Podcast and Blog
Tuesday Tip - Say Goodbye to Memorisation Strategies for Spelling
In today's Tuesday Tip, I discuss that instead of teaching memorising words by letter names, teach kids to think about word construction.
Video Transcript
When we want to remember how to spell words, it's a common thing to try and remember how the word is spelled using letter names. That sometimes is really helpful, I still remember because as B E C A U S E. However, it is a much more productive way to think about words when we think about how they're constructed with orth…
S4 Ep10 - Instructional Spring Cleaning - Timers During Classroom Fluency Work
Well, hello there and welcome to this episode of the Structured Literacy Podcast recorded here in Tasmania, the land of the Palawa people.
In this latest mini-series, I've been doing a little bit of spring cleaning. So far, we've looked at the idea of classroom news for oral language development and one student coming up to the front of the room during phonics lessons.
Today, I'm sharing my thoughts on something that impacts all grades in the primary school, t…
Tuesday Tip - Who Decides What?
In today's Tuesday Tip, I discuss how building a whole school approach can be tricky, but clarity in resourcing, routines, and responses are key to figuring it out. Define what’s negotiable and what’s not to reduce misunderstandings and drive strong results.
Video Transcript
Hey everyone, it's Tuesday. So here's my tip. When we're trying to all get on the same page to build a whole school approach or a common approach, it can be really tricky because different people have diff…
S4 Ep9 - Instructional Spring Cleaning - One Student at the Front
Hi there. Thanks so much for joining me on this episode of the Structured Literacy Podcast, the place where we get right down into the nitty-gritty of structured literacy. It's Jocelyn here, joining you from Tasmania, the lands of the Palawa people.
It's wonderful to be working in education at a time when we have a growing understanding of the importance of research and using evidence to guide our classroom decisions. The challenging thing about this is that we …
Tuesday Tip - #4 Are You Getting The Most Out of Your Sound Buttons?
In today's Tuesday Tip, I discuss boosting learning by having kids add their own sound buttons and dots and dashes as they sound out words.
Video Transcript
Hey everyone, it's Tuesday. So it's time for a tip. You might've seen these sound buttons, or dots and dashes, used to help children understand the internal structure of a word. But I think instead of giving them the word with the markings already on them, it's a better use of time and more productive for the students, to write…
S4 Ep8 - Instructional Spring Cleaning - News
Hello and welcome to the Structured Literacy Podcast recorded here in Tasmania, the lands of the Palawa people.
Every teacher in every classroom has practices that have been a staple of their teaching forever and a day. These practices are taken for granted and done just because it's how we do things. That's a good thing. We need automaticity and certainty in our lives, but there are times when it's just a good idea to take stock and check in about whether our o…
Tuesday Tip - #3 Don't Let Disruptions Suck the Life Out of Your Lessons
In today's Tuesday Tip, I discuss the need to eliminate distractions and disruptions to maximise learning.
Video Transcript
Hey everyone, it's Tuesday, it's time for a tip. This is number three in our series about maintaining high engagement in low variance instruction. And our tip today is about eliminating distraction and disruption. Kids tapping pencils, having whispered conversations, the teacher talking way too long on things that are not relevant.
These all constitute extran…
S4 Ep7 - The Critical Issue of Teacher Knowledge Building
Hello and welcome to this episode of the Structured Literacy podcast. I’m Jocelyn and today I’m recording on the lands of the Palawa people here in Tasmania. In our last episode of the podcast, I shared 5 reasons that traditional professional learning probably isn’t leading to student outcomes. In that episode, I discussed cognitive biases that lead us to believe that we have more knowledge than we do. It turns out that people with less knowledge about a topi…
Tuesday Tip - #2 Affirmed Students are Engaged Students
In today's Tuesday Tip, I discuss consistently using affirmation, praising students for their efforts to boost confidence and encouraging positive interactions among peers.
Video Transcript
Hey there, it's Jocelyn with tip number two about maintaining high engagement in low variance instruction. My tip today is about injecting affirmation. Everybody wants to feel good about what they do. And we all love being told that we've done a good job. So, when your students do something right…
S4 Ep6 - Five Reasons that Traditional PL May Not Lead to Student Outcomes
Hi there, welcome to the Structured Literacy Podcast. I'm Jocelyn and I'm so very pleased to welcome you to this episode recorded here on the lands of the Palawa people of Tasmania.
My goodness, the year is flying by. I'm recording this in the last week of September and Christmas feels like it's just around the corner.
Over the years, I have supported many schools with consultancy and coaching to help them achieve their big picture goals. This human-centered w…