teaching and learning
Ross Thorburn
The Downsides to Speaking (with Professor ...

Students need to speak to learn a language and the more students talk, the more they learn. Not according to Professor Stephen Krashen. For 40 years he has championed the concept that what students should be doing in class is reading (and listening), not speaking. In this episode, Stephen tells Ross some of the arguments against forcing students to speak, something which might not just be inefficient, but in some cases counterproductive.

The Downsides to Speaking (with Professor Stephen Krashen)
Ross Thorburn
Remembering More, Forgetting Less (with Lesley ...

In this episode, I  had the privilege of speaking with Professor Lesley Painter Farrell about how we can help students retain more language lessons for the long haul. During the podcast, Lesley outlines the difference between short-term learning and long-term memory. We discuss evidence-based techniques teachers can implement to optimize retention. Lesley also shares some simple but effective techniques such as recycling content across lessons, building in reflection time, avoiding cognitive overload, and using retrieval practices. Listen now to uncover how we can help our students remember more.

Remembering More, Forgetting Less (with Lesley Painter-Farrell)
Ross Thorburn
Teacher Evaluation - A Double Edged Sword (with ...

Professor Kathi Bailey joins us to discuss teacher evaluation. Teacher evaluation can do so much good, but it can also end up doing even more harm. Professor Bailey tells us about what supervisors can do to earn trust, why supervision and evaluation is important, and how everyone can make the most out of the process.

Teacher Evaluation - A Double Edged Sword (with Professor Kathleen Bailey)
Ross Thorburn
Using Corpora (with Michael McCarthy)

Professor Michael McCarthy joins me to talk about using corpora in language teaching. Mike tells us how teachers should use corpora when planning lessons, the advantages and disadvantages of showing corpora to students. We discuss how teachers can create their own corpora and how to use corpora to create better materials.

Using Corpora (with Michael McCarthy)
Ross Thorburn
Episode 200! Best and Worst Common and Uncommon ...

We talk to friends and experts and ask two questions about changes they’d like to see in classrooms: what common teaching practices would you like to see less? And, which less common teaching practices would you like to see more? Guests include Penny Ur, Karin Xie, Ian McGrath, Kathleen Baily, Donald Freeman, Rod Bolitho, Anne Burns and Tessa Woodward.

Episode 200! Best and Worst Common and Uncommon Teaching Practices
,

Podcast: Taking Role Plays from Nerdiness to Awesomeness (with Fifi Pyatt)

,
Podcast: Taking Role Plays from Nerdiness to Awesomeness (with Fifi Pyatt)

We talk with self confessed role play and ESL nerd Fifi Pyatt to look at how to take role plays from nerdiness to awesomeness and discuss how to help students get as much as possible from role plays and also go off on tangents about burning witches and dungeons and dragons…

Podcast: How Teachers Can Find The Right School and How Schools Can Find The Right Teachers

Podcast: How Teachers Can Find The Right School and How Schools Can Find The Right Teachers

We interview Jessica Keller who has recruited over 1000 ESL teachers in China, Korea, Japan and the USA about the importance of recruitement as well as do's and don'ts for schools and teachers during the recruitment process.

Podcast: How to Spend a Lifetime in Teaching

Podcast: How to Spend a Lifetime in Teaching

For our first anniversary episode, we talk with Ross' parents about the differences that teaching has seen over the last 40 years, how to motivate yourself throughout your teaching career and what advice they have for young teachers working with older teachers.

,

Career Paths in Teacher Training - How Teachers Become Trainers

,
Career Paths in Teacher Training - How Teachers Become Trainers

Becoming a teacher trainer is super popular career goal for new teachers, but it can also seem pretty daunting. How can you move from teaching into training?We speak with three teacher trainers (Simon Galloway, Ray Davila and Dave Weller) about their careers; where they started, where they are now and how they got there.

,

Teachers? Trainers? Schools? Who Is Responsible for Teacher Autonomy? (with Special Guest Jake Whiddon)

,
Teachers? Trainers? Schools? Who Is Responsible for Teacher Autonomy? (with Special Guest Jake Whiddon)

Every year schools spend millions of dollars developing curriculums, creating tests, training and observing teachers. But what are the side effects? 

Are Your Materials Helping Your Students Learn Or Just Wasting Your Time?

Are Your Materials Helping Your Students Learn Or Just Wasting Your Time?

Materials creation can be both an outlet for teachers' creativity and an opportunity to make lessons more relevant to students. On the flip side they can also be a giant time-drain and introduce uncertainty to students. Find out what you can use as materials, how to evaluate how useful they are and when it might just be better to stick to the course book.

,

Podcast: Becoming a Teacher - Success for New Teachers and Mentors

,
Podcast: Becoming a Teacher - Success for New Teachers and Mentors

Becoming a new EFL teacher is almost as hard as learning a new language. We look at typical challenges that new teachers face, consider strategies that teachers and mentors can use to overcome these and help you decide if TEFL is right profession for you.