Podcast and Blog
Evidence based teaching practice
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 Ep13 - Let's Talk Year 3-6 Reading Assessment and Grading
Hi there. Welcome to the Structured Literacy Podcast recoded here in Tasmania, the lands of the Palawa people. I’m Jocelyn and I want to say a huge hello to all teachers and leaders grappling with assessment and reporting. Last episode of the podcast, I shared a perspective on reporting and grading early years reading without a benchmark assessment. In the old days, we assessed students, looked at the level and then used that to determine what A-E grade students r…
Tuesday Tip - How to Answer Tough Questions in the Classroom
In today's Tuesday Tip, I discuss how to capture kids' tricky questions about words while giving you time to find answers without interrupting the lesson flow.
Video Transcript
It's wonderful to engage children in talking about how words are constructed and what their histories are. But the scary thing as a teacher is when kids ask you questions you're not quite sure how to answer.
My suggestion for you is to have an iWonder board. This is a place in your classroo…
S4 Ep12 - The Secret to Grading Early Years Reading
Hi there, I'm Jocelyn and I'd like to welcome you to this episode of the Structured Literacy Podcast, recorded here on the lands of the Palawa people of Tasmania.
Here in Australia, it is Term 4 and the end of the school year is just a few weeks away. That means that teachers and leaders will be turning their attention to assessment and grading in preparation for report writing. So in this episode, I’d like to share some thoughts and suggestions on grading early …
Tuesday Tip - NICE Decision Making Framework
In today's Tuesday Tip, I discuss how when decisions need to be made, use the NICE Framework to make smarter, more effective choices.
Video Transcript
Hey everyone, it's time for a Tuesday tip. There are so many demands on our time and our budget that it can be really hard to make decisions about what to do. So today I have a framework for you. It's the NICE Framework.
The N stands for need.
- How do we know we need this thing?
- What is our data telling us?
- What a…
S4 Ep11 - Making Decisions When The Floor Is Lava
Hi there and welcome to this episode of the Structured Literacy Podcast, recorded here on the lands of the Palawa people of Tasmania.
I have the enormous privilege of talking with school leaders from around the country and working directly with schools. I don't for a single second take the trust that is given to me for granted, and I value so highly the opportunity to be a part of people's journeys. Seeing the tangible results they are achieving is so rewarding.…
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…
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 …
S4 Ep1 - Harnessing Oral Language for Reading and Spelling Success
Hi there. I'm so pleased you've been able to join me for this episode of the Structured Literacy Podcast. My name is Jocelyn and I want to begin our episode by letting you know that you're doing a great job.
Are you perfect? Nope.
Do you have every duck in a row? I guarantee that is not the case.
But you're here listening to this podcast and that means that you are looking for ways to help your students succeed. What am I doing here? Well, I'm here to help y…