

Beyond Survival: The New Teacher Podcast
Jamie Thom and Colin McGill
A weekly podcast to inspire and motivate teachers in the exciting first few years of their careers. Every week an expert guest will answer a central question to support new teachers to be the best version of themselves in the classroom. There is also a weekly 'Teacher Talk' which gives practical strategies for an aspect of teaching in fifteen minutes. Host Jamie Thom left the classroom in August of 2022 to run a new English PGDE at Napier University in Edinburgh. He is the author of four books on education, his latest come out in February 2023 and is called 'Talking To Teenagers: A guide to skillfull classroom communication.' He is passionate about supporting new teachers.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Feb 8, 2023 • 49min
What routines should new teachers use in their lessons?
The guest on this week's episode of 'Beyond Survival: the new teacher podcast' is Ben Karlin. Ben is a former English teacher and senior leader, who now works at Ambition Institute, where he designs programmes to support teachers and school leaders to keep getting better. He is also the co-author of 'The Teaching and Learning Playbook', which has over 100 techniques for teachers to improve their practice. Today we will be answering the question: what routines should new teachers use in their lessons? In exploring that central question, we also answer the following:1. Why do you think routines are important in the classroom? 2. How might a new teacher start to build new routines into their teaching? 3. What routines might be useful for teachers to implement at the start of lessons? 4. What routines are most helpful for securing student learning? I hope you really enjoy the episode, if you do I would really appreciate if you would take the time to pass on the episode to anyone who you feel would benefit from it. If you have the time to leave a quick rating or review, that is also always hugely appreciated in spreading the word. Also, if you have any feedback on how to improve the show please get in touch via www.slowteaching.co.uk, or through Twitter (@teachgratitude1).

Feb 6, 2023 • 16min
Teacher Talks: How to Teach Quiet Students.
This episode is this week's 'Teacher Talk': a fifteen minute talk that explores an important aspect of classroom practice, with practical strategies for implementing it in your classroom. This talk explores how to best teach and support quieter students. It explores three key areas:1. Noticing and building relationships 2. Scaffolding verbal contributions 3. Celebrating quiet strengths. I hope you find it helpful and supportive in your classroom. My book, 'A Quiet Education, which I mention in the talk, is available here. Any feedback on how to improve these talks, or areas you would like me to explore, is always much appreciated. Please contact me on Twitter @teachgratitude1.

Feb 1, 2023 • 43min
What will help boys to succeed in school?
The guest on this week's episode of 'Beyond Survival: the new teacher podcast' is Mark Roberts. Mark is an English teacher and Director of Research in a school in Northern Ireland. He is also the author of a range of brilliant books on education. His latest book is the excellent 'The Boy Question: How to Teach Boys to Succeed in School'. You can follow Mark on Twitter at @mr_englishteach. Today we will be answering the question: what will help boys to succeed in school? In exploring that central question, we also answer the following:1. What are some of the mistakes you have seen teachers make when teaching boys? 2. What advice would you give new teachers in managing the behaviour of boys? 3. What helps to support boys' learning? 4. What about motivation when it comes to boys? I hope you really enjoy the episode. If you have any feedback on how to improve the show, or would like to come on the podcast for one of the live coaching episodes, please get in touch via www.slowteaching.co.uk, or through Twitter (@teachgratitude1).

Jan 30, 2023 • 15min
Teacher Talks: The Benefits of Becoming a Slow Teacher
This episode is this week's 'Teacher Talk': a fifteen minute talk that explores an important aspect of classroom practice, with practical strategies for implementing it in your classroom. This talk explores the benefits of becoming a slow teacher. It looks at three benefits of applying a slower approach to teaching:1. Improving perspective and planning 2. Improving teacher presence and explanations 3. Enabling real teacher improvement I hope you find it helpful and supportive in your classroom. My book, 'Slow Teaching', which I mention in the talk, is available here. Any feedback on how to improve these talks, or areas you would like me to explore, is always much appreciated. Please contact me on Twitter @teachgratitude1.

Jan 25, 2023 • 52min
What are five top teaching tips for new teachers?
The guest on this week's episode of 'Beyond Survival: the new teacher podcast' is Craig Barton. Craig hosts the brilliant podcast 'Tips for Teachers', which you can find at https://tipsforteachers.co.uk. He is the author of three excellent books on teaching, including 'Tips for Teachers' which has just come out this month and has over four hundred tips for teachers. You can follow Craig on Twitter at @mrbartonmaths. In this interview, Craig picks out five tips from his book and interviews with teachers that he feels are most essential for new teachers. In short, the five tips are:1. Strategies to encourage mass participation 2. The importance of thinking time.3. How to improve think, pair share. 4. Learner generated examples.5. Assigning confidence levels. I hope you really enjoy the episode. If you have any feedback on how to improve the show, or would like to come on the podcast for one of the live coaching episodes, please get in touch via www.slowteaching.co.uk, or through Twitter (@teachgratitude1).

Jan 23, 2023 • 16min
Teacher Talks: Language to Influence Classroom Behaviour.
This episode is the first of a weekly 'Teacher Talk': a fifteen minute talk that explores an important aspect of classroom practice, with practical strategies for implementing it in your classroom. This talk explores the language choices we can make as teachers to influence classroom behaviour. It explores three key areas:1. Civility and manners 2. Naming specific behaviours 3. Depersonalising behaviour feedback. I hope you find it helpful and supportive in securing positive behaviour in your classroom.

Jan 18, 2023 • 36min
Why choose a career in teaching?
The guest on this week's episode of 'Beyond Survival: the new teacher podcast' is my brilliant colleague at Napier University, Colin McGill - back for his second appearance. After a successful career as a Chemistry Teacher and Curriculum Leader, Colin is now the PGDE programme leader for Teacher Education at Napier University. You can follow Colin on Twitter @colinmcgill In this interview, Colin answers the central question: Why chose a career in teaching?In answering that central question, we also explore the following in the interview:What made you go into teaching?What do you see as the main benefits of a teaching career?What are the main challenges new teachers face, and how can they overcome them?What advice would you give someone thinking about going into teaching?What is unique about the course at Napier for teacher education?If you know anyone who is considering a career in teaching, please do pass it on! If you would like to talk further about the PGDE at Edinburgh Napier, please email C.McGill3@napier.ac.uk or J.Thom@napier.ac.uk. I hope you really enjoy the episode. If you have any feedback on how to improve the show, or would like to come on the podcast for one of the live coaching episodes, please get in touch via www.slowteaching.co.uk, or through Twitter (@teachgratitude1).

Dec 5, 2022 • 43min
What will help new teachers to improve their teaching?
The guest on this week's episode of 'Beyond Survival: the new teacher podcast' is Kat Howard. Kat is a former senior leader, who is now the director for a large Multi-Academy Trust Teaching School Hub. She is also the author of 'Stop Talking About Wellbeing: a Pragmatic Approach to Teacher Workload' and co-author of 'Symbiosis: the Curriculum and the Classroom.' In this interview, Kat answers the central question: What will help new teachers to improve their teaching?In answering that central question, we also explore the following in the interview:1. Teachers at the start of their career are focussed on improvement, but what mistakes do they make in this desire to get better quickly? 2. What sort of mindset will help new teachers to develop?3. How can new teachers make their improvement manageable? 4. Case study: Peter, an Early Career Teacher, wants to improve modelling in his classroom. How can he go about improving this aspect of his practice? 5. Is there any other advice you could offer to teachers at the start of their careers?I hope you really enjoy the episode! If you have any feedback on how to improve the show, or would like to come on the podcast for one of the live coaching episodes, please get in touch via www.slowteaching.co.uk, or through Twitter (@teachgratitude1). This will be the last episode of 2022, so I really hope listeners have a wonderful festive period!

Nov 27, 2022 • 43min
How can new teachers set boundaries and find a work-life balance?
The guest on this week's episode of 'Beyond Survival: the new teacher podcast' is Emma Turner. Emma is a former Primary school teacher and headteacher, who now is the CPD lead for the Discovery Trust. She is also the author of four brilliant education books, that cover a range of topics from curriculum to flexible working. You can follow her on Twitter @Emma_Turner75. In this interview, Emma answers the central question: How can new teachers set boundaries and find a work-life balance? In answering that central question, we also explore the following in the interview:1. Why do you think it is so hard for new teachers to have any sort of work-life balance? 2. What are the essentials that you think new teachers should prioritise? 3. How can new teachers set appropriate boundaries? 4. What advice would you give a new teacher who struggles to say no? 5. Have you got any final advice you might offer new teachers at the start of their career?I hope you really enjoy the episode! If you have any feedback on how to improve the show, or would like to come on the podcast for one of the live coaching episodes, please get in touch via www.slowteaching.co.uk, or through Twitter (@teachgratitude1).

Nov 20, 2022 • 44min
What teaching skills should student teachers priortise?
This week's episode is the monthly live coaching episode. This involves a teacher at the start of their career coming on the podcast to explore an issue or question they have. This week's episode is with Anna Green. Anna is doing her PGDE (teacher education year) and wanted to explore how she can continue to develop her teaching, and what aspects of her teaching skills she should priortise. I hope you find the episode useful. As always, any feedback is gratefully received, and I would love to hear from you if you would like to be a guest or take part in a live coaching conversation. Please contact me through Twitter @teachgratitude1, or through www.slowteaching.co.uk.


