Thanks for the suggestion! Your post has been extremely helpful. I'm now looking seriously into taking the CELTA. Thankfully I have relatives in NYC that I can live with for the program's four weeks there, which cuts out some of the travel costs for me. It will still take me some time to gather up the program's costs, but in the meantime I'll be sure to check out the the course books and brush up on my own grammar guides.

My school's writing center tried to stick with a "teaching students to be better writers" policy, since no one ever learns anything from someone simply proofreading their work. But you're right, it wasn't a traditional teaching experience. I've had one-on-one "teaching" experience, but nothing as a singular instructor for a group of students. Aside from subbing at the local schools, I'm not sure where else to get teaching experience. I currently work in a retail environment and live in a fairly rural area and they're aren't many opportunities available here.