Podcast and Blog
structured literacy
S2 E3 - Why isn't my Tier 2 Instruction working?
00:00:00
Introduction
Hello there, and welcome to the Structured Literacy Podcast. My name is Jocelyn Seamer, and I am so pleased to be here with you today. I'm not recording this episode from home; I am, in fact, on the lands of the Wurundjeri Willum people in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. I'm here for three gorgeous days, a full day of PL tomorrow with the school and then two days in the classroom with teachers and leaders having a look at how this school can…
S2 E2 - How do we know if our whole school approach has gone too far?
Transcript
00:00:00
Introduction.
Hello and welcome to the Structured Literacy Podcast. I'm your host, Jocelyn Seamer, and I'd like to welcome you to this episode. Before we get started, I'd like to pay my respects to the Palawa people of Tasmania, on whose lands this podcast is recorded, and invite you to take a moment to acknowledge the traditional peoples on whose lands you are currently standing.
Here on the Structured Literacy Podcast, we address all issues r…
S1 E22 - Change is hard, and we need everyone to do it
00:00:00
Introduction
Hi there, everyone. Welcome to this episode of the Structured Literacy Podcast, the place where we talk all things reading, writing, and structured literacy. I'm bringing this podcast to you from Tasmania, the lands of the Palawa people.
00:00:15
Today's topic - Why learning can be hard.
Learning is hard. That's no news to any of us. We teach our students the mantra; we can do hard things. We want them to be resilient in the face of obstacles, to…
S1 E16 - 5 Evidence-informed Alternatives to Independent Silent Reading
00.28
Today, I'd like to talk to you about is the issue that has had me with a bee in my bonnet for a little while now, and that is the large amount of time that many children spend in independent silent reading during literacy instruction.
My challenge with this is not that it is bad for children to read on their own; in fact, we know that there are positive impacts. Professor Pam Snow from La Trobe University talks often about the fact t…
S1 E15 - 8 Myths of Reading Instruction that Every Teacher Should Know About
Transcript Summary
Myth No. 1 - learning to read is as natural as learning to speak.
Myth number one is that learning to read is as natural as learning to speak, and this is where this idea that if we just immerse children in rich text, if we have language-rich environments for them to grow up in, then all will be well and they'll learn how to read. That's where this comes from.
Now, it's absolutely flawed, and I'm going to read to you a paragraph from my book, R…
S1 E8 - What goes into the Upper Primary Literacy Block?
Transcript Summary
For a very long time, we have focused exclusively on what goes into the early years literacy block and upper primary teachers, it is your turn. One of the questions in the Facebook group and other places is: exactly what should my literacy block look like in years three to six? And I have to say that finding the perfect literacy block can feel like chasing a magical unicorn through an enchanted forest so that you can make a wish. We ferventl…
S1 E5 - Should I Go Rogue or Follow My School's Approach to Literacy?
At one time or another, most teachers have gone rogue in their classrooms. We have been asked to do something that we don't want to do and thought, 'nope'. This doesn't impact things too badly when we've gone rogue about only 1 box of tissues from the office a time or not signing for that extra box of lead pencils, but it can have significant impacts when it comes to substantial areas of our teaching.
There are many reasons that teachers go rogue. They could b…
S1 E4 - How Many Feet Does Your School Have on the Bus?
This idea of the bus was something that occurred to me a few years ago. It was the idea that we're all moving in the same direction, that everybody is welcome and that we are part of a network of primary teachers and leaders committed to advocating for the right of every child to be t…