Expand Your Horizons

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 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, she co-founded ELTS (English Language Training Solutions) in response to popular demand. Karen 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.

She received Ed Tech’s 2020 Visionary Leader award for her work as Head of Education and she is now CEO at Blue Canoe Learning Inc. And 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 to 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, I'll walk you through engaging, student-centered ideas for presenting new vocabulary words in your lessons.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

Way back in Episodes 16, 18, and 20, we went through the fundamentals of teaching effective reading lessons. But what if you’re teaching online? In this episode, I’m sharing my top tips for teaching a reading lesson in a virtual classroom.

Tip #1: Consider how Ss will see / access the text

• format on PPT or Google slide

• Google doc 

• Google forms 

• Jamboard 

Tip #2: Put the task and text on the same slide / document 

• requires formatting PPT or slide so they both fit, if possible

• backup plan: show a slide with the questions first and ask students to take a screen shot

• You can put both the text and the task in the same Google form or doc

Tip #3: Give Ss time to read silently 

• can be awkward online, but embrace the silence! Mute yourself if you must! 

• asking students to read aloud is still not ok, even online 

• students need time to process and read at their own speed 

Tip #4: Let students check answers in pairs after reading tasks 

• use breakout rooms for this

• this gives you insight into students’ performance / comfort level with the task, especially since you can't easily monitor them reading silently the way you can in a physical classroom

• monitor the breakout rooms to get a sense of how students did with the reading

• peer teaching is happening! Students often share screens and point things out in the text

Tip #5: Make feedback visual

• elicit answers from the students and then record these visually (share slide or form, etc.) 

• ideal to also share text so you can underline / point out where answers are found

• highlight key words

 (Bonus!) Tip #6: Manage your timing by keeping other stages short

• having a fun lead-in and doing a vocabulary pre-teach are great ideas… but not at the expense of reading time

• students need to read same text multiple times – you need time for this! 

• you may need to go into depth on feedback for the detailed task - if students have questions, you don’t want to have to rush this!

Want to review the fundamentals of teaching a reading lesson in general?

Episode 16: Should Your Students Read Aloud?

Episode 18: How to Teach Reading: Developing Sub-skills and Designing Tasks

Episode 19: How to Deal with Vocabulary in a Reading Lesson

This is the second time Jackie has joined me as a guest on Expand Your Horizons, and I'm very happy to welcome her back. In this episode, we're talking about strategies for maximizing student talk time, minimizing teacher talk time, and making lessons more student-centered in general.