TEFL Waffle

Please write a short description of a podcast episode where 2 teachers discuss students usage of AI in writing lessons: Title: "Bytes of Wisdom: Navigating the AI Frontier in Student Writing" Description: In this insightful episode of "EduChat Chronicles," join our hosts, seasoned educators Ms. Anderson and Mr. Rodriguez, as they delve into the fascinating realm of artificial intelligence in the context of student writing lessons. With AI tools becoming increasingly integrated into classrooms, the duo explores the impact, benefits, and potential challenges of students utilizing AI in their writing endeavors. From automated grammar checks to AI-driven content suggestions, the hosts share their experiences and reflections on how these technologies are reshaping the landscape of writing instruction. Tackling questions like ethical considerations, the development of critical thinking skills, and the balance between technology and traditional teaching methods, Ms. Anderson and Mr. Rodriguez provide valuable insights for educators navigating this evolving frontier. The episode also features practical tips for teachers looking to incorporate AI tools effectively, fostering a thought-provoking conversation on how to harness the power of technology without compromising the essence of authentic student expression. Tune in to "Bytes of Wisdom" to gain a deeper understanding of the evolving role of AI in the classroom, and discover innovative ways to empower students in their writing journey while embracing the possibilities offered by artificial intelligence.   ChatGPT can make mistakes. Consider checking important information.

In this episode Troy and Steve discuss an episode in which Troy interpolates meaning from his kid's comments on classroom activities. It's a wild ride into the meaning one projects onto the blanks slates that all teachers are. Or something like that...

Can you learn how to do something without doing the something? Is listening to people talk about learning to do something a complex or compound sentence? To explore this topic, join us and our menagerie, flora, fauna, offspring and a cool car cameo!

If you want something done right, then sometimes you have to do it yourself. But if what you want done is for someone to do your job for you, then that's kind of moot. Perhaps what you want to do is be mute, and let them do it for you. As long as they are doing it the way you want done, without you telling them how to do it, and for them to do it their own way, without you having to supervise them supervising.

A: "Did you hear that they got a new puppy?" B: "Get out of here!" A: Leaves...... B: "Oh, come on!" A: "Huh?" B: "Are you off?" A: (Sniffs own armpit) "Um, no?" B: "Are you off your wheaties?" A: ... (Gives up on English forever)

Pomp! Circumstance! Flowing Gowns! Is it all worth it? Or is it all about it? Is it the icing on the cake, or being pushed to give a rating and review after a meal? A lot of people love a good celebration, and it is a nice way for them to tie up a part of life that (presumably) required some commitment. So, come along with us while we throw our hats in the air and take selfies until our faces feel frozen as we stride across the stage in our best frock coats, frilly cravats and shiny buckled riding boots. BTW, 'pomp' is a rather silly sounding word. Seriously. Say it aloud to yourself. 'Pomp'

We all get a little lonely sometimes, but we get by with a little help from our friends. But what if we don't have any friends? What if nobody wants to help us? What if nobody wants our help? It's OK though, sometimes we're in a lovely egalitarian environment with a benign dictator who is willing to make sure that everybody gets a friend, such as a classroom! Surely teachers always have our best interests at heart and can foresee all possible issues with friends, partners, groupmates and coworkers. Right?

To homework, or not to homework. That is the question. Do you think Mr Wilkins will remember to check the assignment? Can I copy yours? Sorry, my dog ate my pencil.. In this episode, Troy and Steve facilate on this rather (un)important question. Both have long histroies of avoiding homework -  as students and as teachers. But both also have a long history of dealing with people who believe that it is important; other teachers, for instance. So. Before you listen, do the worksheet attached below, and you'll find the task sheet in the second attachment that you can complete once you have finished listening.    

In this episode, Troy and Steve ask whether teachers can ever not be teachers. What happens to us after the lessons end? Can we turn all that teacher stuff off? Or do we carry it around like a bad backpack with all the important stuff in it that one can't possibly do without? Or, as we kind of hope, are we just normal people with a job and a life outside the job? Troy and Steve kind of agree for a change. For that reason, there is no arguing, bickering or death in this show.

To teach, or not to teach, the question is, is that a complete sentence, seeing as the rule dictates that sentences should contain a subject, verb, and object. Also, when is the correct time to use a semi colon; that is, is it correct to join the clauses as was done when it also includes a zero relative clause? Oh, and never and a sentence with a preposition. Because it's just wrong! I hope this episode is something you can put up with.

Are you comfortable? Are you happy? Is this activity pleasing you? Troy and Steve don't care, really. Nevertheless should you feel these things are important, you are a humanist. And if you teach lessons with these concerns in mind you are a teacher who worries about classroom atmosphere. Actually, Troy and Steve do care - we lied. Atmosphere is really really important and how you feel matters a lot. It really does. Tell us about your relationship with your mother.  Extension task: put commas in where you think they belong, Great job!

Do you ever have the feeling that the person handling the other end of your technology have no idea what they are doing? Like Troy and Steve trying to do this podcast, perhaps? Well, it might be that students and teachers have the same problem even though they have to teach and learn online. They may have absolutely no clue whatsoever. Well, with Covid we are all learning, developing, growing, expanding and cocking things up completely. It's so much fun, but nobody is enjoy it at all. Are we? Just go back to that initial question, do you ever get the feeling that reading episode descriptions about episodes is very meta? Or do you ever get annoyed when some people think the word meta is a social media network? Or for that matter, do you ever get annoyed by string of annoying questions?

Troy and Steve waffle endlessly about cases where students confide, and to complicate things, it's all about another teacher. What does ethics say? What does your heart say? What do the students say? What does your gut say? In one amazing moment, Troy actually uses the word 'albeit' with perfect pronunciation. See if you can spot it. Also listen out for our opinions about students' opinions about their teachers.  P.S. Sorry about the audio quality P.P.S We can't remember when this was recorded P.P.P.S Should there be a colon after P.S?

What do you teach? In what order? Is that part needed there? Perhaps you should just skip this section here till later. Oh wait, scaffolding won't work here because they don't know X and they have to do Y, but they don't know Z yet. I know, I'll look at the curriculum! Wait, where is it now?

Troy has a new job, and his students are strong. They lift weights, carry buses around, and speak English like they don't need a foreign language teacher. That means he has a lot of fun, but a few problems too. What is he to do with these super students? How will he cope with the demands made on him by their zealous curiosity? Will he survive the fun, stress, difficulties and rewards of all this amazingness? Find out, on this episode of (cool music sound here) TEFLWaffle!... Oh, and Steve has a few things to say too.

How do you know what a 'bad teacher' looks like? Well, his name rhymes with cape, and he is wearing one! In this episode Evets and Yort explore one scene - yes, just one scene of only 2 minutes - and find out just how bad Snape is as a teacher, and by extension, how you shouldn't bother trying to run your classrooms. Snape is awesome, if you like bad teachers, and British drawls. Evets isn't sure what a drawl is and whether it can be plural. Welcome to Potions Class.

Steve and Troy finally emerge into the sunshine after an indeterminate length of time in their respective basements and get together to waffle endlesslessly. Endless waffle is kind of like that terrible lesson you didn't prepare for, where time seems to last forever. Steve even says so. If you are looking for a 5 step solution to your joblessness woes, you won't find it here. Or maybe you will, who knows? We certainly didn't. This is the first in an 8 part series on the pleasures and pains of dealing with job change, job loss, job uncertainty, job insecurity, and all the other possible negative nouns that collocate with job. We look forward to the other 7 parts of this series, where you'll have more waffle to contend with.

How good is anyone's English when the tests we give are hard to understand? Even Troy can't understand these test questions, and his English is excellent. In this fun episode, Troy compiles a selection of fantastic test questions that are difficult to answer because there isn't one, or not any that we can figure out. Perhaps the problem is that we can't understand the answer key. In an unrelated caveat, this podcast was built using Zoom, which is awesome, but our editing team is a little clumsy with it. We tried all the buttons on the editing software, but that didn't help fix the audio quality. To make the podcast more engaging, as you listen try to guess what is being said. You get extra points for filling in the gaps. The answer key for this game, by the way, is wrong.

Troy's argument in this episode is that when you are offered a job, you need to ask a lot of very penetrating questions, and just sort of generally act the inquisitor during the interview. This makes sense because Troy often takes jobs and doesn't actually know what he's said agreed to do! Steve, on the other hand, hasn't had a job for years so doesn't know how to be interviewed, or to interrogate a job offerer (is that a word?). It also makes sense to ask lots of questions during the job interview because we want to have a job we like, and it's important to work for (and with) people that are nice.

Welcome to pod-battle, compliments of TEFLargue. Listen, and learn how to win a fight and alienate people. Anyway, what role to tests play in a teacher's life? Should a teacher worry excessively about test quality, or just get them done to submit scores? Do exams really make any difference in language teaching, especially in schools? In Troy's defense, he did come up with a concept of a language course without any assessment, and it was a rip-roaring success. At the end of the episode, there is a 20-question multiple choice assessment worth 100 marks. Be sure to pass.

This podcast is not a sequel. We all hate sequels because they are never as good as the original. Except Star Wars. And Star Trek. And To Sir With Love. Yes, it's true, although that's simply Steve's opinion. This teacher is now an old man, in a grungy American school, with awesome students who we are supposed to dislike initially. We watched this movie, and versions of it, on multiple occasions, so you get to hear us talking about these themes again. It's fun - listen, or go fight your gang in the playground! Look, a whole blurb without a to two too joke!

How good are you at grammar? Or should that be 'with grammar'? How seriously do you take things when someone makes a mistake? Are there such things as mistakes? Do you think teachers should take things like grammar as part of their core job? How about disagreeing with another teacher about grammar mistakes? Troy and Steve are good at disagreeing, even when things are fairly clearly wrong (in Troy's case). The thing is, when someone is really arrogant and a ruddy know-it-all, like Troy, isn't it a lot of fun to get into arguments just for the sake of things? On a side note, isn't it a fun idea to help students with their research? Thanks to our sponsor - www.analgrammar.com

In this exciting episode, which was recorded at home, Steve interviews our guest speaker, Troy, on his experience of working from home during these unprecedented (at least in our lifetimes) times when going to work is illegal, banned, disallowed, and generally not a good idea. Troy tells us about his difficulties, challenges and the rewards of spending a whole day at home working and at the same time being a parent. Tough stuff. Thank you to our sponsors, for sponsoring. Please use the code announced in the episode to claim your discount at a store near you, if it's open, and you're allowed to go shopping. Otherwise, you can't get a discount.

Yes, and how do British people pronounce Wagga Wagga? Or how do Americans pronounce 'Sawatdi Krap'? And how does anyone pronounce Edinburgh? Are these political questions? Or are they issues of phonology? Does it matter? Well, today Troy and Steve make it matter a lot. Not only are these political and phonological, they are also podcastical and wafflable. Should South Africans really be upset when Australians mangle 'braai'? Should Troy be upset when Americans get a barbie confused with something feminine? Thanks to Te Reo for the closing clip we stole from www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2pjPdEskbs. Check out their podcast at https://bit.ly/tereopodcast​

Nomination is the process of selecting individual students in the classroom to respond to a question. In this episode, the cat decided to nominate itself to be a very vocal member of the podcasting team, blasting Steve and Troy into oblivion with its eagerness to participate with you, dear listener. In between the cat, Steve and Troy self-nominate to discuss the question of nomination in the classroom. We nominate this episode to be the seventy sixth-episode. We also nominate you to figure out where that hyphen should actually be.

Yes, we do sequels. This movie stars a kindergarten cop too, and it involves children and a cop, because it's a copy of a movie about a cop in a kindergarten. This time, there is chocolate, and pigs, and a creepy IT guy who turns out to be (spoiler alert) a hero. The moral of the story is that cops are probably best not put into kindergartens to teach, and in this movie, you'll see the complete range of idiot things a beginner (or cop) can do to make any kindergarten lesson a complete failure. Watch and cringe. I know this pun is a cop-out, but blurb over.

How invested are you in your students? How long did it take you to become invested in this way? Why are some teachers not invested? What does it mean to be invested? Steve and Troy waffle in a rather circular and convoluted way about these and other wondrous questions in this very podcast! Listen to it.

In this podcast, Steve fails a lot. It's on purpose because he is doing a meta-demonstration of how failure can be a marvelous way to mortify - no, to create learning, development, growth and improvement. See, failure is a good thing, actually, even though most schools avoid, dodge, escape and evade it. What this podcast really is about is Troy's wonderful journey into the world of teaching Young Learners. Step aside, professional YL teachers - Troy is here!!

Do you like your CLIL hard, or soft? Or would you prefer your CLIL tempered with a bit of EMI? And if you want to have a CLIL lesson, would you like your maths with a bit of English, or do you like your English with a bit of maths stuck in it? Should language teachers even worry about content, or is content the new future of ESL? All these penetrating questions! We've never written a blurb in this style before!

Are our learners really learning language when they're learning online only? If you can understand that question, nicely done! Steve and Troy successfully waffle about the stigma of online learning in the light of the latest fashion of staying at home when you study (because of Covid, not because people are too lazy to take a shower and wear fresh socks). How on earth, Troy and Steve wonder, can we even know when students are actually learning - but then again, we wonder this even when they're right in the classroom with you. What are the ways in which we now learn online? What are you learning from reading this blurb online? Perhaps you should stop reading this meandering waffle and go listen to people waffle instead.

Troy and Steve watched a movie. This movie had many classroom scenes, it was set in a school, had students and a few teachers. There was drama. There were underlying themes relating to society. Troy got upset about it. Steve thought it was all a big joke, especially the interview scene. Many ladies in the old days of yore thought this teacher was rather dishy. The movie has a happy ending. This blurb doesn't.

Sunee demoted herself from manager and teacher trainer to classroom teacher. Or was it a promotion? She's back to tell us about what she has learned about herself as a teacher since she's gone back into the classroom to, well, teach. If you listen carefully you'll hear just how well she is designed for teaching young children. We always love having Sunee on the show because she brings a sense of sense and sensibility to an otherwise chaotic podcast.

Teachers talk. A lot. They talk in the classroom, but they also talk in the staffroom, and this kind of staffroom chatter can sound like complaining, but it's also a really good way for teachers to be cathartic, to reflect, to develop professionally, and to stay sane. As a manager, this kind of positive staffroom waffle can be threatening. So how exactly should we look at the kinds of things teachers say in staffrooms? Troy and Steve waffle about staffroom waffling. Very meta.

How exactly do you teach reading? Can reading even be taught? Is there a difference between teaching reading and testing students' comprehension? Are you even reading this and how do we know you are? If you are reading, is there any way you really know if you comprehend anything on here? Should this blurb have some comprehension question to find out? In this exciting episode, Steve and Troy waffle effortlessly about the difficulties, challenges and complexities of teaching reading, and whether there is any difference between teaching and testing reading. If you listen to this podcast very carefully, listen out for Steve and Troy stirring their after-class sundowner drinks. Perhaps a G&T. Who knows.

Rolling drums, crashing symbols, DRAMATIC INTRO!!! Oh, Wait, not that kind of drama... Steve: Children, what's the name of this episode? Children: Scream uncontrollably. Steve: That's right! Good job. And what are we going to do today? Children: Scream less uncontrollably. Steve: Good job! When are we going to do it? Visiting principal: Steve, are you ok?  

This movie demanded a lot of waffling. Really, a lot. See if you can see the link between spiders in the tropics, and the core themes embedded in this movie on children studying high school in America. If you find it, you get a chance to win an opportunity to enter a raffle which will draw from thirty seventeenths randomly chosen special entrants for the privilege of wearing your own white t-shirt. This second part of the Dangerous Minds gives Troy all the more opportunity to go through his copious notes on the intricacies of the movie, its relevance to your classroom, and the need for more analysis of movies. Thanks to our sponsors for their kind support of this episode.

Have you ever watched a movie that has every cliche rolled into one blonde? This one has them all in one classroom. You can have them all for the price of one Snickers bar, and more. In fact, there are so many cliches to talk about here, Steve and Troy need two episodes to do it. Troy's copious notes on the topic of this teacher and her management of her class includes such issues as: gerunds, silence, awkward fighting in the classroom, marking in the bar, and swanky restaurants. If you haven't seen the movie - don't worry, they will tell you all about it. This here, is the first in a two part series on the gold standard of teaching movies.

Are you a good teacher? Do your students think you are good? How do you know? What sorts of things do they say? In today's session, Troy wants to waffle about how students compliment a teacher who is good (in their opinion) and how to deal with it. Steve has little to say today because nobody compliments him. However, the podcast cat, whose name is Katt, decided that today's a great day to include his own contribution by rubbing all over the microphone. What exactly does 'good' mean anyway - who decides. This is the huge philosophical question we all should be waffling about.

How do children learn the alphabet? How do ESL learners learn the ABC? It's complex. In today's episode we have some authentic material - recordings of Troy's son learning the alphabet with his amazing father/teacher. What Steve and Troy are up to is taking a critical view of the books children learn their ABCs with. This is a cute episode, but you know that Steve and Troy have a lot of really critical things to say about whatever it is they are talking about. Waffle on, ABC teachers!

Do you want to be an exemplary teacher? Do you want to have an exemplary classroom? Or perhaps do you feel like having exemplary learning taking place in and around you? If you said yes to any one of those questions, you are amazing, and your prize is to get to listen to this exemplary podcast. You'll hear Troy start a lot of sentences and not always finish them. And you'll hear Steve waffling very well - really well indeed. Exemplary, in fact. 

Troy and Steve are not usually too stupid. But when it comes to technology, they are. And why not - they are teachers, not computer geeks. So now that the world is crashing down in all sorts of random ways, and teachers are being called to action through a variety of online and technologically savvy platforms, some teachers (no names here please) are at a loss. Which apps do we use? How do you record this thing? Where are my students? Why is this microphone not on? We are useless. In this episode, listen to two mini-episodes in which these two guys showcase their idiocy with technology. We give you permission to giggle. Note that the second half is a genuine (albeit unedited) attempt at an actual episode. Yep, that's just how good these two aforementioned unnamed guys really are...

This is a long movie with lots and lots of cultural- and time-bound references, and it's also a classic. And, it's about pronunciation! Do you like linguistics? No? How about applied linguistics? No? How about sociolinguistics? No? How about love stories with cultural and time bound references? Well any one of those, and this movie is for you. If not, well, we didn't much like it either. Nevertheless, in it you will find some fascinating references to teaching pronunciation that work in the movie, and might even work in a classroom. Who knows - better try!

We need to keep our distance from people, because, well, it's Covid time. So teachers have to teach from home, and podcasters have to podcast from home(s). How hard can it be, right? Just do what you do, but do it at home. Well, we have empirical evidence, in the form of this podcast, that if things can go wrong with technology, they will, and that it feels super work through technology, especially if you aren't a techie sort of Star Trek guy. So, in this episode, Troy and Steve show you how not to use technology to teach a lesson. Be prepared to cringe.

The end isn't nigh, but it does mean we need to change how we think about teaching, learning, technology, life in general and the nature of classroom interaction. That's hard for Steve - he isn't cut out for this sort of stuff, and you can hear him complaining about all this change on this very episode! Troy, however, is managing only slightly better. Really - these wafflers are not the best at online language teaching. Cough. At least teachers are already really adept at avoiding smearing chalk dust or blue whiteboard gunk on their faces...

Parents have an important role to play in education. For one thing, they provide the children. But more importantly, they can support or undermine the school and the teacher depending on the way that they are trained. I mean, communicated with. Yes. So how can we make sure our parents work together with us as teachers in a way that benefits the child? Is that even possible? After all, the teacher's job is to teach, and the parents' job is to parent. Ya. 

Today, we have Sunee as our superstar guest. Sunee is not just a superstar guest, she is also a superstar young learners guru. Now Sunee is moving back into the classroom to be with her children and abandoning her fantastic role as a teacher trainer, teacher manager and school supervisor. Why on earth would a teacher demote herself from a manager back to a teacher? Well, Sunee is going to explain it all to us. By the end of the podcast you'll hate the prospect of being a manager. Here we go!!

Yort and Evets are lovers of movies. This time, it's a movie about a school, some teachers, and a bunch of amazing students. The basic premise, which they don't waffle about at all, is school corruption. We all hate corrupt schools, don't we? No wait, this is a movie about a good teacher gone bad and going back to good. Oh no, wait. It's about a school which needs an injection of life and energy. Oh hang on - it's about a music teacher who needs help with his job. So, listen along as we talk about this movie about the power of one teacher to save a school and see if you agree that this MMA movie is boomful.

Do you have colleagues? Are they are nice as Troy? Or are they lazy, rubbish colleagues like Steve? Are they complaining a lot because someone hasn't done their job properly? Is it your fault that the students didn't learn in that other lesson? In this podcast, Steve and Troy waffle, as usual, but they also say um and ah a lot, close curtains, make silly jokes and misunderstand each other's points all the time. Oh right, they also talk about the silly sorts of things that come up in a staffroom dialogues when there is an obnoxious teacher in the air. Oh, and they waffle about a whole bunch of other things too. Try to keep up with them - it's a bit of cognitive gymnastics that will amuse you for for the full half-hour. Oh, one more thing - perhaps Troy is the lazy colleague after all.

Teacher's sometime forget to do writing tasks in class. Or maybe they don't like doing them because they involvement so much marking. Or maybe they think they aren't important. Anyway, when we do do them, how important is it it it it for the writing to me accurately? If their are mistakes, will it distract the reader? Is it the teacher's job to encourage, or discouraging mistakes? Who's brain broken after this paragraph?

We aren't in the mood to write this blurb. 

Troy has a colleague who has a problem with him and is suffering from a critique. Troy also has a problem with that first sentence as he's unsure who the subject of the second verb is. Steve has a problem with criticism of sentences. Anyway, why anyone would dare critique Troy is beyond anything we can understand because he's perfect in many ways, nevertheless it happened. Have you had a colleague make comments about your teaching? How does it feel? What did you do? Why does it make a difference? Listen to Steve waffling about this with Troy as the two of them try to make sense of this very important question of teaching team-work life.