About Naylor's Natter Podcast
'Just talking to Teachers'
An Education podcast
With a rich history spanning more than 140 episodes, Naylor’s Natter has featured thoughtful, honest conversations with teachers, school leaders, authors and influential voices from across education.
After coming to an end in 2023, the podcast is back with a renewed focus. New episodes combine educational research with professional experience, exploring the routines, decisions and ideas that shape everyday teaching. Reflective, practical and willing to question received wisdom, this is professional conversation without the performance.
Just talking to teachers.
The explanation is finished—but are pupils genuinely ready to work independently?
In this episode of Naylor’s Natter, Phil turns his attention to the often-overlooked middle of the lesson: the We Do. It should be the bridge between teacher explanation and independent practice, but what does effective guided practice actually look like? And how do we avoid helping pupils so much that we end up doing the thinking for them?
Drawing on classroom experience, explicit instruction and what he has changed his mind about, Phil explores modelling, questioning, checking for understanding and the gradual removal of support. The key question is simple: when does helpful guidance become a crutch?
Practical, honest and rooted in the reality of the classroom.
Naylor’s Natter—just talking to teachers.
1 Sept 2026
The I do- fail to prepare, prepare to fail.
September is coming: new classes, new routines and that familiar pressure to get everything right from lesson one. Naylor’s Natter is back to help you make a strong start.
In this episode, Phil moves from the Do Now into the I Do—the point where the teacher takes centre stage and makes expert thinking visible.
But what does effective explanation actually sound like? Is an I Do simply the teacher talking while pupils listen? How much should we explain, what should pupils be doing while we model, and how do we avoid either rushing through it or talking for far too long?
Drawing on 25 years in the classroom, Phil explores modelling, worked examples, narrating the thinking process and breaking complex ideas into manageable steps. He also reflects honestly on what he has changed his mind about—and why clear, explicit teaching doesn’t have to mean passive pupils or personality-free lessons.
Whether you’re preparing your first lesson as an ECT or returning for another September with hundreds behind you, this is a practical reflection on one of the most important parts of teaching:
I Do—show them how, don’t just tell them what.
Naylor’s Natter: just talking to teachers.
3 Aug 2026
The Do Now: Not in Books… Am I Wrong?
Should pupils complete their Do Now in their exercise books—or is there a better way?
In this episode, Phil questions one of the routines many schools take for granted. He explains why he no longer asks pupils to write every Do Now into their books, and explores whether booklets, mini-whiteboards or other approaches can make the opening minutes of a lesson quicker, sharper and more purposeful.
Along the way, Phil considers retrieval practice, settling routines, participation, checking for understanding, teacher workload and the danger of creating written work that nobody ever meaningfully checks. This isn’t an argument against Do Nows—or against high standards in pupils’ books—but an honest reflection on what the routine is actually meant to achieve.
Do Nows—not in books. Am I wrong?
A practical and reflective episode rooted in classroom experience, with an open invitation to disagree.
Naylor’s Natter—just talking to teachers.
The Do Now: Not in Books… Am I Wrong?
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
2.4 / 5
5 ratings
Spotify
4.8 / 5
14 ratings
Contact Naylor's Natter Podcast
'Just talking to Teachers'
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