I used what I learned in the course to teach Nursing Assistant students in a Job Training program where I substitute teach. The students were active participants in a guided practice about Elder Speak and the discussion help the students as well as the teacher to identify Elder Speak and not to use it when communicating with anyone. I like doing the Capstone video although I had problems with the audio, then I had upgraded to a new handy Camera and the files were in HD, which made my video editing software obsolete, therefore, I did a major upgrade on video editing software and file converting software. I was reminded that there are technology changes happening frequently in the PC-Computer industry. I felt good about the class, the learning and the ability to effectively practice teaching. I look forward to Part 2 of the Teach English Now program.

Dr. Zenobia A. James

Amazing course. It was a great way to tie together what was learned with the previous three courses, particularly the Lesson Design and Assessment. I suggest buying Shane's book "100 TESOL Activities for Teachers". It gives a lot of great ideas. I also suggest looking at your peers' lessons for ideas for your own classes. One is able to take them and transform them into your own designs when you begin to teach.

Excellent course! The workload of this Capstone Project is much bigger than the previous 3 courses, which also reflects the 20/80 rule (20% instruction, 80% practice) taught in the course. I will highly recommend this course to those who need.

I accomplished and learned so much from the first part of this course. I cannot wait to start on the second part. Thanks to Dr. Dixon and his colleagues for a great ESL certification journey.

I am fortunate that i have got this course. Thanks a ton

This course was well-structured, and the plentiful examples helped to support the theories I learned about. The writing prompts - our homework - suited the material and could be addressed for many different topics, from beginner to advanced English language learners. What concerned me was that the level of writing I found myself reviewing was often of questionable quality, especially for individuals who aim to teach others a language as difficult as English. I understand that there's a broad range of English competency. Maybe a proficiency exam at the outset of these courses would help with this issue.

Really dificult with you don't have classroom experience already

First I would like to thanks all my tutors at "Teach English Now" that have been so helpfull and have made this course specialization so interesting and rewarding for me because I have learnt many experiences and knowledge that I have never thought before. As a matter of fact there are not enough words to say how great and marvelous you have been with this course.

The Capstone helped me to incorporate all the techniques absorbed in the previous three courses into my teaching technique. Doubtless, there are hundreds of aspects and peculiarities to master, but I did enhance my overall teaching mastery, having completed the Capstone.

Verdict: Highly Recommended:)

Best regards,

Rafael Daulet

ESL Teacher

Amazing instructors and course content! Although it would be easier to understand some material with a teaching background or training, the instructors do an excellent job motivating and guiding you to the finish line!

This course is a butt-kicker, but well worth the time spent. It forced me to get the hard stuff over with, and the feedback on got on my mini teaching demonstration was beyond helpful.

Absolutely exceptional and filled with tangible products that you can immediately use in building a credible portfolio/resume. It was a good bit of work but entirely worthwhile.

Great course. Just remember you will probably need additional ESL books to work from for further examples. The course provides only basic ones.

An opportunity of teacher observation is great! This enriches experience and allows to get a fresh look at your own methods.

But unfortunately, when you don't have materials for the class you're observing, it is hard sometimes to understand this or that exercise. I think attachements with materials for each teacher observation (scanned pages from the textbook) are gonna make the course even greater!

The switch from watching videos and doing short assignments, to mostly readings and longer assignments took me by surprise. It's definitely good experience, but I thought it could come with a bit more instruction, or lings to further areas of study for students.

I was expecting the capstone to be different than what it ended being. I didn't find it as practical and beneficial as the other courses.

too repetitive, and i do not want to submit a video of my self teaching.

I've liked all the courses until this one. There was very frustrating and I found 0% helpful in the long run. Assignments were very unclear and often students would rate low on the assignments with little no reason why only saying generic lines like, "You missed something." The last one for example also, two people rated me low saying I either went too long or too short on the video. My video when I recorded it was about 7-8 minutes long which met the rubric. The assignments were also very suggestive and little guidance was given. 99% of the feedback I got on the assignments was just "good job" or "you missed something." Would have preferred if the professors graded these things, as I know they would say more then saying "good job" and would say what could be improved. Also the teachers we observed were not very good and I don't think any of them knew how to teach ESL. Finally the lesson plan parts were very, very redundant, and not needed to teach ESL.

I've liked the first 3 courses but this one needs a lot, and this is about the first half of the final course so I'm not sure what I did right or wrong. Please improve things in this course based on what i am saying.

The entire course was not paced well. The capstone had as much work each week as the other courses had in the entire 6 week course. To make it worse for me the capstone came up at the end of the year when teachers are overloaded already. I ended up having to roll over to the next session 1/2 way through. Work should have been better spread out. I also do not like that you get no real teacher evaluation in a capstone. Meaning a student could take a full 8 courses over a year and then fail when the teachers finally look at all the work in the second capstone.

I feel like I learned a lot from this course, including the fact that I have a lot more to learn, haha! It was great that they have teachers for you to observe, so I didn't have to go travel around trying to find teachers around where I live. It was nice to observe the other students, too. I learned a lot from watching the students as well as the teachers. I learned a lot by reviewing the work of other students, too. I'm glad they have us do that. I like the portfolio that they are having us create with all the lesson plans and teaching videos. I like this course series.

The course tightens back everything that was taught in the 3 previous courses. It helps me recall important information and reinforce my understanding of developing good lesson plans not only for daily but also weekly classes. The teachers, both instructors and teachers for observation sessions are fun, lively, and very helpful in conveying many useful take-away for my own class development.

Thank you so much Dr. Shane and Ms. Jessica for producing such a high quality and helpful course!

It has been a very practical course.You have made me what i am.You have worked very hard to impart all this knowledge and skills into us.I don't want to let you down.I feel i should do whatever is in my capacity to complete the second part of this course so that i can go out into the world and apply the unique way of teaching that you have taught me.I just can't wait to do that..All thanks to you very valuable instructors,Thank you very much indeed.

Nakitende Rovina.

This was a really great course. It was engaging also because I had a lot more interaction with fellow students than I am used to. This captsone project made me really think about things like ensuring that I have good text book material lined up and visualising who I would be teaching. The teacher observation provided me with some insight into what it would really be like to interact with the learners that I visualised.

A pesar de las grandes cantidades de tarea y de trabajo que requirió este curso, no podría estar más satisfecha con el curso. Todo el trabajo aquí realizado tiene el propósito laboral de crear una portafolio profesional que luego servirá para postular a un trabajo, ¡perfecto! Contenidos esenciales, evaluaciones de conocimientos y trabajos prácticos y útiles. Lo recomiendo a todo aquel que realmente desee superarse.