Knowledge for Teachers

19 - David Morkunas On Explicit Instruction In Primary Maths

In this conversation, Brendan Lee chats with David Morkunas and they touch on a range of topics including why he thinks so many teachers have such a negative attitude towards teaching maths, what the key elements of his maths lessons are and how to teach mixed-ability classes. 
 
Resources mentioned:
Explicit Direct Instruction 
Sigfried Englemann
Kirschner, Sweller and Clark
Hochman and Wexler’s The Writing Revolution 
George Booker - Teaching Primary Mathematics
Times Tables Rockstars
New Waves Mental Maths
Dr. Stephen Norton - https://mathematicseducation.vhx.tv/
 
You can connect with Dave through:
Twitter: @DaveMorkunas
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheMork
 
You can connect with Brendan:
Twitter: @learnwithmrlee
Facebook: @learningwithmrlee
Website: learnwithlee.net

18 - Kevin and Robyn Wheldall on Effective Instruction in Reading

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Emeritus Professor Kevin Wheldall and Dr. Robyn Wheldall. They’ve achieved so much throughout their careers including co-founding MultiLit, a leading provider of effective literacy instruction. In this chat, they describe their journeys and how MultiLit came about. They also speak about their recently published book - Effective Instruction in Reading and Spelling.
Resources mentioned:
Book: Effective Instruction in Reading and Spelling
MultiLit
Nomanis
NSW CESE
MUSEC
Dr. Coral Kemp 
Dr. Mark Carter
Dr. Alison Madelaine
Dr Jennifer Buckingham
Short-Changed: Preparation to teach reading in initial teacher education
Alison McMurtrie
Linnea Ehri
Think Forward Educators
Five from Five
 
You can connect with Kevin:
Twitter: @KevinWheldall
Website: http://www.kevinwheldall.com/
Email: kevin.wheldall@pecas.com.au
 
You can connect with Robyn:
Twitter: @RWheldall
 
You can connect with Brendan:
Twitter: @learnwithmrlee
Facebook: @learningwithmrlee
Website: learnwithlee.net

17 - Christopher Such on the Art and Science of Teaching Reading Fluency

In this episode, I chat with Christopher Such. He is the author of, “The Art and Science of Teaching Primary Reading” and an experienced teacher, school leader and educational consultant. In our conversation, Chris touches on teacher workload, professional development and he goes through the thought behind his book and how his thinking has developed since its release. We then take a deep dive into teaching reading fluency and look at what it is, common misconceptions that teachers have and what it looks like across different year levels. After that, we somehow manage to fit in an overview of comprehension! This episode is not to be missed!
Resources mentioned:
Kathy Rastle: https://www.rastlelab.com/
EPS mid-career prize lecture 2017: Writing systems, reading, and language
Reid Smith, Pamela Snow, Tanya Serry & Lorraine Hammond (2021) The Role of Background Knowledge in Reading Comprehension: A Critical Review, Reading Psychology, 42:3, 214-240, DOI: 10.1080/02702711.2021.1888348
Chris’ free curriculum resources: https://primarycolour.home.blog/category/free-resources/
Debbie Hepplewhite’s Phonics International: https://phonicsinternational.com/
Lynn Stone
Castles, A., Rastle, K., & Nation, K. (2018). Ending the Reading Wars: Reading Acquisition From Novice to Expert. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 19(1), 5–51. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100618772271
MultiLit: https://multilit.com/
The Science of Reading: A Handbook, 2nd Edition
John Walker - Sounds-write
You can connect with Chris:
Twitter: @Suchmo83
Website: https://primarycolour.home.blog/
 
You can connect with Brendan:
Twitter: @learnwithmrlee
Facebook: @learningwithmrlee
Website: learnwithlee.net

16 - St Bernard’s P.S. Transformational Change Through Catalyst (Catalyst Part 3)

This is the final instalment of the three-part series that has focused on the Catholic Education Archdiocese of Canberra Goulburn. Across the 3 episodes, I have delved into Catalyst which is the term used that encompasses their approach to teaching and learning across the system. 
 
In the first part (Episode 14), Ross Fox, the Director described how and why Catalyst came about. Then (Episode 15), Education Lead, Patrick Ellis went into detail about the implementation process.
 
Today, you will hear about how the messages from Catalyst are being translated into the classroom. Throughout the episode, Johanna Wain (Principal), Jennifer Smith (Coordinator) and Rebecca Brady (Teacher( describe St Bernard’s Primary School's transformation, what they have done to support staff in the change journey and how they have benefited from Catalyst.
 
Resources mentioned:
Teach Well
EDI
Lorraine Hammond
Brooke Wardana
Let’s Decode
Ochre
Think Forward Educators
RSiS FB group
ERRR Podcast
Bringing Words to Life - Beck, McKeown and Kucan
Dataworks

15 - Patrick Ellis on considerations for change (Catalyst Part 2)

This is the second of a three-part series that focuses on the Catholic Education Archdiocese of Canberra Goulburn. Across the three episodes, Brendan Lee will delve into Catalyst, the term used that encompasses the system's approach to teaching and learning across the system.
 
In the previous episode, Brendan spoke with Ross Fox, the Director, and he gave an inspiring recap of how Catalyst was initiated and the vision behind it. In this chat with Patrick Ellis, the Education Lead for Catalyst, you will hear in detail about the implementation process, the challenges they have faced, and what they have learned from it.
 
Resources mentioned:
Catalyst
COG Learn
Shaping Minds
Teach Well
How Learning Happens - Paul Kirschner and Carl Hendrick
 
You can connect with Patrick:
Twitter: @ellis_patrick
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/patellis1/
 
You can connect with Brendan:
Twitter: @learnwithmrlee
Facebook: @learningwithmrlee
Website: learnwithlee.net

14 - Ross Fox on how Catalyst is transforming lives through learning

This is the first of a three-part series that is focused on the Catholic Education Archdiocese of Canberra Goulburn. Across the 3 episodes, Brendan Lee will delve into how they have changed their approach to teaching and learning across the system under the banner of Catalyst. 
For this episode, Brendan chats with Ross Fox the Director of the Catholic Education Archdiocese of Canberra Goulburn. He is the visionary behind Catalyst and you will hear about his journey. He will also discuss the process that he and his team have gone through in implementing Catalyst across 56 schools.
 
Resources mentioned:
https://catalyst.cg.catholic.edu.au/
Deans for Impact - The science of learning
Ochre Education
Spelling Mastery
Knowledge Society
E.D. Hirsch Jr - Why Knowledge Matters
Cognitive Load Theory
https://www.ollielovell.com/errr/lorrainehammond/
 
You can connect with Ross:
Twitter: @Rossefox
 
You can connect with Brendan:
Twitter: @learnwithmrlee
Facebook: @learningwithmrlee
Website: learnwithlee.net

13 - Jordan O’Sullivan on Shaping Minds and Practices

In this episode of the Knowledge for Teachers podcast, Brendan Lee chats with Jordan O’Sullivan from Shaping Minds. Together with Jared Bussell and now Brooke Wardana, they have been supporting teachers in implementing the science of learning in the classroom through practical professional learning combined with lesson demonstrations. For this podcast, Jordan goes through the simple memory model, the process of building a mathematics curriculum, delivering effective PL and much much more.
 
Resources mentioned:
Willingham’s Simple Memory Model (Article by Tom Sherrington and graphic by Oliver Caviglioli)
Fred Jones - Tools for Teaching
Ybarra and Hollingsworth’s Explicit Direct Instruction 
Archer and Hughes - Explicit Instruction
Guskey, Thomas. (2002). Professional Development and Teacher Change. Teachers and Teaching. 8. 381-391. 10.1080/135406002100000512
Sarah Cottingham - https://overpractised.wordpress.com/
Craig Barton - How I wish I’d taught maths
Kirschner, P. A., Sweller, J., & Clark, R. E. (2006). Why minimal guidance during instruction does not work: An analysis of the failure of constructivist, discovery, problem-based, experiential, and inquiry-based teaching. Educational psychologist, 41(2), 75-86.
Ollie Lovell - Cognitive Load Theory in Action
 
You can connect with:
Twitter: @ShapingmindsAus
Facebook: @ShapingMindsAustralia/
Website: https://shapingminds.com.au/
 
You can connect with Brendan:
Twitter: @learnwithmrlee
Facebook: @learningwithmrlee
Website: learnwithlee.net

12 - Troy Verey on developing a whole school curriculum and what it looks like in the classroom

This is the second episode of the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast, which focuses on Marsden Road Public School. In the previous chat, Brendan Lee spoke with Marsden Road’s Principal, Manisha Gazula. Her story has inspired thousands of educators around the world. In this conversation, you will hear from Deputy Principal, Troy Verey. He is a highly respected educator in his own right and is also a shining example of Manisha’s ability to support the development of her staff. Throughout the conversation, Troy details the Core Program and describes what it looks like in the classroom.
 
Resources mentioned:
www.training247.com.au/
Get Reading Right
Pr1ME Maths
Doug Lemov
John Sweller
Daniel Willingham’s Why Don’t Students Like School
Rosenshine’s Principles
Ybarra and Hollingsworth’s Explicit Direct Instruction
Lorraine Hammond
Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO)
Castles, A., Rastle, K., & Nation, K. (2018). Ending the reading wars: Reading acquisition from novice to expert. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 19(1), 5-51.
 
You can connect with Troy:
Twitter: @TVtheTeacher
 
 You can connect with Brendan:
Twitter: @learnwithmrlee
Facebook: @learningwithmrlee
Website: learnwithlee.net

11 - Manisha Gazula on how Marsden Road PS turned around its reading and maths results

In this episode of the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast, Brendan Lee had the opportunity of visiting Marsden Road Public School and then speaking to the Principal, Manisha Gazula. Marsden Road has recently featured in a number of reports from the Grattan Institute on role-model schools from around the country. This is the first of a two part series on the school. In the next episode, you will hear from Deputy Principal Troy Verey. 
Manisha’s leadership style has been compared to Katherine Birbilsingh from Michaela Community School in the UK. However, in this conversation you will hear how Manisha’s clear vision, high expectations and relentless care have turned the schools results and culture around. Manisha also details their behaviour curriculum called The Marsden Way and their whole school curriculum - the  Core Program.
 
Resources mentioned:
Joanne Dooner - www.training247.com.au/
Dan Willingham
Mark Seidenberg
The Grattan Institute - Jordana Hunter and Amy Haywood
How to implement a whole-school curriculum approach 
Ending the lesson lottery: How to improve curriculum planning in schools
 
You can connect with Manisha:
Twitter: @manisha_gazula
 
You can connect with Brendan:
Twitter: @learnwithmrlee
Facebook: @learningwithmrlee
Website: learnwithlee.net

10 - Kieran Mackle thinking deeply about the science of maths

In this episode of the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast, Brendan Lee speaks to Kieran Mackle. Kieran is a primary mathematics specialist teacher from the UK, an author and is currently working with Complete Maths. He is also the host of Thinking Deeply about Primary Education, a podcast that should be on your playlist, and this episode is actually the second part of our conversation. In the first part, Kieran quizzes me for his podcast. However, in this episode you will get an in-depth look at how deeply Kieran has thought about primary mathematics. We look at a number of topics including: 
Concrete, context, pictorial, abstract, language
Threshold concepts
Depth and Challenge
Storytelling
Word problems 
In this episode, Kieran also analyses the lesson structure that I recently proposed. 
Resources mentioned:
Christopher Such
Neil Almond
www.thinkingdeeply.info/threshold-concepts
Jonathan Hall - mathsbot.com
Gareth Metcalfe - https://garethmetcalfe.wordpress.com/
Dan Willingham
Nick Hart
 
Part 1 of the conversation: Episode 120 Thinking Deeply about Primary Education - In search of the Science of Mathematics (Teaching) with Brendan Lee
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/thinking-deeply-about-primary-education/id1546748470?i=1000609050064
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6De7GSKd2DlEoTxUFI4w0m?si=1RmPR-P3S6aYE54CsV1aDQ&fbclid=IwAR0yZzIAvzTgDrP3aN8_myL-3ZLBDi6KpAmJBYEfrGii2ObTkr1ABqplfhY&nd=1
My original blog post on A Systematic and Structured Approach to Teaching Primary Mathematics:
https://www.learnwithlee.net/a-systematic-and-structured-approach-to-teaching-primary-mathematics-part-1/
 
You can connect with Kieran:
Twitter: @Kieran_M_Ed
Website: thinkingdeeply.info
 
You can connect with Brendan:
Twitter: @learnwithmrlee
Facebook: @learningwithmrlee
Website: learnwithlee.net