The ESL Teaching Podcast

As teachers, we are incredibly well-trained in structure, curriculum, and how to organize the day-to-day of teaching. But what about the human side of the classroom—for both our students and ourselves?

In this episode, I sit down with Lisa Riegel to explore what really drives behavior in the classroom. We go beyond strategies and into the intersection of brain science and human systems—how biology and environment work together to shape how students learn, respond, and engage.

We talk about intellectual safety, what it actually means in practice, and why it’s especially critical for English learners. We also bring the focus back to you—the teacher—as a human being navigating all of this in real time.

This conversation is both practical and reflective. It will invite you to look at your classroom—and yourself—through a new lens.

Here is What You Will Hear in This Episode:

• How Lisa Riegel connects brain science to real classroom experiences
• What it means to understand behavior through the lens of biology + context
• A deeper look at intellectual safety and how it impacts English learners specifically
• Examples of how classroom systems can either support or block student success
• Why fulfillment and growth—both for students and teachers—come from alignment, not just effort
• A conversation about the teacher’s internal experience and how it shapes what happens externally in the classroom

Simply Ieva  offers and resources:

• Grab your free practice The First 7 Minutes: How to Start the Class Grounded (Even if Your Students Aren’t)
• EL Newcomer curriculum guides:
  The EL Newcomer Teaching Compass - curriculum guide for grades 6-12
  EL Newcomer Compass: Little Learners Edition - curriculum guide for grades K-2
  
  

Take the next step:

•  Book The Inner Classroom™ Clarity Session
• Support the time, effort and costs that go into bringing you The ESL Teaching Podcast episodes each week - consider making a small donation—whatever feels right for you. Thank you so much! https://www.paypal.biz/simplyieva 

Related episodes: 

• When “You’re the Expert” Becomes Too Much: Decision Fatigue in EL Teaching
• The First 7 Minutes: Why Your Class Needs a Better Beginning (Not a Better Lesson)

Let’s connect!
Connect with Lisa:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisariegel/ 
• https://www.epinstitute.net/ 

Connect with Ieva:

• Follow me on Instagram
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• Follow me on LinkedIn
• Record a comment for us - click HERE. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Support the show

In this episode, I’m diving into lesson planning and introducing a process called backward design, which is a truly great way to plan for our English Learner (EL) students. You will hear how backward design differs from the traditional, “build-as-you-go” approach that often leaves lessons feeling scattered and disconnected. I also share how I applied this powerful framework to update my EL newcomer curriculum guide, transforming it from an activity generator into a clear, coherent language acquisition journey.

Here is What You Will Hear in This Episode:

• My real-life example of teaching a newcomer student using a traditional planning approach and the key realization that the lesson lacked a clear ultimate goal.1
• A breakdown of the steps for both traditional lesson planning and backward design, which was originally developed by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe in Understanding by Design.1
• A detailed comparison of the pros and cons for both traditional lesson planning (e.g., easier for quick lessons, but often scattered) and backward design (e.g., clear learning goals, but requires more upfront time).1
• How I used the backward design process—starting with "what do we want our newcomers to know," moving to "performance tasks," and ending with a sequenced learning experience—to update the EL newcomer curriculum guide.

Join the waitlist for the workshop The First 30 Days with EL Newcomers, where you’ll  learn:  what to teach first, how to structure those early weeks, how to build language routines, and how to plan lessons that support students who are just beginning their English learning journey.

EL Newcomer curriculum guides: 

The EL Newcomer Teaching Compass - curriculum guide for grades 6-12

EL Newcomer Compass: Little Learners Edition - curriculum guide for grades K-2

Take the next step:

•  Book The Inner Classroom™ Clarity Session
• Support the time, effort and costs that go into bringing you The ESL Teaching Podcast episodes each week - consider making a small donation—whatever feels right for you. Thank you so much! https://www.paypal.biz/simplyieva 

Related episodes: 

• 4 Easy Ways to Differentiate the Same Lesson
• The Ultimate Planning Framework for ELL Teachers
• The First 7 Minutes: Why Your Class Needs a Better Beginning (Not a Better Lesson)

Let’s connect!

• Follow me on Instagram
• Follow me on Facebook 
• Follow me on LinkedIn

Support the show

In this episode, I dive into a common source of overwhelm for EL teachers: overplanning. The pressure to adapt content-area lesson plans for multilingual learners often leads us to try to plan everything, including both content and detailed language support. I explain that the goal of planning isn't control—it's clarity. I share my framework for simplifying this process by identifying the four critical areas that truly deserve your deep planning energy, allowing the rest of your lesson design to remain light and flexible. This approach will help you feel more grounded, make your teaching more responsive, and ultimately create better conditions for language learning in your classroom.

Here is What You Will Hear in This Episode:

• Part 1: Why Teachers Overplan: I talk about the hidden cause of planning overwhelm and why a focus on control is counterproductive to dynamic language learning.
• Part 2: Using WIDA to Focus Your Planning: I explain how to use WIDA language functions to shift your planning from activities to how students will actually use language.
• Part 3: What EL Teachers Should Plan Deeply: I break down the four essential elements that require your deepest attention and the common mistakes teachers make in each area:
  • The Language Objective: The essential "HOW" of the lesson.
  • Vocabulary and Language Support: Moving beyond single words to supporting the structure of ideas (modulation).
  • The Core Language Task: Merging the content and language objectives for meaningful language use.
  • The Opening Routine: Creating regulation and a low-pressure language activation moment.
• Part 5: What to Keep Light: I discuss which elements of lesson planning you can allow to remain flexible, saving your energy for where it matters most.
• Closing: I invite you to join my workshop, Your First 30 days with EL Newcomers, on April 1st, 2026, for a clear framework on planning those crucial first weeks of instruction.

Simply Ieva free offers and resources:

• Grab your free practice The First 7 Minutes: How to Start the Class Grounded (Even if Your Students Aren’t)

Take the next step:

•  Book The Inner Classroom™ Clarity Session
• Support the time, effort and costs that go into bringing you The ESL Teaching Podcast episodes each week - consider making a small donation—whatever feels right for you. Thank you so much! https://www.paypal.biz/simplyieva

Related episodes: 

• The Ultimate Planning Framework for ELL Teachers
• The First 7 Minutes: Why Your Class Needs a Better Beginning (Not a Better Lesson)

Let’s connect!

• Follow me on Instagram
• Follow me on Facebook 
• Follow me on LinkedIn

Support the show

Today, I’m sharing a simple but powerful structure—the 30–60–90 Minute Planning Framework—to help EL teachers stop the spiral of overplanning and find clarity, even during busy seasons like testing. In this episode, I am unpacking why planning often feels so heavy for teachers of multilingual learners (hint: it’s rarely about time), and how you can adjust your planning depth based on the time you actually have. This framework gives you a clear answer to the question: "Given the time I actually have today, what is enough?"

Here is What You Will Hear in This Episode:

• Why planning for teachers of multilingual learners is so layered and intense.
• The difference between planning from anxiety and planning from clarity.
• A detailed breakdown of the three tiers of the 30–60–90 Planning Framework.
• Practical steps for achieving "Core Clarity" when you only have 30 minutes.
• Specific examples of how to differentiate support—not content—in the 60-minute plan.
• How to strategically map out your week and pre-plan formative checks with the 90-minute structure.
• The importance of integrating emotional regulation (Inner Classroom) into your lesson plans.

Simply Ieva free offers and resources:

• Want someone to talk to - teacher to teacher - but are not sure if coaching is the right fit for you? Fill out this form to be selected for a free 15-minute Coaching Fit Conversation. Currently taking applicants for March - April, 2026
• Grab your free practice The First 7 Minutes: How to Start the Class Grounded (Even if Your Students Aren’t)

Take the next step:

•  Book The Inner Classroom™ Clarity Session
• Support the time, effort and costs that go into bringing you The ESL Teaching Podcast episodes each week - consider making a small donation—whatever feels right for you. Thank you so much! https://www.paypal.biz/simplyieva 

Related episodes: 

• How to teach Listening, not just speaking to ELs
• How to Teach Speaking to ELs-Essential Lesson Components for Best Results
• One EL Strategy, One Shift: How to Support ELs Without Burning Yourself Out

Let’s connect!

• Follow me on Instagram
• Follow me on Facebook 
• Follow me on LinkedIn
• Record a comment for us - click HERE. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Support the show

Today I'm diving into a topic I believe is foundational to everything we do in our classrooms: listening. Communication breakdowns are often about what wasn't fully heard. In the first part of the episode, I break down why listening is an active, intentional skill—not passive—and review Joseph DeVito's five stages of listening.Then, in the second part, I focus specifically on our multilingual learners. You’ll learn why listening in English is heavy cognitive work. I will share six concrete strategies for teachers to adapt their instruction (like slowing my rate of speech and extending real wait time) and six ways we can explicitly teach our students how to practice strategic listening skills, such as listening for keywords and practicing prediction.

Here is What You Will Hear in This Episode:

• Why most of us are not the great listeners we think we are, according to research.
• The five critical stages of listening outlined by communication expert Joseph DeVito.
• Why listening in English is "heavy cognitive work" for multilingual learners.
• Six ways you can immediately adjust your teaching to reduce the cognitive load for your students.
• Six explicit strategies to teach your students how to be strategic listeners in a new language.
• Three reflection questions to help you improve communication in your classroom.

Simply Ieva free offers and resources:

• Grab your free practice The First 7 Minutes: How to Start the Class Grounded (Even if Your Students Aren’t)

Take the next step:

•  Book The Inner Classroom™ Clarity Session
• Support the time, effort and costs that go into bringing you The ESL Teaching Podcast episodes each week - consider making a small donation—whatever feels right for you. Thank you so much! https://www.paypal.biz/simplyieva 

Related episodes: 

Let’s connect!

• Follow me on Instagram
• Follow me on Facebook 
• Follow me on LinkedIn
• Record a comment for us - click HERE. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Support the show

In this episode we tackle the pervasive issue of decision fatigue among educators, specifically focusing on teachers of multilingual learners (ELs). We redefine decision fatigue not as a result of being disorganized, but as a rational response to working within a system that demands constant decisions without providing sufficient structural clarity—what is called "Ambiguity disguised as autonomy." To combat this overload, the episode introduces and explores the five steps of the our Inner Classroom framework: Awareness, Regulation, Clarity, Aligned Action, and Renewal, offering practical ways to reclaim internal capacity and prioritize self-preservation.

Here is What You Will Hear in This Episode:

• A clear definition of decision fatigue and why it's a common experience for teachers, often showing up as mental fog or irritation.
• How the concept of "You’re the expert" often masks a lack of necessary systemic support and structure.
• A breakdown of the five steps in the Inner Classroom framework—Awareness, Regulation, Clarity, Aligned Action, Renewal—and how to use them daily.
• Practical ways to apply The Eisenhower Matrix to teaching tasks to prevent burnout.
• The three powerful questions you can ask yourself to stop emotionally carrying decisions that are outside your authority and confuse responsibility with accountability.

Simply Ieva Offers:

• The Inner Classroom™ Clarity Session

If you find value in The ESL Teaching Podcast and want to support the time, effort, and costs that go into bringing you these episodes each week, consider making a small donation—whatever feels right for you. Your support helps keep this podcast going and means the world to me! You can find the donation link below. Thank you so much! https://www.paypal.biz/simplyieva 

Save time and build confidence in your EL teaching with these resources:

• Simply Ieva website
• My TpT store

Free resource:
Grab your free practice The First 7 Minutes: How to Start the Class Grounded (Even if Your Students Aren’t)

Related episodes: 

• One EL Strategy, One Shift: How to Support ELs Without Burning Yourself Out
• Self Management Techniques for the EL Classroom. 

Let’s connect!

• Follow me on Instagram
• Follow me on Facebook 
• Follow me on LinkedIn

Support the show

In this episode, we address the overlooked emotional dimension of language testing, exploring why English Learners (ELs) may "freeze, shut down, or give up" during high-stakes assessments like ACCESS. ACCESS and other language tests don’t just measure English as they touch the themes of identity,  confidence, and belonging. In this episode, we offer a framework for shifting from a state of urgency to one of grounded presence to support the student's emotional well-being first, which then allows them to access their language and learning.

Here is What You Will Hear in This Episode:

• Why language testing can feel heavy for multilingual learners.
• What is actually happening beneath the behavior when students freeze, shut down, or give up.
• How our presence as teachers can either intensify pressure or create enough safety for students to access what they know.
• A personal story about where the host first learned what it truly means to hold space.
• A classroom moment that changed the host's approach to assessments, involving a student overwhelmed during ACCESS testing.
• Practical ways you can support students when anxiety shows up—without rushing, fixing, or pushing through.
• An invitation to download the free resource, The First 7 Minutes, designed to help teachers intentionally reset their classrooms.

Simply Ieva Offers:

• The Inner Classroom™ Clarity Session

If you find value in The ESL Teaching Podcast and want to support the time, effort, and costs that go into bringing you these episodes each week, consider making a small donation—whatever feels right for you. Your support helps keep this podcast going and means the world to me! You can find the donation link below. Thank you so much! https://www.paypal.biz/simplyieva 

Save time and build confidence in your EL teaching with these resources:

• Simply Ieva website
• My TpT store

Free resource:

Grab your free practice The First 7 Minutes: How to Start the Class Grounded (Even if Your Students Aren’t)

Related episodes: 

• One EL Strategy, One Shift: How to Support ELs Without Burning Yourself Out
• Preparing ELs for State and Language Proficiency Tests. Part 1: Listening and Speaking

Let’s connect!

• Follow me on Instagram
• Follow me on Facebook 
• Follow me on LinkedIn

• Record a comment for us - click HERE. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Support the show

ACCESS season can quietly shift the energy in our classrooms—bringing urgency, pressure, and the feeling that we should be doing more. More prep. More drills. More fixing. But let's talk about preparing ELs for ACCESS without panic.

In this episode, we slow the entire conversation down.

Instead of panic-driven test preparation, we focus on what actually supports English learners during ACCESS—and how your own regulation as a teacher directly impacts student language performance.

This episode is about preparing ELs for ACCESS without cramming, without overload, and without sacrificing nervous-system safety—for you or your students.

Here is What You Will Hear in This Episode:

• The 3–4 language behaviors ACCESS measures across listening, speaking, reading, and writing
• Why understanding the task matters more than perfect grammar
• How expansion (adding a reason, detail, or example) impacts scores
• Why language acquisition doesn’t respond to last-minute intensity
• A simple Inner Classroom check for awareness and regulation during testing season
• Four low-stress, high-impact prep routines that actually support ELs
• What to intentionally let go of during ACCESS season
• A grounded reframe of ACCESS as information—not judgment

Simply Ieva Offers:

• The Inner Classroom™ Clarity Session
• If you find value in The ESL Teaching Podcast and want to support the time, effort, and costs that go into bringing you these episodes each week, consider making a small donation—whatever feels right for you. Your support helps keep this podcast going and means the world to me! You can find the donation link below. Thank you so much! https://www.paypal.biz/simplyieva 

Save time and build confidence in your EL teaching with these resources:

• Simply Ieva website
• My TpT store

Free resource:

Grab your free practice The First 7 Minutes: How to Start the Class Grounded (Even if Your Students Aren’t)

Related episodes: 

• Reading and Writing Practice for State and Proficiency Tests
• Preparing ELs for State and Language Proficiency Tests. Part 1: Listening and Speaking

Let’s connect!

• Follow me on Instagram
• Follow me on Facebook 
• Follow me on LinkedIn

Support the show

If you’re listening today and you feel like you’re constantly trying to do more—more scaffolds, more supports, more differentiation—yet still wondering if you’re doing enough for your English learners, this episode is for you. 

In today’s episode, I want to do something very simple and very intentional.

I’m going to share:

• One practical EL strategy you can use tomorrow
• And one Inner Classroom takeaway that will help you actually sustain your teaching—without burning yourself out

I have shared a lot about EL teaching strategies in some of my previous episodes on this podcast and I can link a few episodes for you to peruse below. But today’s episode is going to go a little deeper rather than wider - no overload, no long list.  Just one solid instructional move and one internal shift. 

If you find value in The ESL Teaching Podcast and want to support the time, effort, and costs that go into bringing you these episodes each week, consider making a small donation—whatever feels right for you. Your support helps keep this podcast going and means the world to me! You can find the donation link below. Thank you so much! https://www.paypal.biz/simplyieva 

Related episodes: 

• Seeing is Understanding: 5 Visual Strategies for Supporting ELs
• 4 Strategies for Teaching Math to ESL Students
• Cultivating Comprehension: The Art of Strategic Questioning for English Learners

Save time and build confidence in your EL teaching with these resources:

• Simply Ieva website
• My TpT store

Let’s connect!

• Follow me on Instagram
• Follow me on LinkedIn
• Record a comment for us - click HERE. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Support the show

Today, I want to do an official introduction. An introduction to the new layer of Simply Ieva ESL, the addition that I believe is so so important in teaching yet is so frequently overlooked. That addition is the Inner Classroom™ framework. The Inner Classroom is what is happening inside of your mind and your emotional landscape and how it affects your environment and your perceptions. In today’s episode, I will talk about how taking care of this inner classroom helps teachers prevent burnout before it happens—and recover from it when it does—by strengthening emotional regulation, clarity, and self-leadership. 

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the time, effort, and costs that go into bringing you these episodes each week, you can now do so through a pay-what-you-can contribution. You can pay by clicking HERE—just choose an amount that feels right for you. Your support helps keep this podcast accessible and sustainable for teachers.

• Grab your free practice The First 7 Minutes: How to Start the Class Grounded (Even if Your Students Aren’t)
• 1:1 EL Teacher Clarity Power-Up Session

Save time and build confidence in your EL teaching with these resources:

• Simply Ieva website
• My TpT store

Let’s connect!

• Follow me on Instagram
• Follow me on LinkedIn
• Join the Simply Ieva Facebook Group 
• Record a comment for us - click HERE. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Support the show