Our lessons need to be clear in order for students to understand the subject content they are expected to learn. This is particularly important for older students who are preparing for exams, and who are therefore expected to memorize, understand and apply vast amounts of information. In today's episode I describe eight ways in which we, as teachers, can increase the clarity of the content we deliver in our lessons.

Being an online teacher can be both rewarding and challenging. While it offers the flexibility of working from home and a broader reach to students worldwide, it also comes with its own set of stress factors. In 2023, as the world continues to digitize, the number of online teachers will likely increase, and so will the pressure to excel. In this podcast episode, we will look at some stress management techniques to help online teachers stay sane and healthy.

• This episode is accompanied by a blog post: https://richardjamesrogers.com/2023/04/09/stress-management-techniques-for-online-teachers-in-2023/

• Check out my award-winning book for teachers - The Quick Guide to Classroom Management: 45 Secrets That All High School Teachers Need to Know: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TVCWFZ4

• Check out my second book entitled 'The Power of Praise: Empowering Students Through Positive Feedback': https://www.amazon.com/Power-Praise-Empowering-Students-Pedagogical/dp/1689738995

• Check out my blog for teachers: https://richardjamesrogers.com/

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/richardrogersauthor/

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/richardjarogers/

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgadlOMi7VPubiHKlcQSI3w

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/richard_james_rogers/

Private tutoring is on the rise globally, with a particular surge in Hong Kong. According to a report by Statista, the private tutoring market in Hong Kong was estimated to be worth HK$ 25 billion (US$ 3.2 billion) in 2021. The International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum is particularly popular in Hong Kong, and many teachers are switching to private tutoring. In this podcast episode, we will explore why IB teachers in Hong Kong are making the switch and the impact of this trend.

• Check out my award-winning book for teachers - The Quick Guide to Classroom Management: 45 Secrets That All High School Teachers Need to Know: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TVCWFZ4

• Check out my second book entitled 'The Power of Praise: Empowering Students Through Positive Feedback': https://www.amazon.com/Power-Praise-Empowering-Students-Pedagogical/dp/1689738995

• Check out my blog for teachers: https://richardjamesrogers.com/

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/richardrogersauthor/

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/richardjarogers/

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgadlOMi7VPubiHKlcQSI3w

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/richard_james_rogers/

• The Importance of Patience in Teaching [Blog Post]: https://richardjamesrogers.com/2020/11/15/the-importance-of-patience-in-teaching/

• The Four Rules of Praise [Blog Post]: https://richardjamesrogers.com/2018/07/15/the-four-rules-of-praise/

The short answer to this question is that there are only two reasons why a teacher should ever touch a student: if there's an educational purpose behind it, or if there's a health and safety issue that can only be solved through touching or moving the student. However, despite this, we are seeing an increasing number of videos on social media of, almost exclusively, female teachers hugging and cuddling the children in their classes. Is this appropriate? Listen to today's episode to find out more. 

Flipped Learning was first conceived as a pedagogical technique in 2007 by Jonathan Bergman and Aaron Sams who set out to answer a big question: What is the best way to use face-to-face class time? The answer they came up with, in essence, was that students should be involved in some well-designed discovery tasks at home/outside the lesson prior to deeper exploration (in which the content they’ve learned is reinforced, related and extended) in the classroom. In today's episode, I describe some awesome ways in which high school teachers can use the Flipped Learning method with their students. 

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word ‘diversity’? Most people will come up with a variety of answers, which may include race, gender, economic background or even neurodiversity. As educators, we must first be able to recognize diversity when we see it (which isn’t always obvious), and then work to both embrace it and manage the challenges posed by it. Classrooms are becoming more and more diverse as international travel and the ability to work overseas become easier, migration increases, and neurodiversity becomes easier to diagnose. The cost of living crisis has also hit schools hard, and we are seeing more children coming to class without the tech tools that some of their more affluent peers may have, or even basic essentials such as stationary.

ChatGPT has hit educators globally with thunderclap surprise and is causing a lot of panic – and for good reason. In terms of updating Academic Integrity policies, schools will now have to go right back to the drawing board and devise intelligent solutions to a wide array of complex challenges that #ChatGPT will pose. Another key consideration for all educational institutions will be how to figure out their position on AI, and which teaching practices to use, as these systems and tools evolve.

As a teacher or a parent, you’ll likely have an interest in the subjects that children are learning in school, especially newer subjects like computer literacy, robotics, coding, or even game development. And while some parents and teachers might be worried that children already spend too much time on tablets, mobile phones or laptop computers as it is, the good news is that all of these subjects are likely to enhance the learning of more traditional curriculum areas, such as mathematics and English. Coding, in particular, is quickly becoming a key skill that school students must achieve basic competency in before they graduate. In August last year, for example, former President Uhuru Kenyatta presided over the nationwide rollout of Kenya’s first ever coding curriculum in primary and secondary schools. This made Kenya the first African nation to create an official coding syllabus to be delivered in schools. Today, I'll be reading a blog post published at richardjamesrogers.com by Kat Sarmiento (content writer at Katreena’s Content Studio) who shares her thoughts on why coding is such an important subject for students to learn.

When order breaks down in the classroom, student learning is affected and teachers’ stress levels, burnout and anxiety rise – which sometimes leads to teachers making the decision to leave the profession (McCarthy et. al., 2022). It is therefore in every teacher’s best interest to master the fundamental techniques of effective classroom management. Today, I'll be reading and commenting on a great blog post by Tina Hennessy, Head Trainer at Destination TEFL‘s Siem Reap centre in Cambodia, in which she shares her top tips for teachers who want to improve their classroom management skills.