Which one piece of advice would you give to a teacher who wanted to create their own classroom materials?

Which one piece of advice would you give to a teacher who wanted to create their own classroom materials?

I agree with Michael in that I would advise always asking for feedback, particularly from students. It wouldn’t have to be at the end of every class or involve great detail as there’s the possibility it could be seen as tiresome and unproductive by the learners. You would also need to explain why you were asking for it. But the key point is that we need to know how well the material works from the perspective of the people who experience it and who it is ultimately designed for.

When we receive feedback we shouldn’t automatically accept what we’re told – it needs to make sense in the context of the course and class aims. And some of it will need to be followed up, asking for more explanation as to why something was thought to work or not. But if the aim is to design materials that successfully help students improve their skills, their feedback is invaluable.