Episode Forty-eight

What makes a “TEFLpreneur?”

Show Notes

Let's talk about my new favorite word: "TEFLpreneur." You've probably pieced together that it's a fun combination of "TEFL" and "entrepreneur." But what does it really MEAN to be an entrepreneur in the ELT industry? What do you need to get started, what does it take to be successful, and why attempt it in the first place? Join me for a reflection on the rise of the TEFLpreneur and some thoughts on whether you could be one, too.

In this Episode

Defining a “TEFLpreneur”

  • What is “TEFLpreneurship?”  

  • Why this word is important to me 

The pros of working in the ELT industry:

  • working with people from around the world

  • helping students reach goals

  • the love of teaching

  • traveling, adventuring, experiencing new cultures

The cons of working in the ELT industry:

  • being tied to the location where you can find work

  • lack of control over your schedule

  • lack of choice in terms of what you teach

  • cap on income

 The irony of the ELT industry

  • many of us are attracted to TEFL/ TESOL because we don't want a “traditional” job, and then end up feeling more tied down than ever

  • we envision a lifestyle of exploration and new experience but end up too broke or overworked to experience much more than lesson planning

My first thoughts about becoming a “TEFLpreneur”

  • realizing how things would be different if I could “cut out the middleman”

  • the obstacle of not having my own physical space in which to teach

How online teaching has transformed ELT possibilities  

  • every teacher has their own virtual classroom/ language school

  • possibilities beyond just live lessons

 What holds most people back from “TEFLpreneurship”

  • overwhelm about needing a perfect website, tons of followers, fancy equipment, etc.

  • imposter syndrome: thinking you don’t know enough or no one will want to hear from you

  • assuming you need to be the #1 expert

The only thing you really need to be an entrepreneur 

  • an offer

  • a buyer

What you don’t need

  • to know everything

  • to be the best

  • to be the only person doing what you do

For more on becoming a “TEFLpreneur”

Do you consider yourself a TEFLpreneur? Do you want to be one? What’s holding you back? Let me know in the comments!

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Episode Forty-seven

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Interview with Karen Taylor: Teaching Pronunciation and the Color VoweL Chart

““There’s an irony, isn’t there, in a pronunciation book being written? So let’s see if we can unwrite the book and put it into a visual representation instead, and go from there. It’s been a lot of fun ‘detextualizing’ pronunciation.” ”
— Karen Taylor

Show Notes

In this week’s episode, I’m thrilled to welcome Karen Taylor as my guest.

In 1999, Karen created an amazing teaching tool called the Color Vowel Chart when she realized there had to be a better way to help students with pronunciation.

The Color Vowel Chart took off, and in 2011, Karen co-founded ELTS (English Language Training Solutions) in response to popular demand. She holds an MA in TESOL from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey and a BA in English Literature from Georgetown University, as well as an International Baccalaureate from the United World College (US campus). A former Fulbright TEFL Specialist, Karen was the Practitioner in Residence at American University for nine years.

Karen received Ed Tech’s 2020 Visionary Leader award for her work as Head of Education and is now CEO at Blue Canoe Learning Inc. If you’re wondering what the name Blue Canoe has to do with teaching pronunciation, you’re about to find out in this episode!

On a personal note, I’m especially excited to have Karen here today because I’ve been meaning to interview her for quite some time. So many teachers have raved to me about the Color Vowel Chart and how it has completely transformed their ideas about teaching pronunciation. There was one instance in particular when a teacher I’ve worked with was telling me all about her experience with the Color Vowel Chart and how she uses it in her classroom, and I asked her if she’d be willing to join me on the podcast to introduce it to our listeners. She said, “Sure, but wouldn’t you rather interview Karen directly? I’ll give you her email address!” I was shocked that someone who has accomplished as much as Karen would be so accessible, but I reached out to her and here we are.

So what you’re about to hear is our first conversation (of what I hope will be many!) and I’m so grateful that Karen gave so much of her time to talk pronunciation with me in this episode. I was very much looking forward to this interview, and I have to say that it was an even more fascinating and fun conversation than I could’ve anticipated. So if you’ve ever wanted advice for how to make pronunciation easier and more fun for your students… get ready, because this is the episode for you.

In this Episode

  • A short summary of Karen’s profession; what it means to specialize in vowels

  • Vowels as the “peak of meaning” in English

  • Karen’s background – how she got started in ELT

  • The surprising way she got into teaching pronunciation (and why it was the course no one else wanted when she first started out)

  • Why the students in the pronunciation courses Karen started teaching weren’t actually speaking – and what this made her realize

  • Some of the books that were starting to influence pronunciation teaching at that time: Well Said, Targeting Pronunciation, and Clear Speech

  • Why these books were still missing the mark in some sense on teaching vowel sounds

  • How the Color Vowel Chart was born

  • Why Karen created the chart to transform students’ thinking about the phonetic symbols from “Let’s write them” to “Let’s use them!”

  • Her students’ first reactions to the Color Vowel Chart

  • How the color + noun combination came to be on the chart

  • How the chart makes it possible to correct students’ pronunciation without saying a single word

  • Why the chart quickly grew in popularity

  • The organization of the chart and the logic behind it

  • Why the chart makes it easier for us to understand that multiple pronunciations of the same vowels are possible

  • How Karen has used the chart to diffuse misunderstandings and disagreements among teachers about dialect and pronunciation

  • The Color Vowel Chart’s role in “detextualizing” pronunciation and making it more accessible to all teachers, even those with less favored dialects

  • How the shape and organization of the Color Vowel Chart represents the shape our mouths make when we pronounce the different vowel sounds

  • How the chart helps us understand the relationship between stressed vowels and weak vowel sounds

  • Karen’s advice for how teachers can get started using the Color Vowel Chart in their physical or virtual classrooms

  • Resources for teachers interested in the Color Vowel Chart: Karen’s YouTube channel and courses

  • How the Color Vowel Chart can still help visually impaired students – why the idea behind the “color” is about a sensory reward more than the literal color

  • Karen’s advice for how teachers can improve their pronunciation teaching in general: why being curious is the way in

  • Getting started with the chart

  • The Color Vowel App: Blue Canoe Learning

  • What Karen is working on now

  • Karen’s free Pure English Practice classes on YouTube

  • Connect with Karen at colorvowel.com

““We need to undo some of those background assumptions about speech, and open up and be curious. And whether that means listening to yourself with a kinder heart or listening to people in your community who speak differently than you. . . start asking, ‘How is it that we communicate?’ Let’s teach THAT. Let’s teach what it is we have in common. And that will lead to the right questions and the right mindset for teaching pronunciation effectively.””
— Karen Taylor

Are you looking for general online teaching strategies in addition to pronunciation techniques? Download your free TEFL Horizons Online Teaching Guide.

Episode Forty-six

5 Ways to Present New Vocabulary

Show Notes

Looking for some ways to make your vocabulary lessons more effective and fun? In this episode, I'll walk you through engaging, student-centered ideas for presenting new vocabulary words in your lessons.

In this Episode

#1: Use a picture or realia

  • this works best for concrete, literal items

  • realia = the actual, physical object (i.e. holding up a literal apple to teach the word "apple” instead of showing a picture of an apple)

  • elicit the words from the students by asking, “What is this?” when you hold up the picture or item

  • make this into a student-centered activity by having students label a set of vocabulary items in the same picture

#2: Create a matching task

  • students can match words to definitions

  • students can match words to their synonyms

  • students can match words to their antonyms

  • students can match words to individual pictures

  • students can match words or phrases to examples

  • allow students to do the matching activity on their own first, then check answers in pairs

#3: Let students label items on a cline

  • a cline is similar to a timeline, but shows gradation/ degrees instead of time

  • example: students could label temperatures (freezing, cold, cool, neutral, warm, hot, boiling) from coldest to hottest on a cline

  • works best with gradable adjectives and adverbs

  • helpful because meaning can be conveyed clearly without using much other language

#4: Ask students to fill in the blanks in a dialogue or text

  • this gives students a larger context as opposed to just definitions

  • providing a word bank will make this more manageable

#5: Present the vocabulary in a text

  • have the words highlighted or underlined in the text

  • let students read the text for gist / general understanding first before asking them to focus on the individual vocabulary words

  • teach the students some strategies for finding the meaning of the words

  • allow the students to do this in pairs/ small groups

  • this helps the students become more autonomous learners

Did you try any of these strategies? Comment below and let me know how it went!

Episode Forty-five

Interview with Brock Brady

““If you don’t have the skills {you want}, I think in some ways the only thing you can do is to keep doing it and breaking it and doing it and breaking it until you finally develop the habits.””
— Brock Brady

Show Notes

In this episode, I'm happy to welcome Brock Brady as my guest. Brock began his career in the ELT industry somewhat spontaneously, as you'll hear from our conversation. He started as a Peace Corps volunteer in Togo, West Africa and from there went on to earn a Master's degree in TESOL before gaining experience in positions such as English lecturer in South Korea and Language Center Director in Burkina Faso and Benin. He served as the co-director of American University's TESOL program in Washington DC and later returned to the Peace Corps – this time as an education sector specialist and the TEFL certificate program manager. Perhaps most notably, Brock served for three years as the president of the TESOL International Association.

Brock's extensive experience in ELT has taken him all over the world, but there was one final frontier he just recently decided to brave: online teaching. I even had the pleasure of working with Brock when he joined my Online English Teacher program to make that final leap in adapting his in-person teaching skills to online teaching skills.

In this episode, Brock and I sit down to talk about the benefits of organizations like TESOL International. We also discuss his own challenges and rewards when it comes to teaching online and why you shouldn't be afraid to start your virtual teaching career at any age.

“ “I really enjoy working with people who work across cultures. There’s an attitude there…a commonality between me and whomever I’m speaking to. It’s not about sides, it’s not “win or lose” – we’re just trying to keep everything together for everybody. It really gives me great pleasure to talk with people who have had that experience of working across cultures and across frontiers.” ”
— Brock Brady

In this Episode

  • What Brock’s current career looks like - all the interesting things he’s doing in the industry

  • Why English teaching is not brain surgery

  • How an ad in the newspaper kicked off Brock’s ELT career

  • How he transitioned from farming in Africa to to teaching

  • Why he loves working with people who have worked across cultures and what that kind of experience means to him

  • The standout travel destinations Brock has visited in his career

  • How Brock ended up working as a science and technical lecturer in Korea

  • His experience as a teaching assistant in Paris with no structure or curriculum

  • The practical aspects of teaching his Master’s degree DIDN’T adequately prepare him for, and his thoughts on the difference between theory and practice

  • Why he feels the Online English Teacher program is the perfect complement to an MA

  • What the TESOL International Association is and how it benefits teachers

  • Details of TESOL International Association membership - cost, benefits, etc.

  • How going online during the pandemic actually created connections between countries

  • TESOL International Affiliate Associations

  • How TESOL International Association conferences and events bring teachers together (even “TEFLelebrities” like David Nunan!)

  • How the Non-Native English Speaking Teacher Caucus sprang up from TESOL International

  • What research has concluded about whether students prefer native or non-native speaking teachers

  • How the TESOL International Association provides support to new teachers who want to publish or present at conferences

  • How he became the president of WATESOL and then TESOL International Association

  • Why Brock decided to start thinking about online teaching and how he anticipated it would be different than what he’d done before

  • A story about Brock’s father that illustrates the hesitation some people experience when it comes to technology

  • Why older teachers sometimes get left behind with online teaching and why we need to find a better way to help them feel comfortable

  • Why you need to “break it” to learn it - or being bad at something before you get good at it

  • Why it’s so important to find an opportunity for hands-on practice when you first start teaching online

  • How learning has evolved - why people of Brock’s generation may have very different ideas of what “learning” means and may be less used to experimentation

  • Brock’s own challenges with transitioning to online

  • What Brock found most helpful about his training in the Online English Teacher program

  • Why online learning is good for developing tolerance of ambiguity

  • How online classes help develop learner autonomy

  • Why younger students may even prefer online learning

  • Brock’s big takeaways and “aha!” moments when he started online teaching

  • Why it’s good to get your mistakes out of the way in your training course - not with paying clients!

  • How his confidence with technology improved during the live teaching practicum in Online English Teacher

  • How he’s keeping his online teaching skills sharp now

  • Brock’s advice for other teachers

  • What’s next for Brock in ELT

““There’s a whole generation of people who didn’t grow up with {online learning tools}… but should they be discarded just because it’s not intuitive? Just because they have to start learning about it now? What can we possibly do to find ways that we can bring those people back? (…) To have people who feel discouraged, particularly people that have been in this profession for a while… we have to find a better way to include them.” ”
— Brock Brady

Want to learn more about teaching English online? Download your free guide below!

 

Episode Forty-four

Avoid these 5 Mistakes in Your Vocabulary Lessons

Show Notes

In this episode, let's talk about what NOT to do when teaching a vocabulary lesson. I'll go through five of the most common mistakes I see teachers make when planning and teaching vocabulary lessons. We'll talk about why these aren't effective techniques... and what you can do instead.

In this Episode

Mistake #1: Not presenting the vocabulary in a way that is contextualized and student-centered

  • why saying, “Today we’re going to learn these vocabulary words…” isn't an effective start to the lesson

  • why a lack of context can bore or intimidate students

  • why this mistake tends to lead to higher TTT

  • why it’s better to start with a student-centered lead-in instead

Mistake #2: Going from word to meaning, not meaning to word

  • why asking students to define words is a problem

  • why this creates a disconnect in students’ minds and how to create a connection instead

  • how to elicit words by conveying meaning and create student-centered vocabulary exercises

Mistake #3: Not clarifying meaning first

  • why you should always start with meaning as opposed to form or pronunciation

  • how to check students’ understanding of meaning before you move on

Mistake #4: Teaching all the different meanings of each word

  • why this isn’t a good thing… even though it seems like it would be!

  • when other meanings can be addressed

Mistake #5: Not providing enough practice or review

  • why this often happens

  • how to manage timing to ensure practice doesn’t get skipped at the end

  • other mistakes teachers make during practice stages

  • why review is so important and ideas for making sure this happens

What are your big wins or challenges when teaching vocabulary? Do you have questions about teaching vocab lessons?

Comment below and let me know!

Episode Forty-three

Practice Activities

Show Notes

Tune in to this week's episode to learn more about practice activities for the ESL lesson. Let's start with a quick refresher of the difference between controlled and freer practice as well as which types of lessons require "practice" to begin with. From there, you'll learn about how to find and acquire useful practice activities plus ideas for using them in your virtual or in-person classroom.

In this Episode

-A review of the difference between systems and skills, and why this matters when determining whether your lesson truly needs practice activities.

-The difference between controlled and freer practice and the aim of each.

-Finding practice activities:

1. The course book 

  • finding activities in the individual units 

  • adapting the same activities for different grammar points (an example with “find someone who”)

2. The teacher’s book

  • extra activities included here (communicative activities and others) 

  3. Course book websites

4. Websites 

  •  the pros and cons of seeking out additional activities on various ELT websites

5. Other teachers’ lessons  

  • stealing and adapting ideas (this is a good thing!)

  • Observing your colleagues’ lessons

6. The Lesson Plan Library

7. The Online English Teacher program

Do you have any practice activities you love or questions about this episode? Leave a comment below!

Episode Forty-two

Interview with Lorenzo Sclocco: Course Planning and Curriculum Design

Show Notes

Lorenzo Sclocco is an ESL teacher and education specialist based in Toronto, Canada. He has been teaching English (General English, EAP, Business English and Exam Classes) at language schools, universities, and colleges since 2009. He also teaches Italian and German. 

As a language learner himself, he knows the difficulties that students encounter when learning other languages. Therefore, he uses a communicative and task-based approach in his classes.

In 2018, Lorenzo was the recipient of the “Excellence in Teaching Award” at the University of Toronto, School of Continuing Studies. He considers himself a life-long learner and he is passionate about anything that has to do with languages and pedagogy. He is particularly interested in curriculum development and syllabus design. 

When not teaching, Lorenzo can be found going for a stroll in High Park (a very famous park in Toronto) and eating cookies – his addiction!

In this episode, Lorenzo joins me to share essential strategies for course planning and syllabus design. If you’re curious about the elements of an effective course syllabus or are looking for guidance on designing a whole course as opposed to an individual lesson, this is the episode for you!

““First of all, you have to know the students. That’s the basis of your work.” ”
— Lorenzo Sclocco

In this Episode

  • Lorenzo's background – how he got started in the ELT field 

  • His experience on the DELTA course 

  • How planning an individual lesson compares to planning a whole course 

  • How to plan a course when you're given the material and a time frame – but no other guidance 

  • How to assess students' needs and figure out what they want to learn 

  • Why you shouldn't just follow the book to the letter

  • How to choose which activities in a book to use and which to cut 

  • The real reason you should be doing ice breakers

  • Repurposing activities: getting the most out of the material you already have instead of spending hours sourcing stuff from all over the internet! 

  • An example of repurposing material to provide scaffolding for different levels

  • What you can get from listening to your students 

  • What a "learner persona" is 

  • Where to start as a freelance teacher designing a course (without help from a language school)

  • How to use "backwards design" to plan a course 

  • How to determine outcomes and objectives for your course 

  • Why material should actually be the last thing you think about when planning a course instead of the first 

  • Why there needs to be a rationale behind what you're doing in each lesson 

  • What else is needed to make a course effective 

  • Bloom's Taxonomy and how this fits into course planning 

  • Why "students will be able to understand…" isn't a useful objective 

  • Formative vs. summative assessment 

  • Why it may be helpful to let students resubmit assignments as part of the assessment process

  • Ideas for giving constructive feedback 

  • Ideas for formative assessment and measuring students' progress throughout the course 

  • Using messaging boards in online courses as a way to measure students' progress 

  • The importance of having a presence in online courses 

  • Why students need to be aware of assessment rubrics for the course 

  • Getting students' input on the course criteria

  • Giving the students a sample of work to analyze to help them understand what they should produce 

  • What to do when your course doesn't achieve its objectives 

  • Why nothing is perfect – course creation is a trial and error process

  • Why pushing too hard leaves students behind

  • The flipped classroom approach 

  • Why assessment is also about you, not just the students 

  • What a Learning Management System (LMS) is and why you may want to use one 

  • The Learning Management Systems Lorenzo recommends

  • Using an LMS to give the students extra practice opportunities 

  • Planning a course for one to one students

  • Creating all the lessons for a week around a single topic 

  • Why even one to one courses need cohesion 

  • Why really knowing how to teach is more important than anything else – no matter how many games you use, how much technology you incorporate…. if you can't demonstrate real skills, you will not retain students 

  • Different methods and approaches to course planning 

  •  Course design resources Lorenzo recommends:

    -Syllabus Design by David Nunan

    -Curriculum Development in Language Teaching by Richards 

  •  Why networking with other teachers can help confirm what you know and build your confidence 

  • Common mistakes to avoid when course planning 

  • Why we should encourage student agency 

  • Why you shouldn't repeat the homework material in class if students don't do it 

  •  Using positive language when giving feedback – even when it's constructive 

Interested in working with Lorenzo and me directly? Join us on an upcoming live teaching practicum session of the Online English Teacher program! Get fully trained up and officially certified to teach English online with this hands-on, eight week program.

Episode Forty-one

Tips for Teaching Listening Lessons Online

Show Notes

Last week, I shared my top tips for teaching reading lessons online, so this week we're talking about online listening lessons! Once again, I'll go through my five best tips for making your lesson work - this time, when there's an audio track involved.

In this Episode…

Tip #1: Embed the audio into your slide

  • so much easier than clicking from window to window and having multiple things to share

  • saves time - all you have to do is push play!

  • don't forget to "share computer sound" when you screen share and play audio

Tip #2: Show pictures of the person/ people speaking in the audio

  • doesn’t have to be the actual speakers - you can use stock photos (pexels.com, pixabay.com)

  • you can also find stock photos or create your own graphics on canva.com

  • insert your images right into the same slide that has the audio

  • this helps set context and makes the lesson more personalized/ engaging

Tip #3: Make the task / comprehension questions visible as students listen

  • Ss should be able to see the questions and try to answer these as the audio is playing 

  • you can display your task on the same slide as the audio, or use a Google doc, Google form, etc.

Tip #4: Allow students to check answers to the listening tasks in pairs

  • this is how you get a sense of how Ss did on the listening task(s)

  • this is how you determine if you need to play the audio again 

  • Ss can help each other by comparing what they heard and giving indications of what else to listen fo

Tip #5: Make feedback visual, and prep with time stamps

  • type up or reveal answers as you elicit them 

  • be ready to play clips or chunks of the audio again as needed (you’ll want to note the time stamp of where each answer can be found in the audio during your prep)

(Bonus!) Tip #6: Build in lots of flexibility with timing

  • plan an extra time task just in case you have time left at the end

  • plan two versions of your productive task for the end of your lesson and use whichever one you have time for - having a shortened/ simplified version really helps if you need to play the audio again and have less time than you anticipated at the end!

  • keep lead-in and vocabulary pre-teach stages short 

What questions, comments, or challenges have you come across when teaching listening online? Leave a comment below and let me know!

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