Ross Thorburn
8th Anniversary: Changes to Teacher Training

We speak with friends and experts about teacher training and what needs to change. Our guests are David Nunan, Kathleen Bailey, Thomas Guskey, Steve Walsh, Mark Hancock, Marek Kiczkowiak, and Chris Rolland.

8th Anniversary: Changes to Teacher Training
Ross Thorburn
PPP vs Task Cycles (with Jane Willis)

Jane Willis joins us to discuss the drawbacks of PPP and the benefits and challenges of using task cycles for language lessons.

PPP vs Task Cycles (with Jane Willis)
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)

5th Anniversary Podcast: The Best Language Learning Activities Known To Mankind

5th Anniversary Podcast: The Best Language Learning Activities Known To Mankind

We break our record for the most guests on one show ever! Hear experts from the TEFL industry with over 200 years of collective experience share their favorite language learning activities. We speak with Edmund Dudley, John Hughes, Matt Courtois, Brian Tomlinson, Ben Beaumont, Dave Weller, Wendy Arnold, Debbie Hepplewhite, Ray Davila and Diederik Van Gorp and ask them all the same question: “What’s your favorite language teaching activity?”

What Is Coaching? (with Niamh Ryan)

What Is Coaching? (with Niamh Ryan)

This week we look at coaching. Coaching is a common management and educational tool, but what exactly is coaching? Niamh Ryan joins me to talk about what coaches do and don’t do, the benefits of coaching, what questions can you ask during a coaching session, and in what situations should we avoid coaching?

Becoming Aware of Your Physical Learning Environment (with Thom Kiddle)

Becoming Aware of Your Physical Learning Environment (with Thom Kiddle)

Thom Kiddle from NILE joins me to talk about physical learning environments and the impact they can have on learning. As teachers, we spend so much time thinking about learning activities, materials and methods, but what if our students aren’t learning because they aren’t getting enough light or oxygen?

Using The Tools Of Positive Discipline (with Dina Emser)

Using The Tools Of Positive Discipline (with Dina Emser)

Author and positive discipline trainer, Dina Esmer, joins me to talk about tools for managing young learners’ behavior. What can teachers do to encourage long term positive behavior in class? How can teachers train learners to solve their own behavior problems? And what can teachers do when conflicts happen in their classes?

Podcast: What is Phonics and Why Should You Care? (With Debbie Hepplewhite)

Podcast: What is Phonics and Why Should You Care? (With Debbie Hepplewhite)

Ross interviews phonics expert, Debbie Hepplewhite MBE about what phonics is and why it’s so important. Debbie tells us about vocabulary enrichment, the importance of recycling, why English is so difficult to read, and much more. Debbie has worked as an adviser to the British Government for the parliamentary inquiry ‘Teaching Children to Read’ (March 2005) and she helped to inform Sir Jim Rose’s ‘Independent review of the teaching of early reading’ (Final Report, Jim Rose, March 2006) and in 2012 was awarded an MBE from the Queen for services to education.

Motivation vs. Progress (with Matt Courtois)

Motivation vs. Progress (with Matt Courtois)

Matt Courtois and I discuss the dilemma of pushing students further and keeping students motivated. How important is motivation compared with progress? What do we do that might accidentally demotivate students? And how can we help students make progress and keep them motivated at the same time?