Leslie’s 2″ binder – and we’re only half way through CELTA! This is just her notes and course handouts binder. She has another 2″ binder with all her lesson plans…

We knew the CELTA program was intense before it began.  We’d read blogs that grown women cry in the 3rd week.  It’s true!  Into the second week Leslie said she’d never be able to continue the pace we’d been on.  We candidates (10 of us) were averaging maybe 4 – 5 hours sleep per night – including weekends.  It’s hard to convey the intensity of the course.

I was recently asked if I was “enjoying” our class.  I said NO emphatically!  But that wasn’t the right question to ask.  CELTA is a fabulous program and I now understand why it is so highly regarded around the world in the ESL community.  We are fire-hosed with information and are expected to implement that knowledge immediately in our teaching sessions (TP’s).  After each teaching session we are critiqued by our peer candidates (frank and humbling) as well as by our tutors (who are master teachers).

CELTA has two courses – the 4 week intensive and the 16 week (or so) extensive program for working individuals.  In two weeks with the intensive class we caught up to the extensive class (which had started in February).  We asked if we could switch to the extensive class and our request was accepted.

Our new classmates are primarily full-time teachers.  Even though we only meet on Saturdays, the workload for these teachers (who have families and all the other time commitments of life) is intense.  It’s brutal for them as well.  We got home around 9 pm last Saturday night after being in school all day.

But for Leslie and me, we finally slept in last Sunday and have tried to catch up on our sleep these past few days.  It’s been great getting to bed at 10 for a change!  We’ve even taken time this week to visit the world class Anthropological Museum and the historic downtown of Mexico City (Zocalo).

And – hopefully – we’ll have the time now to keep our blog up to date!