Stop wondering what to do in your ESL lessons.
Learn the practical methodology and lesson frameworks you need to plan and teach effective, engaging ESL lessons.
Online English Teacher is a comprehensive, self-paced ESL teacher-training certificate program designed to teach you not just what to do — but why it works.
Does this sound familiar?
You sit down to plan an ESL lesson and somehow end up with too many options — a course book full of activities, a folder of worksheets, ideas you found online. But you’re still not completely sure how to put it all together or how much of it will really help your students.
Maybe you find yourself wondering…
What should I actually teach in this lesson?
Do I just go straight down the page? Where do I find other materials?
Are my students participating enough?
It feels like I’m talking a lot… how much is really getting through?
Why does lesson planning take so long?
Or am I just supposed to wing it with “conversation practice?”
How do I know whether my lesson is working?
Are my students truly improving and reaching their goals?
You may have plenty of ideas and materials. You may even have years of teaching experience.
But without a clear methodology behind your decisions, it’s easy to end up piecing lessons together instead of building them intentionally.
That’s exactly the problem Online English Teacher is designed to solve.
You don’t need another collection of activities or subscription to a site full of random materials.
You need a clear way to decide what kind of lesson you’re teaching, what you want students to achieve, and how to structure the lesson so they can get there.
A clear methodology
for every lesson you teach
Effective lesson planning doesn’t start with gathering fun activities.
It starts by knowing what kind of lesson you’re teaching, exactly what you want your students to achieve, and the framework that will help you get them there.
That’s the methodology at the heart of Online English Teacher:
Lesson Type
One Main Aim
Appropriate Framework
Step 1: Start with the lesson type
First, determine the main focus of the lesson.
Are you teaching:
Reading? Listening? Speaking? Writing? Vocabulary? Grammar? Functional Language?
Each of these is a different lesson type — and each one requires a different approach.
A reading lesson shouldn’t be structured the same way as a grammar lesson. And a speaking lesson needs something different again.
Knowing the lesson type gives you the big-picture direction for the lesson.
Step 2: Set ONE clear main aim
Once you know the lesson type, you can get specific:
What do you want your students to be able to do by the end of this particular lesson?
For example, you’ve chosen “reading” as the lesson type.
From there, a clear lesson aim might be:
By the end of the lesson, students will have developed their reading comprehension for gist and detail.
When your lesson has one clear main aim, it becomes much easier to decide:
what belongs in the lesson
what you can leave out
which activities actually serve a purpose
how students’ English will develop
whether the lesson has achieved what students need
Instead of trying to teach a little bit of everything, you can focus the lesson around
one meaningful outcome.
Step 3: Use the appropriate lesson framework
Now you know what kind of lesson you’re teaching and what you want students to achieve.
The framework gives you the structure for how to get them there.
Rather than starting with a blank page or piecing together activities and hoping they work, you have a clear process to guide the lesson from beginning to end.
And because you understand the purpose behind each part of the framework, you’re not locked into one rigid lesson plan.
You can adapt it for:
different learners
different levels
different materials
different timeframes
different teaching contexts
That’s the difference between simply following someone else’s lesson plan and
the ability to plan and teach for yourself.
Once you understand this process…
Lesson planning becomes much less about asking, “What activity should I do next?”
and much more about knowing:
“What am I trying to achieve — and what does this lesson need in order to achieve it?”
Then you’ll simply use the relevant framework to guide you.
This is exactly what you’ll learn inside…
Online English Teacher
Comprehensive, practical ESL teacher training designed to help you know what to do in your lessons — and why.
Online English Teacher is my self-paced ESL teacher-training certificate program for teachers who want a clear methodology behind the decisions they make in the classroom.
Inside OET, you’ll learn how to plan and teach the seven major ESL lesson types — reading, listening, vocabulary, grammar, functional language, speaking, and writing — by setting one clear main aim and using the appropriate lesson framework to help your students achieve it.
But OET goes beyond simply explaining the methodology.
You’ll also see the methodology in action with real students, work through practical exercises in the OET Guide and Workbook, use tech tutorials to implement new tools and techniques, and get complete lesson plans, materials, and online teaching ideas you can adapt to your own classes.
The goal isn’t for you to memorize someone else’s lessons.
It’s for you to fully understand how effective ESL lessons work so you can plan, adapt, and teach confidently — in any context.
What this looks like in practice
“I’m already getting great feedback from my students... they’re finding it a lot more fun and engaging.
. . .
You let me find my confidence in online English teaching.”
From piecing lessons together… to teaching with intention
Online English Teacher is designed to change more than the way your lesson plans look.
It changes the way you think and make decisions as a teacher.
Before OET
You may find yourself…
searching for random activities and lesson ideas
either over-planning or winging it
wondering whether a lesson is actually “good”
relying heavily on course books or other teachers’ lesson plans
talking or doing too much of the work yourself
spending too much time planning because you don’t have a go-to process
thinking, “What do I do next?”
knowing that something works or doesn’t, but not necessarily understanding why
After OET
You’ll be better able to…
identify the lesson type and set one clear main aim
choose the appropriate framework for that lesson
select activities because they serve a specific purpose
adapt lessons for different levels, learners, timeframes, and contexts
create more authentic, communicative, student-centered practice
streamline your planning and make decisions more efficiently
understand what comes next — and why
explain and justify the teaching choices you make
What you’ll learn inside
Online English Teacher
OET takes you from the fundamentals of effective ESL teaching all the way through planning and delivering dynamic lessons and designing course plans of your own.
Rather than simply collecting more activities or memorizing lesson plans, you’ll learn the methodology behind effective teaching — so you can make confident decisions for different students, levels, materials, and teaching situations.
Here’s how it works:
First, you’ll build a strong teaching foundation
You’ll start by implementing the core principles that make any ESL lesson clear, purposeful, and student-centered.
These are the techniques that make your communication clear to your students, that make your activities cohesive and scaffolded, and that ensure your lesson functions like an engaging workshop rather than a lecture.
You’ll learn how to:
identify the lesson type and set one clear main aim
reduce unnecessary teacher talk and increase meaningful student participation
give clear instructions and manage tasks effectively
use the task cycle to create more student-centered lessons
choose and adapt materials with a clear purpose
use online teaching tools effectively without letting the technology take over the lesson
The goal here is to give you a strong foundation for how all effective ESL teaching works before you move into individual lesson types.
Next, you’ll master the seven major ESL lesson types
This is the heart of OET.
You’ll learn how to plan and teach:
Reading Vocabulary
Listening Grammar
Speaking Functions
Writing
For each lesson type, you’ll learn how to set an appropriate main aim and use the corresponding lesson framework to structure the lesson from beginning to end.
You won’t just learn what stages to include. You’ll learn why they’re there, what they’re designed to achieve, and how to adapt them for your own students and teaching context.
So instead of asking:
“What activity should I do next?”
you’ll be able to think:
“What does this lesson need in order to achieve its aim?”
Finally, you’ll move beyond individual lessons
Once you know how to teach individual lessons effectively, we’ll zoom out and look at the bigger picture.
This is where you’ll learn how to design live courses and asynchronous learning programs, as well as how to assess your learners’ needs and market your teaching skills to find paying students.
You’ll learn how to:
connect individual lessons into purposeful course plans and syllabi
identify and set longer-term learning goals for your students
select and sequence course aims and content logically
adapt your teaching for different learners, levels, and contexts
build a practical teaching toolbox you can continue using long after the course ends
apply your training as you move forward in your own online teaching career
Want to see exactly what’s inside?
Online English Teacher includes 10 comprehensive modules that take you through this process step by step.
-
In this first module, we’ll take a practical, in-depth look at how to distinguish and plan different types of lessons, as well as the fundamentals of communicative ESL methodology.
You’ll learn…
The differences between lesson types and why this matters in your planning and teaching
How to best use online platforms like Zoom for teaching — including mastering breakout rooms, the best ways to share audio and visuals, and other important features
Strategies for engaging students and transforming online lessons from lectures into interactive workshops
Troubleshooting for common online teaching issues
+If you choose to do the live practicum, you’ll also attend an orientation meeting and teach an introductory communicative lesson
-
Reading lessons actually can be useful and fun! This module covers how to make your students more confident and independent readers through communicative reading lessons.
You’ll learn…
The different reading sub-skills, why these matter, and how to help students develop them
The best tools for adapting and sharing texts over Zoom
The ‘dos and ‘don’ts of teaching reading — avoid these big mistakes!
Techniques for adapting effective reading activities for an online format: jigsaw reading, longer texts, difficult texts, and more
+If you choose to do the live practicum, you’ll also plan and teach a reading lesson online.
-
This module shows you how to develop your students’ listening comprehension skills by seamlessly integrating different types of audio into your lessons.
You’ll learn…
The different listening sub-skills and how to use them to improve students’ comprehension
How to incorporate audio files right into your slides and other online materials
How to draw on students’ knowledge of context to make them more confident with fast-paced speech
Engaging listening activities that students actually enjoy
+If you do the live practicum, you’ll also plan and teach a listening lesson online.
-
In this module, I’ll show you how to help students master and remember new vocabulary words with well-organized presentations and engaging interactive practice and review activities.
You’ll learn…
How to select, present, clarify, and help students practice cohesive sets of vocabulary words online
How to use a test-teach-test structure to build on what students already know and teach them what they don’t
The three essential things students need to know to really learn new words — and how to clarify them effectively
Fun review games that students will want to keep playing
+If you do the live practicum, you’ll also plan and teach a vocabulary lesson online.
-
Do you dread teaching grammar? Don’t worry — in this module you’ll master the seemingly impossible: how to teach grammar in a way that’s fun and easy for students (and you!) to understand. Yes, even online.
You’ll learn…
How to use a text-based lesson structure to grab students’ attention and help them grasp the meaning of grammar through context
How to use visuals, eliciting, and guided discovery techniques to clarify grammar in a student-centered way
Information gaps and other communicative practice activities that will actually make students want to use the new grammar
Grammar teaching techniques so simple and engaging that your students will hardly realize they’re studying grammar
+If you do the live practicum, you’ll also plan and teach a grammar lesson online.
-
Not sure what “functional language” is? In this module, you’ll find out! You’ll learn how to teach “real world” phrases to help students communicate more confidently.
You’ll learn…
Why students love learning functional language and how it helps them become more fluent English users
How to structure a functions lesson to exploit context and highlight key aspects of communication such as strength and formality
How to focus on what makes English sound natural: intonation, collocations, colloquialisms, and common expressions
Role plays: they actually do work online!
+If you do the live practicum, you’ll also plan and teach a functional language lesson online.
-
Teaching a speaking lesson is so much more than just getting students to chat. This module covers exactly what you need to include and how to truly develop and support students’ fluency.
You’ll learn…
How to contextualize and scaffold speaking lessons so students are actually getting better at speaking — not just chatting
How to design speaking tasks with communicative goals and why these are essential when teaching speaking
How to motivate your students to communicate in authentic ways so they see noticeable improvement in their fluency
Fun speaking activities for pairs and small groups and how to set them up so you don’t have to beg your students to speak… they’ll actually want to!
+If you do the live practicum, you’ll also plan and teach a speaking lesson online.
-
Writing lessons are SO much more than stilted “paragraphs” or “essays.” Think of all the things we need to write in our daily lives: emails, texts, posts online… This module will show you how to make writing lessons feel genuinely authentic and useful.
And remember — any writing in a lesson isn’t necessarily useful writing. I’ll show you how to focus on writing fluency as an improvable skill and how to guide students through a helpful writing process.
You’ll learn…
Product and process writing: how to exploit a model text and take students step-by-step through a process that truly improves their writing ability
How to design a writing task that is authentic — and why this is the #1 thing that determines the success of your writing lesson
Techniques and tech tools you can use to get students excited about writing online
The best ways to set up, monitor, share, and correct online writing tasks
+If you do the live practicum, you’ll also plan and teach a writing lesson online.
-
Now that you’ve mastered how to teach different types of individual lessons, you’ll learn how to plan full courses, tailor a syllabus to students’ needs, and also more about teaching exam prep, business English, and one-to-one.
You’ll learn…
How to conduct a needs analysis to determine students’ unique needs and goals
How to plan full courses or cohesive series of lessons for different types of classes and students
Ways to engage and motivate your students throughout the course, including how to set up a “flipped classroom”
The best ways to continue your own development and continually improve your teaching skills
-
Now that you have the teaching methodology in place, we’ll cover the practical logistics of finding students and building a sustainable online teaching practice.
You’ll learn…
The basics of setting up your online teaching business
The big “DOs” and “DON’Ts” of working as a freelance online teacher
How to market your teaching skills and book paying students
How to create self-study courses online and other ways to generate passive income as an ELT professional
-
Your lessons don’t mean much to students if they can’t actually see the material you’re teaching. In the physical classroom, you can hand out exercises and write everything up on the whiteboard. But how does that translate to the computer screen?
In this bonus module, you’ll learn how to make your online material clear and accessible for your learners.
You’ll learn…
The best tool to use as an online whiteboard (spoiler alert: it’s not the built-in Zoom version!)
How to use and share different types of visuals and materials with your online students
How to best present and format visual information as a clear and meaningful teaching tool
Tips and tricks for visual feedback on tasks
PowerPoint and Google Slides tricks that will save you countless hours of planning time
How to create shareable, editable exercises and even full workbooks using Google Docs
How you’ll learn inside OET
OET is designed to help you do more than simply watch training videos and take notes.
Throughout the program, you’ll have opportunities to learn the methodology, see it in action, work through it for yourself, and use practical resources in your own teaching.
Each module includes:
🎥 Practical, Step-by-Step Video Training
Learn the principles, techniques, and frameworks behind effective ESL teaching — with clear explanations of what to do, why it works, and how to apply it.
There are optional brainstorming and note-taking tasks in the OET Guide to help you get the most out of each video.
📘 OET Guide & Workbook
The Online English Teacher Guide is your workbook and reference book throughout the course.
Interact with the methodology as you learn with guided notes, activities, reflection questions, and practical exercises designed to help you turn the training into something you can actually use.
👀 Real Lesson Observations
See the methodology in action with real students and real lessons.
You’ll be able to observe how the techniques and frameworks you’re learning actually work in practice — and connect what you’re studying to what happens in the classroom. There is additional commentary included about the lesson to answer any questions you might have about the methodology or material used in the class.
💻 Practical Online Teaching Tools & Tech
Learn how to use the tools that support effective online teaching — from creating and adapting materials to making your lessons more interactive and easier to deliver.
The technology is there to support your teaching, not replace good methodology.
🙌 Complete Lesson Plans & Teaching Materials
You won’t have to imagine how everything fits together.
You’ll get complete lesson plans and materials that demonstrate the methodology in practice — and give you examples you can learn from, adapt, and use as inspiration for your own classes. You’ll be able to download the full lesson plan and all materials (including the full PowerPoint presentation) for each video lesson you observe.
📄 Ready-to-Use Professional Templates
Save time with practical templates you can adapt for your own teaching.
You’ll get customizable student contracts, needs analyses, a full online placement test, course syllabi, and other professional resources that help you organize and manage your classes more confidently.
Real Teachers.
Real Changes in the Classroom.
Now I can justify my decisions in my teaching.
“Online English Teacher is a must-do. I have gained confidence with everything tech-related and methodology-related.
I now know how to structure different types of lessons, how to curate the information that I need, and I can justify my decisions in my teaching.
My lessons are not hit-and-miss anymore!”
Maria
Greece
I started with zero online skills. Now I know how to support my students!
"OET provides walk-you-by-the-hand guidance and materials.
I already had years of experience teaching ESL in person, so my pedagogy was fine... but my knowledge of online tools and techniques was almost zero.
NOW I know exactly how to support my online students. This course is superb!"
Brock
United States
My prep time decreased immensely after OET.
“During the live practicum, there was a HUGE difference in my planning time for Lesson 1 vs. Lesson 8. It was a big “aha!” for me!
Everything made so much sense after my CELTA. I find myself wishing I took it before CELTA! Either way - totally worth it.
And the tech sections are brilliant! It really is an all-you-need training.”
Anna
Germany
Invaluable, even with years of teaching experience.
“I've been teaching ESL 15+ years and Online English Teacher is invaluable. And I'm not easily impressed!
I did the self-study version and gained many insights, especially as teaching becomes more and more technology driven. I highly recommend it.”
Joseph
United States
Now I offer all different types of lessons.
“After going through the live practicum, I have to say that I learned even more than expected!
I feel much more confident now about what I'm doing, how I'm delivering material – it's amazing!
I now know how to make lesson plans and exactly how to teach various lessons.
Now I offer all different types of lessons and not just speaking lessons like I did before.”
Rayah
South Korea
My lessons are so much better now.
“The biggest takeaway for me is that Online English Teacher has completely elevated my lessons. They are so much better now!
And I’m nowhere near as stressed as I used to be about lesson planning.”
Durrell
South Africa
Is Online English Teacher right for you?
OET is designed for teachers at all different stages of their teaching journey.
You don’t need years of experience — and you don’t need to be brand new either.
The common thread is that you want practical teacher training, a clear methodology, and more confidence in the decisions you make in your lessons.
You’re new to teaching or have started volunteering with English learners
You may have recently started teaching or volunteering and quickly realized: “I know how to speak English… but I’m not actually sure how to teach it.”
Maybe you’ve been caught off guard by grammar questions or are starting to notice that “conversation practice” isn’t really helping that much.
OET gives you the fundamentals, techniques, and lesson frameworks you need to build a strong foundation from the beginning — so you don’t have to spend years figuring everything out through trial and error.
You already teach in person and want to move online
You may already understand teaching. Maybe you’ve spent years in a physical classroom and are confident in what you’re doing. But you know that online lessons come with a different set of tools, materials, and delivery challenges.
Can you still make your lessons interactive through a screen? How do you troubleshoot tech issues?
OET is designed to help you adapt your existing skills to the online classroom while strengthening the methodology behind your lessons.
You want to teach English online and need help getting started
Maybe you’re thinking about teaching English online but you aren’t sure where to start. Or maybe you’re preparing to teach your first students and want more than a few websites full of random activities or a basic, theoretical introduction to TEFL.
You want to feel like you actually know what you’re doing before you start teaching.
OET helps you develop the practical skills you need to plan, structure, and teach effective online ESL lessons — along with the tools and resources to help you get started confidently.
You’re already teaching online — but you’ve mostly been figuring it out as you go
Maybe you already have plenty of online experience, activities, and teaching instincts.
But you still find yourself over-planning, second-guessing your choices, or wondering:
“Is this working? Why or why not?”
“What should come next?”
“Is there a better way to structure this?”
OET helps you consolidate what you already know, fill in the gaps, and build a clearer methodology behind the choices you make.
Everything you need to keep growing as an ESL teacher
When you join Online English Teacher, you’re not just getting access to a course.
You’re getting a complete teacher-training system you can learn from now… and return to as your teaching evolves.
When you enroll in OET, you’ll get:
✓ The complete 10-module Online English Teacher program
Comprehensive, self-paced training that takes you from the fundamentals of effective ESL teaching through all seven lesson types, course planning, and your next steps as an online teacher.
✓ Frameworks for all seven major ESL lesson types
Clear, reusable frameworks for teaching reading, listening, vocabulary, grammar, functional language, speaking, and writing.
✓ The Online English Teacher Guide & Workbook
A practical companion to the training, with guided activities and exercises to help you apply what you’re learning.
✓ Real lesson observations
See the methodology in action with real students — so you’re not left trying to imagine what good teaching is supposed to look like.
✓ Complete lesson plans, teaching materials & professional templates
Examples and resources you can refer to, adapt, and use as you build your own teaching practice.
✓ Practical online teaching tools & tech training
Learn how to use technology to support better teaching, create materials, and deliver effective online lessons.
✓ Access to the OET community
Connect with other teachers going through the program, share ideas, and learn alongside people working toward similar goals.
✓ Your Online English Teacher certification
Complete the program and earn your Online English Teacher certificate. Teachers who complete the live teaching practicum will also earn a personalized letter of recommendation attesting to their teaching skills.
And you’ll have lifetime access
to all of it.
Your students change.
Your teaching needs change.
And the things you need from your training will change too.
That’s why OET isn’t something you need to race through before your access disappears.
You’ll have lifetime access to the program, so you can:
🕰️ work through the training at your own pace
🔁 revisit a framework when you’re planning a new lesson type
💻 return to observation videos and examples when you need a refresher
⬇️ download resources again when you need them
🍏 come back to later modules when they become more relevant to your teaching
The self-paced design of OET means that even after you complete the program once, it’s still a resource you can keep coming back to throughout your teaching career.
That’s why Online English Teacher isn’t really just a course.
It’s a teaching system you can keep using long after you’ve completed the certification.
Ready to become a more confident, intentional ESL teacher?
You don’t need to keep piecing lessons together, second-guessing your choices, or spending hours trying to figure out what to do next.
Inside Online English Teacher, you’ll learn a clear, practical methodology you can use again and again — so you can plan and teach with more structure, purpose, and confidence.
Get immediate access to the complete self-paced
OET teacher-training program for
$797 USD
Pay in full and save ꜛ
Or choose a payment plan:
Start right away. Learn at your own pace. Keep access for life.
Your 72-Hour Enrollment Bonus
⏰
Your 72-Hour Enrollment Bonus ⏰
Enroll within 72 hours and get How to Teach Beginners included free.
Teaching true beginners can feel especially challenging when your students have very limited English and many of your usual classroom techniques suddenly become harder to use.
That’s why, when you enroll in Online English Teacher within 72 hours of starting the free training,
I’ll also include my complete How to Teach Beginners course at no additional cost.
How to Teach Beginners includes:
💡 practical strategies for teaching students with very limited English
🔮 techniques for making instructions and explanations easier to understand
🧰 ways to adapt activities and materials for beginner-level learners
🧑🏽💻 training, lesson observations, workbook activities, and lesson plans
🥳 self-paced access so you can work through it when it becomes relevant to your teaching
Normally $99 — included free when you enroll within your 72-hour bonus window.
Countdown hero timer here!
OET itself isn’t closing. You can still enroll after the timer expires — but How to Teach Beginners will no longer be included free.
Want hands-on teaching practice and personalized feedback?
(In addition to the full self-paced OET program?)
A few times each year, I offer an optional 8-week Live Teaching Practicum for a small group of Online English Teacher participants.
The practicum gives you the opportunity to take what you’re learning inside OET and put it into practice with real students — with individualized guidance and feedback from me along the way.
During the practicum, you’ll:
teach one 60-minute lesson each week over the eight-week session
apply the OET lesson frameworks in live online teaching situations
receive personalized feedback on your lessons
get guidance on each plan before you teach, including what’s working, what to adjust, and how to keep developing
build confidence using learner-centered methodology with real students
develop practical teaching experience you can carry into future classes
Is the practicum right for you?
The self-study OET program is complete on its own, so you do not need to do the practicum to benefit from OET.
The practicum may be a particularly good fit if you:
are relatively new to teaching and want supported practice
understand the methodology but want feedback as you apply it
learn best by doing, not just studying
want an experienced trainer to observe your teaching and help you refine it
💡 If you already have substantial teaching experience and feel comfortable applying the OET methodology independently, the self-study program may be all you need.
Practicum cohorts run only a few times each year.
Because the practicum involves live teaching, individualized feedback, and specific cohort dates, spaces are limited and enrollment is separate from the self-study program.
➡️ Learn More About the Live Teaching Practicum
Frequently Asked Questions
-
Not at all. OET is designed to work for new teachers.
You’ll start with the essential fundamentals of effective ESL teaching before moving step by step into the different lesson types, lesson frameworks, course planning, and practical online teaching skills.
You don’t need previous teaching experience to understand the program — you just need to be willing to learn and put the methodology into practice.
-
OET isn’t really about how many years you’ve taught. It’s about whether you have a clear methodology behind the decisions you’re making.
If you’ve already completed extensive formal ESL teacher training and confidently use frameworks for the major lesson types, some of the methodology may feel familiar.
But even then, you’ll still find practical ideas you can apply — including online teaching tools, materials creation and adaptation, student-centered techniques, course planning, and ways to streamline your teaching.
And if you’ve mainly learned through experience — or still sometimes find yourself wondering “What should I do next, and why?” — OET is unlikely to feel too basic.
Many of the OET graduates with prior teaching experience told me the methodology helped them significantly streamline their planning and reduce prep time.
-
No.
OET was designed specifically with online teaching in mind, so you’ll learn tools, techniques, and materials that work particularly well in the online classroom.
But the core lesson frameworks and student-centered teaching methodology transfer directly to face-to-face teaching.
The main differences are the tools and delivery — not the underlying principles of effective ESL teaching.
-
OET is completely self-paced.
If you complete roughly one module per week, you could work through the full 10-module program in about 10 weeks.
Most modules take approximately 3–6 hours, depending on how deeply you engage with the workbook activities, observations, and practical tasks.
But there’s no need to rush. You’ll have lifetime access, so you can move faster or slower depending on your schedule and return to the training whenever you need it.
The optional live practicum add-on is an 8-week session, during which you’ll teach one 60-minute lesson per week.
-
No. The self-study OET program is complete on its own.
The practicum is an optional experience for teachers who want structured teaching practice plus individualized feedback while they apply the OET methodology with real students.
If you’re comfortable learning the methodology and applying it independently, self-study may be all you need.
If you want more hands-on practice, accountability, and personalized feedback, the practicum may be a great fit.
The live practicum involves teaching one 60-minute lesson per week and one 30-minute meeting with me each week for planning and feedback. You'll want to set aside several hours a week for lesson planning as well.
On the self-study version of the course, the time commitment is completely up to you! It’s 100% flexible, so you can complete the course as quickly or gradually as you like, and take as much or as little time as you need.
-
Yes — OET is a TEFL teacher-training certificate program focused on practical ESL teaching skills and online delivery.
“TEFL” simply means Teaching English as a Foreign Language. It’s a broad category of teacher training rather than one single standardized qualification.
Different schools and employers may have different certification requirements, so if you already have a particular employer in mind, I always recommend checking their requirements before choosing a program.
If they require a specific certification, accreditation, or number of training hours, make sure you meet that requirement.
If not, the most important thing is choosing training that gives you practical skills you can actually demonstrate and use.
-
You’ll receive immediate access to the self-paced Online English Teacher program and can begin whenever you’re ready.
You can work through the modules in order, use the Guide & Workbook alongside the training, watch the lesson observations, and access the supporting lesson plans, materials, templates, and resources.
You’ll also have access to the OET community and lifetime access to the program.
-
Yes.
You can choose:
$797 USD paid in full
or
3 monthly payments of $289
or
6 monthly payments of $149
You’ll receive the same complete OET program whichever payment option you choose. Click here to go to the payment options.
-
No.
The self-study course is a prerequisite for the Live Teaching Practicum. It’s OK if you haven’t completed all the self-study material by the time you start your teaching practice, but you do need to have access to all of that material along the way.
I often refer to information covered in the videos and other online content during our feedback and planning meetings on the Practicum, so it’s important that you have access to this.
The Live Teaching Practicum is designed as a complement to the self-study program rather than a replacement.
-
Yes.
Once you've enrolled in the self-study version of the course, you're welcome to apply for the Live Practicum at any time, and then join the next upcoming session that works for your schedule.
-
Nope! You can complete the self-study program (and even the optional Live Practicum) if you’re not currently teaching.
OET includes lesson observations, sample lesson plans, teaching materials, workbook activities, and practical examples so you can learn the methodology and see how it works before you have students of your own.
If you’re already teaching, you’ll be able to start applying what you learn with your own students right away.
If you’re not teaching yet, you can build your skills and confidence first — then put the methodology into practice once you begin teaching.
And if you specifically want supported teaching practice with real students, that’s where the optional Live Teaching Practicum can be especially valuable.
And don’t worry — I’ll provide the students and organize the practice lessons during the Live Practicum.
-
Because Online English Teacher is a digital program and you receive immediate access to the full course, downloadable resources, lesson plans, templates, workbook, and community when you enroll, all sales are final and refunds are not offered after purchase.
Please review the course details and FAQs carefully before enrolling. If you’re unsure whether OET is the right fit for you, you’re welcome to email me at info@teflhorizons.com before purchasing.
If you choose a payment plan, you’re committing to the full purchase price of the program. The installments are an automatic payment schedule, not a month-to-month subscription that can be cancelled at any time. So remaining payments will continue until the plan is complete.
*This policy does not affect any rights you may have under applicable consumer law.
Still have a question?
Email me anytime at info@teflhorizons.com and I’ll be happy to help you decide whether OET is the right fit.
More from OET Graduates…
-
“This course genuinely was a game changer for me.
My confidence improved week to week and I really started to look forward to the lessons.
I know how to put a lesson together in a lot less time and where to look for relevant materials.
The live practice has really inspired me to work with adult students again.”
Tríona | Ireland
-
“Online English Teacher was more than worth the investment.
I found myself learning and growing as a teacher in ways I had not imagined.
The day after I finished the course,
I was accepted by an online teaching platform which only accepts highly skilled and experienced teachers.
I now teach groups and 1:1 students online and I use what I learned on the course every single day."
Ann | United States
-
“The fact that OET was spread over 8 weeks gave me time to integrate everything into my teaching.
My biggest takeaways were the formulas and structures. And reflecting a lot is something I have now started to do more.
I now feel a lot calmer during my lessons and try to take more time to do activities.”
Matthew | France
-
“I enrolled in Online English Teacher with no prior experience or training, either online or in person. What’s my biggest takeaway? That I can actually do this! Who knew??
With the right guidance, planning (and teaching!) an effective English lesson was nowhere near as difficult or scary as I thought it would be.
This was so worth it, both the theoretical and practical part.”
Olga | Cyprus
-
“I was recently reminded of just how much I learned from the Online English Teacher program.
It’s amazing to me that I can now come up with decent CCQs on the fly! That used to be so hard for me.
And I feel 1000x more prepared now to plan online classes after taking the OET course.
Planning used to take hours - not anymore!”
Dan | United States
-
“I now have a clear understanding of how to teach systems and develop my learners’ skills.
In addition, I don't have difficulties in planning my lessons anymore because I learned how to do it well and quickly during this course.
Each and every lesson I taught was very useful because I learned by doing.
Besides, Shannon helped with her feedback a lot, giving me clear guidance on how to improve my lessons and teaching skills.”
Liubov | Ukraine
-
“I joined OET because I wanted to gain more knowledge in terms of dealing with technology and also to refresh what I have learnt before, and I did!
Actually, I have already recommended this course to some of my colleagues who would like to refresh and above all, learn more about online teaching.
I told them: it's worth the investment because you not only learn how to use technology but also combine it with the ELT methodology and last but not least, reflect on your teaching.”
Jemima | Peru
-
“This course does not disappoint!
I expected a very robust, comprehensive program and that is exactly what I found.
The pieces that went into each module were excellent choices for demonstrating the principle being taught. The information is presented in a very organized, digestible format.
The observation videos were particularly helpful for me. It made the material very "real" and it was instructive to see how Shannon handled different issues that arose, either technical or English focused.
I also love having the downloadable lesson plans and lesson material.”
Maggie | England
Meet Your Trainer
Hi, I’m Shannon — nice to meet you!
I’ve been teaching English for around 20 years and training ESL teachers for many of those years, including as a CELTA trainer.
Over the years, I’ve worked with teachers at all different stages — from people preparing for their very first lesson to experienced teachers who wanted more structure, confidence, and clarity in the way they teach.
And one thing has stayed consistent:
Teacher training needs to be practical.
Understanding theory matters. But when you’re sitting down to plan tomorrow’s lesson, what you really need to know is:
What should I do? Why am I doing it? And how do I know it’s working?
That’s exactly why I created Online English Teacher.
OET brings together the methodology, lesson frameworks, practical techniques, observations, and resources I wish more teachers had access to from the very beginning.
My goal isn’t to turn you into a copy of a generic “just follow the book” teacher.
It’s to help you understand the principles behind effective teaching so you can make confident, informed decisions that truly help your students… and let you teach like you in the process.
I want you to leave OET feeling not just more knowledgeable — but more capable.
Ready to start teaching
with clarity and confidence?
You don’t need more random activities.
You don’t need endless prep time or endless creativity.
You need a clear understanding of how effective ESL lessons work — and a practical methodology you can rely on when you teach.
That’s exactly what you’ll learn inside Online English Teacher.
With OET, you’ll learn how to identify the lesson type, set one clear main aim, and use the appropriate framework to build lessons that are purposeful, engaging, and effective.
More importantly, you’ll understand why you’re making each decision — so you can adapt what you know to your own students, materials, and teaching context.
