Delta Course with Teaching House

I completed Delta Modules 1, 2, and 3 with Teaching House over the course of about 9 months. I did the Blended Delta program, where Modules 1 and 3 were done by distance and Module 2 was done mostly onsite, at Teaching House New York.

For Module 1, I found the Moodle and accompanying online materials helpful and relevant, and my tutor, Paula, was excellent - she provided in-depth feedback in a very timely fashion, and was consistently available to me, even though she was working in a different timezone. I couldn't have asked for a better distance tutor! I received a Pass with Merit in the Module 1 exam.

Part of Module 2 was done by distance, and Lizzy Adams was my tutor for this part of the program. Like Paula, she was easy to get in touch with and very helpful and encouraging with her feedback.

The majority of Module 2 was done onsite, at Teaching House New York. The workload is extremely challenging - you need to clear your calendar 100% in order to keep up with the assignments. My tutors, again, were excellent - Lise and Paula, my Module 1 tutor. They were helpful, knowledgeable, and accessible and provided so much guidance and feedback. The students and staff at Teaching House New York were fantastic as well. It was an absolutely exhausting 5 weeks onsite, but I received a Pass with Merit at the end of it all, and I was delighted with that.

I had started Module 3 after taking the Module 1 exam, and before starting the Module 2 coursework. After finishing Module 2, I picked up Module 3 again and finished it in time for the June deadline. I did this by distance, with my tutor, Bobby, providing assistance from Teaching House London. I really struggled to make the deadline, but Bobby was understanding and supportive, and provided me with plenty of focused feedback. He was away on holidays towards the end of the process, and Lizzy stepped in to look at my final draft, which I really appreciated. My timetable was topsy-turvy during this time, but the Teaching House staff were very accommodating. I managed to finish Module 3 in time and received a Pass, so I was very happy with that!

All in all, I would recommend the Blended Delta course at Teaching House. I started in early October and was finished in early June. It was intense, but do-able. The staff are really dedicated and extremely helpful. They want you to pass and will do their best to support you. I'm very appreciative to all of them for helping me along the way.

Thanks a million! / Go raibh mile maith agaibh!

Mary Beth
Dublin, Ireland

I started doing the modular Delta with Teaching House in 2015. Being able to take breaks between modules and doing some of it on-line was clearly what made it possible for me to take the most from the course. The platform Teaching House provides was really helpful and all my tutors were supportive, available and willing to do their best to help me learn, grow and, obviously, pass. I have a strong feeling that I wouldn’t pass anything if I had worked on my own…

Having the Diploma is a very good thing, but going through the process of observing peers, analyzing your own teaching, finding new ways of helping students so intensively is something you only get when taking the course. It may feel like twice as much work (or more…), but that’s when I felt I’ve improved the most. Before my presential lessons at Teaching House NY, I had only taught monolingual classes in my hometown in Brazil and I knew I needed to be challenged with something different. The course was well structured, my Tutors Lise and Paula were extremely competent (I kind of felt that just by looking at them on day 1 !) and I have nothing but gratitude for their dedication.

My very strong advice would be to sign up for the presential course if possible. But whichever way you decide, you will be sure to have very good support and guidance from your tutors.

I undertook the Distance Learning Delta via Moodle. I found the material excellent: very amenable, salient and directive. I found myself being effortlessly shepherded into the most pertinent elements. Feedback from my tutors (Lizzie Adams at Oxford House in London and Erica Lederman in New York) was consistently professional: rigorous, swift and both descriptive and prescriptive in terms of classroom practice and exam performance. As a result of the consistent professionalism no quibbles arose, but had they done so it is clear from the set-up that they would have been immediately ironed out as a result of the constant access available to tutors. Module 1 overhauled my immediate classroom pedagogy, and has been of inestimable worth to myself, my students and my colleagues as a result. I unhesitatingly recommend it to anyone interested in improving their performance holistically.

I recently completed and passed my DELTA Module 1 course. I am over the moon as this test has always been one of my fears and I had been putting it off for so long. The timing this year was perfect and I went for it, but first I needed help and that was where Teaching House came to my rescue.

Helen, my tutor, was amazing and really helped me out. The course was structured very well and it helped to not cram everything but to really focus on each part of the module step by step. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Not only did I pass because of this course but also my teaching has skyrocketed and I feel I have grown so much more as a teacher.

My advice for anyone wanting to pass Module 1 is to sign up for this course because what you get on this is valuable for what you will be up against in the exam. Speaking for myself I could not have done it on my own.

Thank you Teaching House and thank you Helen for helping me achieve something that had scared me for so long - The DELTA Module 1

I took the Delta course at Teaching House in New York in 2014. Module 1&3 I completed on-line with a great support from my tutor Lizzy Adams. For Module 2, which includes input sessions, teaching practices, observations and writing assignments, I came to NYC. Overall, the module is structured similarly to Celta with a heavier workload and more opportunities to experiment (we had a chance to conduct unassessed lessons which were so much fun and always seemed to be better that assessed ones!) The most challenging aspect was completing the work in the time we had and we never had enough…
There were only five of us on the course and we formed really strong bonds with each other. Now, we are in different parts of the world but try to keep in touch. Actually, not all of us made it through all the 3 Modules (for different reasons), but I think all of us would agree that those 8 weeks are well-worth the cost , tremendous effort and the loss of sleep.
It was a fantastic learning and teaching experience. Teaching a group of multilingual students (from 7 different countries) was alien to me…their accents, mistakes they were making, ideas, personalities. Everything was different. Prior to taking the Delta, I had been teaching only monolingual classes.
The course made me a better teacher in so many ways. The most valuable ability I have formed and developed is being able to reflect on my peers’ and my own teaching. I never thought that reflecting could be such a powerful tool in professional development as a teacher-researcher.
I would definitely recommend this course (blended Delta) to those looking for a flexible way to progress further and update teaching skills in the field of TESL. Unfortunately, the Delta does not seem to be valued enough in China and it does not open doors to ESL positions at international schools where I hoped to land.