How to Organise Teaching Materials, Lesson Plans & Resources – S01E43

How should English teachers organise years of worksheets, lesson plans, coursebook materials, audio files and student notes without creating an even bigger digital mess?In this episode of How to English TEFL Podcast, Gav and Em talk about something almost every experienced teacher eventually has to deal with: organising their teaching stuff.Em has spent years moving from paper-based teaching materials to digital resources — including her famous pink folders — while Gav explains the system he developed for organising lessons by Business English, General English, exam preparation, topics, grammar, vocabulary and functional language.They compare different ways of storing and naming teaching materials, discuss why searchable file names can be as important as folders, and look at the advantages and disadvantages of keeping PDF, Word, audio and other versions of the same resource.Gav also explains how he built reusable lesson packs from favourite coursebook activities, audio and worksheets, making it easier to find a complete lesson when a familiar topic comes up again. But digital organisation creates another problem: what happens when you save so much material that you can no longer decide which activity to use?The conversation then turns to English learners. Gav and Em discuss ways students can organise vocabulary and study habits, including keeping a diary in English, making vocabulary lists, using flashcards, testing themselves, taking useful notes and identifying words and expressions they actually need in everyday life.Em also shares the system she uses for keeping notes about individual students so she can remember important details from previous lessons and build stronger continuity and rapport from class to class.Finally, they tackle one of Gav's weaker areas: teacher admin. Should attendance, lesson records and other paperwork be completed immediately after each class, or can you leave everything until the end of the month?Drawing on years of face-to-face and online English teaching, Gav and Em compare two very different approaches to organisation and ask an important question: how organised does an English teacher really need to be?In this episode:00:00 What does “organising stuff” mean for teachers?02:10 Em's move from paper folders to digital teaching materials04:30 Should teachers keep paper copies of old lessons?06:00 Building reusable digital lesson packs08:05 Can teachers save too many resources?09:30 Gav's system for organising TEFL materials12:00 Why searchable file names matter13:25 PDF vs Word files for teaching online15:10 Going paper-free as an English teacher17:15 Organising vocabulary and study habits18:45 Choosing English words you actually need20:25 Flashcards, revision and testing yourself21:40 Immersing yourself in English23:15 Keeping organised notes about individual students25:35 How teacher notes can improve lesson continuity27:20 Organising attendance, lesson records and admin29:10 Gav and Em's very different approaches to teacher adminSupport How to English:https://ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpodMore TEFL articles, teaching ideas and episodes:https://howtoenglishpod.comReferences:CEFR table and “can do” statements:https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages/table-1-cefr-3.3-common-reference-levels-global-scaleEnglish File, Oxford