The Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast

By virtue of what we do, ESL teachers can easily fall into the trap of believing that because we work with diverse groups of learners, we’re already fulfilling the goal of diversity, representation, and inclusion in our classrooms. But as we know, it’s much more complex than that. How can we ensure that all students feel seen and valued? Here are four approaches for English language educators looking to ensure authentic representation in the classroom.

As we wade through world events, media literacy is crucial for navigating the vast landscape of information coming at us. English language teachers are uniquely positioned to introduce media literacy in the classroom. Here are some essential terms that can kickstart educators’ understanding of the media, so that we can, in turn, guide students to become more informed media consumers and global citizens. 

In this blog post, we share our top 7 teaching methods for English language teachers.

In the fast-paced world of teaching, finding time for reflection can feel like just another task on an already overwhelming to-do list. Here are some tech tools that can make reflection more intentional and inspiring for educators.

The recent news from the U.S. Department of Education has sent a ripple of concern through the English as a Second Language (ESL) teaching community. Here are several avenues through which we can advocate for English learners and their dedicated educators.

Read this list of tips and considerations to get you - a burn out teacher - on the path to a career in Instructional Design / Learning & Development.

In honor of the hot days ahead, we’ve put together a curated summer reading list to accompany your travels, downtime, or even those in-between moments. 13 titles for global educators navigating language, identity, and culture in the English language classroom. Because 10 just weren’t enough. 😉

In today’s globalized world, the ability to communicate effectively across cultures is no longer optional.

Conferences, whether you're a first-timer or a seasoned veteran, are daunting. Read our tips for making the most of them!

Recently, we spoke with Sherry MacKay, educator and founder of Glocally Connected and ESL with TLC to try to wrap our minds around the many intricacies and considerations for engaging with learners who have experienced trauma. Our conversation culminated in Episode 34 “Trauma-sensitive teaching” in which Sherry masterfully guides us through an exploration of what trauma is, how it might manifest in our classrooms and ways that we, as teachers, can support our students in t

As English language teachers, we’re always looking for authentic sources of language that are relevant to our learners and their goals. A lot of us turn to YouTube, podcasts, popular movies and series, along with various forms of social media to engage our learners and demonstrate our ability to keep up with the trends. But keeping up with the trends doesn’t always translate into effective pedagogy—often these sources of inspiration leave something to be desired. Enter TED Ta

If you’re an English language teacher, or any kind of teacher for that matter, you’ve probably participated in some kind of professional learning network (PLN), or community of practice (COP), at some point or other. If you’re a member of TESOL International or of a local TESOL organization, yes, that counts as a PLN, albeit a large one. Hopping on Zoom twice a month with teachers from different departments in your institution to support each other in using technology for le

It’s summertime in the northern hemisphere, and that means that teachers don’t have to work at all, right? Wrong! If only that oh-so-common refrain reflected the reality – that teachers don’t actually have an entire summer to themselves. Instead, the majority of busy teachers take summers to reset for the upcoming school year: rework pieces of their curricula, reevaluate their materials to ensure inclusiveness, participate in mandated professional development, add to their ce

Open your phone, navigate to your settings, and find the area that tracks your phone usage. How much time did you use on social media today? Which social apps did you spend the most time on? Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, WhatsApp…? Social media are ever-present in our lives , even more so, possibly, in our students’ lives, depending on the teaching context. From this ubiquity, we may be tempted to use social media for teaching—and that’s great! Social media allow for

Hello friends, and welcome back to the Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast Blog! Since this is only our second blog post, we thought we should use it as an opportunity to get back to basics and talk about something that drives everything we do: reflective pedagogy! We launched this podcast hoping to inspire teachers to dive deeper into their own reflective practice, and offer some jumping-off points to do so. So… what exactly is “reflective pedagogy” and why do we put it on a pedest

As of today we are officially celebrating one year since the launch of The Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast . And as a podcast for reflective practice, we thought it was only right to pause and … reflect on our journey thus far. We have learned so much about ourselves, each other, and of course, podcasting, that we decided that it was also prime-time to launch our blog and share all of these findings with you. The first tip might seem obvious: be authentic . People want to connect