Two Teachers Talking

Barry Fishman of the University of Michigan has developed a task-completion model for grading that he claims encourages his students to keep trying in their pursuit of A grades. We weigh in. Mentioned in the podcast: The Hechinger Report https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2018-01-08/michigan-students-count-way-to-a-college-a Gradecraft https://www.gradecraft.com

A look back at the year to see what sticks out. Observations, mysteries, gripes, frustrations, warm fuzzies. Probably more interesting than this sounds. Happy New Year!

It’s the end of the year and we’re making our lists for Santa. What do we want/need to make our teaching better and our jobs easier. Not a tech toy list, but a meta letter to Santa. What do you want Santa to leave under your tree this Christmas? Mentioned in podcast: Richard Feynman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman Steve Wozniak https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Wozniak Presentation Zen, Garr Reynolds http://www.presentationzen.com

You start class and something is off. You try a reliable trick…and it flops. It doesn’t get better. We’ve all been there. Looking at those classes when it seems like you can’t catch a break, what you can do to prevent them, and what to do when drowning seems imminent.

Tablet or laptop? Which is the best tool for the classroom teacher? Spoiler alert: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ . It still comes down to a whole lot of “it depends,” but it’s more complicated (and fun?) than you’d think. What’s your take?

The tools and workflows we use or have tried to help us cope with the many different kinds of writing we need to do in our teaching. From pens to Siri, from simple notes to dissertations, we try to cram it all in. See the web page for more info. http://twoteacherstalking.com

An attempt to identify and unravel the many ways our biases can affect what happens in the classroom. And then what to do about it. With special guests, the cicadas!

A leisurely lightning round (!) of things we learned or were reminded of in the past year or so. Pretty frank and honest introspection and coming clean on things forgotten, unknown, and re-learned. We both think this is a good one. Hope you agree–and let us know. Mentioned: Taylor Mali on what teachers make (YouTube) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGKm201n-U4

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. Musings on why most classes are still being taught the old way and why change is so difficult to bring about.

Description - Questions we wish students would ask, the questions they do ask, and enough sidetracks, ratholes, and diversions to bring it all together. Kinda.

Trying to apply lessons learned from past years’ mistakes to make the coming year the BEST EVER. Trying, anyway. Mentioned: Episode 69, 12/1/2015, Past our expiration date or improving with age?

Different kinds of student feedback, different ways of trying to get (good) student feedback, why it’s important, and why it’s so damn hard to get.

Things aren’t right. When does it make sense to leave a job and when are you better off staying? Once you decide to leave, when and how should you do it? From two guys who have quit more jobs than most people will ever have. Just don’t call us quitters.

Turning student smartphones from a distraction to a learning and teaching device. Got an idea of your own? Share it!

Things we can’t live without. In class, outside of class, essentials, luxuries, wish lists. A long talk about STUFF. Maybe you’ll get some gift ideas for the teachers on your list.

That is what Charles sat down to tease out with two Moodle mavens steeped in geekery, Professors George Trescott and Bill White of Kindai University. Four teachers, two hours later, the conclusion is… Thanks George and Bill!

Tony and Charles smash together a lightning round session of "how we teach X." If you want hands on, practical discussion of real-world teaching practices, this is for you: fluency, presentation/public speaking, reading, writing, writing email, manners, listening, pronunciation, class culture, critical thinking, teacher web sites…all in 60 minutes.

Fluency. What the hell is it? How are we supposed to teach it? How will developments in artificial intelligence and computer translation change our teaching? Not to mention that proficiency vs. fluency conundrum. Tony and Charles spend precious vacation time to stumble around in the dark, separated by 6000 miles.

Part Two of Charles’ interview with Paul Nation. Paul and Charles discuss the importance of replication in research, the differences between entertainment and learning, the first day of class, and the future of teaching in light of AI and computer translation developments.

Textbooks. What role do textbooks play today, what role will they play tomorrow, and when will they become just a symbol of the way things used to be? Same questions with "should." What textbook alternatives exist now? Mentioned in the podcast: If This Then That Us and Them, Tony Silva Breaking News English, Sean Banville Edublogs Wordpress