TEFL Waffle: Recent Episodes
The Non Stop Wafflers
Steve and Troy waffle about the exciting and wonderful world of Teaching English in a foreign country.
Please write a short description of a podcast episode where 2 teachers discuss students usage of AI in writing lessons:
Title: "Bytes of Wisdom: Navigating the AI Frontier in Student Writing"
Description: In this insightful episode of "EduChat Chronicles," join our hosts, seasoned educators Ms. Anderson and Mr. Rodriguez, as they delve into the fascinating realm of artificial intelligence in the context of student writing lessons. With AI tools becoming increasingly integrated into classrooms, the duo explores the impact, benefits, and potential challenges of students utilizing AI in their writing endeavors. From automated grammar checks to AI-driven content suggestions, the hosts share their experiences and reflections on how these technologies are reshaping the landscape of writing instruction.
Tackling questions like ethical considerations, the development of critical thinking skills, and the balance between technology and traditional teaching methods, Ms. Anderson and Mr. Rodriguez provide valuable insights for educators navigating this evolving frontier. The episode also features practical tips for teachers looking to incorporate AI tools effectively, fostering a thought-provoking conversation on how to harness the power of technology without compromising the essence of authentic student expression.
Tune in to "Bytes of Wisdom" to gain a deeper understanding of the evolving role of AI in the classroom, and discover innovative ways to empower students in their writing journey while embracing the possibilities offered by artificial intelligence.
ChatGPT can make mistakes. Consider checking important information.
In this episode Troy and Steve discuss an episode in which Troy interpolates meaning from his kid's comments on classroom activities. It's a wild ride into the meaning one projects onto the blanks slates that all teachers are.
Or something like that...
Can you learn how to do something without doing the something?
Is listening to people talk about learning to do something a complex or compound sentence?
To explore this topic, join us and our menagerie, flora, fauna, offspring and a cool car cameo!
If you want something done right, then sometimes you have to do it yourself. But if what you want done is for someone to do your job for you, then that's kind of moot. Perhaps what you want to do is be mute, and let them do it for you. As long as they are doing it the way you want done, without you telling them how to do it, and for them to do it their own way, without you having to supervise them supervising.
A: "Did you hear that they got a new puppy?"
B: "Get out of here!"
A: Leaves......
B: "Oh, come on!"
A: "Huh?"
B: "Are you off?"
A: (Sniffs own armpit) "Um, no?"
B: "Are you off your wheaties?"
A: ... (Gives up on English forever)
Pomp!
Circumstance!
Flowing Gowns!
Is it all worth it? Or is it all about it? Is it the icing on the cake, or being pushed to give a rating and review after a meal?
A lot of people love a good celebration, and it is a nice way for them to tie up a part of life that (presumably) required some commitment.
So, come along with us while we throw our hats in the air and take selfies until our faces feel frozen as we stride across the stage in our best frock coats, frilly cravats and shiny buckled riding boots.
BTW, 'pomp' is a rather silly sounding word. Seriously. Say it aloud to yourself.
'Pomp'
We all get a little lonely sometimes, but we get by with a little help from our friends.
But what if we don't have any friends?
What if nobody wants to help us?
What if nobody wants our help?
It's OK though, sometimes we're in a lovely egalitarian environment with a benign dictator who is willing to make sure that everybody gets a friend, such as a classroom!
Surely teachers always have our best interests at heart and can foresee all possible issues with friends, partners, groupmates and coworkers.
Right?
We all get a little lonely sometimes, but we get by with a little help from our friends.
But what if we don't have any friends?
What if nobody wants to help us?
What if nobody wants our help?
It's OK though, sometimes we're in a lovely egalitarian environment with a benign dictator who is willing to make sure that everybody gets a friend, such as a classroom!
Surely teachers always have our best interests at heart and can foresee all possible issues with friends, partners, groupmates and coworkers.
Right?
To homework, or not to homework. That is the question.
Do you think Mr Wilkins will remember to check the assignment? Can I copy yours? Sorry, my dog ate my pencil.. In this episode, Troy and Steve facilate on this rather (un)important question. Both have long histroies of avoiding homework - as students and as teachers. But both also have a long history of dealing with people who believe that it is important; other teachers, for instance. So. Before you listen, do the worksheet attached below, and you'll find the task sheet in the second attachment that you can complete once you have finished listening.
In this episode, Troy and Steve ask whether teachers can ever not be teachers. What happens to us after the lessons end? Can we turn all that teacher stuff off? Or do we carry it around like a bad backpack with all the important stuff in it that one can't possibly do without? Or, as we kind of hope, are we just normal people with a job and a life outside the job? Troy and Steve kind of agree for a change. For that reason, there is no arguing, bickering or death in this show.
To teach, or not to teach, the question is, is that a complete sentence, seeing as the rule dictates that sentences should contain a subject, verb, and object. Also, when is the correct time to use a semi colon; that is, is it correct to join the clauses as was done when it also includes a zero relative clause? Oh, and never and a sentence with a preposition. Because it's just wrong!
I hope this episode is something you can put up with.
Are you comfortable? Are you happy? Is this activity pleasing you? Troy and Steve don't care, really. Nevertheless should you feel these things are important, you are a humanist. And if you teach lessons with these concerns in mind you are a teacher who worries about classroom atmosphere. Actually, Troy and Steve do care - we lied. Atmosphere is really really important and how you feel matters a lot. It really does. Tell us about your relationship with your mother.
Extension task: put commas in where you think they belong,
Great job!
Do you ever have the feeling that the person handling the other end of your technology have no idea what they are doing? Like Troy and Steve trying to do this podcast, perhaps? Well, it might be that students and teachers have the same problem even though they have to teach and learn online. They may have absolutely no clue whatsoever. Well, with Covid we are all learning, developing, growing, expanding and cocking things up completely. It's so much fun, but nobody is enjoy it at all. Are we? Just go back to that initial question, do you ever get the feeling that reading episode descriptions about episodes is very meta? Or do you ever get annoyed when some people think the word meta is a social media network? Or for that matter, do you ever get annoyed by string of annoying questions?
Troy and Steve waffle endlessly about cases where students confide, and to complicate things, it's all about another teacher. What does ethics say? What does your heart say? What do the students say? What does your gut say? In one amazing moment, Troy actually uses the word 'albeit' with perfect pronunciation. See if you can spot it. Also listen out for our opinions about students' opinions about their teachers.
P.S. Sorry about the audio quality
P.P.S We can't remember when this was recorded
P.P.P.S Should there be a colon after P.S?
What do you teach? In what order? Is that part needed there? Perhaps you should just skip this section here till later. Oh wait, scaffolding won't work here because they don't know X and they have to do Y, but they don't know Z yet. I know, I'll look at the curriculum! Wait, where is it now?
Troy has a new job, and his students are strong. They lift weights, carry buses around, and speak English like they don't need a foreign language teacher. That means he has a lot of fun, but a few problems too. What is he to do with these super students? How will he cope with the demands made on him by their zealous curiosity? Will he survive the fun, stress, difficulties and rewards of all this amazingness? Find out, on this episode of (cool music sound here) TEFLWaffle!... Oh, and Steve has a few things to say too.
How do you know what a 'bad teacher' looks like? Well, his name rhymes with cape, and he is wearing one! In this episode Evets and Yort explore one scene - yes, just one scene of only 2 minutes - and find out just how bad Snape is as a teacher, and by extension, how you shouldn't bother trying to run your classrooms. Snape is awesome, if you like bad teachers, and British drawls. Evets isn't sure what a drawl is and whether it can be plural. Welcome to Potions Class.
Steve and Troy finally emerge into the sunshine after an indeterminate length of time in their respective basements and get together to waffle endlesslessly. Endless waffle is kind of like that terrible lesson you didn't prepare for, where time seems to last forever. Steve even says so. If you are looking for a 5 step solution to your joblessness woes, you won't find it here. Or maybe you will, who knows? We certainly didn't. This is the first in an 8 part series on the pleasures and pains of dealing with job change, job loss, job uncertainty, job insecurity, and all the other possible negative nouns that collocate with job. We look forward to the other 7 parts of this series, where you'll have more waffle to contend with.
How good is anyone's English when the tests we give are hard to understand? Even Troy can't understand these test questions, and his English is excellent. In this fun episode, Troy compiles a selection of fantastic test questions that are difficult to answer because there isn't one, or not any that we can figure out. Perhaps the problem is that we can't understand the answer key. In an unrelated caveat, this podcast was built using Zoom, which is awesome, but our editing team is a little clumsy with it. We tried all the buttons on the editing software, but that didn't help fix the audio quality. To make the podcast more engaging, as you listen try to guess what is being said. You get extra points for filling in the gaps. The answer key for this game, by the way, is wrong.
Troy's argument in this episode is that when you are offered a job, you need to ask a lot of very penetrating questions, and just sort of generally act the inquisitor during the interview. This makes sense because Troy often takes jobs and doesn't actually know what he's said agreed to do! Steve, on the other hand, hasn't had a job for years so doesn't know how to be interviewed, or to interrogate a job offerer (is that a word?). It also makes sense to ask lots of questions during the job interview because we want to have a job we like, and it's important to work for (and with) people that are nice.
Welcome to pod-battle, compliments of TEFLargue. Listen, and learn how to win a fight and alienate people. Anyway, what role to tests play in a teacher's life? Should a teacher worry excessively about test quality, or just get them done to submit scores? Do exams really make any difference in language teaching, especially in schools? In Troy's defense, he did come up with a concept of a language course without any assessment, and it was a rip-roaring success. At the end of the episode, there is a 20-question multiple choice assessment worth 100 marks. Be sure to pass.
This podcast is not a sequel. We all hate sequels because they are never as good as the original. Except Star Wars. And Star Trek. And To Sir With Love. Yes, it's true, although that's simply Steve's opinion. This teacher is now an old man, in a grungy American school, with awesome students who we are supposed to dislike initially. We watched this movie, and versions of it, on multiple occasions, so you get to hear us talking about these themes again. It's fun - listen, or go fight your gang in the playground! Look, a whole blurb without a to two too joke!
How good are you at grammar? Or should that be 'with grammar'? How seriously do you take things when someone makes a mistake? Are there such things as mistakes? Do you think teachers should take things like grammar as part of their core job? How about disagreeing with another teacher about grammar mistakes? Troy and Steve are good at disagreeing, even when things are fairly clearly wrong (in Troy's case). The thing is, when someone is really arrogant and a ruddy know-it-all, like Troy, isn't it a lot of fun to get into arguments just for the sake of things? On a side note, isn't it a fun idea to help students with their research?
Thanks to our sponsor - www.analgrammar.com
In this exciting episode, which was recorded at home, Steve interviews our guest speaker, Troy, on his experience of working from home during these unprecedented (at least in our lifetimes) times when going to work is illegal, banned, disallowed, and generally not a good idea. Troy tells us about his difficulties, challenges and the rewards of spending a whole day at home working and at the same time being a parent. Tough stuff. Thank you to our sponsors, for sponsoring. Please use the code announced in the episode to claim your discount at a store near you, if it's open, and you're allowed to go shopping. Otherwise, you can't get a discount.
Yes, and how do British people pronounce Wagga Wagga? Or how do Americans pronounce 'Sawatdi Krap'? And how does anyone pronounce Edinburgh? Are these political questions? Or are they issues of phonology? Does it matter? Well, today Troy and Steve make it matter a lot. Not only are these political and phonological, they are also podcastical and wafflable. Should South Africans really be upset when Australians mangle 'braai'? Should Troy be upset when Americans get a barbie confused with something feminine? Thanks to Te Reo for the closing clip we stole from www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2pjPdEskbs. Check out their podcast at https://bit.ly/tereopodcast
Nomination is the process of selecting individual students in the classroom to respond to a question. In this episode, the cat decided to nominate itself to be a very vocal member of the podcasting team, blasting Steve and Troy into oblivion with its eagerness to participate with you, dear listener. In between the cat, Steve and Troy self-nominate to discuss the question of nomination in the classroom. We nominate this episode to be the seventy sixth-episode. We also nominate you to figure out where that hyphen should actually be.
Yes, we do sequels. This movie stars a kindergarten cop too, and it involves children and a cop, because it's a copy of a movie about a cop in a kindergarten. This time, there is chocolate, and pigs, and a creepy IT guy who turns out to be (spoiler alert) a hero. The moral of the story is that cops are probably best not put into kindergartens to teach, and in this movie, you'll see the complete range of idiot things a beginner (or cop) can do to make any kindergarten lesson a complete failure. Watch and cringe. I know this pun is a cop-out, but blurb over.
How invested are you in your students? How long did it take you to become invested in this way? Why are some teachers not invested? What does it mean to be invested? Steve and Troy waffle in a rather circular and convoluted way about these and other wondrous questions in this very podcast! Listen to it.
In this podcast, Steve fails a lot. It's on purpose because he is doing a meta-demonstration of how failure can be a marvelous way to mortify - no, to create learning, development, growth and improvement. See, failure is a good thing, actually, even though most schools avoid, dodge, escape and evade it. What this podcast really is about is Troy's wonderful journey into the world of teaching Young Learners. Step aside, professional YL teachers - Troy is here!!
Do you like your CLIL hard, or soft? Or would you prefer your CLIL tempered with a bit of EMI? And if you want to have a CLIL lesson, would you like your maths with a bit of English, or do you like your English with a bit of maths stuck in it? Should language teachers even worry about content, or is content the new future of ESL? All these penetrating questions! We've never written a blurb in this style before!
Are our learners really learning language when they're learning online only? If you can understand that question, nicely done! Steve and Troy successfully waffle about the stigma of online learning in the light of the latest fashion of staying at home when you study (because of Covid, not because people are too lazy to take a shower and wear fresh socks). How on earth, Troy and Steve wonder, can we even know when students are actually learning - but then again, we wonder this even when they're right in the classroom with you. What are the ways in which we now learn online? What are you learning from reading this blurb online? Perhaps you should stop reading this meandering waffle and go listen to people waffle instead.
Troy and Steve watched a movie. This movie had many classroom scenes, it was set in a school, had students and a few teachers. There was drama. There were underlying themes relating to society. Troy got upset about it. Steve thought it was all a big joke, especially the interview scene. Many ladies in the old days of yore thought this teacher was rather dishy. The movie has a happy ending. This blurb doesn't.
Sunee demoted herself from manager and teacher trainer to classroom teacher. Or was it a promotion? She's back to tell us about what she has learned about herself as a teacher since she's gone back into the classroom to, well, teach. If you listen carefully you'll hear just how well she is designed for teaching young children. We always love having Sunee on the show because she brings a sense of sense and sensibility to an otherwise chaotic podcast.
Teachers talk. A lot. They talk in the classroom, but they also talk in the staffroom, and this kind of staffroom chatter can sound like complaining, but it's also a really good way for teachers to be cathartic, to reflect, to develop professionally, and to stay sane. As a manager, this kind of positive staffroom waffle can be threatening. So how exactly should we look at the kinds of things teachers say in staffrooms? Troy and Steve waffle about staffroom waffling. Very meta.
How exactly do you teach reading? Can reading even be taught? Is there a difference between teaching reading and testing students' comprehension? Are you even reading this and how do we know you are? If you are reading, is there any way you really know if you comprehend anything on here? Should this blurb have some comprehension question to find out? In this exciting episode, Steve and Troy waffle effortlessly about the difficulties, challenges and complexities of teaching reading, and whether there is any difference between teaching and testing reading. If you listen to this podcast very carefully, listen out for Steve and Troy stirring their after-class sundowner drinks. Perhaps a G&T. Who knows.
Rolling drums, crashing symbols, DRAMATIC INTRO!!!
Oh, Wait, not that kind of drama...
Steve: Children, what's the name of this episode?
Children: Scream uncontrollably.
Steve: That's right! Good job. And what are we going to do today?
Children: Scream less uncontrollably.
Steve: Good job! When are we going to do it?
Visiting principal: Steve, are you ok?
This movie demanded a lot of waffling. Really, a lot. See if you can see the link between spiders in the tropics, and the core themes embedded in this movie on children studying high school in America. If you find it, you get a chance to win an opportunity to enter a raffle which will draw from thirty seventeenths randomly chosen special entrants for the privilege of wearing your own white t-shirt. This second part of the Dangerous Minds gives Troy all the more opportunity to go through his copious notes on the intricacies of the movie, its relevance to your classroom, and the need for more analysis of movies. Thanks to our sponsors for their kind support of this episode.
Have you ever watched a movie that has every cliche rolled into one blonde? This one has them all in one classroom. You can have them all for the price of one Snickers bar, and more. In fact, there are so many cliches to talk about here, Steve and Troy need two episodes to do it. Troy's copious notes on the topic of this teacher and her management of her class includes such issues as: gerunds, silence, awkward fighting in the classroom, marking in the bar, and swanky restaurants. If you haven't seen the movie - don't worry, they will tell you all about it. This here, is the first in a two part series on the gold standard of teaching movies.
Are you a good teacher? Do your students think you are good? How do you know? What sorts of things do they say? In today's session, Troy wants to waffle about how students compliment a teacher who is good (in their opinion) and how to deal with it. Steve has little to say today because nobody compliments him. However, the podcast cat, whose name is Katt, decided that today's a great day to include his own contribution by rubbing all over the microphone. What exactly does 'good' mean anyway - who decides. This is the huge philosophical question we all should be waffling about.
How do children learn the alphabet? How do ESL learners learn the ABC? It's complex. In today's episode we have some authentic material - recordings of Troy's son learning the alphabet with his amazing father/teacher. What Steve and Troy are up to is taking a critical view of the books children learn their ABCs with. This is a cute episode, but you know that Steve and Troy have a lot of really critical things to say about whatever it is they are talking about. Waffle on, ABC teachers!
Do you want to be an exemplary teacher? Do you want to have an exemplary classroom? Or perhaps do you feel like having exemplary learning taking place in and around you? If you said yes to any one of those questions, you are amazing, and your prize is to get to listen to this exemplary podcast. You'll hear Troy start a lot of sentences and not always finish them. And you'll hear Steve waffling very well - really well indeed. Exemplary, in fact.
Troy and Steve are not usually too stupid. But when it comes to technology, they are. And why not - they are teachers, not computer geeks. So now that the world is crashing down in all sorts of random ways, and teachers are being called to action through a variety of online and technologically savvy platforms, some teachers (no names here please) are at a loss. Which apps do we use? How do you record this thing? Where are my students? Why is this microphone not on? We are useless. In this episode, listen to two mini-episodes in which these two guys showcase their idiocy with technology. We give you permission to giggle.
Note that the second half is a genuine (albeit unedited) attempt at an actual episode. Yep, that's just how good these two aforementioned unnamed guys really are...
This is a long movie with lots and lots of cultural- and time-bound references, and it's also a classic. And, it's about pronunciation! Do you like linguistics? No? How about applied linguistics? No? How about sociolinguistics? No? How about love stories with cultural and time bound references? Well any one of those, and this movie is for you. If not, well, we didn't much like it either. Nevertheless, in it you will find some fascinating references to teaching pronunciation that work in the movie, and might even work in a classroom. Who knows - better try!
We need to keep our distance from people, because, well, it's Covid time. So teachers have to teach from home, and podcasters have to podcast from home(s). How hard can it be, right? Just do what you do, but do it at home. Well, we have empirical evidence, in the form of this podcast, that if things can go wrong with technology, they will, and that it feels super work through technology, especially if you aren't a techie sort of Star Trek guy. So, in this episode, Troy and Steve show you how not to use technology to teach a lesson. Be prepared to cringe.
The end isn't nigh, but it does mean we need to change how we think about teaching, learning, technology, life in general and the nature of classroom interaction. That's hard for Steve - he isn't cut out for this sort of stuff, and you can hear him complaining about all this change on this very episode! Troy, however, is managing only slightly better. Really - these wafflers are not the best at online language teaching. Cough. At least teachers are already really adept at avoiding smearing chalk dust or blue whiteboard gunk on their faces...
Parents have an important role to play in education. For one thing, they provide the children. But more importantly, they can support or undermine the school and the teacher depending on the way that they are trained. I mean, communicated with. Yes. So how can we make sure our parents work together with us as teachers in a way that benefits the child? Is that even possible? After all, the teacher's job is to teach, and the parents' job is to parent. Ya.
Today, we have Sunee as our superstar guest. Sunee is not just a superstar guest, she is also a superstar young learners guru. Now Sunee is moving back into the classroom to be with her children and abandoning her fantastic role as a teacher trainer, teacher manager and school supervisor. Why on earth would a teacher demote herself from a manager back to a teacher? Well, Sunee is going to explain it all to us. By the end of the podcast you'll hate the prospect of being a manager. Here we go!!
Yort and Evets are lovers of movies. This time, it's a movie about a school, some teachers, and a bunch of amazing students. The basic premise, which they don't waffle about at all, is school corruption. We all hate corrupt schools, don't we? No wait, this is a movie about a good teacher gone bad and going back to good. Oh no, wait. It's about a school which needs an injection of life and energy. Oh hang on - it's about a music teacher who needs help with his job. So, listen along as we talk about this movie about the power of one teacher to save a school and see if you agree that this MMA movie is boomful.
Do you have colleagues? Are they are nice as Troy? Or are they lazy, rubbish colleagues like Steve? Are they complaining a lot because someone hasn't done their job properly? Is it your fault that the students didn't learn in that other lesson? In this podcast, Steve and Troy waffle, as usual, but they also say um and ah a lot, close curtains, make silly jokes and misunderstand each other's points all the time. Oh right, they also talk about the silly sorts of things that come up in a staffroom dialogues when there is an obnoxious teacher in the air. Oh, and they waffle about a whole bunch of other things too. Try to keep up with them - it's a bit of cognitive gymnastics that will amuse you for for the full half-hour. Oh, one more thing - perhaps Troy is the lazy colleague after all.
Teacher's sometime forget to do writing tasks in class. Or maybe they don't like doing them because they involvement so much marking. Or maybe they think they aren't important. Anyway, when we do do them, how important is it it it it for the writing to me accurately? If their are mistakes, will it distract the reader? Is it the teacher's job to encourage, or discouraging mistakes?
Who's brain broken after this paragraph?
Troy has a colleague who has a problem with him and is suffering from a critique. Troy also has a problem with that first sentence as he's unsure who the subject of the second verb is. Steve has a problem with criticism of sentences. Anyway, why anyone would dare critique Troy is beyond anything we can understand because he's perfect in many ways, nevertheless it happened. Have you had a colleague make comments about your teaching? How does it feel? What did you do? Why does it make a difference? Listen to Steve waffling about this with Troy as the two of them try to make sense of this very important question of teaching team-work life.
It's time for an analysis of a teacher in the movies, and it's 'Fast Times at Richmond High' this time around. And our fantastic teacher is Mr Hand, whose first words we hear are "Aloha. I am Mr. Hand." Pretty cool, huh? If you haven't met Mr. Hand, let Evets and Yort lead you through the intricate pedagogy of this teacher at Richmond High, as seen through the lens of a bunch of teens. He is a fascinating teacher, and this is a fascinating school, and only one podcast doesn't allow these two pod wafflers to fully explore the depth and breadth of what he has to offer his poor classroom. Spoiler alert - Mr. Hand is liked by TEFLWaffle, in spite of his interesting foibles. And who the heck was the weird kid who obeys Hand's finger snapping? And how in the world did he manage to get kids to obey him at a snap of the fingers? (Yes, that literally happens!)
If you listened to our last podcast about lesson planning, you'll remember Steve planned a lesson for Troy, who then taught it and reported it to be a disaster of Pompeii-an proportions. This time, you can listen to Troy and Steve doing it the other way around. Troy is planning and Steve is commenting inanely in the background. To make things more complicated, they don't know the students nor the location they will be teaching. That means they will have to prepare a nice, juicy ice-breaker to get all the students ready for the class and give everyone a chance to find out who is who. Let's be clear - planning is one of the most boring parts of a teacher's existence, but somehow Steve and Troy seem to have a lot of fun doing it. Who knows how!! Although, come to think of it, ice-breakers are actually pretty cool, especially the way Troy does them - big fat ones with gravy and pickles.
Linky
Steve read an interesting paper and wants to share it with everyone - and you are included. The paper really is interesting, he isn't wrong, though Troy has some things to say about what Steve finds interesting and how sad his life is generally. Anyway, the thrust of the paper, and this podcast episode, are the really useful tricks and tips for how to be a boring teacher. Trust us, these are the best list of tips you'll come across, and you can depend on them being all you need to become the best boring teacher and achieve all your boring teacher aims. And who ever said lists of '10 tips for...' were just clickbait!?
Love it or hate it, testing is an integral part of a teacher's life, and an even more integral part of a student's life. Hate it because it's time consuming, irritating, overblown, and in many schools poorly managed. There is also that awful problem of negative washback. Love it because it provides everyone with useful feedback on what is happening with the learning process, and also because students use it as a way of motivating themselves to learn. So how do you feel about testing? How does Troy feel (about testing, but about life in general). Does Steve feel? In this podcast we don't get quite that existential, but there is a lot to consider, to ponder, and to waffle about (too).
Troy has a problem. That's not really true - he has many, but this is one particular problem with one particular group of students. Can Steve help him solve this problem in any meaningful way? Can Steve even understand what the problem is? Along the way, we discuss the nature of teens, the ego of a dedicated teacher, the bizarre relationships between teachers and teen classes, and the importance of persistence as a way of dealing with the vagaries of the students' response to our efforts as teachers.
You know, some movies have a lot of stuff going on in them. This is not really one of them, but if you are a teacher interested in bad teaching, task-based learning, student motivation and self-actualization of large crowds of parents, then might just work for you. Ignore the first 10 minutes, which we discussed in Part 1, which is absolutely remarkable in terms of cringe-worthiness, Troy and Steve have an entire page-worth of things to discuss, argue, and bicker about. One just wishes Troy would organize his notes into themes like a good Lit101 student should. So, onwards into an eyebrow-acting extravaganza!
Have you ever been in a class where a teacher is a complete tit? Have you ever seen a teacher so embarrassing you've wanted to commit suicide? Do you know teachers who are so bad that you wish they, you and all the students were just not there for the duration of that class? Or perhaps have you ever watched a movie that you've hated so much that you've wanted to throw the TV at Troy? Well, In School of Rock you get all of that and much much more. Jack Black is absolutely awesome at being a rubbish teacher and there is so much to talk about here that the podcast has to be in two parts: one to talk about how bad he is at teaching, and another to talk more about how bad he is at teaching. TITM part 1 of School of Rock is here in all its glory - and to be honest we were so shellshocked from watching half of the movie we don't really know what we were talking about most of the time. Enjoy!
Classrooms are places where students are encouraged to sit quietly, listen carefully and basically be awesomely well behaved. That's probably not a good idea if you want the students to learn. You really want students up and about and shouting and moving and speaking in order for learning to take place. Do teachers know that movement is important? Even for adults? If not, should they be taught to put their right foot in first, or shake it all about?
When people think of 'teaching', they often think about a knowledgeable person at a whiteboard talking to the class. What they don't consider is the hours and hours and hours of loneliness at desks with stacks of papers and red pens. Boring and useless, right? Wrong! Or perhaps right! We don't know - or maybe we do. Listen to us fight, argue, bicker and quibble about this with much righteous indignation. Listen out for the sound of the curtains being closed!
What do you think - should teachers teaching English teach English English or American English? How's that for a question, huh? What if you are a South African? Can you teach South African English? And how about if you are Australian? Can an Australian teach English English with confidence, or should he teach American English, or would he have no confidence with that either? And what should the students learn? Does it matter? Are there enough questions in this blurb? Should we add a few more? What would your English be like if you would of lived somewhere other than the place you have got to have been in?
In this exciting episode of TEFLwaffle, which is the 41st of the series, incidentally, Troy challenges Steve to go through his lesson planning process. Steve, challenged and up against the wall, plans a lesson under the watchful gaze of Troy, whose critical approach to watching Steve is both stressful, hurtful and rather amusing. If you are a lesson planning sort of person, you can compare what you do with Steve's rather Steve-ish approach to managing what he will do with his class. Every time Steve makes a mistake, gets confused, or fumbles with understanding what it is he has to do, give yourself a point. If you get more than 10 points, you win!!
Yort and Evets give a lot of spoilers away here. If you haven't seen this movie - don't listen to the podcast if you plan to. But if you are a teacher, and you want to find out about why this movie is called Bad Teacher, it gets explained here in exquisite detail. Find out how not to teach, what a bad teaching colleague is like, how to buck the system, and how to just be completely awful as a teaching professional by either listening to this podcast, or watching the movie - either will do. Yort and Evets agree that this movie about a bad teacher is a really very good representation of a bad teacher. Or should that be a very bad representation? Or, er =wait, I'm lost. I think this experience is affecting my ability tp tippe
Steve really goes on a waffle hunt of note today, on and on and on about the content, nature, use, purpose and philsophical nature of an EFL course curriculum. You had no idea this was such an interesting topic. Just listen - by the end of this, you may just firmly establish for yourself that this is really not that interesting at all. Troy is patient and kindly offers suggestions when Steve deigns to stop waffling for a moment. Oh, and just what is the plural of curriculum anyway?
Teachers who are already teaching benefit from additional training: what we called in-service training. Should this in-service training be internal (at school) or external (out there somewhere, like a nice fancy hotel), and how much time should be given to it? Who should conduct it? Who should be the teachers who go for this kind of training? What exactly are the benefits of it all? Today, Troy has a nerdy story about off-site in-service training from his school which gives us plenty of food for thought.
Do you ever ask another teacher to help with lesson ideas? Do you give other teachers advice on how to run their lesson? Well, in part 1 Troy stupidly asked Steve for advice on a lesson, and Steve stupidly gave it. In the mean time, Troy went and stupidly taught the lesson, and brings his stupid tales of woe, suffering, hardship and destruction. Of course, it's all stupid Steve's fault because his stupid advice was stupid. Ot was it because stupid Troy has no idea how to implement good stupid advice when he hears it (stupidly)? Or is it something else stupid? What isn't discussed, but should have been, is the philosophical implications of asking and giving advice in the staffroom. This isn't as stupid as it sounds, stupidly enough...
"Oh man, I've go to teach this page tomorrow and I have no idea how to." "What am I supposed to do for an activity?" "Huh, Really? OK, I'll try it..." Sometimes teachers ask and give one another advice on lessons, activities, dealing with students and the like. That's great because teachers share, get new ideas and form part of a community of professionals. But how does it go? Can your ideas easily transfer to another teachers class? How much tweaking is needed? Well, this episode Troy asks Steve for help with a lesson, and Steve obligingly obliges with lots of ideas, tips, tricks and even makes the material for Troy to go and teach in his lesson. Is this a viable way of getting out of having to plan your own lesson? Just how long does it take anyway? Surely Troy could have planned it himself in the time it took Steve to explain his ideas? Which one of the wafflers is writing all this in third person? Listen along to find out the answers to these and several other unasked questions on this week's episode.
It's Teachers in the Movies! Yort and Evets are analyzing the Breakfast Club - that paragon of teen angst with a hateful teacher and 4 troubled individuals who find themselves and each other and help us find ourselves along the way. If you're a teacher, there are lots and lots of things going on here that need to be questioned with deep concern. If you haven't seen it, don't bother - just listen to these two guys waffle about it all. Listen particularly as Evets vents in righteous indignation about this absolutely incredible display of educational ineptitude.
Eliciting and concept checking form an important part of teacher talk, at least according to some. But what are they? Are they really necessary? How do you do them well? Why bother? What's the point the point of asking redundant questions that you already know the answers to, like this one? Would anyone ever do that? Well, teachers do, and students don't seem to mind, and there is a possibility that we sound like pompous idiots. But possibly not. So, let's waffle about these questions about questions to find the answers that might be the answers to all answers.
How experienced do you have to be to be considered experienced? This is the circular kind of question that Steve and Troy love waffling about. So, are you experienced? What does it mean to be experienced? When exactly did you become experienced? What changed when you suddenly became experienced? Do experienced teachers help students and other teachers more than inexperienced teachers? We waffle about this, and much much more. Oh, and Steve says some bad words - watch out for that.
Steve and Troy waffle up a storm. It's Steve's turn to be belligerent and he's doing on about marking. Or is it grading? Or evaluating? Or giving feedback? Whatever it is, teachers hate it, students hate it and yet it has to be done, and it's really useful for students' development. Or is it? Listen to Troy dancing around the edges of this very prescriptive and red-pen laced topic which sits close to every teacher's resignation letter.
Troy and Steve have a heavy duty waffle about the things we have been led to believe are true but are not in fact supported by research. Troy brings up the example of the myth that we only use 10% of our brain, but a more interesting waffle is about the myth of VAK, then even more interestingly a waffle about MI, and we touch on learner strategies, and then we get onto the myth that Steve actually knows anything much at all. But hang on, are these really all myths and should they all be thrown out with the baby?
It's not TEFLWaffle!! No, instead Yort and Evets are waffling about teachers in the movies. Ferris Bueller has a lot of teachers in it, and they are wonderful to talk about because they are all so stereotypically awful. Really, they are. Well, Evets thinks so, anyway. If you've seen the movie, come share in the discussion. If you haven't, come find out what you have missed from the 80s. And if you've never seen this movie, we'll make sure you hate it enough by the end that you'll stand out as an individual amongst your peers in your weekly Friday afternoon staffroom film club group meeting discussion.
In some schools, a clear distinction is made between the local teachers and the foreigner teachers. Working in these schools as a foreigner means things are sometimes rather opaque. This is the topic of today's episode. Why does that happen? What can be done about it? As usual, Steve and Troy will waffle endlessly, throwing ideas around, solving all the problems, and just generally being show-off know-it-alls.
Why are you a teacher? Yes, Troy and Steve waffle about this question, whether we make a difference, how teachers stay interesting in their jobs and all other kinds of stuff like that. Troy uses wonderfully banal analogies, Steve gives bizarre examples and neither of us have any doubt about the benefits and wonder of teaching. But really, why do some teachers teach well? This, in fact, is the real question. Isn't it?
Steve is on a mission to define what good board work is. Is a board necessary in a language classroom? Can Troy and Steve come up with 5 principles for good use of the whiteboard? Is Steve just barking up the wrong board? Will Troy ever agree with Steve on anything? Will you agree with Troy? Can you hear, somewhere in the podcast, Steve closing the curtains? Will you hear the phone ring? Will you be able to listen to both Steve's waffle and the phone ringing at the same time? Listen to one of the least professional waffles about board work in the history of language teaching.
It's not TEFLWaffle, it's TITM! Today, Evets and Yort waffle about Arnold Schwarzenegger, and how good (or is it bad?) he is at teaching kindergarten. If you haven't watched the movie, don't worry - we'll tell you all about it. If you have watched it, great, you can waffle along with us in your head as we go. The nice thing about this movie is that the plot builds in the concept of teacher development - Arnie can't teach, and then he can! It's actually amazing how much Arnie stretches his teaching muscles in only 90 minutes (or 91 perhaps). We won't waffle about professional development, though. We are far more interested in classroom management!
Steve and Troy wonder, wafflingingly, what happens when a teacher tries the communicative approach and it fails. Some teachers fight it, don't understand it, get confused by it, and even maybe reject it! Or maybe it's the students who reject it? Oh wait, is it maybe worth rejecting? Both Troy and Steve have lots and lots of things to say about teachers who are incompatible with the communicative approach - join us and laugh at Steve's stupid stories.
What do you believe? How do your beliefs change what you do in the classroom? What do you believe about podcasts? Are your beliefs congruent with Troy's beliefs? If so, I have a number for a good psychiatrist. Anyway, today we waffle. Specifically we waffle about what how beliefs influence what we do as teachers, as learners, and as trainers. Believe me, you're going to hear the word belief a lot!
What's the point of hanging around with a bunch of teachers in a formal event where you have to talk about teaching and eat pre-prepared food? Do you really want to hang out with the type of teachers who are so obsessed with their profession that they choose to spend their own money on attending an event to show off how into it they are? Aren't they all just academic weirdos stroking each other's egos? Should I endeavor to be a stroker and keep stroking until I finally become an elvated strokee? We tackle these important questions, giggle a little, and decide that conferences are a must for every teacher. Well, sometimes.
Troy and Steve waffle and waffle. Today Steve really waffles up a storm, he really does! So today they are waffling about the wonderful world of getting observed while you teach, observing teachers giving lessons, the difference between evaluation and feedback, and every now and again the cat gets to add some waffle support too. Troy say the word 'autonomic' which I don't understand - see if you can hear it. Email us with a definition. And, who watches the watchers that break multiple grammar rules in the beginning of a single sentence? Is that why we have a special guest cat?
Today Troy and Steve have a guest - it's Sunee! Sunee has been teaching young learners since she herself was young. It's part of her genes. She knows a lot about children, children's classes, children's material, children's behaviour and all sort of other things about children and their classrooms. We grill her about all this stuff. In particular, we wonder how we might know who is destined to be a teacher of young learners, and whether the characteristics that make a YL teacher are bred into them by some twist at birth, or whether it's something someone can learn.
Troy and Steve have taken the day off, but Yort and Evets are standing in. They don't Waffle about TEFL. Instead, they'll be exploring, in exquisite detail, the way teachers and teaching are portrayed in the movies - and today's movie is Good Morning Vietnam! Which is set in Vietnam, actually. In this movie, Robin Williams is a teacher sometimes. Yes he really is. But, do teachers in movies know how to teach? Or is it a farce designed to trick the layman? Does Robin know how to teach (his character in the movie, that is)? Does he make any stupid beginner-teacher mistakes? Listen to Yort and Evets and find out what they think. Watch out, there's some language in here you don't want your grandmother to hear (like 'elicit', and maybe even 'illicit'). You'll never watch a movie in the same way again!
It's Steve who has a big fat waffle about things that happen outside of the classroom that may be opportunities for learning. At the end of the day it's time for the teacher to go home, sit in the garden and sip a pina colada... But wait! The school would really like it if you came back on Sunday and helped show off to the parents how special thieir programme is, look handsome and/or pretty (or both), and justify all those shiny school fees they're paying. Is this part of our job too? Should we be paid a marketing bonus for coming in on a Sunday? Surely there's no educatiobal value in getting ther students dressing up for Halloween! Explore the world of teaching that happens outside of the classroom, and away from pina coladas and gardens.
Troy and Steve ask the crucial questions - how much should a teacher work? How many hours should we teach? How much time should we spend planning? Are we working too much? Should we work more? Does anyone know how much we work? Are any of these questions pertinent? Should we stop asking questions like this? Anyway, Steve has opinions, Troy has stories and we both waffle enoughly about working as a teacher.
Troy has a question about whether teachers need to read formal research. What's the point of all these academics doing endless research instead of actually teaching? Surely those who do, do, but those who observe don't? Which is mightier, the practionioner or the theoretician? Should teachers even bother? Steve has a lot of things to say about this, though his opinion is really flawed and completely biased anyway. Troy, in the other hand, has a whiteboard marker.
Steve has chosen the topic today. That's always a little dangerous. What, he asks cunningly, is the golden rule for teachers in the classroom? Do you have a golden rule for yourself as a teacher? Compare it with Troy's response! Then compare it with Steve's idea. Compare yours and Troy's with what the teachers you work with think is a golden rule for their classroom. Is there only one golden rule? Or are there two? Or are there zillions of golden rules? This podcast almost hits the infinity button, and as usual, waffling ensues.
Language learning is complex and subject a lot of variables - which Applied Linguists love researching. Troy and Steve waffle about it in a very unscientific way, citing absolutely no research and instead simply whinging about what it is that makes us as language learners useless at learning languages. Come wallow in our self-pity with us.
Today our special guest Stuart softly cajoles us into the meaningful and exciting world of soft skills in the classroom. An exerienced motivational speaker and general British fellow, Stuart has been a language teacher for quite a while now, and brings to his teaching his perspective that people are, in fact, people and should be treated as such. What does it mean when a students asks 'Teacher, can yoiu help me prepare my presentation that I have to present presently?' Oh, and Stu also waffles pretty well too.
Today Bob's not around so Steve and Troy waffle about substituting and why it's good for your proessional health. Notice, as an asside, that Troy's responses are muted in today's episode, and relfect on possible reasons for that.
Teachers have to focus on both content and methodology. For our learners, which is more important? What do you think? What does Troy think? Does Steve even think at all?
As a fun drinking game, don't take a shot everytime you hear a response token like 'um, er, ah, erm', unless you're really looking to get alchohole piosening.
One characteristic of an accomplished teacher is the size of their repertoire. No, that is not a euphamism. Really. Anyway, Troy has a big one and likes to waffle about it and it makes him really awesome. Almost perfect. Is a repertoire as important as we make it out to be?
Can teachers even technology?? Especially old teachers like Steve, and also ones that are teaching an experientially orientated thing like language. It's so bewlideringly complex, but it's also so breathtakingly attractive at the same time. What on earth should we do? Giggle and chortle along as Troy as he recounts his opinions, and roll your eyes in despair as Steve tries to sound intelligent on this topic.
Steve tells a lot of boring stories, Troy tells a lot of boring stories, but somehow we create some meaning about the beliefs held by teachers (and management) about children in the classroom, movement, noise and acitivities. Waffle on!
Troy, and sometimes Steve, waffle(s?) about making mistakes when we teach, train or just generally live. Is it humble and noble to admit you're, oops, your mistakes? Is it better to remain a bastion of perfection and never make mistakes at all? This podcast is absolutely mistake free.
We worry, waffle, wonder and whine about the nature of the English that teachers speak (or are supposed to speak) in the classroom. How much is there to waffle about on a topic like this? Well, come find out!
This time, Steve and Troy (not in that order) waffle about whether language teachers should love languages, or perhaps English, or whether they should just love teaching. This is very exciting stuff; to us anyway.
We waffle around the issue of whether teachers should, must, ought to or (add in a modal auxiliary of your choice) use metalanguage when teaching. How do students respond to the teacher talking about past participles? Can teachers handle students asking questions about subjunctives? Do we tell the students about bilabial plosives? We also waffle about guitars and cars because they make cool analogies.
We waffle about staffrooms and the culture of being a professional teacher around other teachers. Should we zealously hoard all our best stuff so that we can be the star teacher of the school, or should we be lovely and egalitarian to bring up the capabilities of the staff room as a whole? Which is more important? Your students? Or the school?
Troy and Steve waffle about those awkward questions students sometimes ask that stump, confuse or otherwise bewilder the unsuspecting teacher. "Teacher, what does unsuspecting mean?" As usual Troy waffles much more blithely than Steve, but Steve's quickly catching on.
Tintin goes to the classroom, and although he makes a valiant attempt, doesn't do very well according to Steve. Explore with Steve and Troy why Tintin doesn't seem to be able to elicit successfully, and listen to them waffling about eliciting, teaching, and Snowy's superiority in classroom management.
In this episode, Troy and Steve consider what teachers should do about speaking the students' mother tongue in the classroom. To speak, or not to speak, that is the quesiton.