Episode Thirty-six

Interview with Jessie Ebersole: How ELT Organizations are Adapting Online and Virtual Volunteer Teaching

Show Notes

I’m happy to welcome back a returning guest this week on Expand Your Horizons: Jessie Ebersole. Jessie joined me on the podcast in the fall of 2019, but in case you missed our previous conversation, let me briefly introduce her before we dive into our conversation. Jessie is the Director of Academic Programs at Washington English Center, which is a non-profit English language school for adult immigrants in Washington, D.C. WEC offers 14 levels of ESL classes, and they rely on volunteer teachers for all of those. Jessie started out in the TESOL field as a volunteer herself, and she later went on to complete a master’s degree in TESOL at American University. She has a lot of experience in this field, including teaching at American University’s English Language Training Academy, and working as a draft writer for parts of Intercambio’s textbook series Confidence and Connections.

I’m thrilled to have Jessie join me here again, because I have a lot of respect for the work she does and for Washington English Center as an organization. In our conversation, Jessie and I catch up on how WEC is adapting to online teaching, discuss her take on the current state of the ELT industry and share opportunities for volunteer teaching online.

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In this Episode

• How Washington English Center serves the community and what Jessie does there

• How WEC quickly adapted and moved their programs online when the Covid-19 pandemic began

• What a typical WEC class looks like now that everything is fully online

• The benefits of online learning and what students and teachers have gained from the change

• How online learning is making local organizations global

• The challenges of moving classes online, for staff/ teachers and for WEC as an organization

• If you’re interested in doing volunteer teaching online: what you should know

• The process of becoming a paid staff member at an organization like WEC

• The benefits of volunteer teaching and working with an organization like WEC

• What Jessie loves about the ELT industry, and how that’s changed since we’ve all gone virtual

• Jessie’s predictions for the future of online teaching: where she thinks we’ll go from here, even post-pandemic

• Her thoughts about whether WEC will continue to offer online classes, even after it’s safe to resume teaching in person

• How to get in touch with Washington English Center or learn more: check out their website, find them on Facebook, or reach out to Jessie directly at jebersole@washingtonenglish.org

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Episode Twenty-three

Interview with Jessie Ebersole: The Benefits of Volunteer Teaching

Show Notes

In this week's episode of Expand Your Horizons, our guest is Jessie Ebersole. Jessie is the Director of Academic Programs at Washington English Center, a non-profit English language school for adult immigrants in Washington, D.C., which relies on all volunteer teachers to teach 14 levels of classes. Jessie started out in the TESOL field as a volunteer, and later went on to complete a master’s degree in TESOL at American University. She previously taught at American University’s English Language Training Academy, and was a draft writer for parts of Intercambio’s textbook series Confidence and Connections. Jessie is the WATESOL Adult ED Special Interest Group Chair, and she always enjoys opportunities to connect with the broader TESOL community. In our conversation, we discuss how starting as a volunteer teacher kicked off her career in the field of English language teaching, and we dive into the benefits of being a volunteer teacher in general.

“On a deeper level, you learn about different people’s cultures and perspectives and backgrounds and experiences. In general, I think most teachers, and I also, am just amazed at how often these classroom communities form where everyone is very supportive of each other and you see people bonding across cultures and across language barriers. Even at the beginning level, you see students forming connections with people who they don’t have a lot of ways to communicate with based on their language level… but they still manage to connect. And I think that’s something that’s very rewarding to see. ”

In this Episode

• How Jessie got started in the ELT industry

• What inspired her to start teaching

• Why she moved to Washington, DC

• How she got started at Washington English Center

• How volunteering launched her career

• Her experience as a TESOL grad student

• How she got experience in materials development

• How volunteering let her “test the waters” to determine that she wanted to continue on in her training and development as a teacher

• Why it can be helpful to have a little bit of teaching experience before starting a teaching degree or certification

• What her job is like at Washington English Center

• How she supports the teachers at WEC

• How Washington English Center works

• What it’s like to volunteer at WEC

• The flexibility for students and teachers in WEC’s program

• Why WEC uses a co-teaching model

• The challenges that some volunteers face

• Why it’s important to move away from the classroom model of “teacher as lecturer” and instead make lessons more like workshops

• Where the students at WEC come from and what their expectations are

• Why plenty of speaking practice is important in the classroom

• Why someone might want to volunteer as a teacher at WEC

• What volunteer teachers can expect

• The benefits of volunteer teaching

• Why the students at WEC are so motivated

• How classroom communities form

• The reward of seeing students’ abilities with language progress

• Differences in teaching beginning students and more advanced students

• Professional development opportunities offered to volunteers at WEC

• Why it’s important to refresh your teaching skills regularly, no matter how much experience you have

• Advice for teachers who are thinking about volunteer teaching, whether at WEC or elsewhere

• Why volunteering can work as pre- or post-certification experience

• Why volunteering is a great way to figure out if teaching is really for you

• Why volunteering counts as “real teaching” when it comes to experience on resumes or in job interviews

• What Jessie wishes she had known before she first started teaching

• Her favorite thing about her work

• Why there are so many different paths to take in the English language teaching industry- how to build it into a career

• How to get in touch with Washington English Center: by emailing Jessie at jebersole@washingtonenglish.org or by calling 240-289-2101

• Washington English Center’s website: https://www.washingtonenglish.org/ 

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