Jocelyn Seamer EducationPodcast and Blog
teaching
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 Ep16 - Summer Series - Research to the Classroom: Dyad Reading Part 1 (The Research)
Hi there, welcome to the Structured Literacy Podcast. It's Jocelyn here, and I am so pleased to welcome you this week.
One of the things I remember so vividly is being in school as a teacher and then leader, really wanting to keep up with readings and research and just not having the bandwidth to be able to do it. So we've started a brand new series for you, called Research to the Classroom. It's a series of three episodes on a topic, the first episode being dis…
S4 Ep15 - Summer Series - Five Ways to Get Ready for the Coming Change
Getting your team on the bus of consistent, explicit teaching in the early years is no easy task. A few years ago, I developed a course called Reading Success in the Early Primary Years and a little while later, published a book with the same name through Routledge, a well-known academic publisher. I am so pleased to announce that I'm running this highly practical online course again in 2025, to help your team build a more robust understanding of what structured l…
S4 Ep14 - Guidance for Evaluating Impact
Hello, hello, it's Jocelyn here with the final episode of the Structured Literacy Podcast for 2024, recorded right here on the lands of the Palawa people of Tasmania. I'm so pleased that you've been able to find time to join me amongst what I know is a hugely busy end of year schedule. Oh my, what a year it's been.
So much has happened and I know that many schools have felt the effects of the whirlwind of 2024.
Even as you celebrate positive changes that your…