This is the summary of an #ELTchat which was written up by Chris Wilson who has himself just started following a DELTA course.

You can read the original chat transcript here and Chris’ summary on his blog.

On the 15/02/2013 teachers from across the world met to discuss my suggested topic “How to survive and make the most of your DELTA (or similar course)” A topic I had chosen as I am about to start my DELTA (having been persuaded on a previous #ELTChat) and having seen Sandy Millin reflect on her issues and struggles on her DELTA. Thankful the ever helpful ELTchat PLN came to the rescue!

Top Survival Tips

1) Get reading early

@Marisa_C shared this tip and it quickly lead to a sharing of recommended reading books, which I’ve added to an Amazon list.

@ShaunWilden later added that forming a reading group was a good idea to assist other trainees learning.

2) Build a Jargon list

@ShaunWilden commented on the large amount of Jargon in the DELTA and so recommended making a Jargon list. @TEFLerinha agreed and added that the Exam now asks you to define terms as well (although as @Shaznosel pointed out, you only get a few points for defining terms so don’t worry too much)

@SandyMillin shared her Quizlet group as a tool for learning DELTA jargon but @toulasklavou was more critical stating that learning terms by heart was useless and that it was much better and more effective to read and learn the terms in context.

3) Get assignments out of the way early

@TheTeacherJames shared this tip from his CELTA course. Of course (no pun intended), the DELTA has a different format from the CELTA with assignments not being part of Module one, Module two has five writing assignments and Module three has an extended assignment. So time management is still a big issue.

4) Develop a good note taking system

@Marisa_C Sshared that when she did her Diploma she used Large paper mindmaps and Note cards but now there are plenty of tools that make storing notes a lot easier. @ShaunWilden agreed but @Shaznosel said that she still uses paper mindmaps and note cards.

Some Of the curation tools that were recommended included Evernote (my favourite), One note (from Microsoft), diigo (Useful highlighting tools) or even a tool like Pintrest. In hindsight I noticed that no one mentioned an online mindmapping tool so i’d like to recommend Google Drive’s drawing feature or wallwisher.

Continue reading