How Can English Teachers and Learners Reduce Stress and Keep Improving? – S02E04

How can English teachers manage stressful lessons, and how can learners recognise the progress they are making?Gav and Em pause for a relaxed chat about teaching, learning, motivation and winding down after a busy week. Drawing on their classroom experience, they share practical advice for teachers who feel underprepared, face a difficult grammar question or become uncomfortable when students need time to think.Em explains why teachers should trust themselves, reflect on what went well and avoid focusing entirely on mistakes. Gav discusses the value of patience, silence and giving learners enough processing time before expecting an answer.For language learners, they explore realistic goals, repetition, varied resources and the importance of taking a break when studying becomes tiring. They also celebrate the small achievements that show genuine progress, from understanding sentences in a film to managing a simple conversation.The conversation covers:• reducing stress and handling unexpected classroom difficulties• giving yourself balanced feedback after a lesson• using silence and waiting time effectively• setting achievable language-learning goals• combining study with exercise and everyday activities• learning phrasal verbs through meaningful contexts• using pictures to make difficult grammar memorable• favourite podcasts for teachers and curious learners• unusual teaching locations and online teaching mishaps• Em’s apple-box laptop stand and Gav’s exercise bikeIf you find the show useful, you can send us a thanks at https://ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpodVisit https://howtoenglishpod.com for practical teaching ideas and resources ready to use.Podcasts and links mentionedSmallBites podcast and YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIuJbBSmeAo6d98SDC_zanQOlogies:https://www.alieward.com/ologiesToday in Focus:https://www.theguardian.com/news/series/todayinfocusThe Allusionist:https://www.theallusionist.org/Dear Hank and John:https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/dear-hank-johnImagine Otherwise:https://ideasonfire.net/imagine-otherwise-podcast/Everything EFL:https://everythingefl.com/Follow How to English on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/howtoenglishpod/Chapters00:00 Welcome to How to English02:02 A relaxed teaching and learning chat03:20 How teachers can manage stress06:33 Giving yourself positive feedback07:21 Patience, silence and student thinking time08:21 Language-learning tips and taking breaks10:51 Recognising small learning achievements12:57 Why language learners lose motivation14:55 Gav and Em’s favourite podcasts16:46 Online teaching workstations19:23 Teaching phrasal verbs through context21:43 Bicycles, underwater cars and unusual lesson topics22:47 An online teaching connection failure25:04 Teaching in unusual locations26:48 Gav and Em’s favourite How to English episodes28:40 How Gav and Em wind down30:19 How to teach difficult grammar31:35 Using pictures to make grammar memorable33:10 Final thoughts and where to find the show