TEFL COLOMBIA
SANTA MARTA, MAGDALENA
Your Month at a Glance & Head Trainer Highlight
YOUR MONTH AT A GLANCE
Your plane touches down on the runway right next to the beach at Simón Bolívar International Airport in Santa Marta and your journey begins.
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Once you pick up your luggage, walk outside and look for our driver holding a sign with our logo and your name.
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After everyone has arrived we drive 20 minutes north to Santa Marta and sort out SIM cards for those wanting one.
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We drop you off at your accommodation and schedule a pickup for the mandatory Course Orientation on the Sunday before the first day of the course. During this session you'll be given a local orientation and the information and tools needed to successfully complete the TESOL Course. After the Course Orientation we'll invite you to have a local style dinner together.
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During the first two weeks we mostly spend it in our classroom located in the University of Magdalena from 9am to 4:30pm with an hour and a half lunch break. We cover theories of second language aquisition, methodology, classroom management, lesson planning among other input sessions.
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During the last two weeks of the course we arrange teacher practices for all trainees at local schools. Every morning we go to a local school, teach a class, get feedback after your class, and head back to our training center to plan the next day's class.
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On the last day we celebrate graduation together on the beach before continuing life with a new experience and TESOL certificate.
HEAD TRAINER HIGHLIGHT
Professor Peter A. Devia
Born and raised in the US to Colombian parents, Pete has lived all over the world and recently made Santa Marta his home. After earning his bachelor's degree in Sociology and minoring in Theology, Pete started teaching English in South Korea. After almost two decades of teaching around the world, earning multiple professional development certificates, learning a couple of new languages and going on a few adventures, Pete found the love of his life and they decided to settle down, start a family and join the TEFL Colombia family.
20 YEARS OF VARIED ESL EXPERIENCE
Starting his ESL career as a kindergarten teacher and continuing with primary, secondary, university, business English, teacher training and ending as a school director, Pete's experience varies from all age ranges and skill levels to administration duties, in every continent except Antarctica.
TEFL INTERNATIONAL TRAINER
After an internship under Prof. Dave Hopkins, Pete took over as Head Trainer at TEFL International's HQ in Ban Phe Thailand.
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Three years later he had trained hundreds of teachers who now work around the world. He was then hired by Andrew Biggs Academy to run the day-to-day operation of the new Hat Yai branch.
SCHOOL DIRECTOR
From education to administration, Pete was able to use his experience in the classroom to design curricula for different grades, create and moderate exciting summer camps and field trips.
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His experience in administration allows Pete to provide trainees with perspective and insight to better cope with local school administration.
PHILANTHROPIST
From volunteer soccer coach in the US, to organizing events for local children in Cambodia, to most recently creating a scholarship for Ethiopian students, Pete's lifelong passion is philanthropy. Every month he organizes an English Day for schools in low income neighborhoods here in Santa Marta, providing an opportunity for trainees to interact with the local community.
SCUBA INSTRUCTOR
When not teaching how to teach, Pete teaches how to breathe underwater! As a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor and Emergency First Responder Instructor, Pete has worked as an instructor and dive center manager in Thailand, The Philippines and Indonesia.
OTHER PROJECTS INCLUDE:
- Created a theatre program for a Japanese high school
- Created a tutor training program for Vietnamese teachers
- Wrote and directed plays for Thai high schools
- Created a traveling English Camp
- Worked as an academic consultant for various language centers
- Worked as an academic moderator providing evaluations and feedback for teachers.