English Teaching

Web 2.0 Online Courses for English Teachers

Join us on any of the following online courses run by Professor Michael Krauss at Lewis & Clark College, Oregon. These are 3-week courses that focus specifically on showing English teachers how to use the Internet in their English teaching. The US Embassy is offering scholarships for selected participants.

The course goal is to train language teachers with the necessary Web 2.0 tools to help the English Language Teaching community in our country. These tools include social networking sites, blogging, podcasting, and online instruction.  Follow-on programming should include candidates' conducting their own training for local groups of English teachers and creating new or building existing sites for teachers. A total of 10 teachers will be selected for the courses. The Information Resource Center will be contacting only the selected participants and providing further details about the programs.

If you’d like to nominate, you can do it directly as a teacher or through your institution. One institution can nominate more than one teacher, but please submit your nomination list in priority order.

There are two different classes you can apply for:

1. Sept. 12-30, 2011: Integrating the Internet into the Classroom - http://legacy.lclark.edu/~krauss/usia/. Designed for teachers who are slightly less familiar with the Internet.

2. July 11-29, 2011:  Exploring Web 2.0: Tools for Classroom Teaching and Professional Development - http://legacy.lclark.edu/~krauss/exploring20web/home.html. More advanced course.

Nomination requirements:

English teachers from the public and private sector at all educational levels (high school, university, technical…) are encourage to nominate for the courses.  Please send your nominations to InfoUSA-Colombia@state.gov  no later than Friday April 15, 2011. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact the Information Resources Center by calling us at 315-0811 ext 2883 or 315-2131.

Please provide the following information:

• Full name
• Contact information: Address, e-mail, home number, cell number
• Short biography
• Justification: Please explain the importance of your participation on the course and how are you planning to replicate among your students and colleagues what you’ll learn.

Good luck!!

TEA

As last year we have the privilege to nominate Colombian English Teachers to participate in the fully funded TEA program, which  offers strategic investment in teachers’ professional development. TEA brings 178 international secondary school teachers to the United  States in spring and fall of 2012 for a six-week professional development program combining academic seminars with a two-week internship in a U.S. secondary school.
 
TEA participants (both foreign and US teachers) have an immediate impact on student learning, as they bring new methodologies and ideas directly into the classroom. They share their subject matter expertise, methodological skills, and knowledge of the country that they have visited through formal and informal trainings in their school and larger education communities.

I encourage you to participate by submitting your nomination no later than March 18, 2011, pre-selected candidates will be contacted to filled out formal application, to conduct phone interviews and will be required to take the TOEFL exam and pass it with a 450 score.

Eligible applicants must be:

• Secondary-level, full-time teachers with five or more years of classroom experience in either: English as a foreign language; social science (social studies, civics, geography or history); or math and science.

In our selection process, the Embassy will give preference to:  

•  Teachers in public schools or schools with large underprivileged or displaced populations.   
• Teachers who are currently informally or formally teacher trainers.  
• Teachers who have significant experience in presenting at local in-service teacher training.
• Teachers who have not previously studied or worked in the United States.  

Please send your resume in English or Spanish, as well as a brief description of your English level, teaching experience, and English test’s score (if you have taken any English test). It will also be appropriate to summarize any projects you’ve worked on or are currently developing towards English teaching in your community.

More information about the process

If you have any question, please contact the Information Resource Center at InfoUSA-Colombia@state.gov or call at 315-0811 ext 2883