What Makes a Good TEFL Lesson? Teacher Q&A with Gav and Em – TEFL A-Z Q - S06E17

What makes an English lesson fun, how should teachers respond to difficult questions, and what happens when a class reaches a genuine flow state?In this Q-themed episode of the How to English TEFL Podcast, Gav and Em ask each other questions about teaching English, working online, planning lessons and producing the podcast.Drawing on more than 40 years of combined classroom experience, they discuss memorable moments from teaching in different countries, including Gav’s experiences in the heat of southern China and the freezing temperatures of northern and eastern Europe. Em shares a creative grammar activity in which learners physically arrange themselves into sentences, helping them explore word order together.What should you do when a learner asks a grammar question you cannot answer? Em remembers being caught out by a question about subject questions early in her career—and explains why experienced teachers still sometimes need to say, “I’m not sure, but I’ll find out.”Gav and Em also consider the advantages and disadvantages of teaching English online. Is something lost when teachers and learners no longer share a physical classroom? Can digital lessons still create meaningful professional relationships?You’ll also hear their thoughts on making lessons fun without forcing the humour, protecting learners from embarrassment when mistakes sound funny, and knowing when to step back while a successful speaking activity flows.Along the way, they revisit favourite podcast guests and episodes, explain how AI helps Gav create the show’s cover art, reveal how they have used podcast extracts in their lessons, and imagine the events they would enter at the TEFL Teacher Olympics.The episode ends with a rapid-fire teaching quiz: lesson plan or wing it? Pair work or group work? Online or face-to-face? Tea or coffee?If 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.Chapters00:00 – Welcome to Q: questions and answers01:42 – The placement-test mystery of “remote control”02:42 – Gav’s favourite countries to teach in05:14 – A creative physical grammar and word-order activity07:14 – Gav’s dream podcast guest08:13 – Student questions that left Em speechless10:27 – The disadvantages of teaching English online13:27 – When learners make hilariously wrong mistakes14:46 – What actually makes an English lesson fun?16:19 – What to do when a class reaches a flow state17:54 – Gav and Em’s favourite podcast episodes19:41 – Podcast episodes that changed their teaching21:15 – The best compliment a teacher can receive21:48 – Is teaching more tiring than podcasting?23:27 – Creating podcast artwork with AI25:04 – Using podcast extracts in English lessons26:20 – The strangest places to plan a lesson27:55 – Reliable activities and ready-made materials29:24 – The TEFL Teacher Olympics30:40 – Rapid-fire teaching choices32:50 – Next time: the letter R