Teach Meet: developing listening skills

By Pete on April 11, 2026 • ( 0 )

In my previous school we did ‘Teach Meets’. Once a year, each teacher would share some research or teaching ideas related to their own practice. We’d come together once a term for some teachers to present (gallery walk style) and others to stroll around and learn about each others practice and professional interests.

I really liked the Teach Meet set up. You had to keep things concise-ish, only 10 slides displayed on your table, but you could share useful links and handouts.

Last year, I highlighted some challenges that developing language learners might face when it comes to listening. I used the Botanic Metaphor (Cauldwell) to explain this, and mention some implications for classroom practice. Here are my slides:

Shame about the QR codes – there were links to Cauldwell’s website (now deleted), plus recordings I’d made to demonstrate greenhouse, garden, jungle speech. Oh well, I can do them again if I reuse this down the line.

Looking back, I think I slipped up a bit on explaining some aspects, especially how jungly the jungle is! There’s also some language I used that I try to avoid these days (‘lower-level’).

Even so, quite a few colleagues were interested in this topic and it led to some really interesting chats (Don the computer science teacher got quite animated about the topic, and he was usually pretty laid back, so I take that as clear engagement). Let me know if you want the slides, or want me to record some input (like a 10-minute video) on it for your context.

Cheers