Jocelyn Seamer EducationPodcast and Blog
S5 E6 - Keeping Your Team's Bus on the Road When Onboarding New Staff
Hi there, it's Jocelyn here with this week's episode of the Structured Literacy podcast, recorded here in my hometown of Pataway, Burnie in Tasmania. It's the start of the school year here in Australia and most schools have new staff in place. Some are experienced teachers from other schools, some are early career teachers taking charge of their own classroom for the first time. And many are existing teachers moving to grades they've never taught before. For every…
S5 E5 - AI: A Tool, Not a Teacher
Hi there and welcome to this episode of the Structured Literacy Podcast brought to you from Padaway, Burnie, in the gorgeous Tasmania. There is no doubt that the ever-growing capabilities of AI are changing how we live, learn and work. Every day I'm seeing a new GPT or tool claiming to make teachers' lives easier and improving student outcomes. In this episode, I would like to share my current perspectives on the role of AI in curriculum planning, some cautions fo…
S5 E4 - Help! My Students Aren't Writing Enough!
Hello there, my name's Jocelyn and I'm so pleased to welcome you to this episode of the Structured Literacy Podcast, the place where we talk all things literacy and the nuances of bringing structured literacy to life in our classrooms. This podcast episode is recorded in Burnie, Tasmania, on the lands of the Palawa people.
They're Not Writing Enough
It is a really common worry for us to be concerned that our students aren't writing enough, and I recall very clea…
S5 E3 - Quick Phonics Assessment to Start the Year
Welcome to the Structured Literacy Podcast. My name is Jocelyn. I'm so pleased to welcome you to this episode recorded here in Tasmania, the lands of the Palawa people.
We all know that it's important to choose phonics content that is targeted to student need, but how can you do this at the start of the year without taking weeks to gather data? Many schools have adopted a phonics program and are using the phonics assessment that comes with that. They use the ass…
S5 E2 - My Most and Least Favourite F-Words
Hello, hello, welcome to this episode of the Structured Literacy Podcast recorded right here in Tasmania, the lands of the Palawa people. Today's episode is a little bit of fun with a serious message, and I'm going to tell you about my most and least favourite F-words. But don't worry, there won't be any swearing. This is not that kind of podcast.
Let's begin with a story.
Imagine you're teaching a class of students. You have a program manual in your hand that…
S5 E1 - 5 Ways To Get The Best Out Of The New School Year
Welcome, welcome, welcome to our very first episode of the Structured Literacy Podcast for 2025. I'm Jocelyn and I'm so pleased that you've joined me. As we head into a new school year here in Australia and New Zealand, the Structured Literacy Podcast is heading into its third year of being. If you've been with me since the start, well, thank you. So many people have contacted me to say that this podcast has been useful in decision-making, supporting teams and stu…
S4 Ep20 - Summer Series - Why It's So Scary To Let Go Of Guided Reading
Hello everyone. It's Jocelyn here for this week's episode of the Structured Literacy Podcast. Here in Australia and New Zealand we have just begun our new school year. By the time you're listening to this podcast, everybody should be back at school with all of the trials and tribulations that come with a new school year.
Some of us are coming back in, picking up where we left off on our structured literacy journey. Other people are beginning to embrace a structu…
S4 Ep19 - Summer Series - High Engagement in Low Variance Instruction
Hi there, welcome to the Structured Literacy Podcast coming to you from Pataway, Burnie here in gorgeous Tasmania. I'm Jocelyn Seamer and I'm so pleased that you've decided to join me for today's episode.
Before we begin, I'd like to ask a favour of you. If you find value in the Structured Literacy Podcast, can you please do the usual rating and subscribing, and then can you hop on your socials and share your favourite episode. Our purpose in producing this podc…
S4 Ep18 - Summer Series - Research to the Classroom: Dyad Reading Part 3 (Teacher Talk)
Hi there, it's Jocelyn here. This episode of the podcast is a really special one, it is the very first of the Teacher Talk episodes in our new kind of podcast series called Research to the Classroom. In this series, we've heard about fluency practices, including dyad reading or assisted reading. If you haven't listened to the first two episodes of this series, I suggest that you do so. It will give you great context for listening to what our guest has to say.
Kirby M…
S4 Ep17 - Summer Series - Research to the Classroom: Dyad Reading Part 2 (Practical Application)
Hi there and welcome to the Structured Literacy podcast recorded here in Pataway, Lutruwita or Burnie, Tasmania, the home of the Palawa people. I'm so lucky to live and work here in this beautiful place and also to bring you this week's podcast, which is the second episode in our current Research to the Classroom series about assisted reading. Our Research to the Classroom series are in three parts: part one, where we share a published research paper, part two, wh…